Module 3 — Maximize Earning
In Lesson 3.1 you learned to match the right card to every purchase.
That alone moves most people from 1x to 3–4x on everyday spending.
This lesson is about going further. Your credit card isn't the only source of points on any given purchase. There's an entire layer most people never use — and when you stack it on top of your card earning, the numbers get interesting fast.
Stacking means earning points from more than one source on the same purchase. Your card earns. A shopping portal earns. Card-specific offers earn. These don't cancel each other out — they add up.
You need to buy something from a major retailer. Your card gives you 1.5x. A shopping portal is offering 3x at that retailer today. You click through the portal first, then buy. You've just earned 4.5x on a purchase that would have been 1.5x if you'd gone direct.
The purchase, the retailer, the price — nothing changed. Just the sequence.
This is the setup most people miss — and the one I wish someone had told me about on day one.
Rakuten is a shopping portal. You click through it before you buy, and you earn points or cash back on top of whatever your card earns. It works at over 3,500 retailers.
Go to your Rakuten account settings and switch your payout to Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt points instead of cash. The default is cash — change it. Here's why it matters.
Equivalent out-of-pocket cost: $5,700. Not a better cash back rate — a completely different outcome.
Combined: 320,000+ points from one background habit. No extra spending. Just the habit of clicking through first.
This makes it automatic. When you visit a retailer that has a Rakuten rate, the extension activates it for you. You don't have to remember to go to Rakuten first — it catches the opportunity in the background.
If you only do one thing from this lesson: install the extension.
If you have a Bilt Blue card, Rakuten cash back will not convert to transferable Bilt points — you need the Bilt Palladium or Obsidian for that. Check your card tier before switching.
If you have a Bilt account — even without the Bilt card — you can link any of your existing credit cards in the Bilt app. Once linked, you earn Bilt Neighborhood points at participating locations on top of whatever your linked card earns.
This works at Walgreens and participating neighborhood restaurants. You're not choosing between your Amex dining earn and Bilt points — you're earning both.
That's stacking. Same purchase, two point sources.
Rakuten is one portal. There are dozens — Chase Shopping, American Airlines Shopping, United MileagePlus Shopping, and more. Each offers different rates at different retailers at different times.
Go to cashbackmonitor.com and search any retailer before a significant online purchase. It shows you the current rate across every major portal, ranked from highest to lowest. Click through whichever portal is highest.
Cashback Monitor also shows 15 months of rate history. If a portal just dropped from 8x to 3x, you might wait. If it's been climbing, you might act now.
Both Amex and Chase have targeted deals that load directly to your card — spend $X at a specific retailer, get $Y back or earn bonus points. These stack on top of your base earn rate and on top of portal earnings.
Most people never look at them.
Amex Offers: Log into your Amex account, find Amex Offers in the menu, scroll through and add anything relevant. You have to add each offer to activate it — they don't apply automatically.
Chase Offers: Log into chase.com, find My Chase Offers, add what's relevant.
Make this a 5-minute habit once a month. Scan both accounts, add what applies to spending you're already planning.
Here's a real example on a $500 purchase at a major retailer:
Without the stack: 750 points. With the stack: 3,250 points and $25 cash back. The purchase didn't change. The effort was clicking through a portal and adding an offer you already had access to.
Before moving to Module 4, make sure these are in place:
Rakuten is linked to your Amex (as MR points) or your Bilt account (as Bilt points) — not cash back.
The Rakuten Chrome extension is installed.
Bilt Neighborhood cards linked in the Bilt app if applicable.
Run your next online purchase through Cashback Monitor before you buy.
Do one purchase with the full stack. Once you see it work on a real transaction, the habit sticks.
You're now earning at every layer — the right card, the right portal, and the offers sitting in your accounts. Module 4 is about where those points go next.
Head back to your Member Library to continue to Module 4.