If you’re not doing your online shopping by first clicking through Rakuten or another similar site, you are ignoring one of the easiest (and most effective) tools for getting ever better deals on everyday purchases.
Rakuten is an online shopping portal that allows you to earn either cash back or Amex Membership Rewards points at more than 3,500 popular retailers such as Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Home Depot, Saks, ShopDisney and thousands more.
Right now, you can stack cash back savings of up to 15% cash back (or 15 American Express Membership Rewards points per dollar) onto Black Friday prices and get even better deals on the things you are already shopping for at hundreds of stores.
Just begin your online shopping trip on the Rakuten website, and search for the store at which you plan to shop. You’ll be redirected to the actual merchant website. After you make your purchase, Rakuten will dump bonus rewards into your online account.
Better yet, you can also earn a $40 (or 4,000 Membership Rewards) bonus when you spend $40 through Rakuten if you’re a new Rakuten shopper.
Here’s what you need to know about this deal.
Increased cash back with Rakuten
The ability to earn 15% (or more) cash back is certainly newsworthy, but the ability to earn 15 Amex Membership Rewards points per dollar can be even better for those who like to travel using their Amex Membership Rewards points.
TPG values Amex points at 2 cents each, on average, when used toward travel. That means you’ll get an effective return of 30% toward travel when making purchases during this promotion. If you’re buffing and polishing your credit cards in preparation for holiday purchases, this is the deal for you. Even if you want straight-up cash back, this is still a fantastic deal.
Related: How to use Rakuten to earn bonus cash back or Amex points on your purchases
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Examples of stores that are participating in this promotion of 15% cash back/15 points or more per dollar include:
- ShopDisney.
- Saks Fifth Avenue.
- Backcountry.
- Macy’s
- Gap.
- Adidas.
- Dell Technologies.
- Neiman Marcus.
- Bloomingdale’s.
- Academy Sports and Outdoors.
- Lego.
If you have any big holiday purchases on the horizon, these bonus rewards could single-handedly fund your next vacation. After all, with Amex points you can do things like:
Related: How to redeem American Express Membership Rewards for maximum value
Stack your Saks Fifth Avenue credit
On top of all that bonus cash back or extra points, remember that The Platinum Card® from American Express offers a ton of different perks including a statement credit of up to $100 per year at Saks Fifth Avenue.
The credit is divided into two $50 statement credits, one valid from January through June and the other from July through December. Enrollment is required.
If you haven’t used your $50 credit through the end of December 2022, this presents a wonderful opportunity to do so. This allows you to “double or triple-dip” because you can use your $50 statement credit and also earn bonus rewards for the purchase. You can also stack on a $75 gift card with $150 purchase if shopping on Black Friday.
Related: Best credit cards for online shopping
Bottom line
Today only, Rakuten is allowing members to earn up to 15% cash back — or even better, 15 Amex Membership Rewards points per dollar spent.
Between this excellent earning rate and the increased $40 (4,000-Amex point) refer-a-friend bonus, you could conceivably earn enough points for free flights to your next vacation spot with surprisingly little effort.
A final tip: If you are really after cash back instead of points, be sure to also check rates at TopCashBack.com which is offering up to 20% cash back at some of these very same retailers.
Additional reporting by Ehsan Haque and Summer Hull.
