Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Many companies offer discounts and deals over Labor Day weekend, and shopping portals are no exception.
Perennial favorite Rakuten is celebrating the end of summer with three days of triple cash back (or American Express Membership Rewards points) at a variety of travel brands and other retailers.
Here’s the lowdown on Rakuten’s Labor Day deals so you can start planning your purchases.
Related: How to earn bonus cash back or Amex points on your online shopping purchases with Rakuten
Rakuten’s Labor Day deals
From Aug. 30 through Sept. 1, you can earn triple cash back or Amex points at many popular brands when you shop through Rakuten.
Several travel brands are participating, including:
- Hotel Collection: 22.5% cash back or 22.5 Amex points per dollar spent
- Tripadvisor: up to 12% cash back or 12 Amex points per dollar spent
- Sixt: 12% cash back or 12 Amex points per dollar spent
- Choice Hotels: 10.5% cash back or 10.5 Amex points per dollar spent
- InterContinental Hotels Group: 9% cash back or 9 Amex points per dollar spent
- Samsonite: 7.5% cash back or 7.5 Amex points per dollar spent
- Viator: 6% cash back or 6 Amex points per dollar spent
And the Labor Day promotion isn’t just for travel brands. Here are some other retailers where you can earn triple cash back (or Amex points) between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1:
- Beauty: Tatcha, Fenty Beauty and ELF Cosmetics
- Fashion: The North Face, Converse, Hollister, Nike and Birkenstock
- Lifestyle: Brooklinen, PetSmart, Temu and Petco
If you're new to Rakuten, consider signing up using a friend's referral link — and if you're already a Rakuten devotee, refer your loved ones. Either way, you can both earn a $30 cash-back bonus when the referee joins Rakuten and makes $30 of qualifying purchases within the first 90 days.
Maximize your purchase
Don’t forget that you can stack your Rakuten earnings with discounts offered by the merchant — and many retailers run deals over Labor Day weekend. Just be sure to only apply coupon codes that you find on Rakuten, as others may void your rewards.
You can also stack Rakuten earnings with rental car and hotel rewards programs as long as you book directly. For example, if you plan to click through Rakuten to book a Choice hotel stay, be sure to add your Choice Privileges loyalty program number to your booking to earn rewards through the hotel in addition to your Rakuten earnings.
That’s not the only way to maximize your purchase. After clicking through Rakuten to the merchant’s page, supercharge your earnings by paying with the right credit card.
For travel sites, this means a card that earns bonus points on travel purchases, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) or the Wells Fargo Autograph® Card (see rates and fees). The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which earns 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases, would also serve you well. Or, if you've already added the new Rakuten American Express® Card to your wallet, you can earn an additional 4% cash back (or 4 Amex points per dollar spent) on all Rakuten purchases when you pay with the card.
The information for the Rakuten American Express Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Lastly, check your Amex Offers and other credit card offers — you just might find a targeted offer that lines up with your purchase.
For instance, I currently have an offer on my Chase Sapphire Preferred for 15% back at Sixt when I spend $500 or more by Sept. 30. If I clicked through Rakuten to Sixt over Labor Day weekend and used my Sapphire Preferred to prepay for my rental, I’d get $60 in rewards (or 6,000 Amex Membership Rewards points) from Rakuten and $75 as a statement credit thanks to my Chase offer, plus 2 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on my travel purchase.
However, be sure to check Rakuten’s terms for your specific merchant. For example, at the time of writing, Rakuten’s Viator terms state that “Cash Back is not available if card-linked offers, discount codes, or staff and student discount codes are used.” Sixt’s exclusions, however, do not mention card-linked offers.
Bottom line
Shopping portals are a great way to earn cash back or valuable points on purchases you would be making anyway, and Rakuten’s Labor Day deals can make your online shopping trip even more rewarding. If you’re mulling over a travel booking or other purchase at one of the above retailers, it could be worth timing your purchase between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 to maximize your rewards.
Other shopping portals may run Labor Day or back-to-school specials as well, so it’s worth checking a shopping portal aggregator to be sure you’re getting to best deal possible.
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