If you commented "POINTS" — welcome. Here's the full breakdown: what to sign up for, how much it costs, how many Amex points it earns, and what that can actually get you.

The mechanism, quickly

Rakuten normally pays cash back. But if you link an eligible American Express card and switch your payout method in Account Settings to American Express Membership Rewards, your cash back converts to Amex points instead at roughly 1 point per 1% of cash back rate. So a service offering "95X points" through Rakuten earns you approximately 95 points per dollar spent on that sign-up.

Before you do anything:

1. Sign up for Rakuten (link in bio — we both get a bonus)
2. Link an eligible Amex card (Platinum, Gold, and similar Membership Rewards cards — not co-branded cards)
3. In Account Settings, switch your payout to Amex Membership Rewards

The current offers and what they actually cost

These are the sign-up offers running right now with unusually high point multipliers. I'm listing the real price for each, not just the multiplier, so you can see the actual trade-off.

Add the 5,000-point Rakuten sign-up bonus, and you're at roughly 67,413 points — all from services many people already pay for anyway (VPN, antivirus, password manager, identity protection).

What that gets you

Right around 60,000 points, here's what's actually bookable in Business Class right now:

Think of it this way: you're not "getting a free flight," you're effectively buying the base fare for ~$657 — the same class of seat that can run $3,000–$4,000+ in cash depending on the route. Taxes and fees still apply on top either way (those vary by route and date, so I'm not including a specific number here), but the base fare is the biggest chunk of the cost, and that's what the points are replacing.

Before you sign up for everything here are a few honest notes

• These are real subscriptions, not one-time purchases. Each one auto-renews at a higher rate after the promotional period. If you don't need a service long-term, put a reminder on your calendar to cancel before renewal, otherwise this "cheap flight" gets more expensive over time.
• This isn't about needing seven VPNs. It's about the trade-off: ~$657 total across these sign-ups effectively buys the base fare on a seat that costs $3,000–$4,000+ in cash. Whether that trade makes sense for you depends on whether you'd actually use these services anyway so pick what's useful, not just what adds points.
• The multiplier math above is an estimate, based on how Rakuten's Amex point conversion is generally described (1 point per 1% cash back). Rakuten shows the exact payout for each specific offer at checkout so always check that number before assuming it matches this table.
• These offers rotate and expire. Multipliers shown here are current as of this post, not guaranteed evergreen. Check the app for what's live before you commit.