Large welcome bonuses offer a great opportunity to boost your account balance — as do shopping portals and bonus categories — but there’s another oft-overlooked option available with a handful of cards: referral bonuses.
American Express has a limited-time referral program to help cardholders maximize the card recommendations they make to friends and family. Here’s how to take advantage of these amazing referral bonuses.
How the Amex refer-a-friend program works
In many cases, it’s easy to earn thousands of bonus points or cash back. When a friend applies for a new account using your custom referral link, you’ll be eligible for a bonus after they’re approved. They’ll still be eligible for a welcome bonus as well, making it a win-win for you and your friend.
Right now, when your friend applies for a new account by June 7, you can earn an additional +5 rewards per dollar (as either points or cash back, depending on the card) on eligible U.S. supermarket purchases for three months after they’re approved (starting from the first date the referred friend’s account is opened), on up to $25,000. Be sure to see your specific offer for more details, and note that this is a targeted offer, meaning that not all existing cardholders are eligible for this referral bonus.
This particular offer is available with the following Amex cards:
- Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express.
- Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express.
- Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express.
- Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express.
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card.
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card.
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card.
- The Platinum Card® from American Express.
- American Express® Gold Card.
- American Express® Green Card.
The information for the Amex EveryDay, Amex EveryDay Preferred, and Amex Green cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
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Additionally, new applicants for the Amex Platinum and Amex Gold will be eligible for a $200 statement credit after reaching minimum spending requirements, on top of that card’s usual welcome offer. New Blue Cash Preferred applicants can earn an extra $100 statement credit on top of the usual offer.
How to refer a friend to an Amex card
After logging in to your American Express account and selecting one of your cards, you should see options to refer a friend via email, a social media post or a direct referral link — the latter of which could be shared with your broader network to maximize your return.
Then just send your friend or network the referral link.
Bottom line
As a reminder, you’ll need to refer a friend using a personalized link and your friend will need to apply for their new card by June 7. Once they’re approved, you’ll earn your bonus points on U.S. supermarket purchases for three months. This is a great way to boost your Amex balance for one of these maximum-value redemptions.
Additional reporting by Ryan Wilcox and Madison Blancaflor.