Shopping Portal & Browser Extension Stack — 2026-10-19 to 2026-10-26

Top Portal Bonuses This Week

Rakuten: Up to 100X points or 100% cash back on VPN services, today only

• Portal/Extension: Rakuten
• Source: Upgraded Points
• Link: Upgraded Points
• Rate/Value: Up to 100X points per dollar or 100% cash back (per source)
• Ends: Today only (article dated 2026-10-26)
• What: Rakuten is running a one-day payout of up to 100X points or 100% cash-back on VPN service purchases, with NordVPN featured in the offer.
• Why it matters: A 100X/100% payout on a small annual subscription is one of the highest effective returns you'll see from any portal — and the "up to" wording means you should confirm the exact rate on the VPN brand you're buying before checking out.

Capital One: 40X miles or 40% back at TripAdvisor

• Portal/Extension: Capital One Offers / Capital One Shopping
• Source: Frequent Miler
• Link: Frequent Miler
• Rate/Value: 40X miles per dollar (Capital One Offers, cardholders) or 40% back (Capital One Shopping, open to anyone)
• What: TripAdvisor is the Top Deal of the Day at both Capital One Offers and Capital One Shopping, with 40X miles for cardholders or 40% back through the open-to-anyone Shopping portal.
• Why it matters: If you don't hold a Capital One card, the 40% back through Capital One Shopping is the better of the two tracks — but you must pick one path, since Offers and Shopping are separate tracking mechanisms.

Stacking & Gift Card Plays

Staples: Fee-free $200 Visa gift cards in-store, through Oct. 31

• Portal/Extension: Staples (in-store)
• Source: Frequent Miler
• Link: Frequent Miler
• Rate/Value: Purchase fees waived on fixed $200 Visa gift cards; limit 9 per customer per day
• Ends: Saturday, October 31, 2026
• What: Staples is again waiving purchase fees on fixed-denomination $200 Visa gift cards in stores through the end of the month, with store-level variation on limit enforcement and on variable-load cards.
• Why it matters: Fee-free gift cards are the classic office-supply-category play — the fee waiver is pure margin on top of any card's office supply bonus, and the cards can then be spent through a cashback portal on purchases that wouldn't otherwise earn a category bonus.

Office Depot/OfficeMax: $15 off $300+ Mastercard gift cards

• Portal/Extension: Office Depot / OfficeMax (in-store)
• Source: Frequent Miler
• Link: Frequent Miler
• Rate/Value: $15 instant discount on $300+ (5% off), limit 10 per household/business
• Ends: Valid 10/25/26–10/31/26
• What: Buying $300 or more in Mastercard gift cards at Office Depot or OfficeMax gets an instant $15 discount during the 10/25–10/31 window.
• Why it matters: A flat 5% off is stackable with an office supply category bonus on the purchase itself, and the ad terms override what individual stores may try to impose as limits.

VanillaGift: Waived Visa gift card purchase fees with code VGSHOP26

• Portal/Extension: VanillaGift.com
• Source: Frequent Miler
• Link: Frequent Miler
• Rate/Value: Purchase fees waived on orders of $375+ with promo code VGSHOP26
• Ends: November 1, 2026
• What: VanillaGift.com is waiving Visa gift card purchase fees on orders of $375 or more when you use promo code VGSHOP26; charity cards are excluded.
• Why it matters: This is the online alternative for anyone who can't get to a Staples or Office Depot — but it's a direct card purchase, so you won't earn portal cashback on the gift card buy itself.

Other Shopping News

Visa gift cards disappear from Staples.com

• Portal/Extension: Staples
• Source: Frequent Miler
• Link: Frequent Miler
• What: Visa and Mastercard gift cards are no longer showing up for purchase on Staples.com, leaving in-store buying as the remaining route to the frequent zero-fee promotions.
• Why it matters: Plan gift-card runs around physical stores now — and note that in-store purchases won't track through a shopping portal, so the fee waiver is the whole return on that transaction.

Honorable Mentions

• 7 of our favorite cards to use for Black Friday shopping in 2026 — Card picks for earning cash back, points and miles on Black Friday purchases, online and in-store; useful as the card layer of a portal stack.
• 5 foolproof ways to maximize rewards on grocery spending — Right card plus rotating bonuses plus stackable offers for grocery spend.
• Best Posts Last Week: Discover $300 + Double Cash Back Deal, 100k Atmos Offer & $1,000 Schwab Checking Bonus — Roundup including Discover's sign-up/referral bonuses with double cash back and 0% intro APR.