Should You Add Authorized Users to the American Express Platinum Card®?

If you've got *amex platinum card*, you've tasted the sweet life of a frequent traveler. Wouldn't it be nice to share your wealth of benefits with someone else?

Like almost any travel card on the market, American Express allows you to add authorized users to your Platinum Card account … and there's good reason to: These additional users get many of the best Amex Platinum benefits like a fast pass through airport security and customs with a credit to join TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry, instant status with Hilton or Marriott, and the same unbeatable access to airport lounges.

At annual_fees a year (see rates & fees), having the card for just yourself isn't cheap – and sharing the love of your Amex Platinum comes at a cost, too. Much like the card's annual fee, that price has gone up in recent years: The annual cost of adding an authorized user to your Platinum card is now an extra $195 per card (see rates & fees). That's a substantial increase: Previously, you could add up to three additional users for a total of $175.

Still, it might be worth considering. Here's how it works and why you should consider it.

What Benefits Do Authorized Users Get?

From unrivaled lounge access to a free membership in Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®, the American Express Platinum card has the richest set of travel perks on the market. By adding someone as an authorized user, your travel companion can share many of them – though not all.

Namely, most of the big-dollar annual credits don't pass over to your guest, so you can't double dip there. And none of the new benefits added to the card earlier this year – like the new Resy or Lululemon credits – pass on to authorized users, either.

But there's still more than enough value here to offset the additional fee for many travelers. Here's a brief rundown:

In pure dollar value, the credits you don't get are some of the biggest perks the card offers. They immediately take the sting out of the annual_fees annual fee … but only for primary users.

But scan the list and you'll see that additional users do get nearly all the benefits to improve their travels: Lounge access, a credit that covers TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry, status with hotels and rental car agencies, and more. On top of earning 5x when booking flights directly with the airline or with Amex Travel (on up to $500,000 spent per year combined), authorized users who book roundtrip flights with their Platinum Card also get some great built-in travel insurance.

Sharing Lounge Access is Clutch

If sharing lounge access with your favorite travel companion is your goal, adding an Amex Platinum Card authorized user could be a no-brainer. 

You can get into the Delta Sky Clubs® 10 times per year (Feb. 1 – Jan. 31) by flashing your Delta boarding pass and Amex Platinum card, but a guest costs another $50. But not for an authorized user: That person will get their own allotment of 10 Sky Club visits each year … whether they're traveling with you or not. Just four trips a year to the Sky Club with your authorized user in tow and you've come out ahead by paying the $195 additional fee.

That alone makes adding an authorized user more compelling than ever – at least for frequent Delta flyers.
 

Authorized users can also get into the growing collection of top-notch Amex Centurion Lounges on their own, too. Considering Amex cut free guest access to Centurion Lounges a couple of years back by charging $50 apiece (or $30 for minors), adding your spouse or best travel buddy to your card is a nice workaround to let them tag along with you for free to the excellent JFK Centurion Lounge and more than a dozen others around the U.S. (and abroad).

The lounge access goes even farther than that:

• Your authorized user can also enroll in their own Priority Pass membership, the massive network of more than 1,000 lounges across the world. That means they can head into these lounges on their own and also bring up to two guests apiece with them.
• Plus, Amex Platinum cardholders (and their authorized users) get access to other great lounges that are part of the Amex Global Lounge Collection®: Plaza Premium Lounges, Escape Lounges, Airspace Lounges, and more.

Other Benefits Add Up

The benefits go far beyond lounge access. A few others worth considering include: 

• Unlike other premium travel cards that offer credits to cover TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, authorized users on Amex Platinum cards can get their own credit of up to $120 to join either program. In fact, this is true even if you add friends or family as “Companion Platinum Cards” the free option!
• Each authorized user can also activate their own Hilton Honors™ Gold, Marriott Bonvoy® Gold elite status, and Leaders Club Sterling Status with The Leading Hotels of the World® – just like the primary cardholder. That unlocks benefits for hotel stays like space-available upgrades, late checkout, and extra points earning.
• They're also eligible for elite status with several rental car companies – though our clear favorite is National Executive status.

Read More: Get TSA PreCheck for the Whole Family with 1 Credit Card

Transfer Points to Your Pal

This could just be the most important perk of the whole bunch.

Airlines often make it difficult – and pricey – to send miles from your frequent flyer account to a spouse or family member. And while some banks allow you to share or pool points with a spouse or family member, American Express isn't one of them.

Instead, you can transfer Amex points directly to your authorized users' frequent flyer accounts. That's an extra layer of flexibility that can come in handy in a pinch.

It works just like any other time you send points to Amex transfer partners, the array of more than 20 airlines and hotel chains to which you can send your points. There's just one catch: You can only transfer points to additional cardmembers added at least 90 days ago.

