American Express Referral Bonuses (Updated May 21, 2016)

The way a referral bonus works is that you refer a family or friend to the same credit card (or a credit card within the same family), and then you qualify for a referral bonus offer.

I thought I’d update the American Express Canada referral bonuses, as there are several significant changes from the last time I updated this list. Last time I wrote the word “remaining” in the title. For the time being, it seems like the referrals bonuses are here to stay, so I will take the word off.

The reason I have this thought is because they added back one of the previous offers. Usually when they add something new or back, it generally means the overall program will stick around a while longer. Otherwise they would just slowly phase the bonuses out instead.

Keep in mind that American Express has changed its policy where only first time cardholders can fully qualify for the sign up bonus. There have been instances where someone cancelled their credit card a while ago, and still managed to get the sign up bonus again. It may be a glitch in the system and who knows how much longer it will last, so you can try your luck if you want.

For now, below is a list of referral bonuses with American Express.

The Platinum Card

• $699 annual fee
• Earn 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards points for each approved referral (maximum of 9 referrals for 225,000 Membership Rewards points per calendar year)

Furthermore, within the Membership Rewards family, you can get higher than normal sign up bonuses on several credit cards:

• American Express Business Gold Card – $250 annual fee (first year fee waived) and 30,000 sign up bonus points without a referral or 40,000 sign up bonus points when referred by a friend after $5,000 of spending in the first 3 months.
• American Express Business Platinum Card – $399 annual fee and 40,000 sign up bonus points without a referral or 75,000 sign up bonus points when referred by a friend after $5,000 of spending in the first 3 months.
• American Express Platinum Card – $699 annual fee and 50,000 sign up bonus points without a referral or 75,000 sign up bonus points when referred by a friend after $1,000 of spending in the first 3 months.

The American Express Gold Rewards Card

• $150 annual fee (first year fee waived)
• Earn 5,000 bonus Membership Rewards points for each approved referral (maximum of 15 referrals for 75,000 Membership Rewards points per calendar year)

Note that if you sign up for this charged card on your own, you only need to spend $500 in the first 3 months to qualify for the 25,000 sign up bonus. If you are referred to this credit card, then you need to spend $1,500 in the first 3 months to qualify for the 25,000 sign up bonus.

Also worth noting is that this referral bonus offer was recently taken off the list. It used to be a 10,000 referral bonus instead.

I am actually happy to see that they increased the minimum spend requirement when referred by a friend. I am always a fan of rewarding customers for increasing their spending with a specific credit card. This is much better than devaluation the features and benefits.

Furthermore, I am also glad to see that they re-added this charged card to the referral bonus list. As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, this move proves to me that the referral program is here to stay for a while longer.

The American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum Card

Unfortunately, this time around, the changes have removed this credit card from the list.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

• $120 annual fee
• Earn 10,000 Starpoints for each approved referral (maximum of 15 referrals or 150,000 Starpoints per calendar year)

This continues to remain strong and one of the best referral programs out there. Starpoints is extremely valuable and any chance you can load up on them, I would go for it!

The American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card

• $65 annual fee
• Earn 500 Air Miles reward miles for each approved referral (maximum of 15 referrals or 7,500 Air Miles reward miles per calendar year)

This referral offer has been holding steady for a long time now. It continues to remain one of the most (if not the most) consistent ones.

The SimplyCash Card from American Express

• No annual fee
• Earn $100 cash back for each approved referral (maximum of 15 referrals or $1,500 cash back per calendar year)

This is actually an amazing offer considering that you are referring your friends and family to a no annual fee credit card.