Difference between revisions of "Rakuten card"
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'''The normal signup bonus is only $10''' on your first purchase. Its better than nothing, but not the reason you would get the card. | '''The normal signup bonus is only $10''' on your first purchase. Its better than nothing, but not the reason you would get the card. | ||
| − | === | + | === Bonus Rewards === |
| − | + | The reason to get this card is to earn bonus rewards on some of your online purchases. | |
<ul class="bulletlist"> | <ul class="bulletlist"> | ||
| − | <li>''' | + | <li>'''Rakuten operates one of the best and most popular shopping portals'''. Anyone can visit their site and click to visit the store they want to shop at (rather than going directly to the store's website), to earn extra rewards on their purchases. The stores pay Rakuten an "affiliate marketing" fee and Rakuten passes some of that back to you. Rakuten also provides in-store cash back offers in some stores (that you link to your credit card) and a hotel and travel reservation service.</li> |
| − | <li>''' | + | <li>'''When you sign up for your Rakuten account, you can choose to earn cash back or Membership Rewards points'''. If you are willing to invest the effort to use your points for frequent flyer tickets, Membership Rewards points are more valuable. We value them at {{Value|MR}} cents each. In other words, if Macy's is offering 4% cash back, you can set up your account to earn 4x Membership Rewards points instead.</li> |
| − | <li>'''You'll earn | + | <li>'''The Rakuten card only earn bonus rewards for purchases made through the Rakuten shopping portal'''. You'll earn an additional 3x MR or 3% cash back on top of the normal shopping portal rewards. Unless the store fits in to one of your other card's bonus categories or you are a Bank of America Platinum Honors customer using the BOA Cash Rewards card, this the best card you can use. If you go directly to the store or use a different portal, you'll only earn the base reward rate of 1% or 1x MR.</li> |
| − | + | <li>'''You can't take advantage of 3x MR rewards on all your online purchases'''.</li> | |
| − | + | <ul> | |
| − | + | * Some websites don't participate in the Rakuten shopping portal. For those stores, there is no way to earn the bonus credit card rewards. | |
| − | + | * Some websites offer better rewards on other shopping portals. If you shop through Rakuten, you'll earn some extra rewards from the credit card, but you'll miss out on some rewards you could have earned from another shopping portal. It might be better to use your general-purpose reward card through the other site. | |
| − | + | * Sometimes your purchases don't track correctly (or are excluded in the fine print) and you won't earn either the expected shopping portal rewards or the extra credit card rewards. | |
| − | + | </ul> | |
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Revision as of 17:49, 1 October 2020
Credit Card List (By Bank)
Official Webpage
Send comments or suggestions to editor@travelstrategies.com or leave a comment below.
Annual Fee
No annual fee
Typical Signup Offer
$10
Signup Bonus ChartBonus Categories
3% or 3x MR on purchases through the Rakuten (eBates) shopping portal
3% Foreign Transaction Fee
The Rakuten card allows you to optimize your rewards on some of your online purchases.
Collecting the Signup Bonus
The normal signup bonus is only $10 on your first purchase. Its better than nothing, but not the reason you would get the card.
Bonus Rewards
The reason to get this card is to earn bonus rewards on some of your online purchases.
- Rakuten operates one of the best and most popular shopping portals. Anyone can visit their site and click to visit the store they want to shop at (rather than going directly to the store's website), to earn extra rewards on their purchases. The stores pay Rakuten an "affiliate marketing" fee and Rakuten passes some of that back to you. Rakuten also provides in-store cash back offers in some stores (that you link to your credit card) and a hotel and travel reservation service.
- When you sign up for your Rakuten account, you can choose to earn cash back or Membership Rewards points. If you are willing to invest the effort to use your points for frequent flyer tickets, Membership Rewards points are more valuable. We value them at 1.5 cents each. In other words, if Macy's is offering 4% cash back, you can set up your account to earn 4x Membership Rewards points instead.
- The Rakuten card only earn bonus rewards for purchases made through the Rakuten shopping portal. You'll earn an additional 3x MR or 3% cash back on top of the normal shopping portal rewards. Unless the store fits in to one of your other card's bonus categories or you are a Bank of America Platinum Honors customer using the BOA Cash Rewards card, this the best card you can use. If you go directly to the store or use a different portal, you'll only earn the base reward rate of 1% or 1x MR.
- You can't take advantage of 3x MR rewards on all your online purchases.
- Some websites don't participate in the Rakuten shopping portal. For those stores, there is no way to earn the bonus credit card rewards.
- Some websites offer better rewards on other shopping portals. If you shop through Rakuten, you'll earn some extra rewards from the credit card, but you'll miss out on some rewards you could have earned from another shopping portal. It might be better to use your general-purpose reward card through the other site.
- Sometimes your purchases don't track correctly (or are excluded in the fine print) and you won't earn either the expected shopping portal rewards or the extra credit card rewards.
- You don't want to use this card for your everyday spending. You'll earn higher rewards from a good general-purpose reward card. Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending.
Other Notable Benefits
- Access to the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. As with all Visa Signature cards, you'll get access to Visa's luxury hotel program. Whenever you book one of the 900+ participating hotels, you'll receive a set of valuable benefits, including free breakfast, late check-out, and a $25 food and beverage credit. The Visa program has slightly weaker benefits than the other luxury hotel programs, but includes a larger number of more affordable hotel options and a best price guarantee. Take Advantage of Luxury Hotel Programs for Valuable Extra Perks.
- Access to Visa Signature Offers. Your card entitles you to a set of special offers available from Visa.