AMEX member referral question...NEW QUESTION IN LAST POST

[RobD3]

My wife and I are both card holders. We both already have member pre-approvals on all the cards. If I use a referral link from her account and I see a better offer, do I have to cold apply from that gateway and bypass my member pre-approval that might have a lower offer? Is there not a way to get the higher offer from a member referral inside of the member preapproval site? Or am I just thinking about this wrong?

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

When you use a referral, you get taken directly to that card app. You'll get the referral offer, which can be better or worse. It doesn't hurt you to click on the link in your email to see the offer. You can back out and come back later if it's the best you can find. That's what I did before doing my 2 apps through referral.

[simplynoir]

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

When you use a referral, you get taken directly to that card app. You'll get the referral offer, which can be better or worse. It doesn't hurt you to click on the link in your email to see the offer. You can back out and come back later if it's the best you can find. That's what I did before doing my 2 apps through referral.

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To add to this remember the referral bonus as well depending on what card/link is used. The offer for the card itself may not be as good as a public offer but combine that with the rewards your referrer (I'm assuming in this case, OP, it's your wife if she has an AMEX) then it can be better that way. The best thing is to look up the best offers that have previously come up, compare it to the offer on referral plus the referral bonus, and go from there

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

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@simplynoir wrote:

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

When you use a referral, you get taken directly to that card app. You'll get the referral offer, which can be better or worse. It doesn't hurt you to click on the link in your email to see the offer. You can back out and come back later if it's the best you can find. That's what I did before doing my 2 apps through referral.

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To add to this remember the referral bonus as well depending on what card/link is used. The offer for the card itself may not be as good as a public offer but combine that with the rewards your referrer (I'm assuming in this case, OP, it's your wife if she has an AMEX) then it can be better that way. The best thing is to look up the best offers that have previously come up, compare it to the offer on referral plus the referral bonus, and go from there

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Good point

[Anonymous]

To add one additional nuance if no one has yet mentioned:

You will not receive a 1099 on a sign up bonus but you may receive a 1099 on a referral.

If sign up bonus without any associated referral equals ( sign up bonus from referral offer plus referral bonus ) then take the first case because there is no potential tax impact.

Edit, example: 60k sub vs 40k sub plus 20k to referrer.

The 60k is safer in that case for the household because no tax on the 60k vs might be tax on the 20k.

[RobD3]

Really good advice on all the ins and outs. If I apply from the referral link is it a cold app without benefit of preapproval, or is it still preapproved?

[Anonymous]

If you're preapproved, Amex will know once you fill in your personal details from the referral link, and it'll process onward as if you'd apped directly from your preapproval - it's all tied to your cardmember info.