AARP Refer A Friend Program: Terms & Conditions

How the Program Works

We’re excited you want to share the value of AARP membership with your friends and family! When you use your unique Personal Referral Link to invite someone to join, and they become a new member, you’ll receive a monetary thank you from us. If they are or were already a member of AARP and renew their membership, you’ll receive an additional one-time payment.

1. Who Can Join the Fun?

• Eligibility: You must be a legal resident of the U.S. and at least 18 years old to participate.
  
• Referrers (You): You must be a current AARP member in good standing in order to get your Referral Link and you must be a member to receive your Referral Payout.
  
• Friends (Referees): To qualify for the Program, your friend must complete their AARP membership transaction directly through your Personal Referral Link. Your friend must meet the current eligibility criteria—including any requirements regarding new member sign-ups or membership renewal eligibility—as specified on the Referral Dashboard at the time of the transaction. AARP reserves the sole and final right to determine whether the referee qualifies as a valid new or renewing member under the active program rules.
  
• Exclusions: Employees, contractors, call center representatives, related affiliates of AARP, and promotional agencies cannot participate in the program.

2. Sharing Your Link

• Personal Links: Once you sign up for the Program, you’ll receive a unique “Personal Referral Link” on your “Referral Dashboard”. You are to use only one email address and create one identity as a Referrer. This email address must be the same email in use with your AARP membership account.
• Personal Manner & Custom Messaging: Referrals must be made in a personal manner appropriate for friends, colleagues, and family members using your own user-initiated methods (such as personal email or social channels).
  • Using Referral Dashboard Content: You may utilize the suggested, pre-populated message template provided on your Referral Dashboard.
  • Custom Messages & Mandatory FTC Disclosures: If you choose to customize, write, or alter your referral messages, you must clearly and conspicuously disclose that you are eligible to receive a financial reward from AARP if your friend joins. Your custom message must include an unambiguous statement equivalent to: "I am eligible to receive a referral payout from AARP if you sign up using my link."
  • Honoring Opt-Out Requests: You represent that you have the appropriate permission and consent for any email address or contact method you utilize to share your link. If an individual asks you to no longer email or contact them about the Program, you must immediately honor that request and cease all further communications to that individual regarding this Program.
• Prohibited Methods and Channels:
  • To protect the integrity of the Program and ensure compliance with applicable consumer protection laws, certain sharing methods are strictly prohibited.
    • No Wireless Direct Messaging: Sharing your Personal Referral Link via text message, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS), Rich Communication Services (RCS), or any other direct-to-device wireless messaging application or platform (including but not limited to WhatsApp, Signal, iMessage, or similar mobile messaging services) is strictly prohibited.
    • No Automated Distribution: You may not use automated systems, scripts, macros, "bots," spider or scraping programs, or any other automated software or electronic generation methods to distribute your link.
    • No Paid or Public Advertising: You may not distribute your link via paid online advertising, search engine marketing, digital banners, public classifieds, radio, television, billboards, or any form of paid or sponsored placement.
    • No Public Group Postings: You may not post or share your link on public coupon aggregator sites, discount forums, deal-sharing websites, or community message boards where you do not have a direct personal relationship with the recipients.
    • The Catch-All Loophole Shield: Any dissemination of your Personal Referral Link outside of personal, user-initiated, one-to-one communications to individuals with whom you have an established personal or family relationship is a material breach of these Terms and will result in immediate disqualification from the Program and the permanent forfeiture of all pending or future Referral Payouts.
  • No Tampering: Any attempt to deliberately damage the program or use multiple fictitious accounts is a violation of these terms and potentially criminal and civil laws.

3. Your Thank-You Referral Payout

• The Referral Payout: For a valid new member referral, you will receive the “Referral Payout” amount specified in the active Program promotional materials and on your Referral Dashboard at the time of the referral transaction (distributed via Tango or another fulfillment partner designated by AARP). For a valid member who renews a current or past membership, you will receive the renewal Referral Payout amount currently advertised on your Referral Dashboard. Your Friend will receive the special advertised AARP membership offer active at the time of their membership transaction.
• Timing: Verified Referral Payouts will be processed within a reasonable administrative timeframe, typically estimated on your Referral Dashboard following the friend's qualifying membership transaction.
• Verification: All Referral Payouts are subject to verification; AARP may delay or refuse to process a Referral Payout transaction for purposes of investigation.
• Communication: AARP will email you key Program information to keep you updated on the Program including alerts when you have a referral pending and if your friend’s membership has been verified and qualified for a referral. You will receive notice when your Referral Payout is available from a related affiliate, Tango (so look for emails from www.tangocard.com) which may reference Tango Choice rewards.
  • If you opt out of Program communications, you will still receive email notice when the Referral Payout is available. If you ask AARP to delete your AARP membership account, then you will not be able to access the Referral Dashboard to claim your Referral Payout.
• Restrictions: Referral Payouts are non-transferable and may not be sold or traded.

4. Tax Reporting & W-9 Requirements

• Tax Reporting Thresholds: Referral Payouts are considered taxable income. If your total annual earnings across this and any other participating AARP reward or incentive programs meet or exceed federal or state tax reporting thresholds, AARP is required by law to report these earnings to the tax authorities.
• W-9 Submission: To comply with these tax regulations, our designated program platform provider (such as Extole) will securely request a digital IRS Form W-9 from you. Future Referral Payouts will be temporarily paused and will resume once your completed form is securely received and verified. You are solely responsible for any federal, state, or local taxes associated with your rewards.

5. Privacy & Security

• Privacy: Personal information is collected and used in accordance with the AARP Privacy Policy.
• Sign-In Credentials for AARP.org: You are responsible for keeping your sign-in details confidential and are liable for all activities occurring under your account. Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access.

6. Our Rights & Your Agreement

• Binding Agreement: By participating in the Program, you agree to these Terms and Conditions. All of AARP's decisions regarding the Program are final and binding.
• Right to Cancel: We reserve the right to disqualify any user or to cancel, suspend, modify, or terminate the Program at any time for any reason. If a Referrer is removed from the Program an email notification will be provided. All Referral Payouts that are pending qualification or payout funds that are not yet claimed will not be provided.

7. Liability & Disclaimers

• Disclaimer of Warranties: The Program is provided “AS IS”. AARP and Extole disclaim all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
• Limitation of Liability: To the fullest extent possible by law, the "Released Parties" (AARP, Extole, Tango, and their affiliates) shall not be liable for any direct or indirect damages, including technical errors or data theft. The maximum liability for any claim related to the Program will not exceed $100.
• Indemnification: By participating, you agree to defend and hold harmless the Released Parties from any claims or expenses arising out of your participation or your violation of anti-spam laws.

8. Changes to these Terms

• Amendments Without Prior Consent: AARP reserves the right to modify, update, or change any part of these Terms at any time—including, but not limited to, changing reward amounts, modifying annual caps, or updating our designated Program partners—without capturing your renewed explicit consent.
• How We Will Notify You: If we make material changes to these Terms, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and send an informational email alert to the address associated with your AARP membership account at least thirty (30) days before the changes take effect.
• Your Acceptance of Changes: Your continued participation in the Program after the effective date of any updates—including continuing to share your Personal Referral Link, logging into your Referral Dashboard, or accepting any Referral Payouts—constitutes your full and binding acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the updates, your sole remedy is to stop participating in the Program and cease using your Personal Referral Link.