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How quickly do Rakuten points transfer to American Express?

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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.

a group of bags and money

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.

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In the past, I’ve had it credit to my account on the same day, but in 2023 they have been hitting anywhere from 2 to 4 days after they leave my Rakuten account.

2023:

1st Quarter = 2/16/23

a screenshot of a phone2nd Quarter =5/17/23a close-up of a white card3rd Quarter = 8/19/23

a close-up of a white sign

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 GreenAmex Aspire, Amex PlatinumAmex 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.

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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Learn More

 Affiliate link 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
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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 including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 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 Travel Portal
  • 2x on all other travel
  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via 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. 

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.

13 Comments

  • Jordan February 25, 2024
  • John B October 5, 2023

    I’m using Rakuten to get Cash Back at my favorite stores. Hate for you to miss out, so join now with my invite and you’ll get $30 after you spend $30.*

    http://www.rakuten.com/r/JTB2832?eeid=28187

  • Nikole May 17, 2023

    Great post!

    I have been taking advantage of the 20% off week at Rakuten and will be converting my Amex points to delta miles stacking another 15% off to book travel for the next year. It’s by far the best perk I have ever had on a credit card!

    Amex referral
    Apply.
    https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/NIKOLTw7kw?XL=MIMCP

    Rakuten referral
    https://www.rakuten.com/r/NIKOLE2188?eeid=44749

  • Riley March 1, 2023

    American Express Gold Card: Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 6 months.

    https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/RILEYHtJdd?xl=cp15

    Good luck, thank you!

  • Alex K February 26, 2023

    Here’s my referral!! Great tips as always Zach

    https://www.rakuten.com/r/ALEXAN53849?eeid=28187

  • Kaz February 19, 2023

    Also, how do you get to the Amex web page that shows your MR activity?

  • Kaz February 19, 2023

    Would appreciate the referrals:

    https://www.rakuten.com/r/KAZU19?eeid=44971

  • Christian May 16, 2020

    “Rakuten offers 10% cashback which means I earn 10x American Express points” – I’m afraid I don’t follow. From what I’ve seen, Rakuten cash back rates run from .5% to 30%. If there’s an opportunity to earn more, I’m very interested.

    • Miles May 16, 2020

      Hey Christian – you can choose either/or So if you choose Amex points you can effectively swap the % for an x to know how many points you’ll earn

      • Christian May 16, 2020

        I understand the system and even have the credit card, it’s just the specific 10% threw me off since it wasn’t listed for a given company. I was hoping that there might be a way to get 10 MR points on everything. Unlikely but worth a shot.

        • Miles May 16, 2020

          Gotcha – nah just using it as an example of how it works

    • Yihao May 17, 2020

      Have been using Rakuten (Ebates) for a year + now. Would really appreciate it if you can share my link!

      https://www.rakuten.com/r/HOWARD5404?eeid=44753

  • Ryan G May 16, 2020

    Hi great to see these post the same day! I just switched from cash back to Amex points now, here’s my link if you’re able to share would greatly appreciate!

    rakuten.com/r/RYANGA279

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