Is It Worth It to Add Authorized User to Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card?

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Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card is one of the best travel cards out there for frequent flyers/travelers. Besides a good card’s sign-up bonus points, one of the reasons that this credit card is worth getting is because you can take your travel companion into airport lounges both in the US and around the world with Priority Pass Select Membership for free. If you add an authorize user to the Sapphire Reserve card, s/he will have his/her own Priority Pass Membership as well, and will be able to take his/her travel companion into the lounge even they are not traveling with you – the primary cardholder. 

With that being said, let’s take a look into the values of adding an authorized user to the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card because adding additional card costs $75 per year, and that is in addition to the the primary cardholder $550 per year. 

Authorized User Can Enjoy Airport Lounge Access With Priority Pass Select Membership

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    Disadvantages of Adding an Authorized User to Chase Sapphire Reserve 

    Let’s get the drawbacks of adding an authorized user (AU) to Chase Sapphire Reserve out of the way first:
    • The annual fee for additional card for each authorized user is $75/year. 
    • No $300 travel credit like the primary cardholder has. 
    • No $100 statement credit for the Global Entry or TSA Pre Check. 
    • No 50% more value when redeem points for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) like the primary cardholder does. 
    • Chase 5/24 Rule: Although adding an authorized user does not require the user’s social security number, the account may show up on the AU’s credit report as an open credit account. If the user has open 5 or more accounts within the past 24 months with any banks, s/he will have a hard time getting approved for certain Chase cards in the future on their own.

    Benefits of Adding an Authorized User to Chase Sapphire Reserve

    • Authorized user will be able to get his/her own Priority Pass Select Membership to access over 900+ airport lounges. In addition, they can take their own travel companions (up to 2 guests) into the lounge for free without the presence of the primary cardholder. It costs $27 per additional guest after the 2 free guests. 
      • Do note that, the primary cardholder can also take his or her own travel companions (up to 2 guests) into the lounge as well for free. So it really comes down to whether you want the user to have his/her own lounge access or not when you don’t travel together. 
    • Authorized user can help the primary cardholder meeting minimum spending requirements to get the sign-up bonus. For example, say you have to spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening in order to receive 50,000 sign-up bonus points. Your authorized user can contribute to that spending requirements. 
    • Although the authorized user does not have $300 travel credit, the user is still able to help meeting that travel credit because any travel expenses that are made by the authorized user will be counted toward that $300 travel credit as well. 
    • Authorized user can help the primary cardholder earning points faster because authorized user can earn 3 points per dollar on dining and travel expenses, and 1 point per dollar on any other purchases, just like what the primary cardholder can earn. Points earned by the authorized user are deposited into the UR account of the primary cardholder. 
    • Primary cardholder can transfer points to an authorized user’s account if the user lives in the same household. The authorized user then can transfer points to their airlines and hotel loyalty programs that partner with Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR).
    • Authorized user has the same benefits of travel insurance and trip delays when purchasing the travel through the card. 
    • Last but not least, although the authorized user does not have $100 statement credit for Global Entry like the primary cardholder does, it’s worth noting that the primary cardholder can use the $100 statement credit for Global Entry for anyone. 
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