Refer a Friend Bonuses: How I Earn Extra Points With the Amex Platinum Card

The American Express Refer a Friend program is an excellent benefit for cardmembers that has helped me earn hundreds of thousands of Amex Membership Rewards points during my years of being an American Express customer.

If you’re not taking advantage of Refer a Friend bonuses, you’re leaving some serious points on the table. Here’s a complete look at how I take full advantage of the program, and how you can too.

How the Amex Refer a Friend Program Has Helped Me Earn Hundreds of Thousands of Points

When I refer a friend who is then approved for a new American Express card, my friend receives the welcome bonus offer (which can sometimes be even higher than the public welcome offer), and I receive bonus points for referring them. It is a win-win scenario!

For instance, as you can see from the image above from The Platinum Card^® from American Express, I can earn 15,000 Amex Membership Rewards for each eligible referral and earn up to 100,000 points per calendar year.

The amount of points you receive for referring a friend can vary, as we’ve seen offers of 25,000, 30,000, and even 35,000 points before.

We value Amex Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents per point, making 100,000 points worth $2,200 based on that valuation. Better yet, this limit on the points you can earn is per card.

If you have other Amex Membership Rewards earning cards, such as the American Express^® Gold Card, The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, or the American Express^® Business Gold Card, you can stack the points earned from the referral offers on each card.

Similar to the number of points you’ll earn for referring a friend, the size of the welcome bonus offer for the person you are referring can vary as well. That said, it’s not uncommon for referral offers to be higher than the current publicly available welcome bonus offer.

This gives your friends and family members even more incentive to use your referral, as it can help them earn more points!

Since the limit on the number of points you can earn resets each year, I’ve been able to amass hundreds of thousands of points from referrals alone in the 8 years I’ve been an American Express customer.

How I Refer a Friend to American Express

American Express makes generating a refer a friend link very easy. I go to the Amex Refer A Friend landing page and sign in to my account.

From there, I can see all of the cards for which I currently have a referral offer, along with the details of the offer, including what the person I’m referring will earn and what I will earn.

Next, I can send the referral offer to my friend or family member via their email address, or by copying a link and sending it to them directly. I usually opt to copy the link and text it to them as this is usually easier and avoids the email potentially getting caught in their spam filter.

Lastly, once my friend is approved for the card, the bonus points get deposited into my account in the next 8 to 12 weeks.

Bonus Tip: I Refer Friends to Amex Cards I Don’t Have

You’d be forgiven for thinking that you need to hold the exact card you’re referring a friend to, but that’s not the case!

For instance, if I send my friend a referral for the Amex Platinum card, but they decide that the Amex Gold card is a better fit for them, I’ll still earn my bonus points for referring them.

In fact, you can refer your friends to any card in the Amex portfolio and receive bonus points without needing to have ever held that specific card yourself. Here’s how it works.

Once the person I’ve referred opens up the link I’ve sent them, they can click either the Personal Cards or Business Cards tab next to the Your Referred Card tab.

For instance, if they select Personal Cards, it will navigate them to a page where they can filter through all of the cards in the Amex portfolio, and their associated referral offers, and select whichever card feels like the best fit for them.

So whether my friend wants an Amex Membership Rewards earning card, an Amex business card, a Marriott card, a Hilton card, a Delta card, or an Amex cash-back card, it doesn’t matter. I’ll always earn bonus points no matter which card they pick. This is the exact process that has helped me gain hundreds of thousands of points from Amex referrals.

Final Thoughts

The American Express refer a friend offers have been vital in helping me earn significantly more points each year, and are even more helpful when you consider that you can refer to any card in the Amex portfolio.

If you aren’t currently taking advantage of Amex referral offers, consider this your sign to start doing so!