What is Rakuten?
You may have heard the ads – I know I get them all the time when I’m listening to podcasts on Spotify. Or maybe you’ve heard a friend mention that they use Rakuten when they’re shopping online. So what is Rakuten? Rakuten is a shopping portal where you can get cash back at many popular retailers when you make a purchase.
How does Rakuten work?
Many people use Rakuten when they’re shopping online. All you need to do is install the browser extension, activate, and shop as normal. Once you’ve installed the browser extension and you’re on a site that gives cash back, a notification will pop up to remind you to activate along with the amount of cash back you’ll receive from your purchase.
Say you make a purchase for $100 and the cash back from Rakuten is 1%. That means you’ll receive $1.00 back on that purchase. The payments are sent out quarterly. The minimum payment amount for Rakuten is $5.01. If you don’t meet that threshold, the money will sit in your account until your total is greater than $5.01.
While Rakuten is primarily discussed for online shopping, you can also earn cash back for shopping in-stores with linked credit cards. Rakuten benefits because it drives sales for participating retailers. They earn a commission when you make a purchase at one of their partner stores.
What retailers are on Rakuten?
Rakuten partners with countless retailers across a variety of industries. Here are just a few of their partners:
- Adidas
- BestBuy
- Bloomingdale’s
- CVS
- Expedia
- Instacart
- Lowe’s
- Lululemon
- Marriott
- Nordstrom
- Old Navy
- PetSmart
- Target
- Tripadvisor
- Viator
- Walmart
- Zappos
How do I get paid?
On a quarterly basis, Rakuten will either mail you a physical check or deposit the amount into your linked PayPal account.
How does this help me travel hack?
Instead of getting cash back, you can have your payment deposited into your American Express account for Membership Rewards points. According to Nerd Wallet, AmEx Membership Rewards points are worth 2.8 cents when transferred to a travel partner. So even at the baseline amount, getting Membership Rewards points is more valuable than getting cash back deposited into your account.
So how do I use it?
Install the browser extension and activate it any time it pops up when you’re on a participating store. If you have certain purchases that can wait, Rakuten often offers heightened cash back around holidays like Fourth of July or Thanksgiving. We recently got 12% back at Backcountry as part of an elevated cash back tied to Labor Day.
How much can you really earn?
The honest answer is that it depends. If you frequently shop online at participating retailers, you can make a fair amount of points. If you don’t, you won’t.
This was for a purchase that had 12% cash back. I paid just over $129 to Viator and earned 1,616 American Express points. These points are in addition to the credit card points I earned. I used my Chase Sapphire for 2x on travel.
I earned over 2,000 American Express points on a purchase at Backcountry. This was for 12% cash back.
Here are some of my numbers for reference. I used to get mailed a physical check before I opened my AmEx Gold card and started earning Membership Rewards points.
- November 2022 – $69.26
- February 2023 – $29.17
- May 2023 – $16.83
- May 2023 – 1,406 Membership Rewards points
- August 2023 – 3,737 Membership Rewards points
- November 2023 – 3,000 Membership Rewards points
- May 2024 – 3,146 Membership Rewards points
- August 2024 – 4,475 Membership Rewards points
Can you use Rakuten and an airline shopping portal?
No – when you are shopping online, if you activate Rakuten, you will not be able to also use an airline shopping portal.
When reviewing the numbers above for my Rakuten returns, keep in mind that I don’t use Rakuten every time it pops up on a website. I also have the United shopping portal installed on my browser. When I’m on a site that has both United and Rakuten offers (as you can only use one shopping portal), I compare which one offers more miles or cash back. If they’re the same, I typically go with United. This is just based on my personal travel preferences.
There is a lot of potential in American Express Membership Rewards points. Rakuten also frequently offers elevated cash back (think 10% or more back) while United and other airline shopping portals typically have lower mileage amounts.
Summary
Should you sign up for Rakuten? Yes, you literally have nothing to lose by doing so. Even if you don’t have an American Express card to earn Membership Rewards points, you can still earn cash back from purchases you’re already making. It’s a low-effort way to either make your purchases less expensive or earn a bit more points for travel.
