Why My Authorized User Is Getting Their Own Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card is the primary card in my wallet for travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services. My family also benefits from a host of amazing benefits, including excellent travel insurance coverage and purchase protection.

My husband is an authorized user of my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, but a fantastic new welcome bonus offer has prompted me to change up our strategy.

Instead, I’ll refer him to apply for a primary Chase Sapphire Preferred card of his own. Why are we doing this, and should you consider this strategy to bulk up your Chase Ultimate Rewards balance? Read on to learn more.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Overview

LIMITED-TIME OFFER

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

A fantastic travel card with a great welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Apply Now(at Chase's secure site)

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

A fantastic travel card with a great welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Welcome Offer

Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

100,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$2,000

Annual Fee

$95

APR

19.99% - 28.24% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.

Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 5x points on all travel booked via the Chase Travel portal
• 3x points on dining purchases, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide

Cons

• $95 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 19.99% - 28.24% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

Chase Ultimate Rewards

I most often use my Chase Sapphire Preferred card for its strong earning rates on dining and travel, but it earns well across a variety of categories:

• 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel
• 3x points on dining, select streaming services, and online groceries
• 2x points on all other travel purchases
• 1x points on all other purchases

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s benefits are numerous, but the ones my family utilizes most are the $50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit, 10% anniversary point bonus, primary rental car insurance, travel insurance, and purchase protection.

Why My Authorized User Wants To Get Their Own Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

My husband is my “Player 2” when it comes to earning points and miles. Essentially, we take a team approach — well, he racks up the points and I manage how we spend them.

The primary reason for him to apply for his own Chase Sapphire Preferred card is because he is eligible for the new welcome bonus offer:

• Earn 100,000 points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.

Even better, I’ll also score 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points when he applies and is approved when using my referral link — for a total of 110,000 points combined.

We will shift usage away from my primary card onto his while he works toward the bonus offer’s minimum spending requirements.

There is no annual fee to have my husband as an authorized user on my Chase Sapphire Preferred card account, but once he has a primary card of his own, he’ll be paying $95 annually. The annual Chase Travel hotel credit of $50 essentially halves this, which I’m comfortable with.

Should we want to reduce duplicate benefits and fees, we can always downgrade one of our Chase Sapphire Preferred cards to a no-annual-fee card from Chase later on, like the Chase Freedom Unlimited^® or Chase Freedom Flex℠.

How We Would Redeem 100,000 Chase Points

There are many ways we can use a bonus of 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points, but one of our favorite redemptions is for World of Hyatt award nights.

Hyatt Place almost always accommodates our family of 5 in 1 room, the brand has a consistent free breakfast, and many locations are Category 1. With award nights starting at 3,500 points per night when off-peak, we could redeem 98,000 points for 28 nights!

To transfer the points from his Ultimate Rewards balance into one of my personal loyalty program accounts, I would need to be an authorized user on his new account (yes, there’s a bit of a merry-go-round involved here, but it’s worth it!). Otherwise, we can transfer the points to any of Chase’s airline or hotel partners to book family travel from his loyalty accounts.

Can Authorized Users Get Their Own Chase Sapphire Preferred Card?

Even if you have an authorized user on your Chase Sapphire Preferred card, they may be eligible to apply for their own card. While credit score, income, and credit history all play a role in a successful application, there are 3 additional considerations when applying for a Chase Sapphire Preferred card:

• Is the applicant within the Chase 5/24 rule parameters (opened less than 5 new credit cards from any bank within 24 months)?
• Does the applicant have any other primary Sapphire family cards?
• Has the applicant received a welcome bonus offer on a Sapphire family card in the previous 48 months?

Fortunately, my husband is sitting pretty at 3 new cards in the last 24 months, so he definitely has room for a new card. He does not currently have any other Sapphire cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, though he did have this card in the past.

In 2023, he was rejected for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card because he had received the bonus offer on the Chase Sapphire Reserve card within the previous 48 months. That’s now in the past, so he should be in the clear.

What To Do If You Get Rejected for Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Rejection is never fun, but it especially stings when you are looking forward to an amazing points redemption. Applications may be rejected for too many credit cards, reaching the maximum credit limit Chase is willing to extend to you, or even a mistake on the application.

Should your authorized user’s primary card application be rejected, have them call Chase’s reconsideration line at 888-270-2127. They may need to verify additional details or suppress authorized user accounts from the personal credit check if those would put the applicant over 5/24.

Final Thoughts

The stellar new welcome bonus offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is an exciting opportunity, even for eligible authorized users, to apply for their own card. This will allow my spouse to boost his rewards and unlock even more travel possibilities for our family.