When I am online shopping, hunting for ways to save money is practically a part-time job! Rakuten allows you to receive cash back for purchases you were already planning to make. I can explain how it works for me, and why it has become an indispensable tool for my purchases, including when booking travel!
Rakuten, formerly known as Ebates, is a brilliant rewards program that gives online shoppers the ability to earn cash back on the purchases we would have already made. The concept is wonderfully straightforward: every time you shop through Rakuten's platform at participating stores, you get a percentage of your total purchase price back as actual cash.
How does it work?
1. Sign Up and Log In
Rakuten is completely free to use, you can sign up by creating an account or during login by your social media like Facebook to make it easier.
2. Browse Retailers
The beauty of Rakuten lies in its extensive network of partner retailers. They collaborate with thousands of popular online stores and my favorite options to save money on travel include:
Air Canada Vacations - 2% cash back. That means on every $1,000 of vacation you get $20!
Booking.com - 4% cash back. That means for every $100 of a hotel booking, you'd get $4.
Expedia.ca - $1.25-3% cash back depending on the item. With 3% back on cruises, that can add up to big savings!
In addition to the normal cashback amounts, if you sign up for their email notifications, there are sometimes 'sales' with 10-15% cash-back rates.
3. Click through for Rewards
If you make a habit of going to Rakuten and clicking through to your website before you add anything to your cart, your shopping will be tracked and you will receive the cashback reward for your purchases.
With travel, you have to be mindful that you will only receive the cashback once the travel is complete, not the booking, so it can take a bit of time before you receive your sweet sweet reward.
4. Earn Your Cash Back!
Rakuten tracks your purchases and calculates your cash-back earnings based on the percentage offered by the retailer. To get your cashback, you get paid 4 times a year and have to have a minimum balance of $5.01 on your account.
If you are booking travel, that will likely always be the case! They will pay you through Paypal or send you a paper cheque in the mail.
Ready to start saving while you shop and earn cash back? You can Sign up for Rakuten using my referral code. By using my referral I get a small referral reward and it helps fund my ability to write more about my travels and deals for you!
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