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It’s become common practice for credit card providers to offer incentives and benefits for adding an authorized user (AU) to your card account. Some of the perks offered are for the primary cardholder, while others are benefits the authorized user receives for holding the card.
Cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express provide carryover benefits to authorized users, such as lounge access and complimentary elite status, at a lower cost than holding a standalone card.
The list of carryover benefits differs for each card, as does the cost of adding authorized user accounts. We're not covering cards in this post that provide bonus points to the primary cardholder for adding an authorized user, as we've covered those authorized user bonuses in another post. Instead, this post is aimed at the perks that authorized users receive.
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Benefits of Adding an Authorized User to Your Credit Card
The benefits of adding an authorized user to your card include:
- Track spending and expenses: Adding an authorized user is a great way to keep track of your monthly expenditures. Whether it’s an AU card for the kids or additional cards for employees, you’ll have an easy time tracking purchases made with your account.
- Earn additional points and miles: Additional cards typically mean more spending power, which in turn means earning more points. Any spending done on authorized user cards earns points that deposit directly into the rewards account of the main cardholder.
- Help meet minimum spending and threshold bonuses: Many minimum spend and spending threshold bonuses require thousands — if not tens of thousands — of dollars to reach. That may be a difficult obstacle for some people. Having two or more cards racking up purchases makes hitting those high spending thresholds a little easier, helping you reach the big payoffs like unlocking guest privileges to the Centurion Lounge when you spend $75K on The Platinum Card® from American Express or The Business Platinum Card® from American Express in a calendar year.
- Help the AU build a credit file: Adding an AU to your account can help that person establish a positive credit file before making the jump into the credit market themselves. If the card has been open for a long time, an authorized user can add years to their credit file with minimal effort.
- Gift cheap/free benefits to AU cardholders: Many rewards cards offer top benefits for AU accounts without the high annual expense of being a primary cardholder. For instance, want a free Priority Pass membership? Get added as an AU to a family member’s The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card card. You’ll receive your own Priority Pass membership with no annual fee for adding the AU card!
- Receive the benefits before getting the bonus: As an authorized user, you can receive many of the benefits of holding the card while keeping open the opportunity to get the signup bonus on the same card at a later date. Before committing to applying for the card and paying the annual fee, you can sample the benefits first.
It's important to understand that, in most cases, you can still get a signup bonus when opening your own card account, even if you were previously an authorized user on someone else's account for the same card.
Carryover Benefits for Credit Card Authorized User Accounts
The table below covers the carryover benefits on the most popular premium rewards credit cards. Outside of the typical Visa Infinite/Signature, Mastercard, and Amex benefits, which are provided to both primary and authorized user accounts, these are tangible benefits that AU accounts receive each year.
| Card | AU Card Benefits | AU Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card | Full Priority Pass membership with same guesting privileges plus all the travel insurance and Visa Infinite perks offered to primary cardholders. Don't receive a separate $300 travel credit or Global Entry/TSA PreCheck fee credit. | Four complimentary authorized users |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | Full Priority Pass membership with same guesting privileges plus all the travel insurance and Visa Infinite perks offered to primary cardholders. Don't receive the $300 travel credit. | $75 |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® | Full Admirals Club membership with same guesting privileges. A same day boarding pass on American or partner airlines is required for entry. | $175 for the first three authorized users, then $175 each |
| Citi Prestige® Card (no longer open to new applicants) | Full Priority Pass membership with same guesting privileges, don't receive the $250 travel credit or the 4th-night free perk. | $75 |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | Receive the full suite of Amex Platinum benefits except for the travel & Uber Credits. This includes all lounge access perks, elite status benefits across multiple programs, plus each card receives a Global Entry/TSA fee statement credit up to $120. For some benefits enrollment is required. | $195 for each additional Platinum Card for Authorized Users (Rates & Fees) |
| The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card | Full Priority Pass membership with same guesting privileges and can use the $100 Visa Infinite Airline Discount and insurance benefits. Don't receive the $300 airline credit or Global Entry fee credit. | $0 |
Outside of the premium cards listed above, carryover benefits on mid-tier and no-annual-fee rewards cards are restricted to those listed in the card's Guide to Benefits. On cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, for example, this includes a powerful set of travel and purchase protection perks like primary rental car insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, and excellent trip delay coverage.
Potential Downsides to Adding an Authorized User
- Your credit score is on the line: You are legally responsible for any charges made by your authorized users. Thus, adding an authorized user account can put your credit score at risk if the account is used carelessly or bills are not paid. Be cautious about who you make an authorized user on your account.
- Additional fees: Additional annual fees put a dent in the profit made from earning points and miles. As an example, if the annual fee for adding an authorized user is $69, and the points are worth 1.5¢ a piece, you’d need to spend an additional $4,600 at 1 point per dollar before you break even. It’s crucial to do the math before you add an AU to ensure it’s worth the added cost.
- Can impact card applications: One of the issues many points and miles fans run into with Chase’s 5/24 policy is that authorized user accounts may be counted against the total number of recent accounts someone opened, even though they're not the primary account holder. That can cause a Chase credit card application to be automatically denied due to 5/24, even if you thought you were under the five-card limit. While it’s a fairly easy situation to rectify by speaking to a human directly, it’s something to be aware of before becoming an AU on someone else's account.
Something else to be aware of is that benefits are not always laid out clearly by the credit provider. The benefits available to AU cardholders may not be fully explained in the benefits guide or card's terms and conditions. In that case, it’s best to contact your card provider to clarify the cost and exactly what’s included before you add an AU to your card.
Final Thoughts
For authorized user perks, it’s hard to go past the Amex Platinum. Even with the higher than average annual fee (Rates & Fees), it can still make a lot of sense to add an authorized user to your Platinum card. With the exception of the travel credit and a few fringe perks, authorized users gain access to the full suite of Platinum perks including Centurion Lounge and Delta Sky Club® access, a full Priority Pass membership, a Global Entry/TSA fee credit for each card and elite status benefits across multiple programs including Hilton and Marriott (Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.).
What’s your favorite perk for AU cardholders? Let us know in the comments below.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees)
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