One of my points earning strategies is to shop through online portals. Whether it be AAdvantage eShopping, Marriott’s ShopMyWay Mall, the Ultimate Rewards portal, etc., these places are a great place to maximize your rewards potential.
A great points portal shop closing is always sad, however. Especially one that’s so useful. Unfortunately, that is the case today, as I found out drugstore.com is closing on September 30, 2016.
I figured something was up when the strange messages began popping up on the site, like all sales being final from September 1 and on. It wasn’t until recently, today in-fact, that the real reason for the changes came to light. I actually found out not from the company itself, but Shoprunner, the 2-day shipping subscription service. The fact that drugstore is a Shoprunner site already makes it a great place to shop for convenience. However, it’s the rewards that makes drugstore really great.
Drugstore.com participated in practically all the portals. With Chase UltimateRewards, you’d earn 4pts/$. With AAdvantage eShopping, you got 3pts/$. But the best use, in my opinion, was through Marriott’s ShopMyWayMall, through which you’d earn 6pts/$.
For shoprunner customers, the minimum order amount to receive your free shipping is $25. And at 6pts/$, that means at minimum, each over would net you about 150 Marriott Rewards Points. Yeah, in the grand scheme of things, 150 points does NOTHING with Marriott, but every little bit helps. Besides, as of this writing, Marriott Rewards points earned through ANY means currently count towards lifetime elite status. Not only do you get points through portals with drugstore, but until about a month ago, drugstore would also give you a 5% reward on your purchase.
5% return on purchases, points through portals, the value for shopping at drugstore was already strong. Add to that making purchase on the right card, such as the Freedom Unlimited, and the value is even better. So even if prices were a little higher than else (sometimes the were, sometimes they weren’t) the site provided outstanding value. And that’s why I’m sadden by the loss of drugstore.com. A truly great points portal shop closing means even less value when shopping, at least for me. Especially from a site that sold everyday products that you’d often buy.