What is Rakuten, and why do travel hackers swear by it? If you’re still only using it as a basic cashback site (or worse, not using it at all), you’re leaving a ridiculous amount of value on the table.
Between its payout options (cash, Amex Membership Rewards, and now Bilt), its in-store and online offers, and the way it allows you to earn the super valuable Atmos Rewards via Bilt, Rakuten is one of the most quietly overpowered tools in a travel hacker’s stack.
Let’s break down exactly how it works, how Rakuten makes money, how it differs from tools like Cashback Monitor and Honey, and how to turn what looks like boring cash back into premium flights to Europe and Asia.
Before you dive into the rest of this guide, do yourself a favor and open a free Rakuten account using our Cloud9Club link. You’ll earn 5,000 bonus points after your first $50+ purchase at any retailer — which is honestly one of the easiest wins you can grab in under five minutes. We earn a small commission when you sign up through our link, so thank you for supporting Cloud9Club and helping us keep guides like this free and actually useful.
What Is Rakuten And How Does It Work?
Rakuten is a cashback and shopping rewards portal. You click through Rakuten to a retailer, make your purchase like normal directly from the retailer’s website, and Rakuten gives you a cut of the commission they earn from that store.
In practice, you’ll use it in three main ways:
- Online shopping portal
- Log in on Rakuten’s site or app
- Search for the store you want (Nike, Sephora, Hotels.com, etc.)
- Click their Rakuten tracking link
- Complete your purchase as usual
- Browser extension
- Install the Rakuten extension in Chrome/Edge
- Shop normally
- When you land on a participating store, a little banner pops up and lets you “Activate” cash back without having to visit Rakuten first
- In-store and dining cash back
- Link your Visa, Mastercard, and Amex credit cards in your Rakuten account
- Add specific in-store offers to your card
- Pay in person with that linked card and earn bonus cash back automatically at participating stores and restaurants
You still buy directly from the retailer. Rakuten just sits in the background tracking referrals and sharing the commission with you.
How Rakuten Makes Money (And Why It’s Not Coming Out Of Your Pocket)
Rakuten makes money via affiliate commissions.
- Retailers pay Rakuten a commission when you click through and buy something.
- Rakuten shares part of that commission with you as cash back (or points) and keeps the rest as profit.
So no, the “cash back” isn’t magic, and it isn’t funded by some mystery fee they’re charging you. The store is paying Rakuten for the referral; Rakuten is kicking some of that back to you to keep you using it.
The spread between what the retailer pays and what Rakuten gives you is where Rakuten makes its money. The higher the spread, the more they profit. That’s the game.
Payout Options: Cash, Amex Membership Rewards, Or Bilt Points
Rakuten used to be just a “here’s your Big Fat Check” situation. That’s cute but… We can do better.
As of now, Rakuten offers four primary payout methods:
- Check by mail (“Big Fat Check”)
- PayPal
- Amex Membership Rewards points
- Bilt points (via their new partnership)
Payments are sent on a quarterly schedule, but the real power is in what you choose to get paid in.
1. Cash back (check or PayPal)
If you pick cash, Rakuten totals your confirmed earnings and sends you either:
- A physical check to your mailing address, or
- A PayPal deposit into your account
Cash back is always effectively worth 1 cent per dollar of “cash back” you see in the portal. Ten dollars in Rakuten earnings equals ten dollars in your bank or PayPal. Simple, boring, fine.
2. Amex Membership Rewards
This is where things get interesting for travel hackers.
Instead of cash, you can elect to receive your Rakuten earnings as Amex Membership Rewards. When you switch your payment method to Membership Rewards and link your Amex account, every dollar of “cash back” becomes 1 Amex point.
- 10% cash back at a store through Rakuten?
- Cash: 10 dollars
- Points: 10 Amex points per dollar spent
And because Membership Rewards can be transferred to airline and hotel partners, those points are often worth over to 2 cents or more per point when used for premium cabin flights.
So if you’re serious about business class or aspirational hotel redemptions, choosing Amex points instead of cash is basically multiplying your effective rebates.
