{"version":"1.9","identifier":"a2a47e1e-3537-448f-b8b2-2cfae0d200e9","language":"en-US","title":"A Sapphire Reserve authorized user costs $195 a year. Here is exactly what that buys, and what it does not","layout":{"columns":7,"width":1024,"margin":32,"gutter":20},"componentLayouts":{"text":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"maximumContentWidth":720,"margin":{"top":12,"bottom":12}},"photo":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"margin":{"top":20,"bottom":20}}},"componentTextStyles":{"default":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"textColor":"#171717"},"headline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue-Bold","fontSize":36,"lineHeight":42,"conditional":[{"conditions":{"maxViewportWidth":480},"fontSize":28,"lineHeight":34}]},"intro":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":20,"lineHeight":28,"textColor":"#555555"},"caption":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":19,"textColor":"#666666"},"byline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":20,"textColor":"#666666"},"body":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"paragraphSpacingAfter":14,"linkStyle":{"textColor":"#00704a"}}},"metadata":{"canonicalURL":"https://www.pointsfrog.com/news/chase-sapphire-reserve-authorized-user-195-fee-lounge-access-what-you-get-2026","datePublished":"2026-10-20T17:13:29.655867Z","dateModified":"2026-10-20T17:13:48.069608Z","authors":["Patrick Karsh"],"excerpt":"The authorized user fee rose from $75 to $195 with the June 2025 refresh. The AU gets Priority Pass, Sapphire Lounge and Air Canada lounge access of their own, plus travel protections, but none of the card's statement credits.","thumbnailURL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/a2a47e1e-3537-448f-b8b2-2cfae0d200e9/3ca6a3212c79404ecfaaa996ddbb6ece.jpg","keywords":["bank"],"generatorName":"Frog News","generatorVersion":"1.0"},"components":[{"role":"title","text":"A Sapphire Reserve authorized user costs $195 a year. Here is exactly what that buys, and what it does not","textStyle":"headline","layout":"text"},{"role":"intro","text":"The authorized user fee rose from $75 to $195 with the June 2025 refresh. The AU gets Priority Pass, Sapphire Lounge and Air Canada lounge access of their own, plus travel protections, but none of the card's statement credits.","textStyle":"intro","layout":"text"},{"role":"byline","text":"By Patrick Karsh · Published October 20, 2026","textStyle":"byline","layout":"text"},{"role":"photo","URL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/a2a47e1e-3537-448f-b8b2-2cfae0d200e9/3ca6a3212c79404ecfaaa996ddbb6ece.jpg","caption":"The Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at LaGuardia. Sapphire Reserve authorized users get their own complimentary access for a $195 annual fee. · JPMorgan Chase","accessibilityCaption":"The Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at LaGuardia. Sapphire Reserve authorized users get their own complimentary access for a $195 annual fee.","layout":"photo"},{"role":"caption","text":"The Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at LaGuardia. Sapphire Reserve authorized users get their own complimentary access for a $195 annual fee. · JPMorgan Chase","textStyle":"caption","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"## The fee\n\nAdding an authorized user to the Chase Sapphire Reserve costs $195 a year per person, on top of the card's $795 annual fee. Both figures come from the [card's page on chase.com](https://creditcards.chase.com/rewards-credit-cards/sapphire/reserve). The authorized user fee was $75 until the June 2025 refresh that raised the main fee from $550; existing cardholders moved to the new fee at their first anniversary after October 2025. The welcome offer on new accounts is 100,000 points after $6,000 of spending in three months, down from the 125,000 and 150,000 offers seen in 2025.\n\nA year of $195 is the price of a Priority Pass Prestige membership on its own, which is the right frame for the decision: it makes sense for a partner who flies without you often enough to use lounges, and for almost nobody else.\n\n## What the authorized user gets\n\nLounges, mostly. Chase's [lounge page](https://www.chase.com/sapphire-cards/lounges) says Sapphire Reserve authorized users get the same complimentary access as the primary cardholder to Chase Sapphire Lounges by The Club, with up to two free guests and $27 for each extra. Priority Pass Select is activated for primary cardholders and authorized users alike, with two free guests and $27 for more; the physical card or the digital membership card is required at the door. Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges admit primary and authorized users with one guest. Both can activate DashPass.\n\nTravel protections apply to the authorized user when they pay with their card, with per-person limits on trip cancellation and the primary rental car coverage. Purchases the authorized user makes count toward the primary's spending thresholds, including the $75,000 tier benefits, and the points land in the primary account.\n\n## What the authorized user does not get\n\nThe credits. The $300 travel credit, the $500 hotel credit through The Edit, the $300 dining credit and the Apple subscriptions belong to the account, not to each card, so an authorized user does not get a second set. The $10 monthly Lyft credit is one per account and goes to whichever card is added to Lyft first. Chase's Zero Liability policy does not cover misuse by an authorized user you have added, which is the usual caution about adding anyone you would not trust with your own card.\n\nOne point of confusion worth settling: an older chase.com help article says only primary cardholders have Priority Pass accounts. The card's current terms say the opposite, and the lounge page agrees; the article is out of date. The business version is a different story. Sapphire Reserve for Business employee cards get no Sapphire Lounge or Air Canada access at all.\n\n## How it compares\n\nThe Reserve's $195 is among the most expensive authorized user fees in the market. American Express charges $195 for each additional Platinum, up to three. Capital One lets Venture X cardholders add up to four authorized users free, each with Priority Pass and Capital One Lounge access, which is the comparison that makes the Reserve's fee look steep. We covered how those cards stack up on lounges in [our three-card comparison](https://www.loungefrog.com/news/amex-platinum-vs-sapphire-reserve-vs-venture-x-lounge-access).\n\n## The decision\n\nCount the solo trips. A partner who flies four or more times a year without you, through airports with a Sapphire Lounge or a decent Priority Pass option, will get more than $195 of value from the lounges alone, and the rental car coverage is a bonus. A partner who mostly flies with you can use your guest allowance and does not need their own card. If the goal is just to let someone spend on the account, a $0 authorized user on a Sapphire Preferred or a Freedom card in the same household does that job, as our [family points piece](https://www.pointsfrog.com/news/booking-a-family-trip-with-chase-points-seats-before-transfers) explains, and the points still pool in Chase Ultimate Rewards, which our [calculator](https://www.pointsfrog.com/points-value/chase-ultimate-rewards) values at about 2 cents each.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}