Or perhaps the Amex perks are good enough that bloggers will still find it beneficial to publicize current Amex promos

^

AMEX could also easily "fix" it by matching the offers, thus removing incentives to use referral
Case in point, AMEX Gold WAS 15K public/20K referral (I think) and I got a few referrals back then

but now, it's 25K either way so most people may just go via GCR for $50 cashback. Only cards that should use referral links are AMEX Plat and Biz Gold, but these 2 are super niche cards with high spending $ requirement too

On top of that, people are doing "self-referral" from Gold themselves

I secure messaged AMEX to clarify the referral limit, this is their reply after 3-4 days from backoffice

so if I read it right, it is PER AMEX Card, yes?
e.g. if I have Gold, and Plat, I can refer 15 max. on each card in a year, even if they're linked to the same AMEX MR account

I would say it is 15 in total. You are one cardmember, regardless of the number of cards.

a referral bonus is limited to a maximum of 15 referrals per Card Member in a year.

I've asked before and was told it is per card

Has anyone been able to confirm whether the referral bonus limits is based on per card or per card member?

See the 3 replies above you :)

Yes. 1 reply says it's per card. 2 replies says it's per card member, as one card member would have multiple cards.

So, I wasn't sure which answer is correct.

I think per card = per card member, which makes the most sense, the tracking is done based on the AMEX card #

otherwise AMEX probably would've said "per member" if they meant "per person"

but I can't be 100% sure since I'm not AMEX

Based on what I am experiencing, it seems like the referral limit is based per person as I have recently referred an AMEX Gold and an AMEX Platinum application and approval and received no referral bonus.

You referred 32 people since January?

I assume you are saying that you attempted to refer using both an Amex Gold and Amex Platinum card, both of which have reached the maximum of 15 referrals per calendar year. And now, you attempted to refer 1 from each and did not received the referral points after waiting the full 10 weeks.

...Because otherwise, you may just have to give it some time :)

I can confirm the referral limit is not retroactive to Jan 1st. I've had successful referrals recently and had over 15 prior to the announcement.

Still don't know if it's per card or cardholder, but still assuming card.

I have referred 15 people since January 1 with my AMEX Gold and received my referral bonuses. Now if I referral with my Gold, Platinum or SPG, I get no referral bonus. I hope I'm making sense.

Anyone have a different experience?

How soon before the bloggers ruin this program entirely?

I'm cautiously optimistic. I agree with what your sentiment, but:

1) Amex is not as entrenched here as in the U.S., so they need this "distribution"
2) Losing the Costco relationship didn't do much to help Amex's Canadian presence (and FYI...they had much lower purchase volume growth than Visa/MC for the past three years alerady)
3) I suspect that of the people taking the referrals, many are not cancelling the card. Churning, based on what I've heard, represents less than 10% of card holders.

I'm glad this limit is around. I'll not get close to 15 referrals a year (can't see myself pushing cards on friends & acquaintances that much). So it doesn't penalize me while putting limits on those with more aggressive referral strategies. Like bloggers.