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Adding someone you know as an authorized user can be one of the best things that can happen to them financially.
Between the ability to pass on positive credit history, massively boost credit scores, accumulate points for someone else’s spending, and share benefits without paying another annual fee, there are lots of reasons why you would want to consider adding someone as an authorized user.
So whether you’re doing so for a family member or a significant other, you should know that not all authorized user arrangements are the same.
Many credit cards actually don’t provide the same benefits to authorized users as they do to the primary cardholder. But if you’ve ever tried to read through the legalese of these agreements, it can get very confusing very quickly.
We’ve compiled all of the criteria you’re probably looking for in a credit card for authorized users and we’ve ranked our top picks in this guide.
Deciding whether to add someone as an authorized user is a loaded decision. The main drawback of doing so is that you’ll be 100% financially responsible for the balances and payments of the authorized user. This may not matter that much if it’s a direct family member like a teenager or college student, but it’s still a consideration.
Adding someone as an authorized user is ideally suited for those who are just starting to build credit or need help accessing credit. If you have a child whose credit history is relatively new, they may either get low credit limits or have a low credit score from a thin credit file.
If you add someone as an authorized user, that person will inherit your credit card’s history, for better or worse.
If you have a perfect payment history, then it’ll absolutely boost your authorized user’s credit health.
On the flip side, if you add your authorized user to a credit card with delinquencies, late payments, and other negative items, it will probably end up lowering your authorized user’s credit score.
Just keep all of these factors in mind when deciding whether or not to add someone as an authorized user to a credit card.
If you’re looking for a superb credit card for authorized users, you’ll probably want a card that grants lots of benefits to your authorized user, even though the account is under your name.
Ideally, you’ll focus on a card that not only transfers a lot of benefits to your authorized user but also earns points and/or cash-back as well.
After all, it would be a shame to miss out on bonus points for spending that your authorized user would have to make anyway.
In our ranking list, we identify the cards that offer the most outsized value to authorized users.
Some of these cards will have fees to add authorized users, but you’ll notice that the incremental value you’d get from these cards far and away exceeds the marginal fee of adding an authorized user.
Lounge access, bonus categories, and travel insurance are all factors that might drive which credit card is the best fit for you and your authorized users.
You’ll also want to be able to track and manage an authorized user’s spending, whether that means setting spending limits or separating your primary cardholder expenses from the authorized user’s expenses.
Hot Tip: Looking for the best business credit cards for additional users? Instead of authorized users, the terminology for business credit cards is employee cards. Semantics aside, check out our guide to the best credit cards for multiple employees!
| Card | Welcome Offer and Annual Fee | Benefits for Authorized Users |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express |
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| Chase Sapphire Reserve® |
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| American Express® Gold Card |
|
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| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card |
|
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| Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® |
| Admirals Club membership |
| Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card |
|
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| Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express |
| Secondary rental car insurance |
| Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express |
| Secondary rental car insurance |
| Citi Premier® Card |
| Citi Concierge, Citi Entertainment, and World Elite Mastercard benefits |
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 125k (or 150k) points with the Amex Platinum. The current public offer is 80,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)
Our #1 choice of the best cards for authorized users is the Amex Platinum card. Known as the best card for luxury travel benefits, this is absolutely one of the most comprehensive travel rewards cards out there.
You’ll earn 5x points per $1 spent on flights purchased directly from the airline or from American Express Travel (up to $500,000 per calendar year) and 5x points per $1 spent on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
Also, the Amex Platinum card comes with over $1,400 in statement credits for the primary cardmember only:
Some credits require enrollment, so if you’re the primary cardholder, make sure you explore your American Express account to get the most out of your card.
Although authorized users will not get their own statement credits, both primary cardmembers and authorized users will get an astonishing suite of benefits, including luxury travel perks:
You also get access to all travel insurance benefits, such as secondary car rental car insurance, trip interruption, trip cancellation, trip delay, lost/stolen baggage, damaged baggage, delayed baggage, and emergency evacuation. There are no foreign transaction fees, and cardmembers benefit from purchase protection, cell phone protection, extended warranty coverage, and zero fraud liability protection.
Note that some benefits require enrollment through your American Express account, so don’t miss out on getting the most out of your card.
