In the event you fly American Airlines steadily, you might contemplate getting one in all their cobranded cards from Citi.
On the prime of the hierarchy is the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees), which provides essentially the most AA-specific perks of any bank card. However it comes with a hefty $595 annual price.
So, is it value it — each within the first 12 months and from the second onward? Let’s do the maths.
Associated: How to decide if a credit card’s annual fee is worth paying
Welcome bonus
The Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard is at the moment providing 70,000 bonus miles after spending $7,000 throughout the first three months of account opening. This bonus is value $1,155, based mostly on TPG’s March 2025 valuations.
This welcome provide is the standard welcome offer we’ve seen on this card.
Lounge entry
Arguably, essentially the most beneficial ongoing advantage of this card is the complimentary Admirals Club membership you get — while you current a same-day boarding go for an eligible flight — yearly that you just maintain the cardboard.
A yearly membership prices $750-$850, relying in your standing stage. On condition that this card carries a $595 annual price, it doesn’t make sense to purchase an Admirals Membership membership by itself (except you are not eligible for this card.)
You may entry practically 50 Admirals Golf equipment and greater than 60 partner lounges worldwide when flying American or one in all its Oneworld partners. Notably, this contains Alaska Lounges in hubs like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
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You’ll be able to herald both your fast members of the family (partner or home companion and kids underneath 18 years of age) or as much as two friends. And so they do not have to be on the identical flight as you — simply any American or Oneworld flight with a same-day boarding go.
Dwelling in Austin, Texas, I usually fly by means of AA’s largest hub, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). This implies I can entry the lounges on departure in Austin and when connecting by means of Dallas Fort Value.
I additionally worth accessing choose Qantas Membership and Qantas Worldwide Enterprise Lounges once I fly residence to Australia and journey all through the nation.
Journey advantages
The cardboard provides beneficial perks when flying American, together with precedence check-in at business-class counters (the place out there) and precedence boarding privileges (the place out there) for you and as much as eight vacationers on the identical reservation.
You additionally get your first checked bag free on home itineraries with American Airways. (Observe that that is just for home flights; I needed to pay $35 just lately once I traveled to Mexico, forgetting the restrictions of this perk.)
Moreover, you may get pleasure from a 25% low cost on inflight food and beverage purchases (excludes Wi-Fi) and obtain an up-to $120 assertion credit score for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck. (I counsel maximizing your credit score by making use of for International Entry, because it contains PreCheck anyway.)
Moreover, the cardboard contains travel protections, akin to journey cancellation, journey interruption, journey delay, misplaced baggage protections, and automobile rental insurance coverage protection.
And there are no foreign transaction fees, making this card an excellent possibility for worldwide journey.
Elite standing
If chasing AAdvantage elite status is necessary to you, this card will enable you to obtain it. You may earn 1 Loyalty Level for each mile you earn from purchases.
On prime of that, you will obtain a ten,000 Loyalty Factors bonus upon reaching 50,000 Loyalty Factors in a standing qualification 12 months. A further 10,000 Loyalty Factors bonus will probably be granted when you hit 90,000 Loyalty Factors in the identical 12 months.
Assertion credit
Citi’s assertion credit embrace:
- As much as $120 again on eligible pay as you go leases booked instantly on Avis.com or Budget.com each calendar 12 months (this credit was restricted in July 2024)
- As much as $120 again on eligible Grubhub purchases (as much as a $10 assertion credit score on every month’s billing assertion)
- As much as $120 in Lyft credit ($10 Lyft credit score every month), however you must take three eligible rides every month first to obtain this credit score
The Grubhub credit score is the one one I’ve used prior to now 12 months. I discover it simple to max out the $10 month-to-month credit score by ordering pick-up meals once I’m on the street.
On condition that I are likely to lease from Europcar, Nationwide Automotive Rental or Hertz, I do not maximize the automobile rental credit score, however it will be simple to make use of on one rental every year if Avis or Funds supplied an excellent worth for an itinerary.
I do not worth the Lyft perk as a result of you do not get the $10 credit score till after you’ve got taken three (non-discounted) rides in a month. As a substitute, I exploit my Chase Sapphire Reserve® to earn 10 factors per greenback spent on Lyft purchases (by means of March 2025).
Associated: Frequent Uber or Lyft user? These are the best credit cards for you
Incomes and redeeming miles
In the event you’re trying to supercharge your points-earning throughout a number of applications, we would counsel placing your spending on a card that earns transferable points. Nonetheless, if you wish to maximize your AAdvantage mile stability particularly, this card will earn you:
- 10 miles per greenback spent on eligible automobile leases and inns booked by means of American’s automobile rental and lodge reserving websites, respectively
- 4 miles per greenback spent on eligible American Airways purchases (jumps to five miles per greenback for the rest of the calendar 12 months as soon as you’ve got spent $150,000 on all purchases in a calendar 12 months)
- 1 mile per greenback spent on all different eligible purchases
AAdvantage miles are essentially the most beneficial of any U.S. airline program, in line with our March 2025 valuations. They’re considerably extra beneficial (at 1.65 cents every) than United Miles (1.35 cents every) and Delta SkyMiles (1.2 cents every).
After choosing up this card after its refresh in mid-2023, I redeemed a part of the welcome bonus I obtained for an expensive flight redemption. I used 70,000 miles plus $174 for a one-way business-class flight in Qatar Airways’ improbable Qsuite from Doha to Houston.
Given this flight retails for $3,910 one-way, I acquired a really excessive 5.6 cents per-mile worth from this redemption, greater than triple TPG’s March 2025 valuation of AAdvantage miles.
Associated: The best uses of American Airlines AAdvantage miles
Approved customers
Lastly, this card is a good possibility if you would like your family and friends to get Admirals Membership entry for reasonable.
You’ll be able to add as much as three approved customers for $175 whole (understanding to be round $58 every) and extra approved customers for $175 every after that.
Every approved person receives Admirals Membership entry (with a same-day boarding go for an eligible flight) for themselves and as much as two touring companions. Nonetheless, approved customers solely get Admirals Membership entry, not a full Admirals Membership membership.
Backside line
In brief, when you fly American Airways steadily, this card is a good alternative. Moreover, this card is a no brainer if you would like Admirals Membership entry and haven’t got AA or Oneworld elite standing.
Maximizing assertion credit can cut back the efficient value of the annual price. It is an excellent deal so as to add as much as three approved customers for a complete of $175. This card may also enable you to attain AAdvantage standing by incomes Loyalty Factors on on a regular basis spending and while you attain sure spending thresholds.
Nonetheless, when you would not get worth out of lounge entry, I might counsel one in all Citi / AA’s more affordable credit cards.
To study extra about this card, learn our full review of the Citi / AA Executive World Elite Mastercard.
Apply right here: Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard
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