Hey Reader,

Confession: this is one of the few periods of the year when I basically never travel, and I'm not sorry about it. After the craziness of back to school, fall trips, holidays and family visits it's been nice to sit down and get some work done.

Spoiler alert: check your inbox next week for something very cool 🎧

But there's one piece of news in the travel world this week that I'm really excited about and I want to make sure to give you all the details. It's a little complicated and I have full instructions below but here's the basic gist: the amazing Rakuten shopping portal now gives you the option to earn Bilt points instead of standard cash back.

ICYMI in my previous emails, Rakuten gives you cash or points back for online shopping you were already going to do - no extra costs involved. The rates vary but I've gotten crazy deals like 20 points per dollar on Viator, 10 points per dollar on Nike and more. Let's use Nike at 10x as an example because that's the rate as I'm writing this email: if you spend $100 on some new kicks, Rakuten will give you either $10 cash back or 1,000 Bilt points.

Why should you care? Bilt points are some of the most valuable points for travelers! They have tons of airline and hotel partners, but two specific ones that I want to highlight. You can transfer your points to Hyatt and book a hotel room for just 3,500 points per night, or you can transfer your points to Alaska and book American Airlines flights for as little as 4,500 points one-way (I just did it this week for a same-day flight between New York and Columbus). The equivalent cash back of $35 or $45 would barely get you dinner!

Even better, if you're new to Rakuten you can sign up with my referral link to get 5,000 points after you spend $50 through the portal - that's on top of your regular earnings. So you're basically getting a free night at a hotel or a free flight just for signing up and clicking around before you shop. No catches.

Next, you'll need to make a free Bilt account - be sure you use the same email address for Rakuten and Bilt. Then go here to link your accounts. A word of warning: if you go directly to Bilt and use their link to make your Rakuten account you'll only get 2,500 points instead of 5,000.

Once you have both accounts set up and linked, I recommend installing the Rakuten extension in your web browser or the app on your phone to make sure you aren't missing out on points when you shop. I've earned about 75,000 points so far this year with Rakuten, so it can really add up!

One thing to remember: you don't have to do anything special with your Bilt points until you're ready to use them. Just leave them in the account and then transfer them when you need them - whether you want to grab a flight on Japan Airlines or a night at the Park Hyatt. The flexibility is great.

You can also earn Bilt points in a lot of other easy, totally passive ways. When you link your credit cards to Bilt, you can earn points when you dine at certain restaurants in your area or shop at Walgreens. You can also go into your Lyft app and select to earn Bilt points in the rewards section. If you (or your child or parent!) are a renter, you can even earn points on paying rent - that's actually where the biggest payoff is.

I hope some of you are able to take advantage of this great set up. You'll get to travel more without spending more!

And to everyone who has flights scheduled this weekend, I'll be thinking only happy thoughts of smooth travels. Pack your patience and try to have some backup plans in place if you can.

Safe travels,

Melissa

P.S. - To my fellow small business owners, there's just one week left to grab one of these excellent no-fee credit cards with a 90,000 point bonus! We already have three of them in our household but sadly Chase wouldn't give us a fourth... but it's such a great offer that I had to try. You could book several nights at a beautiful Dreams all-inclusive with just that bonus.

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