Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG reader Don writes:“I plan on buying a lot of Apple products as gifts this year. What is the best way to maximize points since the Apple Store earning is most portals is only 1 point per dollar spent?“With the iPhone 5, new iPad mini and MacBook Pro Retina Displays, Apple products are bound to be among the top sellers this holiday season, so I wanted to do a post on maximizing your Apple purchases to earn the most points.I wrote a post back in September about how Best Buy is one of the fourth quarter bonus spending merchants for the Chase Freedom card (No longer open to new applicants) , at which you can earn 5 points per dollar up to $1,500 until December 31, 2012, so you’ve got a month left to maximize your purchases there – including Apple products – and get the 5x bonus points. The one thing to note is that the iPhone 5 is only available online (unless you order it with a Sprint contract), so though Best Buy is offering an extra point per dollar through the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal, which would bring your earning potential to 6 points per dollar, you won’t be able to get that on the iPhone 5. You can, however, earn 6x points using your Freedom card for iPods, iPads, and Macbooks, all of which you can order online, though.If you don’t have a Freedom card, there are still ways to earn plenty of multiple-point bonuses on Apple purchases. You could consider using the Ink Bold or Ink Plus buy Visa gift cards at a store like Office Max score the 5x points bonus on that purchase, then use the gift cards to buy Apple products.Another option with the Ink Bold or Plus would be to use it to purchase the iPhone from your wireless carrier since the cards also award 5x points on wireless/phone category spending, so you might be able to get the 5x bonus that way. While the card’s terms say that the 5x bonus is on service, I’ve often noticed that I earn 5x points on my entire wireless bill when I use the Ink Bold to pay for it, so you might as well try.Other cards that give you category spending bonuses on wireless/phone expenses include: the Ink Classic and Ink Business Cash Credit cards, which give you 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent annually at office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services.If you’re signing up for new service and have one of the Hilton credit cards, you could try using one of those instead. The Hilton Honors Surpass Card from American Express and Amex give 6 points per dollar spent on phone, cable, satellite and internet bills, and they offer 3 points per dollar on everything else, so even if you don’t score the full 6x bonus, at least you’re getting 3x points. The Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card, meanwhile, offers 3 points on purchases while the normal Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card offers 2 points per dollar on most purchases. The US Bank Flexperks Visa offers 2 FlexPoints per dollar on categories including cell phone purchases.Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.Speaking of which, purchasing the iPhone through your wireless carrier could be a good way to double dip since Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint are also offering one-off point bonuses for purchases and new services through airline and hotel programs’ online shopping portals.Verizon Wireless is offering varying amounts of points for purchases made through shopping portals this holiday season:1,300 American Airlines miles1,200 United miles1,100 Southwest Rapid Rewards points850 Delta Skymiles850 US Airways miles1,500 Priority Club pointsAT&T is also offering point bonuses in the following amounts:3,300 American miles2,900 United miles2,700 Southwest points2,100 US Airways miles5,500 Marriott Rewards points3,800 Priority Club pointsAnd perhaps the biggest bonus: 15,000 Alaska Miles For New T-Mobile Contract now through March 31, 2013.T-Mobile:650 American miles550 Southwest points400 Delta miles400 United miles400 US Airways miles750 Priority Club points1,167 Choice Privileges pointsSprint: 2,999 Hilton Honors pointsApart from the iPhone, here are a few other ideas on how to earn multiple points on your various Apple purchases. You can get 2x points per dollar at Target through the Ultimate Rewards portal and though the iPhone 5 isn’t on sale there, they do sell iPods and Virgin Mobile prepaid iPhone 4’s.There is also a variety of other merchants that you can navigate to through Ultimate Rewards that sell various Apple products including Overstock.com – where you get 3 extra points per dollar – that stock iPod touches and old versions of the iPhone including the 3.Radio Shack is offering 3 extra points per dollar through Ultimate Rewards, but unfortunately iPhones and iPads are only available for in-store purchase, but you can buy an Apple TV box for $99.99.You can also get to the Apple Store through Ultimate Rewards for an extra point per dollar on purchases – still that’s better than nothing, and all their products are available through there (as long as they stay in stock!).You can earn 2 points per dollar at the online Apple store when visiting it through either the Priority Club or Amtrak shopping portals, or 1.5 miles per dollar through Hawaiian Airlines. Citi ThankYou is also offering 2 points per dollar spent at Apple.If you don’t have a Chase card, you can also sync your Amex card on Twitter and tweet #AmexBestBuyOffer to get $20 off purchase of $200 or more. You can only register once per card, and the $200 must be on a single purchase online or in the store by December 31, saving you $20 on Apple purchases – or anything else – at Best Buy.As a reminder here’s the list of online shopping portals:Air Canada: Aeroplan EStoreAmerican: AAdvantageEshopping.comAmerican Express: Bonus Points Mall (Currently under maintenance)Amtrak: Amtrak Guest RewardsChase: Ultimate Rewards ShoppingChoice Rewards: Choice Privileges MallCiti: Thank You ShoppingDelta: Skymilesshopping.comDiscover: ShopDiscoverFrontier: Early Returns MallHawaiian Airlines: Hawaiian Airlines eMarketHilton Honors: Hilton Honors Earnings MallMarriott Rewards: Shop My WayMastercard: Mastercard MarketplacePriority Club: Priority Club ShoppingSouthwest: Rapid Rewards ShoppingUnited: Mileageplusshopping.comUS Airways: Dividend Miles Shopping Mall[card card-name=‘Ink Plus® Business Credit Card’ card-id=‘22129636’ type=‘javascript’ bullet-id=‘1’]
