A while back, AMEX ran a super promo that gave an extra 3x bonus after a referral. Even if you're in mainland China, you can benefit from it.

If you successfully refer a no-FTF MR credit card (Charge Card), you can use WeChat Pay to earn 4x MR on most spending in China, worth 5-6.4%.

Referral bonus details

The reward flow is:

  • Get the referral link [make sure to use the link on the page that shows the extra 3x bonus]
  • Refer someone and have them approved
  • Receive an AMEX email saying activation was successful
  • The referral points and the 3x spending bonus showed up at the same time for me. Path: MR points summary
  • Authorized-user spending also counts. The 3x posts first, while the usual 1x takes some time to show up.

Pair it with WeChat Pay

We usually do not recommend linking an AMEX credit card to WeChat Pay, because the earn rate is really mediocre. But with this promo, WeChat Pay suddenly becomes 4x MR.

Given how often WeChat Pay has been misclassified lately (category shows as Wechatpay, 1x, see here), aside from the Discover Miles credit card with uncapped first-year 3x, the uncapped-for-three-months AMEX 4x MR credit card is now a good choice.

KUKU has posted WeChat Pay guides on this site before, so you can take another look. I've been busy lately, so the article hasn't been updated, but there are actually more places now where you can swipe a card or get scanned.

With a minimum value of 5%, 4x MR is extremely powerful. WeChat Pay can now cover basically most spending except street vendors, and this earn rate plus acceptance coverage is rarely seen in China.

In the past, you could also pay with the dining 5x TYP Citi Prestige card and the dining 3x UR CSR, but relatively few people have those cards, and these days they can also be misclassified. One large misclassified charge really hurts. Having another unlimited 4x MR option is great. After the referral goes through, you only get three months of 4x MR, so make the most of it.

Cons

Prerequisite: you need to find someone who can refer you, or have a way to make it happen.

WeChat Pay limits: with a new card, scaling up can be a bit troublesome.

If you're advanced, WeChat Pay can also be used for significant MS.

If you already had an MR charge card linked to WeChat, then refer that one; the older card will have higher limits and thresholds. A new card needs to be trained slowly, or you can proactively ask customer service to lift the restriction (be persistent and keep asking).

The best card is probably AMEX EDP. If you hit the required number of transactions, you can earn 4.5x MR on everything, but EDP has a 3% FTF. Even if you switch to PayPal Key and pay with an MC card, there is still a 1.1% FTF. Of course, if you think that bit of FTF is negligible compared with 4.5x MR, then you don't need to worry about it.

  • Meituan Waimai can also use the PayPal Key 4MR AMEX credit card to earn a high rate of cash back. [Note: Meituan inside the mini program can be paid with WeChat + AMEX; the app only supports V/M]
  • Many readers may only keep the no-annual-fee AMEX Everyday card when returning to China, in which case PPK + ED is barely usable

Finally, you only have three months.

(Friendly reminder: if you link a virtual credit/debit card to WeChat Pay and it gets flagged by risk controls, it can be a hassle. If you don't really need it, I don't recommend using virtual cards on WeChat.)

Which card to choose

If you're only using it in China, AMEX ED and AMEX EDP are not your first choice.

AMEX's own multipliers are basically the AMEX Platinum credit card's 5x MR on airfare and the AMEX Gold credit card's 4x MR on dining. With the referral bonus, those become 8x MR on airfare and 7x MR on dining. You can still use these categories in China, but where you can use them, paying with a U.S. credit card is often not the cheapest option. If it's a real need, though, it's not bad.

Other related articles

In fact, this referral multiplier pairs best with PayPal Key. For example: you can earn 4-4.5x MR on Costco spending (online or by buying a Cash Card online), Plastiq rent payments, and other check-like expenses such as loans, of course there are even deeper uses. For details, see: