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Rakuten started their Black Friday on Thursday with 12x, but as they have done in the past, they popped the deals up to 15x for Black Friday itself. Saks is at 16x – great for Amex Platinum, Dell at 15x – great for Amex Business Platinum, 1800 Contacts is at 20x, etc.
Rakuten has done 15x in the past for Black Friday, and even some targeted 20x just as we’re seeing today. There is a chance we could see it come back on Cyber Monday, but if you’re looking to do some shopping, strike while the deal is hot.
If you’re unfamiliar with Rakuten, or shopping portals in general, read this article which goes into more detail. Throughout the year, Rakuten runs increased bonus promos like the 11x we are seeing today, but keep an eye on the upcoming weeks – we usually see bonuses increase to 15 to 20x around Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
You can earn cashback or Amex points via Rakuten
If you are unaware, Rakuten ( formerly Ebates ) partnered with American Express and gave its members the option to earn Amex Membership Rewards in lieu of Cashback. The rate: 1% = 1 Membership Reward. Read this article if you want to learn more.
Personally, I find this to be a far more attractive option since I value Membership Rewards anywhere between 1.5 and 2 cents. This current promo means you could earn an effective 21/ 28% back in the form of points.
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You can earn $40 cashback when you spend $40+ by using our link
Loads of stores at 12x but look at Dell and Saks
There are great sales at Nike, Dermstore,
How quickly do the points populate your account?
Once a quarter, Rakuten will send the points over to your Amex account. Feb 15th, May 15th, and so and so forth. You can see it populated the same day.
That was a really big quarter for me, but just those points alone were close to a Lufthansa First Class redemption via Avianca LifeMiles ( 87k ).
Overall:
This is a great time to utilize the Rakuten portal
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
80k offer in branch currently – I think this should be online soon
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Super solid welcome offer.
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
There is currently an 80k offer after $4k spend in 3 months available in branch, and up to 90k after $6k spend in 6 months. I suspect some version of this will be online soon if you don’t want the hassle of going into a branch.
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 60k is a very, very good offer. 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.
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