Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.
One of my favorite deals of the entire year happens on Black Friday when Saks Fifth Avenue allows you to receive a $75 bonus promotional gift card with a $150 order when you buy eligible items and use a code — which this year was BFGCSF.
You can also stack that deal to make it better by going through a cash-back site and using the $50 twice-yearly statement credit from The Platinum Card® from American Express. Enrollment is required.
If you got in on that deal, now it’s time to use your promotional $75 gift card, as it is only valid this week.
Saks $75 bonus gift card from Black Friday order
The promotion terms were as follows:
- Online shoppers should use code BFGCSF at checkout.
- Valid in-store and for online purchases at Saks from Nov. 23-25.
- Certain brands and items are excluded from the promotion.
- Promotional gift cards are valid Dec. 12-18 and can be redeemed both in Saks Fifth Avenue stores and online.
- Limit one gift card per person.
The promotional $75 gift card is valid only from Dec. 12-18, and this year it was sent via email. The subject line was “Your Saks Fifth Avenue Gift Card” and mine arrived in late November.
Related: 9 ways to save at Amazon
10% cash back
By starting at Rakuten, you can get 10% cash back (or 10 American Express Membership Rewards points per dollar) on your eligible Saks purchases. It’s possible that you may not earn 10% back on the portion of the order for which you are using a gift card, but you might, so it is very much worth trying.
If you are a new Rakuten customer, you can stack $30 bonus cash back on your purchase of $30 or more when joining with a referral link.
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Use your $50 Amex Platinum statement credit
If you have The Platinum Card from American Express, every six months you can use an up-to-$50 statement credit valid at Saks Fifth Avenue. Your second credit expires Dec. 31 whether you use it or not, so today is a great day to use it to stack these savings.
Here are details on how that Saks statement credit works, but essentially you need to activate that benefit in your Amex account and then pay for your order with your Platinum card. If you still have a $50 statement credit to use, you should get it posted back to your Amex account automatically. Enrollment is required.
Get $50 off a $200 Saks order
Last but not least, Saks has a sale right now that awards you $50 off an eligible $200 order. In my tests, many items are included in this sale, but not all of them. They will be labeled as such if they are eligible.
What to buy at Saks
Yes, Saks has some $5,000 dresses and some humorously priced items, but there are other options. Here are a few items and brands I’ve enjoyed at Saks over the years to get you started:
You can sort by price within those categories if that helps you out.
Putting it all together
Let’s say you found $200 in sale-eligible items you want. Start your Saks purchase at Rakuten for 10% cash back today. If the order is sale-eligible and you use the $50 promo code, that drops your out-of-pocket total to $150.
Then, if you are using a $75 promotional Saks gift card, the amount you owe on that order out of pocket drops to $75. If you use an Amex Platinum with a $50 Saks credit to pay, you’ll drop your effective price by another $50, all the way down to $25. Add in the cash back you are earning on the order, and that’s likely another $7.50 to $15 back, depending on how gift cards are treated.
Being conservative, in that scenario, you are getting $200 worth of Saks goodies today for $17.50 or less out of pocket if you were able to stack all of those elements.
But regardless of how you make your purchase, if you have a $75 Saks gift card to use, be sure and do that this week before the cards expire Dec. 18.
Additional reporting by Clint Henderson and Katherine Fan.
