Update 2/5/23: There’s an interesting report from DDG where he’s showing a 55k limit in the online login, yet in practice the system is awarding him up to 100,000. I speculated, below, that the 100k limit is coming to everyone. I wonder if it’s already increased for everyone, despite it not showing that way in the online login. Let us know if you have your own data point on this. Another update: multiple comments point to the 100k being more widely available than showing (possibly for everyone?), and that there’s a rumored March 9th date where it’ll show the new 100k limit clearly.
Update 1/15/23: Some people are now seeing the same bump on their cashback cards with a max of $1,000 instead of the prior $550 max. (ht San_K)
Original Post 1/6/23:
American Express is sending some people an email about a change whereby the maximum amount of points one can earn for referring friends to an American Express card is 100,000 points instead of the prior 55,000 annual limit.
Your referral bonus annual limit has been increased from 55,000 Membership Rewards® points to 100,000 Membership Rewards® points per calendar year. This means you can refer more friends each year and continue to earn points for eligible referrals, up to 100,000 points per calendar year. Terms apply.
I wonder if this is a universal change which will apply for everyone. Thus far only some people are getting emails about the change and only on some cards. Some people are already seeing the change reflected in their Amex login whereas others got the email yet still see the old limits showing in the login.
Note, those who got the increased limits are seeing their old referral links stop working. Also note, once you get 60,000 points during a calendar year, Amex will likely send you a form 1099 for the earnings. They consolidate earnings from various cards altogether toward the $600 threshold.
Hat tip to mattintown
Was given the 100K referral limit on the AMEX Gold and AMEX Platinum (both maxed out in the beginning of January). I noticed the bump from 55K to 100K on January 1st (before I got the email).
My two MR biz cards are still showing 55K (Amex Biz Platinum, Blue Business Plus). Fingers crossed that these end up surpassing 100K when I obtain the referrals.
Thanks for the update on 55k at log-in vs. 100k in practice. Both my wife and I are still showing 55k.
BCP: “You can earn: $75 Reward Dollars for each eligible referral – up to $550 Reward Dollars per calendar year.”
Gold (changed on 1/31): “You can earn: 10,000 Membership Rewards® points for each eligible referral – up to 100,000 Membership Rewards® points per calendar year. Your referral bonus annual limit has been increased from 55,000 Membership Rewards® points to 100,000 Membership Rewards® points per calendar year.”
Those are my two personal AMEX cards. My biz cards haven’t changed in ages.
Had 100K limit show on gold card and 55K limit show on platinum card. Referred twice off platinum link and got 30K x2, so 100K limit likely applies to all cards even if only showing on some?
Interesting Datapoint on this: Few days back when I logged into my amex account, a notification on top says that my limit on BCP has been increased to $1000 from $550, then it disappears. I never saw that again, even from app, and website, it’s still shows $550. After seeing this post, I reached out to Amex, and the rep confirmed me that indeed it’s been increased to $1000, and it is gonna show up on March 9. I was also told to stay tune to see the new referral updates on that day. So, I suppose it’s gonna increase for everyone for all cards (maybe?)
When I login it says up-to 55k points but I got an email for a successful referral and it said I earned 10k points and the tracker showed up-to 100k points. This is for business platinum
Anyone know where we can post links? Friends and family not interested in the credit card game 🙁
For “I’m not sure if they consolidate earnings from various cards altogether”: yes, they do. In the past couple years, they sent a 1099 if the total across all cards was $600 or more.
That’s always the case with Amex.
I’ll update thanks
My old referral links are all working except for the ones generated from my only card that got targeted for the increase to 100k. For anyone who got the upgrade to 100k, I would recommend generating new referral links. For me, thankfully I maintained the 30k points for referring after the increase to 100k. (Note that a lot of referral links on /r/churningreferrals are coming up broken, which is what made me check.)
I didn’t get an email, but I previously maxed out my gold card referrals (in theory at least, I never got my second 25k referral points), and when I logged in today, I saw that my total was updated to 100k.