brarig219

I have a question that I can't seem to wrap my head around that I thought you guys may be able to shed some light on. I'm new to the points game, so have mercy on the new guy.

I have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, and this concerns using it through the Shop Through Chase portal.

For example, if you click though and make a purchase at HomeDepot.com via the Shop Through Chase Portal, it says you can earn a bonus of 2 points per $1 spent.

I did this with a total (tax included) of $21.82. After logging into my online account, this amount came up under my Most Recent Activity, and it said that I earned 21.82 points.

But then, farther down on the rewards page, you have a separate section called "Bonus Rewards Activity: Shop Through Chase and Promotional Earn". Right before that section starts, it says:

"Your everyday purchase rewards will show in Most Recent Activity above. Any bonus rewards activity will show here."

Under it, it shows my HomeDepot.com purchase. Here, it shows as $19.97 (my pre tax amount), and shows that it earned 40 points (essentially, 2 points per 1 dollar, rounded up).

Now, here's the question.

I read that quote as saying that my normal "everyday purchase" rewards will show above (21.82), and that my "bonus rewards activity" will show below (40). Since all those points are appearing when I log in, doesn't it seem like that transaction should be earning 61.82 points? The normal 1 point per 1 dollar spent on the normal purchase, and then the 2 points per 1 dollar purchase bonus earn through the portal?

I've spoken to Chase, and both times I have called, the employee has been kinda confused, and has said they had to go ask a supervisor, and then told me the bonus earn (40 points) is the total points earned - and that I don't get the 21.82. I've told them that the 21.82 is appearing as points earned, and we just kinda get lost from there - they aren't able to give me a good reason for it.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Either:

1) I'm only earning 2X points on the pre tax amount (which is what Chase is telling me)

or

2) I'm earning 2X points on the pre tax amount, and then 1X points per dollar on the total amount including tax.

Thanks so much for your help!

Critterlynn

This

mia

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Chase, the issuer of the credit card, awards one point per dollar on all spend.

Home Depot, the merchant, awards two points per dollar on purchases made through the shopping portal, and they don't want to include sales tax in the calculation.

brarig219

I appreciate the response! You're 100% sure on this?

i certainly agree with you that that's the way it should be, but I'm super confused why the Chase reps I have called have told me otherwise. I even called Chase back a second time because I was sure the first time they had just made a mistake with what they told me - but again on the second call - they still told me the 2/1 earn was all I got in total! How could I get two bad avswrs from Chase? Now I almost want to call back a third time..

Critterlynn

I'm 100% sure. Points earned from credit card spend are based on the total amount charged. This includes taxes. Points earned from the portal are based on the pre-tax amount. Not really sure why you asked since you already mentioned you see the points pending.

Not surprised by the confusion with the Chase reps. Quite often they don't know the policies of their own cards, let alone the shopping portal which I believe is ran (correct me if I'm wrong) by a third party. It's also possible they didn't quite understand your question or you didn't understand their reply.

Whatever the case may be, you'll get more reliable information from flyertalk than you could ever get from customer service rep.

serpens

Most of the time. One problem is that the FlyerTalk participants often need to "reverse engineer" the results of the program to figure out what the terms and conditions mean. Another possible exception is that there are some customer service reps who know their stuff.

By and large, I agree with Critterlynn, but like most things, the statement is not always true.

CivicDriver

I recently made two purchases through the Chase portal but only points from one of the purchases was deposited into my account.

When I messaged Chase to see why the other purchase did not qualify, they stated that I "used a coupon or promotional offer that was not listed on Shop through Chase." (Note that the terms on the Shop Through Chase portal are worded slightly differently: "Not eligible on purchases made with coupon or discount codes that are not found on this site.")

For the purchase in question, I did not use any sort of coupon or discount code when making the purchase. However, everything was "on sale" so, when I added items to my cart, a discount was automatically applied. I've explained this to Chase three times and they continue to cite the automatically-applied discount that shows up on my receipt.

I'll probably give up after this but who is correct here? Based on the way Chase is interpreting the terms and conditions, no purchase from this retailer would have qualified for bonus points... so why advertise it at all?

Drivesabrowntruck

I've had this problem so much I've stopped using Chase Portals if it's not a significantly higher % back vs other cash back portal sites. There's a couple sites that don't have those exclusions, and you can use gift cards to pay, vs using your UR card that you could otherwise use to purchase said gift card.

RNE

I have to buy contact lenses from the subject vendor. I can't find it on Chase's Shopping portal. Am I missing something? Any other ways to maximize URs for this purchase?

RNE, whatever way, of course I'm going to use my 1½ FU card.

Critterlynn

I don't think this particular vender is listed on the Chase portal. But you could probably get some airline miles. Southwest is my choice. You could also probably go through Ebates and earn some cash back. It would be better than nothing.

RNE

Good point. I'm a former CO/UA flyer, so I may use the UA portal to make the purchase.

aphoward13

Not sure if you are restricted to that site to order from for reimbursement reasons, but Walgreens sells contacts on their website and they are a Shop Thru Chase partner (and have lots of sales on contacts). Disclaimer: this is a shameless plug for my employer

RNE

Thanks. I'll check it out.

rccsd

Sorry for the noob question but the "Shop through Chase" offers won't work going in-store, will it? For instance, the Walgreens offer doesn't say anything about valid only online but is it implied by the "shop through" ...?

mia

No