When you add an authorized user, you have 3 options:
The long list of perks above applies only to authorized user Amex Platinum cards — if you have the complimentary Amex Gold card, you’ll get a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit, access to The Hotel Collection, access to bonus categories, and access to Amex Offers.
The authorized user Amex Green card doesn’t present any benefit over the authorized user Amex Gold card; you should probably avoid it as a general rule.
Hot Tip: We have a guide that can specifically walk you through all of the benefits of adding an authorized user to your Amex Platinum card, along with an explanation of the limitations of adding an Amex Gold card.
Our most valuable type of rewards points is Amex Membership Rewards points. By our valuations, your points would be worth 2.2 cents apiece, which is a significant amount!
That means if you earn 5x points, you can get an 11% return on spend — even higher in some cases!
We value these points so highly because you can utilize the long list of Amex transfer partners to book business and first class flights, as well as luxury hotels. This is the best way to get outsized value from your points.
If you are interested in redeeming your Amex points in other ways, you can use them for cash-back, statement credits, Pay With Points travel bookings made through Amex Travel, charitable donations, gift cards, and much more.
However, we generally recommend reserving your points for transfer partner redemptions.
Bottom Line: The Amex Platinum card is one of the few cards that confers a huge collection of travel perks to authorized users. Sure, authorized user cards aren’t without a fee, but considering how you can get way more value than the annual fee for an authorized user, it’s simply a no-brainer that the Amex Platinum card is our top choice for authorized users.
One of Chase’s ultra-premium credit cards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is one of the most impressive with plenty of ultra-practical benefits.
Both the primary cardmember and authorized user will accrue points according to this structure:
One of the best, easy-to-use benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is the $300 annual travel credit every anniversary year.
Other amazing perks include a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/NEXUS application fee credit, a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership (activation required), a DoorDash DashPass subscription (must activate by December 31, 2024), and access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection.
One of the biggest selling points of this card is the amazing travel insurance and coverage you get, such as primary rental car coverage, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, lost luggage coverage, baggage delay, roadside assistance, emergency evacuation and transportation, emergency medical and dental coverage, travel accident insurance, and travel and emergency assistance.
Authorized users do not get an additional $300 travel credit, nor do they get an additional Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/NEXUS reimbursement.
However, here’s what authorized users can get:
Each authorized user is charged an annual fee of $75.
We believe Chase Ultimate Rewards points are one of the most valuable rewards points available, worth around 2 cents each.
You can redeem your Ultimate Rewards points for cash-back/statement credits, Amazon purchases, gift cards, Pay Yourself Back, and travel booked through the Chase travel portal.
Just like with Amex Membership Rewards, the best way (in our opinion) to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to transfer them to the Chase travel partners for 5-star hotel stays or for flights like Lufthansa first class!
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 90,000 points with the Amex Gold card. The current public offer is 60,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)
The Amex Gold card is one of the best cards for everyday purchases, and this card just makes a ton of sense for most people in the U.S.
Even though this is a fantastic everyday card, the rewards you earn can be used for exotic vacations for an incredible value!
What’s truly special is the points earning structure:
That means on common purchases like eating out and groceries, you could potentially earn up to 8.8% back on your spending, with a valuation of 2.2 cents per Amex point.
It doesn’t end there because the primary cardmember will get up to $120 per year in dining statement credits at participating restaurants, including Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and select Shake Shack locations (enrollment required).
Other essential Amex Gold card benefits include access to the American Express Hotel Collection, secondary car rental coverage, travel insurance, a complimentary ShopRunner membership, purchase protection, extended warranty coverage, no preset spending limit, no foreign transaction fees, and access to Amex Offers (rates & fees).
So what benefits are included for authorized users? Here are the included benefits:
You can add up to 5 additional cards for no annual fee — after that, you’ll pay $35 for each additional card.
We’ve always thought of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card as the best beginner rewards credit card you can get. It just offers some of the most well-thought-out benefits that most cardholders out there will find useful.
Its rewards aren’t terribly complicated, its fees are very mild, and it consistently delivers outsized value to customers.
Also, this credit card earns:
Incredibly, your spending would return you 2%, 4%, or 10%, based on a valuation of 2 cents per point! Plus, you’ll get a 10% anniversary boost of points earned every year, which will increase your return on spending even more!