Be sure to select your authorized user's account rather than your own. And keep in mind that some American Express transfers aren't instantaneous.

Read more on Amex transfer partners!

Help Hit Spending Requirements to Earn a Bonus

It might seem straightforward, but it can pay off big time.

Because your Amex Platinum authorized users get their own cards, they can help you quickly spend the money necessary to unlock that big points bonus. American Express Platinum cardholders have to spend $8,000 within six months to get a welcome offer bonus as high as 175,000 points. After you submit your application, but before you accept the card (if you are approved) and your credit is pulled, Amex will let you know the exact welcome offer you are eligible for.

Of course, you'd need that person to pay off the charges they're making, too. Otherwise, they're simply saddling you with a bigger monthly payment.
 

Extra Considerations for Adding Authorized Users

Adding authorized users can be a confusing topic in the world of credit cards. Let’s set a few things straight.

First, and most importantly: You’re responsible for paying off any charges your authorized user makes to your account. That means you should only add someone you trust – and preferably someone with a big expense coming up that they can immediately pay off (or make a charge on your behalf).

Beyond that, it’s a good news, bad news situation:

• The good news: Being an authorized user does not make you ineligible to open that card outright to earn a bonus later on. That means you could add a friend or spouse as an additional Platinum Card, and they could still open their own Platinum Card and earn a welcome offer bonus after spending $8,000 within six months.
• The bad news: This could make it harder for your buddy to open a Chase card. That’s because being an authorized user does count toward your Chase 5/24 rule status, which means you won’t get approved for any Chase card if you’ve opened five or more credit cards (from any bank, not just Chase) in the last 24 months. You may be able to get Chase to overlook that if being an authorized user is what’s pushing you over the edge, but that’s no sure thing.

Read more: Everything You Need to Know About Credit Card Authorized Users

Should They Get Their Own Card Instead?

What would you rather pay for an additional Platinum Card: $195 or annual_fees? The choice seems easy, right?

Amex pegs the full annual value of the refreshed Platinum Card at $3,500-plus. While I think that's a stretch (to put it mildly) for most people, I don't think getting another $700 in value from the card each year (with relatively little effort) is too far out of the question. 

With a welcome offer as high as 175,000 points on the table, that makes the card a no-brainer in year one. Once you add in all the statement credits, the math is even more in your favor. Here's a sampling of what else they'd get access to by having their own card: 

• $600 hotel credit: Get up to $300 in credits twice a year (up to $600 annually) for prepaid bookings at Fine Hotels + Resorts® and The Hotel Collection properties through American Express Travel®. The Hotel Collection requires a two-night minimum stay.
• $400 Resy credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each quarter (for up to $400 each year) for dining purchases at more than 10,000 U.S. Resy-partner restaurants.
• $300 digital entertainment credit: Get up to $25 back each month (up to $300 annually) for streaming and digital entertainment subscriptions, including Disney+, the Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV.
• $300 Lululemon credit: Get up to $75 back each quarter (up to $300 a year) on purchases at U.S. Lululemon retail stores (excluding outlets) or online at lululemon.com.
• $200 Uber Cash: Add your Platinum Card to your Uber account to start receiving $15 in Uber Cash each month (plus a bonus $20 in December), to use on rides and orders in the U.S.

This list is really just the tip of the iceberg. If you can make good use of even a few of the Amex Platinum's statement credits, having them pick up their own card could be well worth the extra expense … especially in the first year. 

Be sure to read our full review of the Amex Platinum for everything this card has to offer! 

Learn more about *amex platinum*.

How to Add Someone to Your Platinum Card

If you've decided to add an authorized user to your Amex Platinum card, let's go over the nuts and bolts of how it's done.

Simply log into your account and head to the “Account Services” tab. That's where you'll find the link to “Add Someone to Your Account.”
 

Otherwise, look for the chance to earn a 20,000-point bonus (or more!) by adding an authorized user under your Amex offers.
 

You'll need to enter some information for your new user, including their social security number – either when you add the user or within 60 days. Yet all signs suggest that your authorized user will not be subjected to a hard credit inquiry – which could temporarily ding their credit score. It's simply a bookkeeping measure for American Express.

Once you've added the user, they will get their own, heavy metal Amex Platinum card in the mail within the next week or so. They'll have their own, distinct account number and online account.

But it's important to note that everything is tied back to your primary account. Any charges an authorized user puts on their card will be on your balance. So it should go without saying that you should only add an authorized user that you trust. You can also decide whether to let your new user use American Express Membership Rewards® points.

Bottom Line

Depending on your situation and how much you'll get out of the perks, the benefits of adding an authorized user to your Platinum card can easily outweigh the additional $195 fee. Just be sure to run the numbers for yourself before committing to that extra cost.

And if you're willing to jump through a few extra hoops, having them get their own card could be the smarter play. 

Learn more about *amex platinum*.