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The 75 Best Credit Card Referral Bonuses [2024]

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Stephen Au
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Stephen Au

Former Senior Content Contributor

483 Published Articles

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Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used...
Edited by: Jessica Merritt
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Jessica Merritt

Editor & Content Contributor

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A long-time points and miles student, Jessica is the former Personal Finance Managing Editor at U.S. News and World Report and is passionate about helping consumers fund their travels for as little ca...
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Juan Ruiz

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Juan has extensive experience in writing and editing content related to credit cards, loyalty programs, and travel. He has been honing his expertise in this field for over a decade. His work has been ...

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The ways you can earn credit card points and miles are almost endless. These include credit card welcome bonuses, regular spending, and shopping portals.

Another way to earn lots of points quickly is to refer your friends to a credit card. By doing so, you’ll earn a credit card referral bonus.

However, this approach can be surprisingly involved due to policies and referral structures that differ from bank to bank.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to maximize credit card referral bonuses, as well as what referral bonuses you should expect from each card.

What Is a Credit Card Referral Bonus?

A credit card referral bonus is a reward that banks and credit card issuers offer to cardmembers who invite their friends, family, and business colleagues to open a card.

Usually, referral bonuses are awarded in points, miles, or additional cash-back. For example, a referral bonus might be 15,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, 10,000 Delta SkyMiles, or $100 cash-back.

You’ll generally only earn a referral bonus if the person you refer is approved for the credit card. If the person you refer gets denied, you will not earn a referral bonus.

Current Referral Bonuses

In the next section, we’ll discuss the current referral bonuses offered by different banks and credit card products.

American Express

American Express is one of the most generous credit card issuers in terms of offering referral bonuses. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to grow membership and American Express takes full advantage of that principle.

With American Express, you can earn a referral bonus on any card your friend is approved for, not just the card product you referred from! For example, you can earn a referral bonus if you refer your friends from The Platinum Card® from American Express and they are approved for the American Express® Gold Card. In that case, you’d earn the referral bonus for the Amex Platinum card and they would earn the Amex Gold referral bonus.

Hot Tip: Check out our complete guide to Amex’s Refer a Friend program!

American Express might offer you targeted referral bonuses to help you earn more points from a referral, though there’s no way to predict who gets targeted for these.

Here is the complete list of referral offers from American Express:

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*All information about these cards has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

Capital One

Capital One’s credit card game is quickly catching up to its peers American Express and Chase. As part of this effort, Capital One cardholders are eligible to earn referral bonuses.

With Capital One, you will only receive a referral bonus if whoever you refer is approved for the same product you have. Capital One offers cash-back referral bonuses on cash-back credit cards and miles referral bonuses on Capital One miles credit cards.

While most of the major Capital One card products are eligible for referral bonuses, its store cards and other co-branded products are not.

Here is the complete list of Capital One referral bonuses:

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Capital One Card Product

Referral Bonus

Max Bonus per Year

Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

$150

$500

Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

$100

$500

Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

$100

$500

Capital One SavorOne Rewards Credit Card

$100

$500

Capital One Spark Cash Plus Card

$100

$500

Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit

$100

$500

Capital One Spark Classic for Business

$100

$500

Capital One Spark Miles for Business

10,000 to 20,000 miles

50,000 miles

Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business

10,000 to 20,000 miles

50,000 miles

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

10,000 to 20,000 miles

50,000 miles

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

25,000 miles

100,000 miles

Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

10,000 to 20,000 miles

50,000 miles

Chase

Chase has a great referral program for its credit cards. Although its referral bonuses may change from time to time, Chase does not target specific customers with higher bonus offers. If Chase changes its referral bonuses, it does so across the board so that anybody with a certain credit card will be eligible for the same referral bonus as everybody else.

In addition, Chase has expanded its referral program — if you have a Chase card, you may be able to earn a referral bonus when your friend is approved for a product within the same card family. For example, if you have the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and you refer a friend who signs up for the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, you will still earn a referral bonus!

This isn’t applied uniformly, though. For example, Chase offers a referral bonus for its Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card cardholders only if their friends sign up for the same card — Chase Sapphire Reserve® sign-ups are not eligible.

Here’s what the table of current Chase referral offers looks like:

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Chase Card Product

Referral Bonus

Max Bonus per Year

British Airways Visa Signature® Card

10,000 Avios

50,000 Avios

Chase Freedom Flex℠

$100

$500

Chase Freedom Unlimited®

$100

$500

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

15,000 points

75,000 points

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

10,000 points

50,000 points

Disney® Visa® Card

100 Disney Rewards Dollars

500 Disney Rewards Dollars

Disney® Premier Visa® card

100 Disney Rewards Dollars

500 Disney Rewards Dollars

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card

10,000 points

50,000 points

IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card

10,000 points

50,000 points

Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

40,000 points

200,000 points

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

40,000 points

200,000 points

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

40,000 points

200,000 points

Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card

40,000 points

200,000 points

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card

40,000 points

200,000 points

Ink Business Premier® Credit Card

Unknown

Unknown

Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

20,000 points

100,000 points

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

20,000 points

100,000 points

Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

20,000 points

100,000 points

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

20,000 points

100,000 points

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

20,000 points

100,000 points

United Club℠ Business Card

20,000 miles

100,000 miles

United Club℠ Infinite Card

20,000 miles

100,000 miles

United Quest℠ Card

20,000 miles

100,000 miles

United℠ Business Card

20,000 miles

100,000 miles

United℠ Explorer Card

20,000 miles

100,000 miles

United℠ TravelBank Card

20,000 miles

100,000 miles

World of Hyatt Business Credit Card

5,000 points

25,000 points

The World of Hyatt Credit Card

5,000 points

25,000 points

Citi

Citi doesn’t currently have a referral program for any U.S. credit cards. A referral program is offered to cardholders in countries like the Philippines, India, and Singapore, but it’s not available in the U.S. at the moment.

