Earn Minimum Of 4 Points Per Dollar On All American Express Spending For 3 Months

by Gary Leff

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I covered this yesterday but it got very few reads, because I undersold its significance just flagging it as an interesting new referral (‘member-get-member’) offer. However the potential here is incredible – successfully refer someone to an American Express card you have, and you’ll earn an extra 3 points per dollar (even on already bonused spend) for all your purchases for 3 months. This is potentially huge if you have big spend ahead of you.

American Express lets cardmembers earn points when they refer a friend who applies and is approved for a new card. You’re generally limited only to referring friends and family for cards you already have yourself.

From October 1 through October 28 they’re adding a new bonus to encourage people to refer friends. In addition to the standard points that they’ll give for a successful referral, they’ll also let someone who successfully refers someone earn 3 more points per dollar (or earn 3% more cash back) for the next three months.

Qualifying Card Members will receive an additional three (3) rewards per eligible dollar spent on their Card account (for the Card referred) for three (3) months, starting from the date the referral results in an approved account. The additional three (3) rewards will be applied to rewards categories for which eligible purchases are rewarded with cash back, Membership Rewards® Points, Delta Bonus Miles®, Hilton Honors Bonus Points or Marriott Bonvoy Points.

The 3 extra points (or 3% extra cash) even applies to categories where you earn bonus points to begin with. If you earn 4x at restaurants normally, this gives you the potential to earn 7x. (However the EveryDay card monthly bonus for transaction volume won’t also bonus these extra points.)

If you’re going to be doing a decent amount of spending, it can be helpful to have a friend or family member referred to a card first.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

Comments

  1. I think that this is a stunning offer. When have we ever seen 4x points on everyday expenses, unlimited, before?

  4. is the extra 3 points going to be applicable for the individual who applied for and got approved as well or is the 3 extra points just for the individual doing the referring?

  6. Is the 3x add’l bonus clearly marked in the referral section? Do not see it on my Blue for Business referral section? Perhaps only for personal cards?

  7. Just referred my wife for a card last week. Any idea if a secure message would get them to honor this promotion retroactively if it’s only been one week?

  8. There really is kind of a limit though, because if you spend way more than you normally do in a month, it’s probably a good bet they will claw back the points or shut you down.

  9. You don’t write that the odds of Amex reneging are high, judging by the Hilton Amex debacle. Hard pass.

  10. Thanks for writing about this again Gary! Referred wife for gold card. She gets 60,000 for $4k spend, I get 25,000 for referral. I have offer on my gold card for 4,000 bonus after $8k spend. So $12k total spend will get us a minimum of 121,000 points.

    Question – what do you think is risk of putting large estimated tax payment on this card during bonus period (I usually do taxes on Hyatt or Freedom Unlimited)?

  12. I checked – only a few cards have it e.g., my DL skymiles card has the offer
    This is a YMMV offer NOT to be trumpeted for all and sundry to believe this works for them

  13. If anyone knows — are the bonus points only for charges on the Amex card that generates the referral (in my case, an Amex Business Green card) or for all Membership Rewards during the bonus period (in my case, my other Amex Membership Rewards accounts, like personal Amex cards)?

  14. This has turned out to be a spectacular offer — one of the best frequent flyer scores ever.

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