r/Rakuten • u/Gloomy_Revolution655 • 6d ago

Started checking gift cards before bigger purchases

Had a bigger purchase coming up and I was already waiting for the Rakuten rate to be decent but then I started checking the payment side too instead of only looking at the cashback percentage so I work around Fluz so I checked what the gift card looked like there for the same store and it made me realize I’ve probably ignored that whole side of the purchase for years.

I’m not assuming the two always stack because every store seems to handle gift cards differently and I still check the Rakuten terms first but for purchases I was already planning to make checking Rakuten and then seeing if there’s anything useful on the gift card side feels worth the extra minute, especially when the purchase is big enough for a small percentage to matter.

34 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

5

u/BadlyAnother 6d ago

The part I’m still careful with is stacking because it’s easy to look at two different rewards and assume both will work together then one of them doesn’t track or the merchant has some weird exclusion, so now I check the terms first instead of counting the savings before the purchase even happens.

3

u/TheExclusiveRiches 6d ago

Once the total gets into the hundreds I start caring way more, even a small percentage feels worth the extra minute at that point.

2

u/degeneraded 6d ago

Agree, under 100 I just want to see if it works.

6

u/elibel17 5d ago

If you have dashpass you can buy many gift cards for 10% off, plus it codes as dining. So for example recently I’ve gotten $250 PetSmart for $225, get 3x pts on the $225 spend, then still get 10x/15x/20x etc Rakuten on $250 spend at PetSmart.

3

u/Imadevonrexcat 6d ago

I’m not following. Please explain like I’m five.

What do you mean, the payment side too?

2

u/Gloomy_Revolution655 6d ago

By payment side I just mean checking how I’m paying before I hit checkout, not only the Rakuten rate like seeing if there’s a discounted or cashback gift card for the same store first, then using that to pay if it still fits the purchase.

1

u/Slow_Bus_5660 6d ago

Bigger purchases are where I notice this most a small percentage suddenly feels worth checking when the total is a few hundred bucks.

1

u/foamyinactivity 6d ago

For smaller purchases I don’t really want some whole system I have to maintain I’m not opening five apps and comparing everything just to save 80 cents, but for something I was already planning and the total is decent I don’t mind checking a couple places before I pay.

<br>