FlexPerks Olympic Promo Referral Rules
A couple of days ago I covered U.S. Bank’s Olympic bonus on two of their FlexPerks cards. As part of the promotion the bank increased their bonus based on the overall medal count for the U.S. Olympic team at the Rio games. In the end the U.S. did quite well and the normal 20,000 point bonus went up to 34,800 points if you apply on or before September 3, 2016.
For my full analysis about the cards and the Olympic bonus, visit: To FlexPerks or Not to FlexPerks with a 74% Increased Bonus
One of the things I noticed when researching that post was that people were sharing their referral codes, but that no spot for the referral existed on the official app linked to from the promo page. Instead, the only referral opportunity is via the U.S. Bank referral site.
Additionally, I noticed the following language in the terms of the Olympic promo:
Offer valid to new U.S. Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature and U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Business EdgeTM Travel Rewards Visa Card applicants who apply at any participating U.S. Bank branch location, call 24-hour banking or apply online at flexperks.com/visapromo between August 1, 2016, and September 3, 2016.
Since the Visa Promo site doesn’t have the referral spot, then it would seem that referrals don’t get the bonus. Of course, terms are often not quite enforced as written so I wanted to confirm this. If you could get someone a referral and still pickup the extra points that would be great.
Confirmation of Bad News
To investigate, I contacted the folks at Dem Flyers who had applied using a referral during the period of the Olympic promo. Unfortunately they heard back from the bank and the news isn’t good. I am paraphrasing, but this is what the bank said:
- Applying via the referral link does not add the Olympic bonus to the account.
- Promotions cannot be combined.
- You can either give someone a referral or get the Olympic bonus. Not both.
Obviously you should get the Olympic Bonus which is an additional 14,800 points instead of giving someone a 5,000 point referral. If you are going to apply online, make sure to do it via the Olympic promotional page to get your bonus.
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Thanks for sharing! This is on my To Do list this weekend.