Earn 30,000 Bonus Points PLUS 9X On Dining For Some AMEX Referrals!!

A friend just asked for some help reorganizing their wallet.  Their credit card choices had become outdated and they had way too many points they didn’t have any immediate use for.  I was stunned when I found out he had amassed four million Marriott Bonvoy points from credit card spend. I’ll admit, I think I cried just a little bit.

One of the cards I suggested he get is the American Express Gold card.  I think this is a real sweet spot for many folks, which I’ll dig into in a bit.  For now, though, I want to focus on what I think is the best referral offer for a credit card I can recall.

The current public offer seems to be 60,000 American Express Membership Rewards points for new sign-ups, though I was targeted for a 75,000 offer.  When I logged in to the AMEX website, I was presented with a much better offer for new sign-ups, and an incredible offer for me:

For starters, the 90,000 point offer for new sign-ups is considerably better than the public offer of 60,000.  On top of that, for referring someone to the card you’ll earn 30,000 Membership Rewards points and you’ll be able to earn 9 points per dollar on dining for 3 months after you refer a friend and they complete a successful application.  Folks who dine out frequently can make out like crazy on this offer.  Even a moderate spend of $200 per month on dining out (which also includes take-out spending, think about that pizza you pick up on Friday nights) would earn an extra 1,000  Membership Rewards points per month.

One more trick, the person you refer should be able to sign up for any American Express personal card through your referral link.  I think the AMEX Gold is a great value, but if someone you know has their eye on a different card you can still earn this referral bonus.

Sadly, AMEX hasn’t raised the maximum amount of points you can earn per year from referrals.  It’s capped at 55,000 Membership Rewards points.  That means you’ll only be able to refer two people right now at the 30K level.

Why I Love The American Express Gold Card

Note, I don’t earn any commission on credit card referrals.  These are my honest opinions.  The AMEX Gold Card has been in my normal rotation for quite a while (and not just because I love the rose gold color).  This card is well-balanced for many folks who don’t want to carry a bunch of credit cards.  Here are the bonus categories:

• 4 points per dollar on dining
• 4 points per dollar on groceries
• 3 points per dollar on airfare

The annual fee is not too high.  It sits in the middle of other cards such as Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95) and American Express Platinum ($695). There are also ways to burn down the annual fee using statement credits, including monthly credits for Uber and some dining credits.

The only major category missing for folks who don’t travel for a living is a bonus category for gas.  Groceries and restaurants represent two of the larger expenses for many families.  If you’re only looking to carry one or two credit cards to cover the majority of your purchases, you can do a lot worse than the American Express Gold Card.

The Final Two Pennies

30,000 Membership Rewards is a really great referral bonus.  Earning nine miles per dollar on dining is the highest bonus I can ever recall for that category.  Combining the two (albeit only 90 days for 9X dining) makes this one of the best referral offers I can recall.  I hope those of you with an AMEX Gold card find this same offer when you login to your account!

(Side note: I still have one referral left if you want an AMEX card and feel like patronizing my little corner of the internet)

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