10 Minutes to Multiply Your Points: Earn More Free Travel With Rakuten
How To Get Started With 5,000 FREE Points
If you’re not already using Rakuten, let’s get that corrected ASAP, my friend.
Because Rakuten is the #1 best way to earn extra points for more free travel…without having to spending a penny more than you would otherwise. And it’s 100% free. No catches.
I first signed up for Rakuten back in 2016, when it was still known as ebates. For years, I earned rewards in the form of “Big Fat Checks”…essentially cash back that arrived quarterly via snail mail, which I’d deposit at the ATM and later on my bank app.
Don’t get me wrong, it was great having a bit of extra cash appear out of nowhere (and a couple of those Big Fat Checks were over $100!)…
But the game truly changed when Rakuten added the ability to convert earned “cash back” rewards into super-valuable American Express Membership Rewards Points (along with a few other travel-related options).
In total, I’ve earned precisely 95,903 points through Rakuten (plus over 10,000 currently pending), which I’ve turned into multiple award flights (including one particularly nice business class flight on Singapore Airlines). A huge majority of those points were earned from purchases I would’ve made anyway…though a couple of particularly intentional purchases earned me over 5,000 points each (more on that strategy later).
Read on to learn how to get set up and start earning more free travel through Rakuten in less than 10 minutes. Or don’t…
But whatever you do, don’t register for Rakuten without claiming your 5,000 FREE points. Make sure to sign up using my referral code MENDOZ5257 (or register by clicking any of the signup links on my page) to earn your extra 5,000 points with your first purchase of $50 or more within 90 days of sign-up.
Disclaimer: I make, and have always made, my purchases through Rakuten using my own money, as a regular user, and I haven’t been compensated in any way in exchange for expressing my opinions in this article. However, this blog post may contain referral or affiliate links, meaning I could get a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking the link…at zero extra cost to you. I only share things I genuinely love and believe in and think my audience would benefit from too. This is how I’m able to keep making free travel resources and guides for you. Learn more about my policies here. Thanks for your continued support!
Here’s How It Works
To earn Rakuten points, all you have to do is “activate” Rakuten before each eligible purchase.
Activation is easy through the app, the website, or even through a dedicated Chrome browser extension that automatically notifies you when a purchase you’re about to make is eligible for Rakuten points (my personal favorite).
You just install the plug-in on your Chrome browser one time, and from then on it’ll alert you if whatever “store” you’re shopping at online is eligible for rewards.
If you prefer not to deal with the Chrome extension, then you just have to be a little more intentional about remembering to activate Rakuten through the app or website each time you’re about to make an eligible purchase. So worth the free travel!
Rakuten displays eligible stores/vendors and their earnings rates on their app and website, so you know exactly how many extra points you’ll be earning before you even pull out your credit card.
There are tons of opportunities to earn when you shop in stores or online, at anywhere from Petco to lululemon. But because Rakuten partners with all kinds of different vendors, it’s easy to earn more free travel even if you’re not an avid shopper.
As a full-time traveler, I don’t shop much in the traditional sense myself, so I earn most of my Rakuten points from hotel bookings on booking.com and agoda, plus tour booking sites like Viator, Getyourguide, and Klook.
There’s also rewards on office supply stores (like Staples), software (like VPN/antivirus services), and home improvement stores (like Lowe’s).
Adding Up Your Rewards
The Rakuten earnings rate can sound complicated, but it becomes super simple when you think of it like this…
Your Rakuten points earnings = Your purchase amount, multiplied by the Rakuten earnings rate
For example: If the earnings rate for Petco is 1X, and you spend $100 at Petco while Rakuten is activated, you earn Rakuten “cash back” equivalent to 100x1=100 Rakuten points. But if the earnings rate is 2X, you get 100x2=200 points on that same $100 Petco purchase. And so on.
The earnings rates are always changing, but most of the time you can find stores with rates of 5X, 10X, or way more…I’ve even seen as high as 100X 🤯
And just to be clear, Rakuten rewards are earned in addition to any points you already earn on that purchase from spending on your credit card.
Talk about a truly risk-free way to earn extra free travel with a couple extra clicks! The unlimited potential and no real downside is exactly why Rakuten is the first recommendation I make to anyone who wants to start earning extra points without extra spending.
Get Paid
By default, Rakuten points earn “cash back” in the form of those “Big Fat Checks” I mentioned earlier, which are essentially worth $.01 each.
To get more value out of your points, you’ll need to elect to get paid another way…
My personal favorite is to get paid in American Express Membership Rewards points, which are redeemable across tons of airline and hotel partners, at a 1:1 transfer ratio (meaning you get 1 Amex point for each Rakuten point). Note that this requires having an Amex account that earns Ultimate Rewards, like the American Express Gold or Platinum credit card.
You can also choose to redeem your Rakuten “cash back” rewards for Bilt points, but starting on May 16, 2026, the transfer ratio decreases to 0.5:1, meaning you’ll need 2 Rakuten points to earn each Bilt point…unless you have Silver, Platinum, or Gold status with Bilt (in which case you keep your 1:1 ratio).
Rewards add up in your Rakuten account until they’re automatically paid out quarterly each February 15th, May 15th, August 15th, and November 15th.
Earn Rewards On Your Next Purchase
To start earning more free points in 10 minutes or less, follow these easy one-time steps:
Register for a free account with Rakuten.
To get 5,000 points FREE for your first purchase, register using this link (click here), or enter my referral code MENDOZ5257 when creating your account.
Then you have a full 90 days to make a purchase of $50+ through Rakuten to claim your free 5,000 points (but only spend on something you were planning to buy anyway, please)!
Optional (but highly encouraged): Add the Rakuten extension to your Chrome browser to activate rewards at a single click and get automatically notified when rewards are available for your purchases.
In your Rakuten account settings, choose how you get paid, and link the relevant account (I suggest American Express Ultimate Rewards points for the greatest flexibility and best value, but you can also choose to link your Bilt account to receive Bilt points).
Then, for each eligible purchase you make, activate Rakuten through the browser extension, app, or website to earn your extra points. As long as Rakuten is activated when you make your purchase with the store, you’ll get the extra “cash back” through Rakuten in your chosen form of free travel points.
Extra Credit
If you stuck around this long for more info on those huge 5,000+ points hauls I mentioned earlier, this is what you’ve been waiting for.
Warning: This pro tip is only for people who are already paying off their credit cards every month, and have a little extra cash they’re willing to spend to earn a huge chunk of extra points. If you’re not currently in a position to increase your spending, do yourself a favor and pretend this section is blank :)
My general rule is to NEVER pay more cash just to get extra points, and most of the time I follow it. But occasionally, a deal comes around on Rakuten that’s too good to pass up.
Like earlier this year, when I saw I could get 7,600 points for buying an $80 annual subscription to NordVPN. It turned out my VPN was expiring soon so I needed one anyway, but at $80 for 7,600 points that I can turn into a whole economy flight…I would’ve bought it anyway.
If you want to keep a lookout for insane deals like this one, I suggest following Julia @journeyonpoints on Instagram. She’s how I heard about the NordVPN deal and a couple others I’ve jumped on. Absolutely worth following for her great point finds and breakdowns.
That’s All, Folks!
If you haven’t signed up for Rakuten yet…let’s go! I promise you’ll be so grateful you took 10 minutes right now to set yourself up for a lifetime of free travel.
FINAL FRIENDLY REMINDER: If you don’t have a Rakuten account yet, make sure to sign up using this link! - this will give you a 5,000 points FREE just for signing up (worth $50) and spending your first $50 through the portal in the first 90 days! I’ll also get 5,000 points as a thank you :)
