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Chase recently made a positive change for certain cardholders. In 2024, the issuer began allowing those with a card in the Chase Sapphire family to refer a friend to any card in the Sapphire family. Previously, if you had a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you could only refer friends and family to the Sapphire Preferred. Now, you can use your referral link to refer a friend or family member to a Sapphire Preferred or a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and vice-versa.
What exactly is the Chase Refer-a-Friend program, and did you know there's a Refer-a-Business option? We're looking into that today, covering typical offers, eligible cards, and step-by-step guides for generating links.
What Is the Chase Refer-a-Friend Program?
Chase offers both a Refer-a-Friend and a Refer-a-Business program, allowing cardholders to earn rewards by referring friends and family to open Chase credit cards. You can earn cash rewards referring to cash-back cards, Ultimate Rewards referring to Ultimate Rewards-earning cards, and various loyalty points referring others to co-branded cards.
Have a Chase checking account? There's a referral for that, too (and Chase checking accounts include free Disney debit cards full of perks). Most Chase cards participate in the Refer-a-Friend or Refer-a-Business Program. Here's what you need to know:
- To earn referral rewards, you must generate a link and send it to your friend, family, or business.
- The person or business who receives the link must use it to apply and must be approved for the card.
- Some links you send may allow the recipient to apply for multiple different cards.
- Your referral link's welcome bonus may not match all public card offers.
Typical Chase referral offers
Many Chase cards offer standard referral offers. For example, the standard referral offer for the Sapphire Preferred card is 15,000 Ultimate Rewards per successful referral, up to 75,000 points from referrals each calendar year.
For Ink Business card referrals, the dynamic referral bonus oscillates between 20,000 and 40,000 points per business referred. The total referral limit per person is capped at 100,000 to 200,000 referral rewards per year. However, note that this limit applies per cardholder, not per card. Even if you hold multiple Ink cards, the most you can earn in referral points is 200,000 per calendar year.
When referrals don't match public offers
Pay attention to the referrals you're providing to your friends and family because your referral link won't always match Chase's public offers. Chase's co-branded hotel cards, like those from Marriott Bonvoy®, regularly offer different bonuses through your referral links.
Here's an example. My personal referral link for the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card offers a welcome bonus of four free nights, up to 40,000 points per night.
A common public offer for this card is 140,000 points after meeting minimum spending requirements. Which one is more valuable? It's hard to say. Four free nights worth up to 40,000 points per night is worth up to 160,000 IHG points. On the other hand, the flexibility of 140,000 IHG points might provide more value, as you could stretch these into numerous nights at lower-tier properties.
In any case, make sure the person you're referring knows their options.
Eligible cards for earning a Chase referral bonus
Most Chase cards earn referral rewards, including the following:
- Chase Freedom card family: Earn $50 cash back for each friend who gets a Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom Unlimited®, up to $500 per calendar year.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 15,000 bonus points for each successful referral, up to 75,000 points per calendar year.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 15,000 bonus points for each successful referral, up to 75,000 points per calendar year.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards: Earn 20,000 bonus points for each successful referral, up to 100,000 Rapid Rewards points per calendar year.
- United MileagePlus credit cards: Earn 10,000 bonus miles for each successful referral, up to 50,000 miles per calendar year.
- Avios credit card: Earn 10,000 bonus Avios for each successful referral, up to 50,000 Avios per calendar year.
- Marriott Bonvoy credit card family: Earn 40,000 bonus points for each successful referral, up to 200,000 Marriott points per year.
- Disney credit card family: Earn 100 Disney Rewards Dollars for each successful referral, up to 500 Disney Rewards per calendar year.
- Chase Ink business card family: Earn up to 40,000 points for each successful referral, up to 200,000 points per calendar year.
- Participating IHG One Rewards credit cards: Earn 10,000 bonus points for each successful referral, up to 50,000 IHG rewards per year.
- World of Hyatt Business Credit Card: Earn 5,000 bonus points for each successful referral, up to 25,000 bonus points per calendar year.
- Chase checking account: Earn $50 for each friend who opens a qualifying Chase checking account, up to $500 per calendar year. Plus, your friend could earn a cash bonus for opening the account and completing some basic activities like making a deposit.
How To Generate a Chase Referral Link or Email
Refer others to Chase credit cards by generating links through the referral website, signing into your Chase account on the web, or generating links through the Chase app.
One option is visiting the Chase Refer-a-Friend site. From here, you can click the green “Refer Friends Now” button to generate links without signing in. The other choice is to click the “Sign In” button in the top right corner (more on that later).
Clicking the “Refer Friends Now” button will take you to another screen displaying your generated link. Click the “Copy Link” button to copy the link and send it to friends, family, or business contacts.
Instead of “Refer Friend Now,” if you chose “Sign in,” (or, if you're already inside your Chase account), choose the “Accounts” tab in the upper left-hand corner.
Next, you'll click the three dots to the right of the card you'd like to refer. This will open a menu where you'll find and click on “Account Services.”
Clicking on “Account Services” will drop down yet another menu. Click on “Refer-a-friend.” The next screen will display your referral link for you to copy and share with others.
One final way to generate referral links is inside the Chase app. Sign into the app and click on the desired card from the following screen.
On the next screen, scroll down until you can click on “Refer Friends, Earn Rewards.”
The last screen will display your referral link, which you can click to copy and send to others.
Once your contact uses your link and is approved for a credit card, it can take up to eight weeks for your referral bonus to show. The bonus will appear on your statement as a “Refer-A-Friend” or “Refer-A-Business” bonus.
Chase Referral Bonuses as Taxable Income
Chase has been known to send out 1099s to referrers who've earned more than $600 or 60,000 in referral awards in a calendar year.
What Restrictions Apply to the Program?
Outside the calendar year cap that pertains to each card family, the only other restriction is that you are not eligible for a referral bonus if you use your own referral link to apply for a different card. Additionally, your account must be in good standing to receive bonuses.
Final Thoughts
Referring friends, family, and business contacts to Chase cards is a smart, lucrative way to earn points without opening a new card or spending any money. Sure, you may be taxed on the income, but imagine the possibilities with all the extra cash, loyalty points, Disney dollars, or Ultimate Rewards you'll have in your wallet.
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