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Rakuten, formerly known as Ebates, recently had a Black Friday through Cyber Monday sale with a 12x to 15x cashback offer. While the promotion has since ended, Rakuten is currently offering increased cashback or Amex Points for a variety of stores. This means that if you’re still doing some Christmas or holiday shopping, you have the opportunity to earn some extra rewards.
If you’re unfamiliar with Rakuten or shopping portals in general, it’s worth reading up on them. Shopping portals like Rakuten allow you to earn cashback or Amex Points for purchases made through their platform. Rakuten has partnered with American Express, giving its members the option to earn Amex Membership Rewards instead of cashback. The conversion rate is 1% cashback equals 1 Membership Reward.
Personally, I find earning Amex Points to be a more attractive option since I value them between 1.5 and 2 cents each. With the current promotion, you could potentially earn an effective 21% to 28% back in the form of points.
One notable offer from Rakuten is the opportunity to earn $30 cashback when you spend $30 or more by using their link. Additionally, many stores are offering increased cashback or points, with rates ranging from 10x to 15x.
For in-store purchases at Safeway or Albertson’s, as long as you pay with the card that you have added to your Rakuten wallet, you’ll earn an extra 2.5x cashback. This means that if you have an Amex Gold card, you’d earn 6.5x on supermarket purchases up to $25,000. If you add a Citi Premier card, you’d get 5.5x cashback, and so on. This is a great way to maximize your rewards on everyday spending.
Another offer worth considering is from AARP. By signing up for a 5-year membership, you can get it for $9 per year, or $45 total. Rakuten is currently offering $25 cashback for signing up, bringing the total cost down to just $20. If you use my $40 referral code, you’ll receive an additional $40 back, essentially getting paid $20 to join.
If you have AT&T as your mobile service provider, you can also receive up to $10 cashback per month through Rakuten. I’ve been a member of Rakuten for almost 10 years and have found it to be a great way to earn extra rewards on my everyday spending.
When it comes to how quickly the points populate your account, Rakuten sends the points over to your Amex account once a quarter. The dates for point distribution are February 15th, May 15th, and so on. In my experience, the points usually populate the same day, but it has taken 3 or 4 days in the past as well.
Overall, this is a very good time to utilize the Rakuten portal for your online shopping needs. With increased cashback and Amex Points offers, you can earn extra rewards on your holiday purchases. Just remember to use the Rakuten links when making your purchases to ensure you receive the rewards.