Originally Posted by
pbailey19
But I'm wondering, if you can buy something through the Shopping Portals, like AAdvantage eShopping, United's Mileage Plus Shopping, or the AmEx Bonus Points Mall, then won't that give you the most for your money?
Shopping portals with 2x or 3x miles are attractive in principle, but the key question will be -- are they price-competitive? If that laptop is listed for $300 more than you could get it for at buy.com or through the low-price comparison engine at cnet.com, then the extra couple thousand miles are going to be meaningless. So, it's case by case.