OK, well, if that’s the case and you don’t already own a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, the move here is to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. The Reserve card comes with a $550 annual fee, but that can be offset by the easy-to-use annual $300 travel credit, making it one of the best Chase cards you’ll find. Crucially, it also includes unlimited airport lounge access for you and up to two guests by way of a Priority Pass Select membership and access to the growing network of Chase Sapphire Lounge by the Club locations.
If you typically travel with more than two guests, here’s a workaround for you. If you add an authorized user for $75, they’ll be eligible for their own Priority Pass Select membership, granting them access to the lounge network without needing to use any of your guest passes.
If you already own a Sapphire Preferred but would like to own the Sapphire Reserve instead for the lounge access, you can call the number on the back of your card and ask to upgrade. This can be a better move than applying outright for a new card for two reasons. First, you aren’t allowed to hold two Sapphire cards at once. Second, a product change means you won’t have to apply outright for a new card, so there won’t be a hard credit check. This is especially good news to those who hold other Chase cards, as Chase has an unpublished but well-known “5/24 rule” where the issuer will not approve applicants for a new card if they’ve applied for five or more new credit cards in the previous 24 months.
However, if you haven’t owned your Sapphire Preferred card for at least a year, you won’t be able to upgrade your card to the pricier Sapphire Reserve. That’s because the CARD Act of 2009 prevents issuers from raising your annual fee within a year of you opening your account.