Richklhs

$30 off $100 coupon code
$10 off $50 AMEX
20% off GC from abc gift cards
52% Off luggage sale
=
$390 spinner for $120 plus points from portal for a great JC Penny score

artemis

The problem is that our opinions and predictions are worthless, as we aren't mind readers and don't have crystal balls. It's impossible to know if eBags is going to repeat last year's spectacular deal (personally I doubt it), or what other luggage vendors' promotions will be during the holiday season.

Since you've said you're not in a hurry to get a new suitcase and you don't seem thrilled with the current points offerings, why not wait until October-early December and see what promotions are out there then? You might get lucky and find a wonderful deal, and at worst you'll get an average number of points for the purchase, so there's really no way to lose.

DaveInLA

Of course no one can predict, but some folks might have better memories of past years and noticed patterns.

artemis

I think there's an overall pattern of shopping portal points deals getting better during the holiday shopping season, but how much better is going to be hard to guess - especially as the economy has picked up compared to the past few years (so merchants might not see as much need to offer generous enticements to woo shoppers).

brownie20

i hate to admit this but i do shop at nm and mainly shop with them online. they have the best deals on makeup and run great promos every so often ($50 off $100 purchase or tiered gift card promos). the ~18 pts/$ almost never happens and when it does doesn't last long. a killer deal recently was back when amex sync had their 50 off 200 nm promo the AA portal was also giving out bonuses for combined purchases over a certain threshold (?$500); i got the miles even tho the portals supposedly exclude GC's. i've then used the GC's to buy stuff when nm has a great promo and have received the miles thru the portals (*hint hint* ). of course there's no guarantee they still give miles for GCs purchased thru portals so you might want to purchase a small test e-gc for like $25 first thanks for the reminder about BA - i always forget to check their portal b/c they're not linked in with evrewards!