Referral Bonus History

Referral bonuses change all the time. These changes can happen on an individual or widespread basis.

What we mean by that is that on an individual basis, Amex may choose to target you for an increased referral bonus for a few months, while it might not offer any increased referral bonuses to other cardholders.

On the flip side, Chase will almost always offer the same referral bonus to all cardholders. It is extremely unlikely to offer a 15,000-point referral bonus to the public and a 20,000-point referral bonus to specific cardmembers.

So in this next section, we’ll share the highest-ever referral bonuses from each bank and card to give you an idea of whether you should wait for a better bonus or pull the trigger immediately.

American Express Referral Bonus History

American Express changes its referral bonuses the most often out of all the major credit card issuers.

American Express consistently offers limited-time, enhanced referral bonuses on its flagship cards like the Amex Gold card or the Amex Platinum card.

Here’s the complete list of historical-high referral bonus offers:

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Capital One Referral Bonus History

Capital One offers targeted referral bonuses on a few of its credit cards and consistent referral bonuses on its other eligible cards.

Here’s the table:

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Capital One Card Product

Highest Referral Bonus

Current?

Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

$150

Yes

Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

$100

Yes

Capital One Savor Rewards Credit Card

$100

Yes

Capital One SavorOne Rewards Credit Card

$100

Yes

Capital One Spark Cash for Business

$100

Yes

Capital One Spark Cash Plus Card

$100

Yes

Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit

$100

Yes

Capital One Spark Classic for Business

$100

Yes

Capital One Spark Miles for Business

10,000 to 20,000 miles

Yes (targeted)

Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business

10,000 to 20,000 miles

Yes (targeted)

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

10,000 to 20,000 miles

Yes (targeted)

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

25,000 miles

Yes

Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

10,000 to 20,000 miles

Yes (targeted)

Chase Referral Bonus History

Chase is currently offering all-time high referral bonuses on its most popular credit cards, including the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, the Ink family of cards, United cards, Marriott Bonvoy cards, and Southwest cards.

All of the highest-ever offers are current, with the exception of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, which no longer has a referral bonus.

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Citi Referral Bonus History

Citi has never offered a publicly available referral bonus on its credit cards. However, in the past, Citi has sent out targeted campaigns, mostly over email and postal mail, for a few of its credit cards.

These limited-time promotions mark the extent of Citi’s referral bonus program in the U.S. for credit cards — here’s the complete historical list:

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Citi Card Product

Highest Referral Bonus

Max Bonus per Year

Date Last Offered

Citi Strata Premier℠ Card

10,000 points

50,000 points

March 2019

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®

10,000 miles

50,000 miles

March 2019

Citi Double Cash® Card

$100

$500

March 2019

Here’s hoping that Citi brings back a referral bonus program!

Final Thoughts

Despite how prevalent referral bonuses are in the world of credit cards today, we shouldn’t take them for granted.

The major credit card issuers offer excellent referral bonuses that can allow you and your friend to get rewarded for expanding your relationships with banks.

The exact structures and inner workings of each referral bonus may vary, but at a high level, the best referral bonuses come from American Express, Capital One, and Chase.

We’ll continue to update this guide with new referral bonuses, as well as the highest-ever referral bonuses to help you make the best game-time decisions possible on whether to refer now or later.

Keep this guide bookmarked if you’re referring often!

The information regarding the American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab, Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred® American Express Card, The Amazon Business American Express Card, The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Goldman Sachs, The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley, Capital One Spark Classic for Business and United℠ TravelBank Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

The information regarding the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. 
The information regarding the Capital One SavorOne Card Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One Spark Cash Plus Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the American Express Cash Magnet® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the American Express® Green Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information for The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card has been independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Chase Freedom Flex℠ was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the United Club℠ Business Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Citi Double Cash® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Information regarding the Capital One Spark Miles for Business was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. 
For rates and fees of the Amazon Business Prime American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees for The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good referral bonus?

A good referral bonus is anything where you can get extra rewards or cash-back for your referral! That said, if you can get 10,000 to 30,000 points, you’re in great shape. That’s roughly equivalent to $100 or $300 cash-back, depending on which credit card you have.

Do referrals help credit card approval?

Referrals generally do not help credit card approval. An applicant is typically subject to the same credit card application and approval criteria regardless of whether a referral link was used.

What is a referral bonus on a credit card?

A credit card referral bonus refers to an incentive offered by a credit card issuer to an existing cardmember to encourage their friends and family to also become a cardmember.

Does Citi offer referral bonuses?

Citi doesn’t usually offer a referral bonus for its credit cards. However, it may, from time to time, offer targeted invitations over email to earn referral bonuses. These are not publicly available, and it’s not clear how Citi decides who to target for these promotions.

Who offers referral bonuses?

The best credit card referral bonuses come from Amex and Chase. However, other banks including Capital One and Citi may also offer referral bonuses for select credit cards.

Does Chase offer referral bonuses?

Chase offers excellent referral bonuses. You can earn up to 20,000 points for each friend that gets approved. This includes the famous Chase Sapphire Preferred card!

Does Bank of America have a credit card referral bonus?

In general, Bank of America does not offer credit card referral bonuses. However, it has offered small referral bonuses for certain card products in the past.

Stephen Au's image

About Stephen Au

Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.

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