Using your credit card for shopping can help you rack up miles or travel points, but Rakuten might just take your rewards game up a notch.
Known mostly for its cash-back offers on online purchases, Rakuten can also hook up American Express cardholders with travel perks—a neat little “hack” that’s been popping up on TikTok lately.
“I book all my travel through here,” TikTok user Chloe Jades shared in her post, revealing that she scored 400,000 Amex points this year just by converting her Rakuten rewards into American Express Membership Rewards points.
Want the same deal? Just head to Rakuten’s settings (on desktop or the app) and choose Membership Rewards Points as your payout option. Once you link your Amex account, any future Rakuten cash back you earn will automatically turn into points in your Amex account.
What about past purchases?
Rakuten’s policy states: “Confirmed Cash Back earned before switching to points will be converted to points and transferred to your American Express Account on the next payment date.”
The travel points you earn will match Rakuten’s usual cash-back rates. For instance, shopping at Sephora or Gap gets you 2% back, while stores like Neiman Marcus can go up to 15%. With the Amex option enabled, that same percentage applies—so if a store offers 8% cash back, you’ll get 8 Amex points for every dollar spent.
“There’s no reason to book directly through the websites instead of Rakuten,” Jades said. “It’s literally the same thing.”
Amex partners with a ton of travel programs, most offering at least a 1:1 transfer rate (and often better). For example, 1,000 Amex points can get you 1,000 Delta SkyMiles or 1,000 Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles, among others. Hotel rewards work similarly, though the conversion varies—1,000 Amex points equal 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy points but 2,000 Hilton Honors points.