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American Express is offering consumer cardmembers an incredible bonus for referring friends. In addition to earning points or cash back when a friend signs up with your referral, you’ll also earn an additional 3 points per dollar for all of your spend for 3 months. This can be absolutely huge for big spenders!
The Deal
- Offer Link: americanexpress.com/refer
- Available for select consumer cards (business cards aren’t eligible)
- For each of your Amex cards, check the refer-a-friend page and look for the words “Amex Refer A Friend Three For All” at the top (see image above as an example).
- For qualifying cards, use your referral link to refer friends until 10/28/2020.
- Once a friend has been approved, you should earn 3 additional points per dollar on that card for three months. This includes bonus categories. For example, if you refer a friend from the Amex Gold Card, you’ll earn 7X at restaurants rather than the usual 4X and you’ll earn 4X for unbonused spend instead of 1X.
- Offer expires 10/28/2020
Terms
+3 Rewards Referral Offer
Eligibility and Qualifying for the Offer
Must refer a new American Express U.S. Consumer Card application between 10/1/2020 and 10/28/2020, and that application must result in an approved account. The referred individual(s) must apply online through the eligible Card Member’s personalized referral link provided by American Express. Eligible Card Members must refer their Consumer Card(s), but may still qualify for this Offer should the referred individual(s) apply for another Card through the personalized referral link and that application results in an approved account. This Offer is not available to all Card Members and is non-transferable. Business Cards, Corporate Cards, Prepaid Cards, American Express Cards issued by other financial institutions, and/or older versions of current U.S. Consumer Cards are not eligible to be referred, and Card Members logging into a Card account for one of these ineligible Cards will not see this Offer because it is not available.
Due to the confidential nature of the credit card approval process, Card Members will not be notified of whether we approve or decline any application(s) from referred individuals. If you qualify for this offer, you will receive an email notification. If you do not have an email address on your account, you can add one at americanexpress.com.
Additional +3 Rewards
Qualifying Card Members will receive an additional three (3) rewards per eligible dollar spent on their Card account (for the Card referred) for three (3) months, starting from the date the referral results in an approved account. The additional three (3) rewards will be applied to rewards categories for which eligible purchases are rewarded with cash back, Membership Rewards® Points, Delta Bonus Miles®, Hilton Honors Bonus Points or Marriott Bonvoy Points. The following are some examples of how qualifying Card Members will earn additional rewards during the 3-month offer period:
A Blue Cash Everyday® Card Member who typically earns, among other rewards, 2% cash back at U.S. Gas Stations and 1% cash back on other purchases will earn 5% cash back at U.S. Gas Stations (2% + additional 3%) and 4% cash back on other purchases (1% + additional 3%) during the 3-month offer period.
A Green Card Member who typically earns, among other rewards, 3X Membership Rewards® Points on Restaurants will earn 6X (3X + additional 3 Points) during the 3-month offer period
For qualifying Amex EveryDay® Card Members, points awarded under this offer will not be included when we calculate Extra Points.
Please refer to your Card account for an overview of your benefits and rewards. As a reminder, you will receive cash back in the form of Reward Dollars, which can be redeemed for statement credits. The value of Membership Rewards points varies according to how you choose to use them. To learn more, go to www.membershiprewards.com/pointsinfo.
Purchases may fall outside of the offer period in some cases (and therefore not qualify for the offer), such as a delay in merchants submitting transactions to us or if the official purchase date differs from the date you made the purchase. (For example, if you buy goods online, the official purchase date may be the date the goods are shipped.) Additional Card Members on your account are not eligible to participate in this offer, but you will earn 3 additional rewards per dollar on qualifying purchases made by any Additional Card Members on your account. The following do NOT count as purchases and will not qualify for this offer: fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of traveler’s checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of any cash equivalents.
Fulfillment
To earn rewards in connection with this offer, your Card Account must be active, in good standing, and not in default at the time of fulfillment. What you earn with this offer: (i) is in addition to any other rewards you may get from using your Card Account; (ii) will be credited to your account 8-12 weeks after you make a qualifying purchase; and (iii) may be reversed if a qualifying purchase is returned or cancelled.
Quick Thoughts
This is a phenomenal offer. It shouldn’t be too hard for most people to find a friend or family member willing to sign up for at least one card. For example, I might encourage my son to sign up for a new Amex card using one of my referral links. And since Amex lets you use your referral to refer to other cards (not just the card you have), you can refer friends to the best offers out there (like the Gold Card 60K offer, for example) even if you don’t have that card.
Once your three months starts, you’ll want to use your qualifying Amex card for virtually all spend, including things like Plastiq bill payments (a 2.85% fee is nothing compared to earning an extra 3X), tax payments, etc. I’d avoid buying gift cards, though, since Amex has been fighting back against that type of manufactured spending.
This deal ought to stack perfectly with other big spend opportunities. For example, Delta Platinum and Reserve cardholders earn status boosts with big spend plus they may be getting 500 bonus MQMs per $1,000 of spend thanks to a current Amex Offer. If you can rig things to also get an additional 3 miles per dollar on top, that would be sweet. Plus, if you refer a friend in mid October, the bonus miles will continue until mid January and so you can get a start on earning new status boosts at the beginning of next year.
