Turn Cash-Back Into Amex Points With Rakuten…

For those who have not heard of Rakuten (formerly known as EBates) it’s one of many shopping portals that give you cashback for going through their site to make a purchase.  And, like many other shopping portals, it has an extension for Google Chrome which will let you know if the shopping page you’re browsing through is eligible for cashback. 

Often referred to as the Amazon of Japan, Rakuten is the largest Japanese e-commerce website and even has its own bank.

Okay, Brian, that’s cool but what does that have to do with travel and getting airline or hotel points?  Excellent question and I’m so glad you asked!  The thing that really sets Rakuten apart from other shopping portals is that it allows you to accumulate your cashback as American Express Membership Rewards Points.

Amex points can be used to buy hotel stays, flights or car rentals through American Express Travel, or you can transfer them to any one of 18 airline frequent flyer programs. 

Although not all airline programs are represented (notably absent are United and American), most of those that participate transfer on a 1:1 basis.  The most prominent airlines included are Delta, Jet Blue, Hawaiian, British, Air France, Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada, Aeromexico and Qantas.

So, I earn points and can get some travel deals, but why wouldn’t I just take the cashback I earned and use that for travel?  Ahhh… what’s great about this program is that Amex points are worth about 2¢ each.  Let’s say you make a $100 purchase at Old Navy and earn 6% cashback.  You could either take the $6.00 and eventually get a check from Rakuten, or you could get 600 Amex Rewards points that are worth $12.00.

A couple of real-life examples are the $44.95 purchase I made at L.L. bean for which I received 90 Amex points and the Hertz car rental I did for $190.00 that yielded 285 points.  The point yield for each purchase will be different depending on the cashback percentage. 

Obviously, you need an American Express card to take advantage of this particular aspect of the Rakuten program, but if you don’t have an Amex card (yet) you can still take advantage of the cashback until you do.  If you play the Points Game, you’ll have an American Express card soon since they have a lot of cards that earn either Rewards Points, airline miles or hotel points.

Sign-up today and get $30 cashback just for joining!  Once you have an American Express card, the Rakuten banner page shows you how to change over to collecting Amex Rewards points.  To join Rakuten, use this Sign-Up Link  (yes, I get a small kickback). 

Included in the over 2,500 stores you can shop at are Macy’s, Staples, Albertsons, Dollar General, Overstock, Advance Auto Parts, Grubhub and FTD Flowers.  Travel-specific sites include Priceline, Booking.com, Marriott, VRBO, Avis, Best Western, eBags and CheapOair.  You can do a search by the store name or by genre (electronics, travel, clothing, etc.).

Prefer to shop in the store?  Some stores allow you to link their Rakuten offer to your credit card.  Select the offer, link it to your card and when you make your purchase, you’ll get the cashback or Amex points deposited to your Rakuten account. If you go the Amex route, once you have 500 points you can transfer to them to your Amex Rewards account.

Here’s another example of using Rakuten to earn Amex Rewards Points.  My mother-in-law’s birthday was in August so I bought her flowers at 1-800-Flowers.  American Express has dozens of offers for cashback or a percentage off when you buy from various businesses and, as it turns out, there is a current offer for 15% off of 1-800-Flowers purchases.

When I logged into the 1-800-Flowers website, a 10% Rakuten cashback offer popped up.  Cool.  The total price including tax was $86.67.  I’ll receive a $13.00 credit from Amex and $8.67 back from Rakuten in the form of 867 Amex Rewards Points.  When all is said and done, by stacking the two offers my purchase will end up costing $65.00.  Happy Birthday, Kitty!

Brian

As an avid traveler, Brian has explored and enjoyed cultural encounters in over 40 countries while spending many years refining The Points Game — using credit card sign-up bonuses and other tricks to get nearly free travel.  Getting the most out of every trip is an art and Brian launched My Travel Traxx to help others enjoy the art of travel.