The Capital One Refer a Friend Program [Earn 100,000+ Points Every Year]

If you’re a Capital One cardholder, you can refer friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers to your Capital One card and earn rewards when they’re approved. The rewards can be great, especially for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which offers up to 100,000 referral miles each year.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of the Capital One Refer a Friend program, starting with a high-level overview. We’ll include a step-by-step process for generating referral links, as well as a summary of which credit cards are eligible for referrals.

Let’s get right into it!

What Is Refer a Friend?

Many businesses, including banks and credit card issuers, offer referral programs whereby you can earn an incentive if someone you know signs up for a service or buys a product through you.

In our increasingly online world, referral programs may use unique links to tie the purchase to the referrer. For credit cards, you can usually share a unique link to recommend a particular credit card to your friends, family, business partners, or colleagues. And if they apply and are approved, you get a referral bonus.

Referral bonuses are usually either cash-back or bonus rewards. In the case of Capital One, the referral bonus you earn is almost always in the same currency that the credit card earns.

For example, if you refer someone to a credit card earning Capital One miles, you earn a referral bonus of Capital One miles.

In contrast, if you refer someone to a credit card earning cash-back, you earn a cash-back referral bonus.

Who Can You Refer?

In general, you can refer anybody you know. If you have friends or relatives who use your referral links, you should qualify for a referral bonus as long as you follow the referral program rules.

It’s also generally acceptable to share your referral links on social media.

Why You Might Not Get a Referral Bonus

There are a few reasons why a card provider might deny you a referral bonus, such as:

• Your friend uses an old referral link
• Your friend applies using a link that isn’t your referral link
• Your credit card is closed
• You’ve reached the yearly maximum of referral bonuses on that card for the calendar year
• You’re an employee of a Capital One call center, bank branch, or cafe
• You violate the terms of the referral program in any way
• Your friend is declined for the credit card

Referral Bonuses Are Taxable

Another interesting feature of referral bonuses is that they are subject to tax-related reporting for the year in which you receive the bonus.

Capital One may send you a 1099-MISC tax form, which you’d have to include on your tax return.

In general, Capital One miles are valued at 1 cent per point for tax calculations.

How To Refer a Friend to a Capital One Card [Step-by-Step]

To refer a friend to a Capital One card, simply follow these steps:

First, navigate to the Capital One Refer a Friend page (or the Refer a Business page for business credit cards).

Next, click the button that says Sign In to Invite Friends.

Log in to your Capital One online account and you’ll be redirected to the page to generate a referral link. On the referral page, you can find how much your referral bonus is, as well as the maximum number of points you can earn per year.

Click the button that says Copy to copy your referral link.

You’ll likely see a screen pop-up that confirms your referral link has been copied.

Next, share your link with your friends and family. Every person you refer who uses the link will navigate to a page that describes the features of the credit card.

To move forward, your friend should click the green button that says Apply Now.

After that, they will be taken to the application page to submit the credit card application, and that’s it!

After your friend is approved, you should receive your referral bonus within 8 weeks.

Capital One Credit Cards Eligible for Referral

You can generate referral offers for these personal credit cards:

Family of Quicksilver Credit Cards:

• Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.
• Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.
• Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.
• Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.

Family of Savor Credit Cards:

• Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.
• Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.

Family of Venture and VentureOne Credit Cards:

• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.

Family of Platinum and Secured Credit Cards:

• Capital One Platinum Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.
• Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.

Also, you can generate referral offers for these business credit cards:

Family of Spark Cash Credit Cards:

• Capital One Spark Cash Plus Card*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.
• Capital One Spark Cash Select*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.

Family of Spark Miles Credit Cards:

• Capital One Spark Miles for Business*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.
• Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business*×Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.

Hot Tip: Referral bonuses vary depending on the credit card you hold — in some cases, you may receive targeted referral bonuses.

Current Capital One Referral Bonus Examples

Although referral bonuses may change from time to time and are even subject to enhanced offers for targeted customers, we’ve compiled a series of example referral bonuses you can expect to get for certain Capital One credit cards.

Capital One Venture X Card

• Earn 25,000 Capital One miles per approval through your referral link
• Earn up to 100,000 Capital One miles per calendar year

Capital One Venture Card

• Earn 10,000 to 20,000 Capital One miles per approval through your referral link
• Earn up to 50,000 Capital One miles per calendar year

Capital One VentureOne Card

• Earn 10,000 to 20,000 Capital One miles per approval through your referral link
• Earn up to 50,000 Capital One miles per calendar year

Quicksilver Cards

• Earn $150 per approval through your referral link
• Earn up to $500 per calendar year

Capital One Spark Miles Card

• Earn 10,000 to 20,000 Capital One miles per approval through your referral link
• Earn up to 50,000 Capital One miles per calendar year

Capital One Spark Miles Select Card

• Earn 10,000 to 20,000 Capital One miles per approval through your referral link
• Earn up to 50,000 Capital One miles per calendar year

Capital One Spark Cash Plus Card

• Earn $100 per approval through your referral link
• Earn up to $500 per calendar year

Capital One Spark Cash Select Card

• Earn $100 per approval through your referral link
• Earn up to $500 per calendar year

Final Thoughts

Capital One has a superb referral program, particularly for its Capital One Venture X card. The referral bonus sits at 25,000 miles, with a maximum of 100,000 miles earned per calendar year.

Also, Capital One offers referral bonuses for its other major credit card families, including the Quicksilver and Savor set of credit cards, as well as the Spark Cash and Spark Miles series of credit cards on the business side.

Now you have the complete breakdown of how to use the Capital One Refer a Friend program!