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This is the highest Amex referral bonus we’ve ever seen: 30,000 points

  • Joseph Hostetler

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    Imagine earning a credit card welcome bonus just for convincing a friend to open a card they need anyway.

    Credit card referral programs afford you the opportunity to earn bonus rewards for inviting friends to open certain travel credit cards with your unique application link. It’s a great way to boost your miles and points balances while helping your friends to travel for free, too. The bonus you’ll receive as a referrer is usually modest (5,000 to 15,000 points, depending on the card).

    But at this moment, Amex is feeling especially generous. Like, 30,000 points generous. Do you qualify for this increased bonus?

    American Express referral bonuses have reached an all-time high! (Photo by Wyatt Smith)

    Amex increased referral bonuses

    Currently, the American Express® Gold Card comes with a welcome bonus of 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first six months of card membership. If you’ve already got the card, you may be targeted for a referral bonus of up to 30,000 points! That’s practically another welcome bonus, just for referring a friend.

    This is the highest referral bonus we’ve ever seen (the previous all-time high was an amazing 25,000 points). If you’re targeted for this Amex Gold Card referral bonus, you should be scrambling to find a friend or family member to refer. We estimate Amex points to be worth around 1.8 cents (though they can be worth much more if you know the best ways to use Amex points). That means you’ll gain about $540 in value just by referring the card!

    The Amex Gold Card isn’t the only card offering increased bonuses. Other reported referral bonus hikes include:

    Let us know if you’ve got any other cards with an increased bonus and we’ll add them to the list.

    Things to keep in mind

    First, the good news. When you refer someone to an Amex card, you don’t have to refer them to any specific card. In other words, if you have the Amex Gold Card, you can send a friend your referral link and they could use it to open nearly any other American Express card. For example, they could open the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card through your Amex Gold referral link, and you’d still get your bonus Amex Membership Rewards points.

    This is a completely unique and fantastic aspect of the Amex referral program. Most issuers will only allow you to earn a bonus if your friend opens the particular card you’re referring. For more details on how this works, read our guide to credit card referral bonuses.

    Now for the “bad” news. Each Amex card enforces an annual limit on the number of points you can earn via referral links. For example, the Amex Gold Card caps your earnings at 55,000 points per year.

    These increased referral bonuses are excellent, but if you’re targeted for the 30,000-point referral bonus, you’ll only receive that full bonus once before the 55,000 point cap will begin to affect you (you’d receive 25,000 points on the second referral). Still, referring two friends for a grand total of 55,000 points is unheard of.

    Bottom line

    We always appreciate when readers use our application links to open credit cards — but these personal referral bonuses are unignorably lucrative. If you’ve got friends interested in open up an American Express card, this is a great time to send them a referral link of your own.

    Remember to comment if you’ve got an increased bonus we haven’t listed. And subscribe to our newsletter for more tips on how to earn tons of miles and points with little effort.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)