Refer A Friend Points After Recon

There was something I wanted to point out about refer a friend offers after a recent experience. I shared it on my updated guide of when Amex referral points post, but felt it was worth some more detail. That is because refer a friend points post after recon, at least with American Express. To be honest, I wasn't sure if the refer a friend points would post in my wife's account without intervention required once I was initially denied. I sure as heck was hoping they would.

The last thing I needed was to burn some wife points on something that should be so simple. If your friend is denied initially, have no fear, they can still try to recon the card. It could just be a glitch in American Express' system after all! If they can flip that denial into an approval, then you should still get your bonus points too.

My Personal Experience

My wife referred me to a second Hilton Surpass card last month. I was initially denied for the card because Amex's system was lagging behind reality. However, I was able to turn the denial into an approval after calling in. You can read about what the hiccup was for my application, and why I wanted a second Hilton Surpass, in my full write up about that experience. Here is the timeline of my denial turned into an approval, and when the refer a friend points posted after recon:

• Applied via referral on Thursday November 14th, but was initially declined
  • Called reconsideration on November 15th and was approved later that day
  • The referral bonus posted on November 24th
    • Total time of 9 days

Earlier in the year the refer a friend bonus points were posting within 2-3 days. As you can see, this one took a bit longer. It is not outside of the historical normal though, as we saw 8-9 days towards the end of 2023 etc. I am sure needing to call reconsideration to be approved gummed up the process too. If your friend was initially denied, and was approved after a reconsideration call, I wouldn't worry until about the two week mark.

Refer A Friend Points After Recon: ToP Thoughts

American Express is usually one of the easier approvals out there, especially if you are signing up for a card without a welcome offer like I was. That is true if you are living within their application rules at least. I was living a clean life so to speak, but their system thought that I wasn't. A quick phone call turned that frown upside down, and flipped a denial into an approval. The best part is my wife's refer a friends posted after recon without us needing to reach out to American Express.

Have you ever had referral points post after a reconsideration call was needed? Let me know over in the ToP Facebook Group.