American Express Adds New Limit on Referrals
American Express has changed up the terms for referral bonuses, adding a limit of up to 5 referrals per calendar year.
Previously you were limited to 100,000 points, $1,000 in statement credits, of 140,000 points for Hilton cards. But there was no limit on how many referrals you could get every year.
So is it better or worse now with the new limit? It’s worse in most cases, but it depends on the card that you have and what referral bonus you’re getting for every successful referral.
For my Business Platinum card for example, it is now a better deal as I can earn up to 125,000 bonus points from referrals instead of 100,000. If you already have four referrals, you should be able to get a fifth now.
It’s bad new for my Charles Schwab Platinum Card. Previously I could earn up to $1,000 in statement credits, and now that has been cut in half.
The same goes for my Hilton cards as I can now only earn up to 100,000 Hilton points from referrals every year, down from 140,000.
Important Terms
- As of 4/8/2026, you can earn a referral bonus up to a maximum of five (5) times per calendar year.
- If you make more than five (5) eligible referrals in a calendar year, your friend could still earn a welcome offer, but you will not receive a referral bonus.
- If your friend got a Card from your referral link between 1/1/2026 and 4/7/2026 at 11:59 PM (E.T.), the referral bonus you earned counted towards your previous currency-based annual limit.
- If your friend got a Card from your referral link after 4/8/2026 at 12:00 AM (E.T.), the referral bonus you earned counted towards your reward limit of five (5) referrals per calendar year.
Guru’s Wrap-up
The new rule is simpler, but it could be better or worse depending on what cards you have. The only ones who will fare better are probably Platinum cardholders, and maybe Gold cardholders when they have increased referral bonuses.
At least for this year you could be able to get some extra referrals if you already maxed out 100K points, but have less than 4 referrals total. You may even be able to start over now with the new rule, and earn 5 referrals even if you earned some before April 8th. But I’ll have to test that out.
HT: CobaltSunsets
