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Earning Points
How to Maximize Rewards by Shopping with Rakuten
Updated November 11, 2025
Rakuten just might be the most powerful tool when it comes to maximizing rewards from shopping - not just online but in-store, too! Whether you want to earn a ton of cash back, AMEX Membership Rewards, or Bilt Rewards, you absolutely need to be using Rakuten!
What is Rakuten?
Rakuten is an online shopping portal. If you're not familiar with the concept, here's the breakdown:
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Create a free Rakuten account (use this link for a special welcome offer!)
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Search for a retailer
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Review the cash back or points offer
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Click the link to activate the offer and be redirected to the retailer's normal website
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Make a purchase during that same browser session and you'll receive the cash back or points offer listed!
It's that simple! Other than making a few extra clicks, it takes very little effort and costs you NOTHING to earn tons of extra rewards from the purchases you were already planning on making!
Earn tons of extra cash back or AMEX points with Rakuten
​You can also earn when shopping in-store for select retailers. To do this, you'll need to have at least one card linked to your Rakuten account, activate the in-store offer before shopping, and use the linked card to pay.
Use Rakuten in-store offers to "stack" rewards when shopping
NOTE: you can use ANY card to pay and still earn rewards through Rakuten (must be linked for in-store offers). Our top recommendation for general shopping is one of the Capital One Venture cards because they earn 2x miles on all purchases!
How to Earn AMEX Membership Rewards through Rakuten
Earning extra cash back is great, but what if you want to earn travel rewards to stretch the value even further? The good news is if you have an AMEX card that earns Membership Rewards, you can do just that through Rakuten!
To switch to earning AMEX points instead of cash back, simply navigate to the "Account Settings" page on your Rakuten account (note: this works best on the desktop site). Then scroll down to the "How You're Getting Paid" section. There, you can select the AMEX option. You'll be prompted to link your accounts by logging into your AMEX account.
After switching to the AMEX option, you'll see points instead of cash back listed on the site. For every 1% cash back listed on offers, you will instead earn 1 point per dollar. For set dollar amount offers, 1 cent equals 1 point (i.e. the $250 SoFi Banking offer will get you 25,000 AMEX points!)
And the great thing is you DON'T have to pay with an AMEX card to earn the AMEX points through Rakuten.
All that matters is you click through the Rakuten link or activate the in-store offer before making a purchase. So you can pay with a card like the Capital One Venture X to get 2x miles per dollar on the purchase in addition to the AMEX points offer listed on Rakuten.
There are also travel-related offers on Rakuten (such as Viator, VRBO, IHG, Hertz, and Marriott), so you can pay with a card that earns multipliers on travel categories (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or this top card) to multiply and diversify your rewards. And since you'll be redirected to the brand's normal website and the booking will be direct, you'll also earn all the usual hotel points and benefits for the stay!
Here's an example for booking a $1000 hotel through Marriott:
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Search for Marriott on Rakuten
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Click the link to the activate the 1.5x offer
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Book your Marriott hotel and pay with this top card
Following checkout, you'll earn:
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1500 AMEX points (from the 1.5x Rakuten offer)
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A minimum of 10,000 Marriott points (and potentially much more, depending on your Marriott status)
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3000 Citi ThankYou points (from 3x on direct hotel bookings with this top card)
Rakuten has lots of great travel offers!
How to Earn Bilt Rewards through Rakuten
As of November 2025, you can now earn Bilt Rewards through Rakuten...and you don't even need a Bilt card! You can signup for a free Bilt account to earn and redeem Bilt Rewards through their various partnerships.
If you're not familiar with Bilt, it's a program that allows you to earn points on rent (and soon mortgages!), in addition to dining, travel, shopping, and more. Bilt has a GREAT set of transfer partners - including Hyatt, Alaska Airlines, Japan Airlines, Air France, United, and many others.
To switch to earning Bilt Rewards instead of cash back, open the Bilt app and select the "Rewards" tab at the bottom. Then, select the "Everyday rewards" option at the top. You'll then see the "Earn points with Rakuten" option and tap "Get started" to link your accounts.
IMPORTANT: the Bilt app promotes a limited time bonus of 2,500 rewards when you create and link a Rakuten account. However, this is not the best signup bonus for Rakuten. You'll first want to create a Rakuten account through this link to get a $50 bonus (equals 5,000 points) and THEN link your Bilt account to Rakuten.
After switching to the Bilt Rewards option, you'll see points instead of cash back listed on the site. For every 1% cash back listed on offers, you will instead earn 1 point per dollar. For set dollar amount offers, 1 cent equals 1 point (i.e. the $250 SoFi Banking offer will get you 25,000 Bilt Rewards!)
And just like with AMEX, you DON'T have to pay with a Bilt card to earn the Bilt Rewards through Rakuten.
All that matters is you click through the Rakuten link or activate the in-store offer before making a purchase. So you can pay with a card like the Capital One Venture X to get 2x miles per dollar on the purchase in addition to the Bilt Rewards offer listed on Rakuten.
Earn Bilt Rewards through Rakuten by linking your accounts. However, you'll want to signup for Rakuten through this link first to for a better signup bonus.
Rakuten Payout Schedule
Rakuten differs a bit from other shopping portals in that the payouts are in a lump sum on a quarterly basis.
Confirmed cash back or points are paid out on the following schedule:
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August 15: For rewards earned from April 1 to June 30.
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November 15: For rewards earned from July 1 to September 30.
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February 15: For rewards earned from October 1 to December 31.
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May 15: For rewards earned from January 1 to March 31.
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The rewards must be "Confirmed" (past the store's return period) before they'll be paid out, so if it's approaching a payout cutoff date, it's important to make your purchase as soon as possible, or the rewards might not be deposited until the next quarterly payout date.
It's a great feeling when those Rakuten payouts hit your account!
Maximizing Rakuten Referrals
Before getting started with Rakuten, you absolutely want to sign-up through a referral link first.
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This will get you $50 cash back or 5k AMEX or Bilt points after only a $50 purchase within the first 90 days!
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After signing up, you will see a "Refer & Earn" option on the menu. Share your referral link with friends, and if they sign-up and meet the referral bonus requirement, you will also get $50 cash back or 5k AMEX or Bilt points! It's a win-win for everyone!
Rakuten referrals are a great way to earn extra cash back or AMEX points!
Earn 100,000 bonus miles plus 2x miles on every purchase, 10k bonus miles upon each renewal, airport lounge access, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, and more premium benefits!
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