Ti;dr – I am looking to understand if it’s worth upgrading from Rakuten Premium to Rakuten Black, and if I do, should I cancel my Amex Gold Card? Or alternatively is there a better card than both Amex Gold and Rakuten Black that offers most of the same services between the two?
So I have pretty religiously used Rakuten as my main card for the last 10 years. I was on the basic card from
2013 – 2022, then moved to Premium from 2022. I have an account with Rakuten Bank and whenever possible I charge Rakuten Cash via my Rakuten Card and pay via Rakuten Pay. You could say I'm very much in their ecosystem. Off the back of this, l received an invitation to the Rakuten Black card, but I'm scratching my head trying to understand what exactly the benefits are. On paper it really looks like an enhanced conceirge service as well as Priority Pass with two additional people for free (and I believe unlimited uses?).
For additional context I am also using Amex Gold, which I really only use for their event promotions, restaurant services, and free luggage sends to & from the airport. I rarely use it to pay for anything besides charging my WAON card (our closest supermarket is in the WAON family and they don't take Rakuten Pay – ha). I love it for these perks, and I'm not sure I would give it up even if I upgraded to Rakuten Black because Black doesn't have the promotions or restaurant services (that I’m aware of).
Alternatively I'm willing to consider another card that gets me most if not all of the above and still has a good point ecosystem. Truly the only reason why I am using Rakuten is because of the points, and I haven't found a more reliable way to get at least an equivalent number of points than Rakuten.
Would appreciate any advice!
by dignifiedstride