Reading Time: 5 minIf you’ve been considering picking up the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® Credit Card, or the Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, now you can squeeze even more value out of these offers.
The twist? By going through the Rakuten shopping portal, which is offering an extra $25 to successful applicants with these three cards.
And if you've never been a Rakuten member, you can even pocket yet another $50 in cash, or even more in points. It's honestly a pretty amazing deal, so here’s how to make the most of this opportunity.
Let’s start with the headline offer. The 100,000-point bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred was pretty much the deal of the year so far, and while it's since lowered to a 75,000-point offer, that's still plenty valuable.
You can redeem Chase points directly through the Chase Travel Portal to book flights, hotels, and more. But savvy users can get even more value by transferring points to partners like United, Hyatt, Air Canada, or a dozen other airlines and hotels, where redemptions can be worth potentially much more.
The card itself carries a $95 annual fee, but its benefits — including 3x points on dining, 2x on travel, and an annual $50 hotel credit — make it a staple in many travelers’ wallets.
If you already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, or you're just looking for a no-annual-fee card instead, there are two other offers worth considering right now.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited Card is currently offering a $200 bonus to new cardholders. The card earns 3% cash back on dining and drugstores, 5% back on travel purchased through Chase, and 1.5% back on all other purchases. It has no annual fee, and you can convert your cash back to Ultimate Rewards points — which would make this bonus worth 20,000 points — if you also have an Ultimate Rewards-earning card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card.
Finally, the no-annual-fee Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Card is offering an elevated intro offer of $900 bonus cash back. If you qualify for a business credit card (whether you have an LLC or just a side gig freelancing or selling on Etsy), this card could be a great option. It earns a flat rate of 1.5% cash back on every purchase, and you can keep your business expenses separate from your personal spending.
Here’s where things get more interesting. Right now, on top of these Chase card bonuses, Rakuten is offering an additional $25 if you apply for either of these three cards through its shopping portal. You'll get the extra $25 after your card is approved and you keep it open for at least 3 months.
If you're already a Rakuten member, the easiest way to do this is to log into Rakuten, go to this page for the Sapphire Preferred, and apply using the link they provide.
Go to this page for the Chase Freedom Unlimited, and this page for the Ink Business Unlimited.
If you have an ad blocker of any sort, make sure it's off and that you complete the application in the same browser window to ensure proper tracking.
But wait! If you’ve never used Rakuten before, right now you can stack an additional $50 bonus on top of that $25 offer.
Now through September 30th, new Rakuten members who sign up through a referral link and make $50 in qualifying purchases within 90 days get an extra $50 in cash back.
Note that the Sapphire Preferred application does not count as spending $50, so you'll need to complete some other purchase through Rakuten in the first 90 days to earn the extra $50 bonus.
But Rakuten has literally thousands of retailers, so it shouldn't be hard to make the threshold at some point in the next 3 months. You can even just buy a $50 gift card for yourself at giftcards.com through Rakuten and earn the bonus that way.
Keep in mind you must use a referral link to get this extra $50, so ask your friends and family who already use Rakuten for one, or feel free to use ours here at Points Path (and we greatly appreciate it if you do).
If you prefer points over cash, you can opt to earn Amex Membership Rewards points instead of cash back at Rakuten. When you choose this option, for each $1 you'd normally earn as cash back, you'll earn 100 points instead.
And right now, if you're an American Express cardholder, you can sign up for Rakuten through the special Amex-Rakuten portal and earn 5,000 Amex Membership Rewards points after spending just $25 with a participating retailer.
You can’t stack the $50 referral bonus and the 5,000 Amex point offer together. But either one adds a nice kicker to the main Chase Sapphire Preferred (or Freedom Unlimited or Ink Business Unlimited) deal.
Finally, if someone in your family already has a Chase Sapphire Preferred, they should be able to generate a referral link that earns them at least 10,000 bonus points.
If that family member is someone you normally travel or share points with, you might prefer to jointly collect 10,000 extra Chase points versus the Rakuten points or cash back. But if you're eligible for one of the Rakuten new member bonuses, that might still be your best bet.
If you’ve been holding off on applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Freedom Unlimited, or Ink Business Unlimited and you're new to Rakuten, this is your sign to go for it before the opportunity to earn an extra $75 disappears on September 30th.
