Utilizing Rakuten to Earn Extra Points for Travel

I remember when I first started getting into credit card rewards my first goal was to optimize the cards that I had in my wallet.  It took some time but eventually I was able to get my wallet to where I wanted it with all the right cards working together.  If you’re new to the credit card game check out this post HERE to help you get started as this post is going to cover a strategy that will be better suited once you figure out your card strategy first.  After I got my credit cards in my wallet where I wanted them, it wasn’t long before I started looking for ways to double dip.  Over the years I found different apps that allowed me to do just that.  Some gave you cashback in the app that could then be transferred out to PayPal, Venmo, or your bank.  Others allowed me to earn points in their app that I could redeem towards gift cards.  But there’s one that has stood the test of time and that’s Rakuten. You can join for free HERE.

What is Rakuten?

If you go back far enough, some remember that Rakuten was once a website called Ebates.  To put it simply, Ebates was a site that you could go to and if you navigated to a store through the link on Ebates’ page, you would earn the cashback percentage on your purchase that was listed.  When I first started using Ebates/Rakuten I used it as a way to earn cashback on top of points that I was earning on my credit cards.  And for a number of years it worked!  But a few years ago, I found a feature in Rakuten that changed how I use the site.  The feature that I’m referring to is the ability to change Rakuten from earning cashback to earning American Express Membership Rewards points, and as of more recent you can set it to earn Bilt points if that’s your preference.  Now the one requirement is that you have to have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points.  At the time that I learned about this feature in Rakuten I personally didn’t have an American Express card that earned Membership Rewards, but I was contemplating getting the Gold Card.  By getting the Gold Card it would allow me to activate this part of Rakuten.  A big reason behind pursuing this was because I was trying to strategize how I was going to earn enough points to fly First Class to Japan which I talk about in my Japan on Points series.

Why I Chose Rakuten

So, my reason for pursuing this had a lot of moving parts behind it, but long story short I ended up getting the American Express Gold Card.  By getting the Gold Card, it gave me another way to earn points that could transfer to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program alongside my Chase Ultimate Rewards points.  The other part of it was now I could change my Rakuten account to earn American Express points.  Instead of let’s say 5% back at a given online store now it would be 5 points per dollar.  A big reason I like this double dipping approach is because it now allows me the possibility to earn multiple points currencies for a single purchase if I wanted to.  For example, let’s say I was going to make a purchase from Nike.  For the sake of this example, let’s say that Nike’s rewards is giving 10pts per dollar spent.  I could use my Hilton Honors Surpass card and earn Hilton Honors points for using the credit card for my purchase and then on the Rakuten side, as long as I activated the offer, I would earn Membership Rewards points too.

One Thing to Consider Before Joining

Now as nice as this all sounds there is one downside that I need to warn you about, and that’s the payout timing for Rakuten.  Similar to when you have it set to pay in cashback, points only pay out every quarter.  When the payout time comes you’ll see the points hit your American Express account.  While this isn’t the end of the world, it does slow down how many points you’ll have available to you if you are planning a trip that is coming up relatively soon.  Sometimes I catch myself looking at the pending points wishing that they were in my Membership Rewards account already, but on the flip side it can be a nice way to stack some points for the future.  I know this is what I’m planning for our upcoming trip to Japan.  I’ll pretty much be depleting all of our points to try and fly First Class to Japan.  So, it’s nice to know that I have some points building already for after my Membership Rewards account is depleted to go towards the next trip.

Is using Rakuten for everyone?  In my personal opinion you have to be careful when using Rakuten.  I don’t want to tell anyone what to do or how to use their money, but I just want to heed a warning that Rakuten can easily make you think you’re saving money.  But if you’re buying things you weren’t planning on buying then you’re not saving, you’re actually spending.  Where I see how Rakuten could be helpful is if you do occasional online shopping and are already planning to buy something, not looking for an excuse to buy something.  An even bigger help is if you use the Google Chrome plug-in for Rakuten.  This way you don’t have to always check the Rakuten site, and it will give you the ability to activate directly from whatever website you’re currently on with a simple click.

Conclusion

Hopefully this has given you a brief insight into Rakuten and how you can use it to help your points earning journey.  If you want to try it out feel free to sign up HERE.  Rakuten is free to sign up and use so there’s no financial obligation to take advantage of what they offer.  Wishing you the best in your points earning journey!