Good morning. It’s まさきん.
The other day, a flyer for Rakuten Mobile’s family referral campaign showed up in our mailbox. The headline — “8 months free for the whole family” — got me genuinely excited. I work as a marketer, though, so headlines like that make me want to dig into the numbers behind them.
This time, I’ll walk through the numbers assuming a household like ours with multiple kids — how many points actually pile up, and what they can be used for. I’ve written before about the general patterns behind these campaigns, and that post deliberately stuck to general tendencies without hard numbers. This post is meant as the “concrete example” version of that — a calculation based on the terms as they stood in July 2026.
What the flyer said
First, let’s lay out the terms printed on the flyer. If you refer two or more family members and their sign-ups go through, the 3GB plan under the family discount becomes free for 8 months.
Here’s the point breakdown. The person making the referral gets 7,000 points per person referred. The person being referred — the family member signing up as a new customer — gets 13,000 points.
That 13,000-point figure, though, only applies if it’s a first-time sign-up and the person is porting their number over from another carrier via MNP. Add it up, and each person who signs up under these conditions is worth up to 20,000 points total.
Running the numbers for our four-person household
There are four of us in my household. Let’s say one person takes the lead and refers the other three — here’s how that plays out.
The 3GB plan, with the family discount applied, runs 968 yen a month, tax included. At 968 yen per person, three lines come to 2,904 yen a month.
As the one making the referrals, I’d get 7,000 points × 3 people, or 21,000 points. If all three people I refer are signing up on a first line and switching over via MNP, that adds another 13,000 points each — 39,000 points on top.
Add it all up, and the family comes out to 60,000 points total. It’s a nice surprise that simply coordinating as a family of four adds up to something this substantial. Map that against the 2,904 yen a month in payments, and you get a real sense of how many months it covers — and how much it actually moves the needle on the household budget.
Of course, this is just a hypothetical calculation based on conditions I set up myself. Whether it actually applies to your situation, and what the real caps are, needs to be confirmed against the official rules at the time you apply.
Knowing when the points actually arrive
This part is worth knowing ahead of time — it can save you some worry. The points don’t land the same month you sign up.
According to the fine print on the flyer, points are paid out starting four months later, spread across three months. Since they trickle in gradually and get applied to your bill bit by bit, it helps to go in expecting to use each batch as it lands rather than all at once.
There are a few ongoing conditions tied to the payout too, like using the Rakuten Link app. Keep those in mind, and you should be able to collect the full amount for the whole family without any surprises.
The mechanics behind “8 months free”
The flyer’s “8 months free” phrasing made a lot more sense once I understood the mechanics behind it. Reading the fine print, it refers to the stretch during which your out-of-pocket payment drops to zero yen, once you apply the time-limited points — valid for six months — toward your bill.
In other words, by using the points you earn toward your bill, you create a real stretch where no cash leaves your pocket. Apply the points well, and the math works out to effectively zero cost for 8 months.
Once the points run out, you’re back to paying the regular 968 yen a month. If you think of “free” as describing how the bill gets paid rather than an actual price of zero, it’s easier to use up each batch of points confidently as they arrive.
The key conditions for the maximum point payout are signing up on a first line and switching over via MNP from another carrier. If you’re referring a family member who’s already on Rakuten Mobile, keep in mind that the offer is limited to new contract lines — knowing that ahead of time should help you get the points you’re actually aiming for.
If you’re still on the fence, trying the fee simulator first is another option. It’s a good, low-pressure way to start comparing.
Clicking this opens the Rakuten login page. Once you log in, you’ll see the campaign details.
Comparing signing up as a family of four vs. switching just one person
This next part is a bit more of a personal take. For a household like ours with multiple kids, it’s a real dilemma whether to move as a whole family at once or have just one person try it first.
If just one person switches, there’s no referral bonus, since nobody’s doing the referring. Only the 13,000 points on the new sign-up side apply, and only if the conditions are met.
Coordinate as a family of four, though, and — as I calculated earlier — you’re looking at 60,000 points total. Same underlying switch, but the gap between going solo and coordinating as a family comes out to 47,000 points. Being able to refer each other as a whole family feels like one of the more fun parts of how this campaign is built.
As I mentioned in an earlier post about auditing dormant lines in the family, when you’re moving several family lines at once, it helps to keep everyone on the same page about who referred which line and when the points are due to land. Even just jotting down a quick note can keep you from missing a payout.
In our case, moving in stages — timed around things like a kid starting school or a device upgrade — feels like the less forced approach in practice. Rather than moving everyone at once, it’s more about figuring out, person by person, when the conditions line up most naturally.
Wrapping up
The family referral campaign’s “8 months free” turned out to be a genuinely nice mechanism — one where points can bring your cash payment down to zero. Used well, the math works out to a meaningful amount of savings for the whole family.
There’s a lag before the points arrive — payout starts four months later and stretches across three months. Getting the maximum amount also depends on stacking conditions like a first line and an MNP switch, so it’s worth sorting out your own situation before applying if you want to land the points you’re actually aiming for.
The numbers here are just estimates based on what the flyer said as of July 2026. Point amounts and eligibility conditions get revised fairly often, so please check Rakuten Mobile’s official site for the latest campaign rules before you apply.
When the time actually comes for us to apply, I’ll be double-checking the latest terms myself. If this has you curious, start by checking the current terms on the official site.
Clicking this opens the Rakuten login page. Once you log in, you’ll see the campaign details.
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