Earning a big stash of points may no longer mean what it used to. Aspirations of fancy travel or other swanky redemptions have given way to more practical uses. Issuers have taken notice and in response have increased the number of ways you can use your rewards, such as allowing you to use points to pay for purchases online or shop directly with Amazon.
More people find themselves shopping online more than ever before and if you have a card that lets you use your credit card rewards via PayPal’s Pay With Rewards option, it may seem like a no-brainer.
But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Even though having a variety of ways to use your credit card rewards is generally a good thing, some redemptions are simply a poor value. Here’s what to know about the best ways to use your rewards to shop with points via PayPal—and what to avoid.
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Value of Points With Major Credit Cards
| Reward Program | Value of a Point (in cents) |
|---|---|
|
American Express Membership Rewards
|
0.7 cents per point
|
|
Capital One Cash Back
|
1 cent per point
|
|
Capital One Miles
|
0.8 cents per point
|
|
Chase Ultimate Rewards®
|
0.8 cents per point
|
|
Citi ThankYou Points
|
0.8 cents per point
|
|
Discover
|
1 cent per point
|
American Express Membership Rewards
You can use your Membership Rewards points from an eligible American Express card to pay for your purchase via PayPal. But doing so wouldn’t be the most effective way to use your points given that a Membership Reward point is worth only 0.7 cents when redeemed as a statement credit for purchases made using PayPal.
The best value from your Membership Rewards is generally airfare redemptions or transfers to travel partners. When redeemed for flights through American Express Travel, you’ll get a value of 1 cent per point, and transfers can yield even more value. Other redemptions are often worth less than a penny a point, including directly redeeming points for a statement credit against a purchase (worth 0.6 cents per point). At checkout with some retailers, you can use Pay with Points, worth from 0.7 cents to 1 cent per point.
If you truly want to use your Membership Rewards points for something other than travel, consider gift cards. Many retailers’ gift cards will give a value of up to 1 cent per point.
Capital One Rewards
There are multiple Capital One cards that are eligible for PayPal’s Pay With Rewards redemption option. These include:
- Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Savor Rewards Credit Card*
- Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business*
- Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business*
- Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business*
- Capital One Spark Cash Plus*
- Spark Cash Select from Capital One*
- Venture X Business*
With the Capital One cash-back cards, earning a dollar back on the card is worth a dollar in PayPal spending. But on the Capital One travel cards that earn miles, you’ll need 125 miles to redeem for a dollar’s worth of shopping with PayPal. This means your Capital One miles are worth only 0.8 cents each this way. You’ll earn a higher rate of 1 cent per point when redeeming for travel.
Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Chase Ultimate Rewards® can be redeemed in multiple ways, including taking your earnings as cash back, a statement credit, a gift card, travel purchases or by transferring your points to one of Chase’s travel partners.
To use your Chase Ultimate Rewards® with PayPal, you can choose Checkout with PayPal at an eligible site and use Pay with Rewards to complete the transaction.
Eligible cards include:
- Chase Freedom Flex℠
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- Ink Business Premier® Credit Card
However, you’ll get a value of only 0.8 cents per point by redeeming your Chase points through PayPal, which is less than most other redemption options. Typically, cash back (or a statement credit) and most gift cards via the Chase portal will yield a value of a penny a point.
You can get even more value out of your Chase Ultimate Rewards® by booking travel through Chase’s travel portal where points are worth anywhere from 1 cent to 1.5 cents each, depending on which Chase card(s) you have. In every scenario, you’d get better value out of buying whatever you want on your card and taking a statement credit than if you get PayPal involved.
For example, if you buy something for $100 online with your Chase card, you could redeem 10,000 points as a cash back statement credit. Buying that same $100 item using PayPal would require 12,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
Featured Partner Offers
Citi ThankYou Points
You can redeem Citi ThankYou Points to shop using PayPal to pay for all or a part of your purchase.
Eligible cards include:
Using your ThankYou Points to pay with PayPal for a purchase isn’t the best use as a ThankYou Point is worth just 0.8 cents when redeemed this way.
Note that cash back as a deposit in your qualifying account or statement credit varies by card but can be less than 1 cent per point on some Citi cards. Citi Prestige® Card* and Citi Double Cash cardholders can redeem points for cash back at a rate of less than 1 cent per point. Citi ThankYou points from certain cards can also be transferred to travel partners where they can be worth over 1 cent each.
Discover
You can use your earnings from some Discover cards to shop via PayPal. Both Discover cash back earnings and miles are worth 1 cent when paying for your purchase via PayPal, so it’s a solid redemption value. Eligible cards include:
Bottom Line
When using rewards to shop via PayPal, some cards are better than others. Be sure to understand exactly what you’re getting—and what you’re giving up—before you redeem your points to shop with PayPal.
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