Earn up to 15X Membership Rewards points (or 15% cash back) at hundreds of stores this week
Quick summary
If you're not registered with Rakuten, you ignore one of the easiest (and most effective) tools for earning bonus rewards on everyday purchases.
Rakuten is an online shopping portal that gives you the option to earn either Amex points or cash back. More than 3,500 merchants offer bonus rewards through Rakuten; just begin your online shopping trip on the Rakuten website, search for the store at which you plan to shop, and you'll be redirected to the actual merchant website. After you make your purchase, Rakuten will dump bonus rewards into your online account.
From May 9-16, Rakuten is running its annual "Big Give Week" promotion, offering up to 15% cash back or 15 American Express Membership Rewards points per dollar at hundreds of popular stores. There's even an increased bonus for new members.
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 member.
Here's what you need to know about this deal.
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Earn 15X on everyday purchases with Rakuten
The ability to earn 15% cash back is certainly newsworthy. Online shopping portals are rarely so generous.
But the ability to earn 15 Amex Membership Rewards points per dollar is the real story. TPG valuations peg 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 summer purchases, this is the deal for you.
Related: How to use Rakuten to earn bonus cash back or Amex points on your purchases
Hundreds of stores are participating in this promotion, including:
- Blue Apron.
- Boll & Branch.
- Crocs.
- Finish Line.
- Forever 21.
- PetSmart.
- Purple.
- Ray-Ban.
- The Container Store.
- Vivid Seats.
- Vrbo.
If you've got any big purchases on the horizon, these bonus rewards could single-handedly fund your next vacation. After all, with Amex points you can do things like:
- Fly one-way from Chicago to Dublin by transferring 13,000 points to Aer Lingus — requiring $867 in purchases during this promo.
- Fly United Airlines from Washington, D.C., to Honolulu by transferring 17,500 points to Singapore Airlines — requiring $1,167 in purchases during this promo.
- Fly on ANA to Japan by transferring 22,500 points to Virgin Atlantic — requiring $1,500 in purchases during this promo.
Related: How to redeem American Express Membership Rewards for maximum value
And consider this — because travel brands like Vrbo qualify for this deal, you can pay for your upcoming vacation and earn tens of thousands of points toward a later vacation.
Also, Rakuten has increased its referral bonus during this promotion. The normal bonus is $30, but both you and your friends will now get $40 (or 4,000 Amex points). So if you don't have a Rakuten account yet, now is the perfect time to sign up.
Related: Best credit cards for online shopping
Bottom line
Rakuten's Big Give Week is back, and it's allowing members to earn up to 15% cash back — or even better, 15 Amex points per dollar.
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.