Introduction

We used UR points to stay at Waldorf Astoria in Puerto RIco

A blog reader recently asked me which cards would help him earn referral bonus if his friends or family get approved using his referral link. Several banks extend referral bonus to existing cardholders when they refer others but you only earn a bonus if their application gets approved. Banks spend millions in advertising revenues and knowing existing cardholders are the most loyal customers banks can really cut on the marketing costs by giving perks to existing cardholders.  It’s a nice way to increase your mileage balance by spreading the love of miles!!! I earned 50,000 Ultimate Rewards Points last year referring friends and family to the Chase Ink Business Card alone when Chase was offering 10,000 UR points for  every approved application. 50,000 UR is roughly $625 in travel rewards . Today I will show you how you can do the same and which credit cards will help you earn referral rewards. BTW, a simple trick in receiving these promotions is to enroll in all marketing emails because several time companies will send out targeted offers that are often better than public offers.

Cards that offer referral rewards

1. Delta Amex card – If you have any of the Delta personal or business credit cards you could earn 5000 Delta miles for each person you refer who gets approved. The maximum you could earn in a calendar year is 55,000 miles i.e 11 approved applications per calendar year. Here is a direct link to Delta offer – Link. 

2. Chase Freedom, INK and Sapphire Preferred – With the ongoing  promotion Chase will award you with 5000 Ultimate Reward points for each approved application and maximum of 50,000 UR points. Chase often ups the bonus to 10,000 bonus points ( in October last year) per approved application which is a super deal as 10,000 UR points equate to almost $100 or more in travel rewards. Here is a link to the current offer – Link.

These card have referral bonus – Chase Freedom , Chase Sapphire preferred and Chase Ink Business. So if you have any of these card go ahead and send referral links to friends and family to score some easy miles.

I used a lot of UR points for scoring free hotel stays in Europe last Fall

We stayed four nights at the Hyatt Louvre Hotel in Paris by transferring 80,000 UR points to Hyatt program and paid $0 for our entire stay!!

Kinjal riding camel in UAE. you can book a lot activities using UR points around the world

3. Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier

Current cardholder can earn 5000 Rapid Rewards points for every approved application. Southwest points are great to redeem and now you can also use them to travel to Mexico and Caribbean. You can check more information under Chase-refer-a-friend program here.

4. Discover Credit card – If you currently have a Discover card or if you know of a friend who has one , both of you can earn $50 by using Discovers refer-a-friend program. Simply go to the Discover refer a friend website here login to your profile where you can email invitations. That’s an easy $50 cashback and don’t forget for all new Discover It credit card applications you are entitled to  double your cashback for the entire year!!! You can receive credit upto 10 referrals every year i.e. a maximum of $500!! Also, from the fine print “You are not eligible to refer a friend if you have a Discover® Business card, Discover® Business Miles card, Essential by Discover® card, Escape by Discover® card, Miles by Discover® card, or Discover it® Miles card”. A trick to receiving these promotions is 

5. American Express SPG Credit card – I love SPG points as you can redeem at some fantastic properties around the world. We stayed at the Le Meredien Hotel in Barcelona for three nights using 10,000 points per night which I earned after signing up for the personal version of this card. You now receive sign-up bonus on Amex personal cards only once so you may want to wait for the best offer of 30,000 points (currently at 25,000) before signing up.

Got upgraded to a Suite at Le Meredien Barcelona

Never say no to complimentary champagne and chocolate coated strawberry!!

The SPG card will let you earn 5000 SPG points per approval upto 55,000 per calendar year. Knowing how difficult SPG points are to earn you should definitely look into getting this card for yourself and then earn referral bonus of 5000 SPG points from friends and family to earn free nights at SPG hotels around the world. You could stay at the Swan Dolphin resort in Disneyland for free nights starting at 8,000 SPG points

Earning free Hotel nights at Disney is easy using refer a friend rewards from SPG card

6. U.S. Bank  FlexPerks Travel Rewards – If you hold the Flex perks Travel Rewards Visa Signature card (current sign up bonus of 20,000 flex points ~ $200 + in rewards) or the Flex perks Select Reward Credit card the refer a friend bonus will help you earn 5,000 Flex points for every approved application. Knowing the sign-up bonus on this card is low you could easily make it up by referring others. Here is a link to the offer – LINK

Bottomline

To earn referral rewards make sure you are registred with banks to receive marketing materials and newsletter as it’s your key to earn some quick miles and points from referral bonuses. You can rack up serious miles and earn lot of free travels by earning these bonuses.