Rakuten Big Give Week 2026 is live from May 4 through May 11, with elevated rates climbing as high as 15x to 20x points per dollar at hundreds of stores, and a long list of travel brands sitting near the top of the boost list.
If you’ve been sitting on a hotel booking, a Viator excursion, or a Saks splurge, this is the week to actually click. And if you’ve set Bilt or Amex Membership Rewards as your Rakuten payout, the math gets significantly better than the headline rate suggests.
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What Is Rakuten Big Give Week 2026?
Big Give Week is Rakuten’s annual late-spring promotion where elevated rates land across hundreds of stores for one stretch only. For 2026, the dates are May 4 to May 11, with rates advertised up to 15x points per dollar, but plenty of merchants are coming in higher than that on day one. A handful of niche merchants are even hitting 95x to 100x for short windows.
The categories span just about everything: travel, beauty, electronics, home, apparel, pets. But the part that matters most to points and miles people is the travel boost, where many of the major OTAs and direct booking sites are running 15x to 20x points per dollar right now.
If you don’t have a Rakuten account yet, this is the week to sign up. The new-member bonus alone (5,000 points) covers a chunk of whatever you were already planning to buy.
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Travel Brands at 15x to 20x Points Per Dollar
Travel is one of the strongest categories during Big Give Week. Rates fluctuate during the eight-day window, so check the portal before each click, but here’s what’s elevated right now or expected to elevate this week.
| Brand | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Expedia | 15x – 20x | Watch for category exclusions |
| Hotels.com | 15x – 20x | Hotel-only bookings may differ |
| Vrbo | 15x – 20x | Read fine print on rentals |
| Viator | 15x – 20x | Tours and excursions |
| Booking.com | Elevated | Check rate before clicking |
| Priceline | Elevated | Pay-now bookings only |
| Samsonite | Elevated | Luggage and travel gear |
Rates shift daily during Big Give Week. Always confirm the current rate on Rakuten before clicking through to book.
A few things worth flagging:
Some of the Expedia Group offerings (Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo) often have headline rates that come with caveats. Read the fine print on the Rakuten store page before booking, because exclusions on hotel-only or package bookings can quietly knock the rate down.
Saks at 15x and Other Non-Travel Standouts
Travel isn’t the only category lit up this week. Saks Fifth Avenue is sitting at 15x points per dollar, which has caught the attention of just about every points blog covering the promo. For a category that’s usually 1x to 2x, that’s a real jump, and if you’ve been eyeing something at full price, the effective return stacks on top of any Saks promo codes you’re running.
If you have an Amex Platinum, you can stack points on top of your Saks Credit. Read this guide for the full details on that.
Other non-travel boosts worth a look:
- Adidas, DSW, Dr. Martens, Puma at elevated apparel and footwear rates
- Ulta, Bluemercury, Tatcha, Dermstore for beauty
- KitchenAid, Mattress Firm, Tuft & Needle for home
- LEGO, Ray-Ban, Sunglass Hut, Kate Spade Outlet, Samsonite for everything else
- SoFi (always one of the best Rakuten bonuses for Checking and Savings sign-ups)
Rates shift daily during the promo, so a brand at 8x on Monday could jump to 15x on Wednesday. The browser extension is genuinely useful here because it’ll flag elevated rates the moment you land on a participating store.
How to Get the Most Out of Rakuten Big Give Week 2026
The single highest-leverage move you can make this week is changing your Rakuten payout setting from cash to points before you click anything.
Cash back is hard-capped at 1 cent per dollar. That’s the ceiling. But if you set your payout to Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt points, that same 15x rate becomes 15 transferable points per dollar, and those points are worth meaningfully more than a penny each when moved to airline and hotel partners.
A quick example. You spend $400 on a hotel booking through Rakuten at 20x:
- Cash payout: $80
- Bilt points payout: 8,000 Bilt points, transferable to Atmos Rewards (Alaska + Hawaiian), Hyatt, Air France/KLM, and more
Eight thousand Bilt points to Atmos Rewards is enough to cover a one-way Alaska saver award on a partner airline. The cash version buys you dinner. The points version starts moving you toward an actual flight or hotel night.
If you’re new to Rakuten or you’ve never thought about it as a points engine, our full breakdown of how Rakuten works (and why points beat cash for travel hackers) walks through the payout options, the Bilt partnership, and how to actually set this up.
A few other ways to stack this week:
- Use a credit card that earns elevated points on the merchant category. Booking direct hotel through Rakuten? Pair it with a card that earns bonus points on hotel spend.
- Layer card-linked offers (Amex Offers, Chase Offers, Capital One Offers) on top of your Rakuten click. The Rakuten earn and the card-linked offer are independent.
- Check for promo codes on the merchant’s site before checkout. Rakuten earnings usually still track on top of standard promo codes (gift card and exclusion language varies by store).
- Set your earning preference to Bilt before May 11 if you want the points to flow through to Atmos Rewards, Hyatt, or one of Bilt’s other transfer partners.
Bottom Line
Rakuten Big Give Week 2026 is one of the better stretches of the year to actually use the portal, especially if you’ve been on the fence about a hotel, a flight, or a higher-ticket retail purchase. Travel brands at 15x to 20x points per dollar, Saks at 15x, and a long list of non-travel boosts make this worth the two minutes it takes to click through Rakuten before you hit checkout.
Set your payout to Bilt or Amex points before you click. That single change is the difference between a small cash rebate and a meaningful chunk of a flight.
get your 5,000 points bonus here
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