We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Monkey Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
How quickly do Rakuten points transfer to
American Express?
In 2019, Rakuten and Amex teamed up and gave members the option: earn cashback or Amex Membership Rewards on your purchases. I’ve prioritized Rakuten over every other cashback portal since that occurred. Why? I value Amex points at over 2 cents a pop – meaning if Saks is offering 10% cashback or 10x Amex points I’m going to take the Amex points since I peg them between 1.5 and 2 cents per point = 15 to 20% back. If you’re unfamiliar, you can Learn more about the Rakuten and Amex relationship by reading this article.
You can earn a bonus by using our Rakuten link.
Note…Rakuten just finished a $30 promo so keep an eye out for higher offers.
My 4th quarter ( Oct to Dec ) total was due to transfer August 13th. It hit my account same day.
Long and short of it….you accumulate points over a 3 month period, and then 6 weeks after the close of that period, on the 15th of month, you’ll be credited.
My period from April to June closed, and I was due to be credited August 13th, roughly 6 weeks later, and as you can see below….it hit 48 hours later. In the past, I’ve had it credit to my account on the same day.
Why I choose Amex Membership Rewards over Rakuten Cashback.
Personally, I value Amex points at nearly 2 cents, which means whatever the published cashback rate is, I’m earning double that number purely by choosing Membership Rewards.
- Rakuten offers 10% cashback which means I earn 10x American Express points
- $100 purchase would earn 1000 Membership rewards which I value at roughly $20, or an effect 20% off.
Not everyone is going to agree with my valuation, but in the past, I’ve used my points to transfer to partners and redeem at values far higher than 2 cents. Worst case, I can redeem at 1.55c on premium travel because of my Amex Business Platinum.
One example…transferring Amex to Aeroplan and redeeming 70k points for Lufthansa First Class
Here’s how it works with our site and Amex referrals:
Referrals are how I make upwards of 500k points a year, but it’s also how I can help you out. Since I’m constantly trying to use points on my travel for the site, I cycle through my referrals first, and usually very quickly I max out. I then work my friends and family through the site, and finally, I start adding your links that you leave below. I leave them up for a few weeks and then cycle in another one.
You can also leave referrals for the Amex Green, Amex Aspire, Amex Platinum, Amex Biz Platinum, and Amex Biz Gold. I would note that you get more action when the referral is correlated to the article.
Recap
Rakuten points populate the same day as they’re scheduled to transfer. For our future travel purposes, earning Amex points is extremely advantageous, but certainly weigh the pros and cons, and make a decision that best suits your needs. Cashbackmonitor is a great resource to use if you’re purely interested in getting the highest cashback rate.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based.
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash , Ink Business Unlimited you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
- 3x on dining
- including eligible delivery services for takeout
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Ultimate Rewards/Chase Travel
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
11 Comments