You’ll get a complimentary DoorDash DashPass subscription; simply activate by December 31, 2024.
This credit card is famous for its second-to-none travel coverage for a mid-tier premium credit card — the highlights are primary car rental insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay coverage, baggage delay insurance, lost luggage insurance, travel accident coverage, and much more.
Non-travel-related benefits that’ll come in handy are zero fraud liability, purchase protection, and extended warranty coverage.
Authorized users of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card can access all the benefits except any statement credits.
So, authorized users will get the full accouterment of travel coverage benefits, the bonus categories to earn Ultimate Rewards points, and a complimentary DoorDash DashPass subscription (activate by December 31, 2023) all without any additional fees!
The AAdvantage Executive World Elite card is marketed as the only travel credit card with Admirals Club membership, so it seems pretty clear who this card’s target market is.
Appealing to those looking for a complimentary Admirals Club membership and American Airlines-related benefits, the AAdvantage Executive World Elite card offers the most elite card for loyal American Airlines customers.
As far as spending categories go, you can earn 4x miles per $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and 10x miles per $1 spent on eligible car rentals and hotels booked through American Airlines.
To start, you will enjoy:
Other benefits include zero fraud liability and access to Citi Entertainment
In general, we value American Airlines AAdvantage miles at 1.5 cents per mile. However, it’s pretty easy to get outsized value if you can redeem them for international business and first class travel.
Unfortunately, these miles aren’t as flexible as, say, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, because they can only be used for flights, upgrades, Five Star Service, newspapers, donations, car rentals, hotel stays, or vacation itineraries.
For the vast majority of redemptions, you’ll get poor value for your miles — it’s a sign that you should probably keep your miles for those high-value international redemptions!
As the flagship Capital One credit card, the Capital One Venture X card focuses on offering the flexibility of cash-back rewards while still having some great transfer partnerships with airlines and hotels.
This “best-of-both-world” approach, combined with its simple earning categories, is one of the reasons why we like the Capital One Venture X card a lot!
As one of the most rewarding credit cards for everyday spending, this card will enable you to earn bonus points on every purchase you make. Specifically, you’ll earn an unlimited 2x Capital One miles on all purchases with no caps!
The primary cardmember will get up to $300 annual travel credit on bookings made through Capital One Travel, 10,000 bonus miles every anniversary year, access to Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium Lounges, a Priority Pass Select membership, complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status, $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit, as well as other important travel coverages like primary car rental insurance, lost luggage coverage, roadside dispatch, and travel assistance services.
Just like most credit cards out there, you’ll have cell phone insurance, purchase security, extended warranty, zero fraud liability, and access to Capital One Miles. You also won’t pay any foreign transaction fees.
There are also no fees for adding up to 4 authorized users, who get these perks:
Authorized users do not receive the $300 annual travel credit, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee reimbursement, or anniversary bonus.
Capital One miles are one of the top flexible rewards points out there, worth 1.8 cents per mile. That means earning 2x miles is worth around a 3.6% return on spending.
We think that the best way to redeem Capital One miles is for luxury airfare and hotels such as American Airlines first class or ANA business class via transfer partners.
Most of the Capital One transfer partners transfer at a 1:1 ratio, although there are a couple that sit at a 2:1 or 2:1.5 ratio.
The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card is an amazing card for the right consumer.
If you generally don’t eat out at restaurants, consume lots of digital media, and spend a significant chunk on your commute, then the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card might be the best cash back card for you.
This card earns some incredible cash-back:
Being able to get up to 6% cash-back on purchases is a good enough reason alone to get the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card because all of your authorized users will be able to help you save big on your purchases, too.
One other benefit you might find useful is the 0% introductory APR period. Regular APR, as shown in the table above, applies after the introductory period.
But in addition to this benefit, you are entitled to benefits such as secondary rental car insurance, return protection, and fraud protection.
There are no fees for authorized users.
Authorized users get access to pretty much all of the same perks as the primary cardholder does.
However, while authorized users can participate in the 0% introductory APR period, the period applies to the primary cardholder’s card opening date only.
A step down from the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, the Amex Blue Cash Everyday card offers headache-free rewards with no fees and useful bonus categories.
As the name suggests, you’ll earn some great cash-back rewards by using this product:
This is a great card for those who typically shop the most at these common destinations — but it doesn’t end there!
