Now that you’ve spent your big sign-up bonus on a luxury vacation, all your friends and family want to know how they can do it too. Thanks to refer-a-friend bonuses, your travel rewards credit card can help you keep accruing tons of points and miles for your next vacation.
Major banks including Chase, American Express, and Discover offer substantial bonuses when you refer a friend to an eligible credit card. You simply send them your referral link. Once they get approved, you can earn up to 20,000 bonus points per referral.
It’s important to note that referrals are capped every year, so you can’t earn unlimited rewards through this avenue. However, if you have lots of friends and family interested in applying for a rewards credit card that happens to be in your wallet, you can benefit from it.
Below is a breakdown of credit cards that reward you when you refer a friend or family member (or perfect stranger, for that matter):
Chase
Chase offers referral bonuses on ten of their most popular rewards credit cards. These include cash back and point-earning cards, catering to a wide variety of customers. Depending on the card you refer your friends to, you can earn up to 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points per year.
Transfer that bonus to Hyatt and you’ve got enough points for a free night at a Category 5 hotel like the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar.
Below is the complete list of Chase cards that earn referral bonuses, separated by points and cash back rewards:
Points
Ink Business Preferred Credit Card: 20,000 bonus points per referral, up to 100,000 per year.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card: 20,000 bonus points per referral, up to 100,000 per year.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 15,000 bonus points per referral up to 75,000 per year.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card: 10,000 bonus points per referral, up to 50,000 points per year.
United Explorer Card: 10,000 bonus points per referral, up to 50,000 points per year.
World of Hyatt Card: 5,000 bonus points per referral, up to 25,000 per year.
Cash Back Rewards
Ink Business Unlimited Card: $150 cash back per referral, up to $750 per year.
Chase Freedom Unlimited: $100 cash back per referral, up to $500 per year.
Disney Visa Card: 100 Disney Rewards Dollars per referral, up to 500 per year.
Chase Freedom: $50 cash back per referral, up to $500 per year.
American Express
American Express offers refer-a-friend bonuses on a wide array of rewards credit cards. Whether you have a card that earns Membership Rewards, hotel points or airline miles, chances are you can rack up lots of referral bonus rewards.
To find out whether you’re eligible to earn points for referring a friend, simply head over to the American Express referral portal and login to your account.
If you’re specifically looking to apply for credit cards that offer referral programs, below is a list of AmEx cards along with their current referral bonuses:
American Express Gold Card: 10,000 bonus points per approval, up to 55,000 per year calendar year.
American Express Business Gold Card: 10,000 bonus points per approval, up to 55,000 per calendar year.
AmEx EveryDay card: 7,500 bonus points per approved referral, up to 55,000 per calendar year. The math on this one doesn’t quite add up, but they likely pay out 7,500 points on the seven three referrals and 2,500 on the eighth.
AmEx EveryDay Preferred card: 10,000 bonus points per approval, up to 55,000 per calendar year.
Blue Cash Preferred Card: 75 Reward Dollars
Blue Cash Everyday Card: 75 Reward Dollars
Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card: 5,000 – 10,000 bonus miles, up to 55,000 points per year
Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card: 5,000 bonus miles, up to 55,000 points per year
Hilton Honors American Express Card: 20,000 bonus points per referral, up to 80,000 points per calendar year.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card: 15,000 bonus points, up to 80,000 points per calendar year.
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card: 15,000 bonus points, up to 55,000 points per calendar year.
Platinum Delta SkyMiles Card: 10,000 – 20,000 bonus points, up to 55,000 points per calendar year.
Platinum Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card from American Express: 5,000 bonus miles, up to 55,000 points per year.
The Platinum Card from American Express: 15,000 bonus points, up to 55,000 points per calendar year.
The Business Platinum Card from American Express: 15,000 bonus points, up to 55,000 points per calendar year.
Discover
Discover credit cards may not be flashy, but they offer solid cash back rewards for those looking for $0 annual fee cards. Best of all, Discover matches the cash back or rewards you earn during the first year.
Once you’re done maximizing that first-year bonus, you can earn additional rewards when you refer a friend to the following Discover credit cards:
Discover It Miles Card: $100 statement credit per successful referral, up to $500. This offer is valid through December 31, 2021. In the past, the credit card referral bonus has been $50 per approval.
The following credit cards earn a $50 statement credit per successful referral, up to $500 per year. This offer is valid through December 31, 2021:
- Discover It Cash Back
- Discover It Student Cash Back
- Discover It Chrome
- Discover It Chrome for Students
- Discover More
Final Thoughts
Getting a credit card referral bonus is an easy way to earn extra points, especially if you’ve already spent your welcome bonus and want to boost your rewards balance. While most of these participating banks limit referral bonuses, the earning potential is still pretty great. Especially if you refer friends to multiple cards and they get approved.
So don’t leave any points on the table. Let your friends and family know how much you love your rewards card and how much they can benefit from it as well. Chances are, they’ll apply for one of these cards at some point. If they’re aware of your participation in a referral program, they’ll likely reach out to you when they’re ready to pull the trigger.
