I’ve never seen a $50 (5,000 American Express Membership Rewards points) bonus on Rakuten until this month, and it’s set to end September 30th (in a week).
Many MilesTalkers already have Rakuten, so if you do, this is your signal to go and refer, refer, refer!
If you don’t have Rakuten, it is an online cash back portal – yes, one of many!
Uniquely, you have the choice to earn your cash back as straight cash or to earn them as American Express Membership Rewards points.
For example, if a store offers 10% cash back and you spend $100, you’ll get $10 cash back in your Rakuten account. Or, if you applied as a Membership Rewards member, you would earn 1,000 American Express Membership Rewards points instead.
The only requirement to choose to earn Membership Rewards is that you have a Membership Rewards-earning Amex card to link to your account.
I have my account set to earn the points since I value them at 1.7 cents, each giving me a 70% bump in value for my cash back.
Rakuten always has a refer-a-friend offer where you get some amount, but you getting $50 and the person you refer getting $50 when they spend $50 within 90 days is as high as the referral offer ever gets.
And to be clear, if you are taking the American Express Membership Rewards points instead of cash (as you should!) this is 5,000 Amex Membership Rewards points for each person.
So if you have a friend that doesn’t have Rakuten yet, do BOTH of you a favor and refer them.
And if you somehow don’t have your own Rakuten account yet, allow me to refer you 😉 You would get the 5,000 Amex points after spending $50 within 90 days. And to be clear, this just means clicking through any link on Rakuten and spending $50 at that store – you aren’t actually buying anything AT Rakuten.
Questions?
Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram for all sorts of tips on miles, points, credit cards, and travel.
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You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
