Rakuten Boosts Friend Referrals To $30/3,000 Amex Points Each (Limited Time)

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Update: Promo now extended through 11 May 2020.

Rakuten is one of my favorite cash back sites because it allows users to choose between earning pure cash back or Amex Membership Rewards in place of cash back and, for the next 12 days, Rakuten is offering a great bonus to anyone who is referred to the portal as well as to the users doing the referring.

Rakuten Friend Referral Program

The program and the current promotion couldn’t be simpler:

  • Refer friends to Rakuten (link)
  • When a referred friend spends $30 through the Rakuten portal (across any of the hundreds of stores the portal offers), the friend earns $30 and you (the referrer) get $30 too.
  • The offer period runs from 20 April to 1 May 11 May 2020
  • The offer is valid only if the referral signs up and completes their qualifying purchase during the Offer Period

Collecting American Express Membership Rewards

Follow this link to see how to elect to earn Amex Membership Rewards in place of cash back.

Rakuten offers 1 Membership Reward point in place of every 1 cent of cash back earned through the portal and that fact brings with it three pieces of good news:

  1. As I value Membership Rewards points at 1.5 cents each, every cent of cash back earned can be said to be worth 1.5 cents if you choose to earn Membership Rewards points.
  2. If you choose to earn Membership Rewards points, this promotion will see you earn 3,000 points for every friend you successfully refer (as long as they go on to spend $30 by 1 May 2020).
  3. Every person who is referred to Rakuten and who chooses to earn Membership Rewards points can earn 3,000 bonus Membership Rewards points from the referral…and that’s on top of whatever other points are offered for the purchases being made.

Be Careful How You Pay

There’s more on offer there than just the great cash referral bonus or the Membership Rewards Points that Rakuten is offering – this is an opportunity to make the most of all the other deals that will stack with this promotion.

For example:

  • Check the Amex offers that your American Express cards have been targeted for as a number of retailers that appear on the Rakuten portal often have Amex deals going as well (e.g Levis, Sunglass Hut, eBags etc…)
  • If you’re shopping with a retailer in a category that won’t earn any credit card bonus points (e.g. Under Armour) make sure you use a credit card that will earn you the points you value most or use a great cash back card (like the Citi® Double Cash credit card)

Bottom Line

This is a very nice promotion for all sides from Rakuten as the referrer and the person being referred can both do very well out of this….just don’t forget that the person being referred must spend at least $30 through the Rakuten portal for everyone to walk away a winner.

Click here to be referred to Rakuten by me and to qualify to earn $30 cash back or 3,000 Membership Rewards points

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