3. Bilt points
The latest upgrade: Rakuten now lets you convert your cash back into Bilt points through a partnership between the two programs. For now, the conversion is 1:1 — 10 dollars in Rakuten earnings equals 1,000 Bilt points.
Here’s why that’s a big deal:
- Bilt is currently the only program that has a transfer partnership with Atmos Rewards — the combined Alaska Airlines + Hawaiian Airlines program — which offers incredible redemptions to Europe, Asia, and even short-haul domestic flights through partner airlines.
- You can earn Bilt points by simply downloading their app! No need for a credit card.
So your Rakuten stack can look like this:
- Make a purchase through Rakuten
- Earn “cash back”
- Convert that into Bilt points
- Transfer Bilt points to Atmos Rewards
- Book flights to Europe, Asia, or domestic short hops for insane value compared to simple cashback
This is the kind of leverage that turns “I clicked a shopping portal” into “I’m in lie-flat to Tokyo.”
Online, In-Store, And Dining: All The Ways To Earn With Rakuten
Rakuten is not just “click a link and buy online.”
You can also stack it with real-world spending:
Online shopping
- The classic: start at Rakuten, click through, buy
- Or let the browser extension automatically prompt you when a store is eligible
In-store cash back
- Link your credit cards inside Rakuten
- Add specific in-store offers to the card
- Shop in person and pay with that card
- Earn cash back without uploading receipts or scanning anything
Dining cash back
Rakuten also offers dining rewards at participating restaurants when you link cards in the app, letting you earn extra cash back or Amex points on top of a rewards card like Amex Gold.
Result: daily life spending (groceries, clothes, beauty, restaurants, random Target runs) feeds Amex or Bilt balances in the background.
Why Travel Hackers Should Favor Points Over Cash
You can absolutely use Rakuten as a simple cash-back site and call it a day.
But if your goal is premium travel, here’s why I’d usually pick points:
- Cash back is capped at 1 cent per unit. Ten dollars is ten dollars. That’s it.
- Amex Membership Rewards and Bilt points can be worth 2 cents or more per point when transferred to sweet-spot partners and used for business class or long-haul flights.
A simple example:
- You earn what would be 100 dollars in Rakuten “cash back” over a couple months of holiday shopping.
- Option A: Take the 100 dollars and pay a bill.
- Option B: Convert to 10,000 Bilt points, move them to Atmos Rewards, and use them to book First Class from LAX to Vegas, worth $229 in cash on the same date.
Same shopping. Very different outcome.
Final Thoughts: Rakuten Isn’t a Coupon Button
Most people treat Rakuten like a little rebate site that mails them a check once in a while. And sure, if all you want is a quarterly $12.47 surprise, go for it.
But if you’re serious about travel hacking, that’s the baseline — not the payoff.
The real magic comes from consistent and strategic use. Yes, it might take you an extra two minutes before you hit “checkout.” But if those two minutes routinely convert into the points that cover flights to Europe, Asia, or a domestic flight for essentially nothing… is that not worth it?
Used deliberately:
- Rakuten becomes the bridge between your everyday shopping and high-value currencies like Amex Membership Rewards and Bilt.
- Bilt becomes your entry point into Atmos Rewards and Alaska’s entire partner network — unlocking some of the best premium-cabin redemptions to Europe and Asia, plus unbeatable domestic sweet spots.
- And because Bilt transfers to Hyatt, you’re also opening the door to some of the best hotel award pricing in the world.
Rakuten isn’t about saving a few bucks. It’s about turning ordinary purchases into extraordinary travel. Use it right, and your everyday shopping becomes a fully functioning engine for lie-flat seats and luxury hotels.
Get 5,000 Bonus Points On Your First Rakuten Purchase
Don’t have Rakuten yet? Sign up with our link and you’ll earn 5,000 bonus points after your first $50 purchase at any retailer. It works with any payout method, so whether you choose cash, Amex Membership Rewards, or Bilt points, the bonus hits your account automatically. Takes about two minutes to set up.
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