PSA: Old Discover Referral Links No Longer Work + Share New Referrals Here

Comments closed to prevent referral link abuse.

New Discover Referrals

An astute Reddit member noticed that Discover referral links have changed.

The old Discover links started with “popularmedia” in the URL. The new links are just a five letter/number code that looks like this: http://refer.discover.com/s/a1bcd. There may also be an addition of, “?share_id=1234567891234567891”. (The same share ID can be used over and over.)

According to a Discover rep, the old links won’t work to get you the $50 referral credit, at least not automatically. Not sure if the new member will get the $50 bonus either.

Find your new Discover referral link in your login: go to Rewards >Refer a Friend and there’ll be an option to send an email (it goes instantly) or share via Twitter or Facebook. You might also see the link directly in the login.

Under the new system, there is no way to track referrals as it worked in the old system.

If you did use the old link or if you referred someone using the old link, and the bonus doesn’t post automatically, I’d think you have a case to request the $50 manually. Hopefully, they’ll be able to track it internally and credit both of you the $50.

Getting a Second Discover Card

Many of us are now nearing the end of our year of double cashback from Discover and are considering applying for a second Discover card now; each person can have two Discover cards, but only after you had the first card for 12 months. We wrote more details about the timing of double-cashback in the post Doubling of Discover Portal Cashback – How Long Do We Have?.

However, note that a Reddit member says that you won’t get the $50 bonus when signing up for a second Discover card; only your first Discover card gets that bonus.

Also, the referring member will apparently not get any bonus either for referring an existing cardholder to a second card: “Existing Discover cardmembers…are not eligible referrals.”

Referral Offer Terms

Terms for Referring Member

  • $50 per referral
  • Max 10 referrals per calendar year

Terms for New Member

  • $50 bonus after making a purchase of any amount within three months

“You will receive a $50 Cashback Bonus referral reward if your friend applies for the specific offer you send via the link provided and is approved by December 31, 2016. Maximum 10 referral rewards ($500) per calendar year. You are not eligible to refer a friend if you have a Discover® Business card, Discover® Business Miles card, Essential by Discover® card, Escape by Discover® card, Miles by Discover® card, or Discover it® Miles card. Your account must be in good standing to receive your referral reward. Each eligible friend will receive a $50 Cashback Bonus after making a purchase within three months of opening a new Discover account. Existing Discover cardmembers and those who have opted out of receiving marketing communications from Discover are not eligible referrals. You will not be notified whether a specific referral was approved or declined. Please allow up to 5 weeks for Cashback Bonus to post to your account after each referral is approved. The Cashback Bonus you receive may be taxable to you. Please contact your tax advisor. Offer may not be combined with any other introductory offer.”

Share your referrals here

You can share your link in the comments. But you must follow these directions carefully; otherwise, your comment will be removed. This is to minimize the volume of referrals in the comments.

  • Retweet this tweet first (make sure you retweet the linked tweet)
  • In the comment form, there is a section for a website. Put the URL of your Retweet there (this helps us verify that you’ve retweeted it)
  • Post a comment (once) with your referral link or your email address to refer

If you’re thinking about signing up for this card, please consider using one of the referral links found below. It will get you a $50 signup bonus offer (doubled at the end of the year), and it will help another DoC reader get a $50 referral bonus. Please leave any specific talk of monetary compensation off the site. You can leave an email address and mention that you have an email offer to make.
    Chuck
  • On May 26, 2016, 22:50

View Comments (297)

  • hi doc,
    Do you get still price match on $50? ($100 bonus in total). if not, wouldn't the $75 amazon statement credit a better deal?

  • Not sure if this counts as a PSA, data point, or a "duh" moment. I used a referral link, and at the bottom of the application there was a link to enter a pre-approval code. Since I had one from my mailbox, I assumed it would prefill the app and expedite approval. Nowhere did it say any ramifications of using an pre-approval code.
    Neither the referrer or referred got the $50. I will probably call and express my disappointment sometime.

    • Contacted Discover via SM. They responded saying I submitted my application via mail. So, it's confirmed; don't use a preapproval code when applying via a referral link. I am asking for escalation, but I have a feeling this isn't going to end well for me.

  • I have a new referral link.

    Referral link: [link removed. Bonus is no longer doubled. Please do not say it is]

    Here are the details: You will receive a $50 Cashback Bonus after you make your first purchase within 3 months of being approved. The bonus will be available within 8 weeks. The bonus will then be doubled after 12 months, so you will receive $100 total ($50 initial plus another $50 at the end of 12 months).

    Discover It offers a 5% Cashback Bonus for every dollar you spend in rotating categories up to each quarterly maximum of $1,500. Categories have included gas, restaurants, Amazon, and grocery stores. You will receive 1% on all other purchases. Right now they have an offer where after 12 months of having your card, all of the rewards you earn will be doubled, so at a minimum you are earning 2% cashback for every purchase and 10% cashback for revolving categories the first year of having your card.

    You may redeem your rewards for cash (in any increment), use them to shop at various stores such as Amazon, or use them to purchase discounted gift cards to places like Macy’s, Marshalls, Kohls, Dominos, and Lowes. There are a ton of places to choose from.

    In addition, Discover has one of the best buying portals around called Discover Deals where you may earn additional cashback. The portal has over 150 stores to choose from. Offers have included 10% cash back for Macy’s, 25% cash back for Papa Johns, 5% cash back for Kohls, 10% cashback for Dell purchases, and 5% cashback for Walmart purchases. This cashback will also be doubled after 12 months. Earning 10% cashback at Walmart is awesome!

    I have two Discover It cards. The customer service is excellent! I highly recommend this card. It is one of the best rewards cards on the market.

    • The signup bonus has changed - you will now receive a $50 statement credit which is not doubled.