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This has been a very strange year for miles and points. We didn’t get a chance to travel and spend a lot of points but we sure did get quite a few great earning opportunities. We saw high-value increased offers, such as the five free nights up to 50,000 points each with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, an updated welcome bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the overhaul and update of the Chase Freedom cards line up.
Never to be outdone, American Express also keeps surprising us. Earlier this year Amex added great limited time benefits, such as streaming services credits and cell phone credits to its high annual fee cards.
Amex has always been generous with referral offers and its universal referral program is the best one in this business. Amex lets you refer friends and family from any card to any card. If they are approved, they’ll earn the welcome bonus and you’ll earn the referral bonus.
A couple of weeks ago Amex came out with another very enticing offer and shook up the referral game. Let’s look at the details and how to best maximize this unique opportunity.
Refer a Friend and Earn Extra 3X Points
As is the case with all Amex referral bonuses, if you refer someone to another American Express card and they are approved, you’ll earn referral points and they will earn their welcome bonus.
Now, for a very limited time, in addition to the regular referral bonus, you’ll also earn additional 3X for the next three months on all purchases made with the card you referred from.
This is an example of the offer I found on one of my family member’s accounts. I’ve also seen the same offer on all of my personal cards, albeit with a less generous referral bonus.
And this is what this promo looks like on my Amex Hilton Honors Surpass card. I’d rather earn more Membership Rewards points than Hilton points, but it’s a personal decision.
I don’t want to sound like a bad infomercial, but if you find this special referral offer in your account, you need to act very soon because the last day of this promotion is October 28, 2020.
The increased referral offer is only available on personal Amex cards. However, you can refer your friend to a business card and still earn additional 3X on your purchases.
This is how the extra 3X appear on my points statements. The bonus points post every day, once a day and I don’t need to wait 8-12 weeks to see my extra points.
In addition to this great offer, if you have the American Express® Gold Card, check your referrals, you might see an increased referral offer (it could be as high as 30,000 points).
With the holidays coming up, the increased earning rate is extremely timely, especially if you have this limited offer on your American Express® Gold Card. The card already earns 4X at U.S. Supermarkets, but you will now earn 7X! So this is an easy and organic way to turn the purchases you have to make anyway into an amazing points earning opportunity.
Amex recently introduced the limits on how many cards you can have. While the rules aren’t as strict as Chase’s 5/24 rule, it’s something to keep in mind. You can’t have more than four credit cards (cards that have a credit limit such as the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card). Additionally, Amex limits you to 10 cards with no pre-set spending limit, such as the Platinum Card® from American Express. So keep that in mind when you are referring your friends or family members.
Why We Love This Offer
Membership Rewards points are one of our favorite transferable currencies and the opportunity to earn them at an accelerated pace, when we are already spending more than usual, presents an outsized value. My favorite way to use Membership Rewards is to transfer them to one of Amex’s airline partners and use them for business class tickets.
If you got this 3X earning offer on one of your Hilton or Delta cards, especially the cards that earn extra points for grocery spending (expired benefit) like Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, you’ll be earning loads of points toward free rooms or extra miles and elite qualifying requirements.
Final Thoughts
This is a phenomenal offer, especially if you can refer a friend or family member from a card that already earns more than 1X. The offer ends in a couple of days so you need to act fast.
Membership Rewards points are extremely valuable, and it’s easy to get outsized value and turn your everyday spend into amazing redemptions for international business class tickets. If you find this limited time offer on cards that earn other points or miles, such as one of Hilton or Delta cards, you’ll get those free rooms or award tickets that much sooner!
Travel well,
Anna
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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