Earn even more bonus miles and points with credit card referrals

• If you like an Amex or Chase credit card, you may be able to earn rewards by suggesting the card to a friend via a referral link.
• Referral bonuses can earn you money, points or miles, depending on the card you use. For example, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you can earn 15,000 points per successful referral, up to 75,000 points per calendar year.
• Money may be a taboo subject for some, but talking about credit cards can overload your rewards strategy – and you'll open your friends' eyes to the benefits of points and miles.

When I sign up for a new credit card, I always try to make my application coincide with a big signup bonus. But the opportunity to earn lump sum rewards does not necessarily end when you reach this minimum spend requirement and you earn the welcome bonus.

You can ask friends and family to apply for many of the best credit cards, and you could even be rewarded. If tens of thousands of additional credit card points are right for you, follow these steps to get started.

How do credit card referral bonuses work?

Credit card referral bonuses earn you a bonus in the form of miles, points or cash back once your friend or sponsored parent has been approved for a new account. Regardless of the type of reward you earn with card purchases, you will earn the same currency for referrals.

In most cases, you get a unique referral link or have to enter your friend's email address in an invitation form to get credit for the referral.

You do not get the bonus instantly; they must apply for the card and be approved to win the bonus. But once the green light is obtained, you should see your referral bonus deposited about a month ago.

In some cases, you can get a better deal by subscribing a card when you use a friend's referral link. For example, I asked for the American Express® Gold Card by using a friend's link. We each received a welcome offer of 50,000 Amex points after spending $ 2,000 in the first three months, compared to 35,000 points (with the same expense requirements). this was published on the American Express website.

One important thing to note: As CreditCards.com reports, Amex and Chase have recently started to send 1099 credit card referral bonus forms. Unlike credit card rewards, credit card rewards are treated as taxable income. So, keep this in mind and indicate it in your decision if you plan to send a referral link to someone else.

How to get started with Amex and Chase Referral Bonuses

Referral bonuses are available through two of the best credit card rewards programs, Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards.

Cards issued by Chase and Amex that are rewarded with a specific loyalty program, such as United Airlines Miles and Marriott Bonvoy Points, are also eligible for sponsorship bonuses.

To see your reference options with Amex and Chase, visit the following links:

With Chase, you can only send friends back to the credit cards you have yourself, but an interesting feature of the Amex Referral Program is that you can earn a referral bonus even if your friend requests a card that you have chosen. do not to have.

For this to work, simply visit the Amex Refer a Friend website, generate a referral link for an Amex card you own, and then tell your friend to click on "View all cards with an offer of sponsorship". This will take them to a list of all Amex cards currently offering referral bonuses, including cards that you do not have.

So even if your friend does not receive the same card as you, you could be rewarded with extra points, miles or cash back.

Main credit card referral bonuses

Here are some popular cards that can reward you and your friends when you send a referral link.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

You can earn 15,000 points by reference to this rewards card, which is one of our best choices for beginner points and miles. If you are redeeming points through the Ultimate Rewards portal, each recommendation is worth $ 187.50 on the trip. You can earn up to 75,000 € bonus, worth at least 937,50 USD, per calendar year.

Selling your friend should be a kid's game with the current bonus of 60,000 points (after spending $ 4,000 in the first three months after opening a new account). It's easy enough for a free round trip flight to Europe! When these points are redeemed on the Ultimate Rewards website, travel costs rise to $ 750 – more than 7 times the $ 95 annual fee.

American Express Blue Cash Preferred® Card

You can get cash back up to $ 100 per successful referral, up to $ 550 a year. It's a nice little bazot that hardly requires any work. The card has an annual fee of $ 95 and offers up to 6% cash back on popular categories.

If your friend applies via your link, they will earn a $ 300 refund bonus after spending $ 1,000 on the card in the first three months. Blue Cash Preferred recovers 6% on US supermarket purchases of US $ 6,000 per year, then 1%, 6% on certain US streaming services, 3% in US service stations, 3% on US public transit (includes ridesharing and public transit services)) and 1% on everything else.

American Express Gold Card

You can earn 10,000 Membership Rewards points per Amex Gold recommendation, up to 55,000 points per year. If you transfer points to British Airways Avios and book short-haul US flights with these points, each referral is easily enough for a one-way flight to many destinations.

That's thanks to a referral bonus that I've opened the Amex Gold Card, which gives you 4 points per dollar in restaurants around the world, 4x points in US supermarkets up to 25,000 $ annual purchases (1 point per dollar after that) and other bonuses. While the card charges an annual fee of $ 250 per year, it creates a valuable 35,000 Rewards Rewards for new cardholders after $ 2,000 in purchases within the first three months. (The highest referral bonus I've been able to recover does not seem available at the time of publication.)

Other Amex cards offering referral bonuses:

Other Chase cards offering referral bonuses:

Everyone wins

I compare a US roundtrip flight to about 25,000 points, so I can get a free trip with only two or three references in some cases. It's very nice!

If you feel comfortable talking to your friends about reward programs in miles and points – something I can not stop doing every time I split a check at the restaurant – you could be on the way for big bonus points before you know it.

Click here to learn more about the best credit cards of 2019.