American Express Now Limits Card Referrals to 5 per Year — What To Know

Updated: April 13, 2026, 9:30am CDT

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Table of Contents

American Express’s New Referral Limits
Is This a Bad Change?
How To Access Your Amex Referral Bonuses
Final Thoughts

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American Express referrals are a great way to earn extra points or cash-back rewards by referring your friends and family who open a new card.

However, American Express has quietly implemented new caps that limit the number of referrals you can earn per year. Here is everything you need to know about these changes.

American Express’s New Referral Limits

Previously, referral limits on American Express cards were tied to the number of rewards you could earn each year, such as 100,000 points or $500 in cash-back. As first reported by Danny Deal Guru, American Express has added a limit of up to 5 referrals per calendar year.

If there’s any silver lining, an American Express spokesperson confirmed that the new limit applies to each card product — not your overall account.

Confirming that the referral limits is per card, not per account. For example, if you have both the Platinum Card^® from American Express and the American Express^® Gold Card in your wallet, you would have (10) total referrals. Eligibility to refer varies per card product.

Once you hit your annual 5 referral limit, you can still “refer” friends to open a card. They will still be eligible for the welcome bonus offer, but you won’t earn any additional rewards for doing so.

Is This a Bad Change?

Now, with the 5 referrals per calendar year limit, cardholders might find they can earn more points or cash back throughout the year, while others will earn less. It all depends on the size of the referral offer on each card.

For example, if you currently have a 30,000-point referral offer on your Platinum Card^® from American Express, the new 5-referral limit would allow you to earn 150,000 bonus points from referrals. This is actually higher than the previous limit of 100,000 to 125,000 points.

Hot Tip:

While these changes take effect today, April 8, 2026, referrals made between January 1, 2026, and April 7, 2026, will count toward the previous rewards-based limit. You can see the full terms and conditions of the referral limits to read more about these changes.

How To Access Your Amex Referral Bonuses

American Express makes it simple to generate a referral link. All you need to do is head to the Amex Refer-a-Friend landing page and sign in to your account.

Amex referral page — New referral limits take effect April 8, 2026. Image Credit: American Express

From there, you can see all the cards your account currently has a referral offer for, along with the welcome bonus the person you’re referring will earn.

Then, you can send the referral offer to your friend or family member via email or by sending them a direct link. You’ll need to be sure they apply through that link or email, or you won’t receive a referral bonus.

Final Thoughts

Instead of being tied to a number of rewards you can earn each year, Amex cards will now be limited to 5 referrals per calendar year. While these changes start today, on April 8, none of the referrals you’ve made in 2026 so far will count toward this new limit.