(EXPIRED) 10x / 10% back at Saks (stack with Platinum benefit)

As if on cue after this morning’s post about Extreme stacking for holiday purchases, shopping portal Rakuten is offering 10% back or 10x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at Saks Fifth Avenue today. This could make for an excellent stack for new Amex Platinum cardholders who have taken advantage of the recent amazing welcome offers.

The Deal

• Rakuten is offering 10% back today at Saks Fifth Avenue, which can alternatively be taken as 10x American Express Membership Rewards if you have your account set up to earn Membership Rewards points
• Stack this with the $50 credit for Amex Platinum cardholders (who receive a $50 credit from January to June and another $50 credit from July to December)
• If you are new to Rakuten, you can join the Rakuten shopping portal at this link (our referral) can get 4,000 Membership Rewards points (or $40) after making a qualifying purchase of $40 or more within 90 days of becoming a new member

Key Terms

• Payout may be valid 11-19 only
• Not valid on gift card purchases

Quick Thoughts

While Saks Fifth Ave carries many products and brands that are too rich for my blood, they do have a sale section where you can find plenty of stuff for under fifty bucks. I even tweeted the other night about how they clearly saw me coming.

Well, Sak’s sure saw me coming with that new Platinum card. pic.twitter.com/qQ5ZJwhKjH

— Nick Reyes (@NickatFM) November 15, 2020

Despite my temptation, I didn’t buy that hat (yet) because I was holding out for a decent portal payout and because I intended to use the credit this time around to get a free holiday gift for someone. Of course, what better free gift than a smooth looking dome piece for the person in your life who needs to add a little pizzaz to their wardrobe? Mrs. Reyes, are you reading this?

If you prefer straight cash back, it looks like TopCashBack is the best deal available at 12% back. Personally, I value Membership Rewards points more, so I’d probably be more tempted by the Rakuten payout — though keep in mind that you’re kind of buying those points at 1.2c each by choosing to take 10 points in lieu of 12 cents on each dollar.

Still, picking up 500 Membership Rewards points with your $50 freebie is hardly something to complain about. However, I will probably not be buying today. That’s because a glance at the Cashbackmonitor best rate history for Saks shows that Rakuten offered 15-16x last year for Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend. I’ll probably hold out to see what happens next week.

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