Hat Tip: Milenomics
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[…] are earning an additional 3 points per dollar on all spend after having referred someone during the Amex Refer a Friend Three For All promo. Even without a promo like that, though, earning a minimum of 9X on Amazon purchases (or simply […]
Are everyone’s extra 3x MR points already posting? I made the referral on 10/10 (using a referral link that I accessed by clicking on a 3x-specific “offer”). My referral got approved on 10/12; I got the 25K bonus points almost immediately, but the 3x still aren’t posting. I did not get any confirmation email after the approval. But I chatted with AMEX twice since then and both times they “confirmed” that the 3x promo is attached to my account, and that the bonus points should post 8-12 weeks after the purchases are made (as per the terms). Anyone else experienced this? Thanks!
Within my family we have 3 cards that successfully made referrals. With two of them, we received an email saying the +3 was in effect and it was (the points show up a few days after the purchase switches from pending). With the other, I haven’t yet tried any spend because I’m waiting for an email.
Thanks, Greg. In your experience, if Amex agents tell you not to worry and that you just need to wait for the bonus points to post, can they be trusted?
I don’t know. I can’t remember any relevant experiences
I’ve had similar concerns. I successfully referred from my gold card and I did get an email but I haven’t seen any 3x points post yet. An AMex agent confirmed that the promo was attached to my account. We’re building a house and I’ve spent a lot on my gold card instead of my blue business plus (2x). Hopefully it works out.
Need some help here. Debating which Amex referral is better from P2 to P1 and then which Amex business card to get! Offer one is from a Plat card: earn 5,000 (with 3x bonus offer), friend receives at least 60,000 MR. Or is it P2 gets whatever bonus shows with the card applying for? Offer two is from Amex Plat: earn 20,000, friend can earn 75,000 MR after they spend $15,000. Again, is that for any card applying for or dependent on the offer that shows when using the link?
P1 looking to get a business card (but not amazon, Lowe’s, airline or hotel ones). Currently has Amex Plat. Between P1 and P2 will have about 20k expenses in next three months. Thanks!
The bonus for the person signing up for a new card is always based on which card they apply for, so that’s not a factor. It sounds like your choices are to get 5K and the +3 offer or 20K without +3, right? With 20K expenses:
Option 1 is better
Curious: I got the referral to a gold card from a friend. When I go to the referral page and look at other cards some, like the gold card, say “referral offer” in a little bubble, while others (such as the green card, which is the one I wanted) read “special offer for you”. Not sure whether the “special offer for you” ones trigger the 3x offer for my friend.
Anyone know? If there’s clear language limiting it I missed it.
Yes, if you click your friend’s link and then go through an apply for any card from clicking through they’ll get their bonus.
So to be clear, even if it doesn’t say “referral offer”?
Is it clear if the application of referee has to occur by end of October, or just the referral? I.e. could I wait on the actual application using the link until later in the year to extend the backend of the 3x points period?
Great question. I interpreted it to mean that the application must happen by 10/28, but it’s possible that it would work beyond that date as long as you grab the referral link before that. I have no idea if that would work.
[…] hearing about this offer from several of my favorite points blogs (hat tip to Frequent Miler and Doctor of Credit), I started to plan out how I can use it to amass a ton of Amex Membership […]
[…] Amex’s “3 for All” referral offer is a crazy valuable deal for big spenders. If you’re lucky enough to be targeted, you can refer a friend to another Amex card (it doesn’t have to be the same one) and if your friend is approved you’ll earn both a big points bonus and an additional 3 points per dollar on all spend for three months. The potential is huge. For details about the offer, see: Wow! Earn an extra 3X for 3 months with Amex Refer A Friend Three For All. […]
Would the 3 extra miles per dollar stack if you refer multiple people? I.e. if two of my friends sign up for new cards with my link, would I get 6x extra miles per dollar?
I don’t know
[…] where you can earn a chunk of points plus the ability to earn an extra 3X for 3 months (see: Wow! Earn an extra 3X for 3 months with Amex Refer A Friend Three For All). If you or someone in your family has an Amex card that is eligible for that referral offer, […]
Does the annual limit of 55,000 miles apply to this 3x bonus since its a referral bonus ?
I can’t find anything in the terms that would suggest that so my belief is that the 55K limit is only for the usual type of referral bonus
I would say the biggest opportunity is to pay property tax and tax return for your friends 🙂
I hope they don’t set the spending limit.. at least, it’s not mentioned in term.
Does the 3x also work on your authorized user cards?
Yes, the primary cardholder (as always) will get the points and bonus points
Greg is right, “Additional Card Members on your account are not eligible to participate in this offer, but you will earn 3 additional rewards per dollar on qualifying purchases made by any Additional Card Members on your account. The following do NOT count as purchases and will not qualify for this offer: fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of traveler’s checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of any cash equivalents.”
[…] Wow! Earn an extra 3X for 3 months with Amex Refer A Friend Three For All (Expires 10/28/20) […]
I saw this available under many of my cards including blue business plus and used that to send a referral link. Is it ok if the person receiving my referral signs up for The Hilton Honors Consumer Card ?
The offer for my DL card says the friend can get any delta card; so I suspect they are for a Hilton card – I see the offer only on my Green card not on my Plat card and on the personal DL card not the business Dl card
It seems to be a YMMV type of offer – very targeted and specific
Are you sure you saw it under your Blue Business Plus? I didn’t think these were available for business cards. If so, that’s awesome.
But to answer your question: yes, they can click your link and then sign up for any card they find (which should include the Hilton cards)
Greg do you know if two people referring each other raises issues with Amex? If P1 refers P2 for the Premier Gold card and P2 refers P1 for the Delta one, is it perfectly OK ? And as always, thanks for letting know about awesome opportunities !
I’m not aware of any issues with this, but of course Amex could always start caring about it going forward (especially with such a lucrative promo on the line)