Rakuten‘s biggest ever referral promotion which awards a $40 bounty to both the referring party and new member is underway. (Cashback can also be converted to American Express Membership Rewards points.)
But plenty of people sign up for promotions like this — and never complete them. They either forget all about them or don’t know exactly where to amass $40 (in this instance) to achieve the minimum spend requirement.
So here are some quick ideas for you (if you’re new to Rakuten) or to pass along to folks you referred!
Quick Reminder: Rakuten’s 40-40-40 Promotion
Rakuten’s 40-40-40 promotion is pretty easy to remember:
- Refer someone (or get referred) to Rakuten
- The referral enrolls (for free) in Rakuten. Within three months, he or she must spend a cumulative $40 on shopping experiences initiated through Rakuten.
- Once that $40 threshold is met, both the new member and referrer get $40.
Refer as many people as possible — this helps you make some extra money!
The $40 is bonus cash — on top of the cashback you earn from your Rakuten-initiated purchases!

Meal Delivery
Several major food delivery services are on Rakuten — and offer cashback to both new and existing customers. Some of them are:
- Grubhub
- Postmates
- Seamless
- Uber Eats
American Express Gold Card members: this is a great way to stack your monthly Grubhub and Seamless benefits!

Holiday Shopping
It’s the most expensive time of the year.
Save money on your Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/etc shopping and start through Rakuten.
For example, my wife referred a relative to Rakuten this past Friday night. Her referral needed to buy a $125 dollhouse for her granddaughter. Overstock — a Rakuten merchant — had the best price. So my wife’s relative easily hit the $40 spend threshold. In turn, she’ll get the $40 bonus and another $7.50 because Overstock was offering 6% cashback. The promotion helped her save almost 40% on that purchase.
Gift Cards!
You can essentially get yourself (or someone else) $40 in free gift cards through Rakuten’s gift card shop or GiftCards.com. Buy at least $40 worth and you’ve triggered the minimum spend requirement.
Easy peasy.
Treat Your Favorite Pet
The 40-40-40 promotion throws you a bone — and gives you a chance to stock up on supplies and toys for pets! Both PetSmart and Petco are just a couple of the major pet stores on Rakuten.
For example, the food for our dog (that girl pictured above 🙂 ) runs about $50 a bag. If you’re in a similar situation, you can save over $40 with this promotion.

Get CLEAR
CLEAR is one of our time-savers when it comes to travel. And the company may play a major role in biometric screening for coronavirus.
So if you haven’t yet signed up for CLEAR, we recommend it. Wouldn’t you know it — CLEAR is available through Rakuten!
Remember the American Express Green Card offers a yearly $100 statement credit for CLEAR purchases. Combining that with the 40-40-40 promotion essentially gives you a year for almost free.
What Are Your Ideas?
Did I miss anything? What ideas do you have for meeting the minimum spend requirements for the Rakuten 40-40-40 promotion? Please share them in the below Comments section!
Featured image: ©iStock.com/artisteer
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2 Comments
Any idea how long it takes after referral & purchase for both parties to get the $40 bonus? It’s been a week and counting so far for me.
It’s included in your Big Fat Check. Check your cashback totals.