I got my first rebate check from Ebates, a website which provides cash back on internet purchases at a wide variety of online merchants. FatCash is another such service. It’s always useful to check these out.

Most of time cash back deals can’t be combined with mileage earning (such as from United’s Mileage Plus Mall or Northwest’s Worldperks Mall) so you have to choose which is more valuable for any given purchase. The December issue of Inside Flyer contained a nice overview of mileage earning online malls.

Sometimes, however, mileage earning and cash back can be combined. 1-800-Flowers awards miles by having you enter a promotion code and your frequent flyer account at the end of a transaction. So clicking through a rebate or mileage mall link will let you double-dip. (1-800-Flowers returns a 6% rebate via Ebates.)

Always check to see whether you can get cash back or miles from a merchant (just by clicking on a link to get to the merchant’s web page) before purchasing something online!