Rakuten Ecosystem

[bryanc]

have read all the way thru this -no idea whats going on but will try and go thru it a few times til i understand it as looks something worth trying!
few questions,how many pts do people typically make a yr on this?

[zeroshiki]

It honestly depends on how much you spend. I run basically my entire life through my Rakuten CC so I get around 50k points a year.
Its not that hard to move from Amazon to Rakuten Ichiba for example. They mostly have the same products at the same prices. Amazon is just faster so if you don't mind that, you can get more in points.

[bryanc]

and that works out at 5man a yr?
not bad if you have to buy the stuff anyway!

[zeroshiki]

and that works out at 5man a yr?
not bad if you have to buy the stuff anyway!

Yeah, its free money especially if you get into the furusato stuff where its free luxury goods but its probably better for you to take it step by step first
Get the CC, Bank and Securities accounts set up and linked. Then check back for furusato stuff.

[bryanc]

thanks-is the rakuten gold card worth having or just go with the standard one-see it gives a free etc card which defrays some of the extra 2000yen cost..
also what does family member supplmentary refer to?do they use the card in their name linked to your acct or linked to a separate acct?

[zeroshiki]

thanks-is the rakuten gold card worth having or just go with the standard one-see it gives a free etc card which defrays some of the extra 2000yen cost..
also what does family member supplmentary refer to?do they use the card in their name linked to your acct or linked to a separate acct?

Rakuten Gold has been nerfed quite a bit (lower SPU) so the choice should be Regular or Premium and the Premium is quite expensive so you should stick with Regular until you're used to Rakuten and if you find that you're spending (and earning enough points) to justify the higher annual fee of Premium, you should stick with Regular. The other benefits of Premium like Priority Pass is kinda useless with the pandemic now.

[bryanc]

ok thanks-i need to apply for an ETC card anyway and as it is free with gold that would save 500yen of the 2000yen-its whether the diff is worth 1500yen or not..　　also seem to get rakuten edy for free but I dont really understand the point of these prepaid cards if you have a credit card?

the airport lounge thing seems to be only 2 a yr isnt it..

my wife will also get a rakuten card-the family supplementary card thing is pointless for separate accts..

[zeroshiki]

Rakuten Edy is Rakuten's contactless payment service (different from Rakuten Pay but hey). The airport lounge is twice a year for Gold in Rakuten partnered domestic (and I think Hawaii) lounges but for Premium you get Priority Pass which is lounge access internationally.

2000 yen a year isn't that bad if you like the benefits it provides so go for it.

[adamu]

ok thanks-i need to apply for an ETC card anyway and as it is free with gold that would save 500yen of the 2000yen-its whether the diff is worth 1500yen or not..　　also seem to get rakuten edy for free but I dont really understand the point of these prepaid cards if you have a credit card?

Yes Edy is mostly historical and pointless (not literally pointless, you get points for using it...). It's the only accepted cashless option in some places though, so nice to have. I don't like it because the balance is tied to the physical device (card/phone). It's sort of been replaced by Rakuten Pay, but they're keeping the systems running in parallel.

The ETC card is also free for Platinum/Diamond point club members, which is pretty easy if you are going "full Rakuten" The conditions for platinum are: in the last 6 months earned 2000 points and earned points 15 times.

[RetireJapan]

if you are going "full Rakuten"

Dude, you never go full Rakuten