Referral bonuses: the 8th wonder of the world.

The best way to earn points without spending a lot of money or churning credit cards is referrals.

In 2024, I earned more points from referrals than most credit card churners do.

I know not everyone has 10,000 followers on LinkedIn and talks about credit card points every day, but I think everyone can earn 100k/year in referrals.

Let’s talk referrals.

mAkE sUrE tO uSe mY lInK.

We’ve all said it. And dang it feels good when that referral bonus drops.

But referrals really are a powerful tool.

I earned 280,000 points this year from referrals.

I recently used 210,000 points for $18,000+ of flights.

So, by slinging links online, I earned $18k in flights - that’s insane!

Most of my points I earned from the Chase Ink Business Unlimited - it lets you earn 200k points a year in referrals, that’s wild.

See my receipts:

See how little I spent and how much I earned. That’s the sweet spot.

The detes on referrals:

Almost every credit card lets you earn a referral bonus. That’s an important thing to consider when you’re getting a new card.

Ask yourself how much you can earn in referrals.

For example, the Capital One Venture Rewards card (personal favorite) allows you to earn up to 50k in referrals each year (20k, 20k, then 10k).

I got all 50k this year!

My wife still has some to earn! Here’s her link if anyone wants it:)

So, if you and your spouse have the card (great option), you guys can earn 100k/year in referrals. That’s 3 roundtrip flights to Europe!

Referrals show up just like points you were about to earn from spending. They typically take about 30 days to land in your account - you’ll see them pending like this:

I just have to flex my Chase Sapphire Preferred referrals for the year:

280,000 points this year guys, from 4 credit cards. That’s about what all of their sign up bonuses were combined.

How to get people to use your referral links:

1) Don’t be weird.

Seriously, don’t be the annoying MLM person. Don’t sit your Uncle down at Thanksgiving for a convo about “personal finance.”

Here’s a script: “Hey bro, got this card and it covered 5 nights in the Caribbean for me. You should get it.”

Easy enough right?

2) Start with friends and family.

My first two referrals were my brother and my brother in law. They’re easy. They trust me, I can casually talk about money stuff with them, and there’s no risk.

Do not start by asking the VP at your company to use your link for the Amex Platinum.

Ask people who trust you.

3) Take epic trips.

The best way to get people to use your links is to become the kind of person people can’t help but be jealous of because of your amazing trips.

This is me now.

Everyone and their mother wants to ask me how I did x, y, and z. I say, “this card, bro.”

This is by far the best strategy to get people to use your links. Show them how powerful points & miles can be.

4) Create content

Feeling brave? You can post your links on social media. You can share them over LinkedIn DM.

If you have valuable skill or service, you can give it to me for free and I’ll put your links in this newsletter (hey, I’m serious).

You can start a points & miles blog and share about your epic trips and include links. All great options.

Don’t sleep on referral links, my favorite way to earn points.

Be aware, you’ll be taxed on this.

This is truly tragic. Just don’t be surprised when that shiny 1099 shows up in January.

But, it’s definitely still worth doing!

Go refer someone today.

Go Somewhere.