The Offer
Those who don’t have any Rakuten/Ebates account can take advantage of the following offer:
- Join Rakuten (the Membership Rewards version) and receive 3,000 Membership Rewards points.
- To earn this bonus, make qualifying purchases totaling $25 or more within 90 days of becoming a new member.
The Fine Print
- To qualify for a Welcome Bonus, you must be a new member and make minimum qualifying purchases totaling at least twenty-five dollars ($25) within ninety (90) days of becoming a Member.
Out Verdict
Standard signup bonus on the Membership Rewards version is 1,500 points. I don’t think we’ve ever seen it higher (though we once recommended, in the past, signing up for a cash version which had – at the time – a $30 bonus and then transferring the account to become a points version).
This only works for new members, and I believe you need to have only one version of Rakuten accounts. If you currently have a cash version, I don’t think you’re eligible for this bonus; just convert your cash version to points version if you wish.
I don’t believe it’s possible to refer friends to the points version of Rakuten. There is a workaround that the referrer should get a the referrer bonus by clicking your friend’s referral link, then navigating to https://www.rakuten.com/american-express and signing up like regular. The cookies should remain in the link, and the referrer should get their $25 bonus. Regardless, the new member will certainly get their 3,000 points bonus since they signed up directly on that page. If anyone wants to buy me lunch, please click my Rakuten referral link before proceeding to https://www.rakuten.com/american-express and signing up. Thanks 🙂
Good opportunity to sign up. Hopefully all of my Saks order ships in the next week, seeing as I ain’t going to a store to buy exactly $50 of merchandise….
I need some ideas on what to buy for $25..
Do gift cards count? What about stores that don’t offer cash back but are on the rakuten site?
Does anybody know the answer? Can I refill $30 on my Amazon balance and would this count?
Raise is a great idea. Thanks. 👍
You probably already know this but don’t get a gift card value at $25 but less than $25 is actually charged to your card. Either buy a $50 gift card through Raise or just go through GiftCards.com to get a gift card with no fees. Also sign up bonus right now is spend $30 get $30 not spend $25 get $10 as it usually is.
My AmEx cards (Blue and Blue Everyday) use “Reward Dollars” instead of “Reward Dollars.” Can I still get this bonus somehow? I’m not too familiar with how AmEx works
It only works if you have an Amex card that earns Membership Rewards points, such as the Everyday, Everyday Preferred, Blue Business Plus, Platinum, Green, etc.
I don’t have an Amex card yet but likely will before the end of the year once I hit 4/24. Can I still earn the 3,000 MR’s from this promotion if I’m opening a Rakuten account? I don’t have one of those yet, either.
Hmm now that I’ve clicked through on the link, it looks like linking your MR account is necessary for this so I answered my own question. Feel free to remove my initial comment.
I signed up but it didn’t ask for name or address or any other relevant information except Amex login.
So I clicked on the link and then navigated to the amex page. I verify my amex account and then when I scroll down to click join now nothing happens other than it says my account is eligible.
I’m guessing you are an existing Rakuten/Ebates member? This offer is for new Rakuten/Ebates members only.
This only works for new members, and I believe you need to have only one version of Rakuten accounts. If you currently have a cash version, I don’t think you’re eligible for this bonus;
How will they know?