I earned 37,609 AMEX MR Points in 5 minutes

I just did what many members of the Amex Secret Society Facebook Group have been doing for a while. Waiting for Rakuten to offer 95% cash back on Lifelock.

Lifelock sells a one year membership for nearly $400, meaning that buying through the Rakuten referral link can yield 95% cash back when the offer is active. What makes this an amazing value is that you can link your American Express account to Rakuten and earn Membership Reward points at a rate of $1.00 = 100 points. I earned $376.09 cash back by buying Lifelock, so I will receive 37,609 MR points.

Now how much are these MR points worth? Well each person has their own valuation, but I value MR points at 3 cents per point (cpp) as I’m able to reliable convert them to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and redeem them at that value.

For example tomorrow I’m flying from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN) to Tokyo Haneda, Japan (HND) in lie flat business class on Cathay Pacific.

I spent 32,000 Asia Miles plus about $110 USD. This seat would normally sell for $1000 at least and I would know, as I flew from HAN-HKG-KIX last year on a 25,000 Asia Miles redemption.

The excellent cabin crew woke me up to eat breakfast and watch as the Sun rose over the horizon. Such a heavenly experience.

What could make this offer even better is waiting for American Express to offer a 30% transfer bonus to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. Well, I’m off to hang dry my clothes the day before my flight.