Questions and Answers

So I think I’m going to take the plunge and get the Reserve card. I don’t exceed the 5/24 rule so I’m hopeful for approval. My wife has the the Sapphire Preferred and I am an authorized user. Her annual fee comes up in February, so at that time I’m thinking we’d downgrade her card (would we downgrade the account to the Freedom? Other recommendations?). My only question has to do with the authorized user.

I’m not too keen to pay another $75 per year to add her as an authorized user, but do want her to put spend on the card too. We probably spend $2,000-$2,500 per month on the Sapphire Preferred (most of our other spend goes on the SPG card and a little on the Chase Ink, with total combined monthly spend around $4,000-$5,000), so not sure if the amount we spend is worth the $225 out of pocket annually (the $450 fee minus the travel credit, plus the $75 authorized user).

We fly probably 3-4 times a year so will get some use out of the lounge access and some of the other benefits, but not sure if it’s a slam dunk or not. Most of our point spend we try to use for international premium travel (Europe), but that’s once every couple years, with rest of our travel domestic or to Mexico. So wanted to see what others thoughts were on this? Love to hear what you think! Thanks!

I’m a little out of my lane here because I’m not an expert on cards like the resident brain trust here. I think you have very decent spend on your cards but personally I find the lounge access to be overrated, especially in your situation flying only 3-4 times per year. I try to keep my annual fees minimal and when I sign up for a new fee card, I normally close a fee card. I’m an American Airlines loyalist and I travel 5 to 6 times per year to Europe and their flights and partners work well for my situation. I use cards that help me with AA. Best to examine your future travel needs and make adjustments keeping the annual fees under control.

It doesn’t sound like you need to have her as an AU on her card, especially if your trips are together. The main bonus category on the CSR is travel which you can either book for her or charge when you are traveling together. You could downgrade the CSP to the Freedom or the Freedom Unlimited after figuring out which bonus structure would best complement your CSR earnings of UR.

Ditto what [USER=79]@Gaurav[/USER] said. My husband will be getting the Reserve, and I won’t be an authorized user on it. I’ll use the card to book travel, and the Freedom/Freedom Unlimited for everything else, and we’ll pool our Ultimate Rewards points later on.

Thank you all for your input. I think what we’ll do is not add her on as an AU. Only issue would be with the dining spend, though 80% we do together, so I guess that won’t be too bad. I have the Freedom card, so maybe downgrade her Preferred to the Freedom Unlimited and add me as an AU on that (she’s one on my Freedom card). Will lose a bit of bonus on dining but should be well covered elsewhere. Thanks all for helping me process through this!

Every add on user counts under the 5/24 for Chase. At least they counted for me. Don’t add AU unless you need to.