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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. After you’ve earned those Amex points…how quickly will you see them populate your account? Let’s take a look!
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.
When does Rakuten transfer points to your Amex account?
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.
In the past, I’ve had it credit to my account on the same day, but in 2023 and 2024 they have been hitting anywhere from 2 to 4 days after they leave my Rakuten account.
2023:
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
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 100k points for Lufthansa First Class
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.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 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℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
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.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
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.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.