You’ll also get access to one of the best 0% introductory APR promotions out there. Regular APR, as shown in the table above, applies after the introductory period.
Since this isn’t a travel rewards credit card, the travel-related benefits aren’t as plentiful; in any case, you’ll get a few perks including secondary car rental insurance, purchase protection, fraud protection, access to the Global Assist hotline, and the ability to book American Express Experiences.
You’ll also get up to $7 per month when you spend $12.99 per month on The Disney Bundle, as well as $15 per month in Home Chef credits.
There is no fee for adding authorized users.
Authorized users get access to all of the primary card member’s perks above, save for an additional 0% introductory APR and statement credits towards The Disney Bundle or Home Chef.
The introductory APR is applicable only for the primary cardholder after the new card opening, not for authorized users.
Our last entrant in our list of the best credit cards for authorized users is the Citi Premier card.
As you’ll find out shortly, the Citi Premier card is an exceptional travel rewards credit card for those focused most on rewards over travel benefits.
You’ll earn according to this structure:
This credit card is massively loaded on its bonus categories, and that’s the main appeal of this card.
Another great perk is the $100 annual hotel savings benefit, which allows you to enjoy $100 off of a single hotel stay of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees, when booked through thankyou.com or 800-THANKYOU (once per calendar year).
You can still make use of the recreation, entertainment, and other travel-related benefits such as the Citi Concierge, Citi Entertainment, and World Elite Mastercard benefits.
It also has a few shopping protections, like purchase protection, extended warranty, and zero fraud liability.
There are no foreign transaction fees and no authorized user fees with this card.
All authorized users get access to the bonus spending categories, shopping protections, and benefits above except for the $100 annual hotel savings benefit.
The $100 hotel savings benefit is applicable for the entire card account, which means that while both the primary cardholder and authorized user can utilize it, members will only get access to a combined $100 for everyone under the card.
When it comes to the best credit cards for authorized users, you have a lot of options.
In many cases, the best cards for authorized users have an annual fee for authorized users; even so, the benefits that authorized users get far outweigh the relatively low cost of adding these authorized users.
Many great credit cards don’t charge additional fees for authorized users, so don’t worry, we compiled those best choices for your convenience, too.
Be sure to consider your personal situation such as where your authorized users will be transacting the most or what benefits your authorized users will need before identifying the best card to open!
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
Enrollment required through Capital One website or mobile app. Upon enrollment, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.
For the purchase protection benefit of the American Express® Gold Card, and Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
For the car rental loss & damage insurance of the American Express® Gold Card, Blue Cash Preferred® from American Express, Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, and The Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
For the extended warranty benefit of the American Express® Gold Card, and The Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
For the return protection of the Blue Cash Preferred® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.
For the baggage insurance plan of the American Express® Gold Card, and The Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
For the Global Assist Hotline of the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Card Members are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.
For the trip delay insurance of The Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
For the trip cancellation and interruption insurance of The Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by Card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
The information for the Citi Prestige® Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Green Card, click here.
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Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
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2 comments
Adam Garrett
July 11, 2021
Thanks for a great post!
It looks like the Capital One transfer ratios section needs updating after the recent shift.
Also what about the Ritz Carlton Reserve with Priority Passes for free unlimited authorized users which is still available to those who convert from the Bonvoy Boundless?
I know that this post didn’t include any business cards, but is there another post of yours that does?
Among business cards, there are the 100x free authorized users on the Amex business platinum that don’t get the lounge access like paid authorized users but still get the TSA Pre/ Global Entry credit?
Also for business cards, there’s the 8x on Hotels by Wyndham and gas and 5x for marketing,
advertising and utilities available for free authorized users on the Wyndham Rewards® EarnerSM Business Card.
With Amex personal cards and most business cards they often provide the option to differentiate between primary cardholder and authorized user expenses (and with business cards, often the option to set a lower credit limit than the primary cardholder), which is really annoyingly absent for cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Jarrod West
July 16, 2021
Hi Adam,
Thanks for pointing out the error with regards to the Capital One transfers – just fixed that!
At this time, we don’t have a post that covers the best business credit cards for authorized users, but it is a great idea for a post! I’ll forward the idea on to the team to see if we can get one posted soon.
Thanks for your feedback!
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