Using Rakuten to Travel Cheaper

Did you know that you can basically get paid to travel and shop [for your travel gear and clothing] for things you buy everyday? You can and Rakuten will pay you for it. I never buy or book anything without first checking Rakuten. So, what IS Rakuten? It's a fantastic - and free! - site that offers you cash back for purchasing from online merchants. If you plan to make a purchase anyway, you might as well get something for being a loyal (or even a new) customer. 

Here's how it works: Sign up is quick and easy, then you're ready to shop! When you have a hankering to buy something, say, at Sephora, go to Rakuten, sign in, click on Sephora and it takes you straight to the main website. You must go through Rakuten, so they can track your purchase. At checkout, make sure you use the same email address you used to sign up on Rakuten and within a few days, your purchase will show up in your account. 

Here you can see my current pending and my all-time cash back

You can track your cash back total to see how much you saved and then every quarter, Rakuten sends you a Big Fat Check (if you choose that method) or a Big Fat Payment via Paypal. Normally, you get $5 for signing up, but right now get $30 once you make your first qualifying purchase! Who else does that? If there are coupon codes available or special sales, Rakuten will show them to you, helping you save even MORE!

I like to use my cash back as a travel savings supplement. Each time I make a purchase, I rack up cash and then it gets deposited right to my Paypal account. I use that money to purchase travel stuffs, like Groupons, clothing, tours, and more! If I can get more cash back with it, even better! Of course, you can use it for whatever you want. 

Stores you can shop at: Rakuten has, literally, hundreds of online merchants you can choose from, including a long list of travel merchants. Just a sampling of those include: TravelSmith, Holiday Inn, Avis, Alaska Airlines, Camping World, Orbitz, Air France, Delta Airlines, HomeAway and even AAA! Keep your eyes out for the Daily Double. Each day a list of awesome merchants offer double cash back on your purchases for the day. 

It's Travel Week on Rakuten right now and you can earn 2x cash back on a bunch of merchants. There are also a ton of travel deals now that the holidays are over, so you can get an even better deal when you book.

And now, you can easily get cash back through Rakuten by downloading the Chrome extension on your computer. When you go to a website that accepts Rakuten, the app will add a banner to the top of your screen letting you know, then you can can click on the banner and it will automatically put you through your Rakuten account and straight back to the site. That's it. One click and you're on your way to getting money back. I always like to check out the Rakuten site anyway, because they include any active coupon codes, so you can save even more. 

If you spend a lot of time on your phone, download Rakuten there, too. It's a bit of extra work, since you have to open the app and then find the store you want to shop at from there, but it's always worth it. It's easy to get around, see your account, find your favorites, and see all the places you can get cashback on one screen.

Haven't signed up for Rakuten yet? Do it now.