Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® review
This is an excellent option for American Airlines frequent flyers. Snag bonus miles while you enjoy perks like your first checked bag free on domestic itineraries and a discount on in-flight food and beverage purchases.
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Key Features
descriptionEditor Analysis:
- Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after you spend $2,500 in the first three months.
- You and up to four traveling companions traveling with you on the same reservation can check your first bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries.
- Enjoy preferred boarding on American Airlines flights.
- The annual fee after the 12 months isn't necessarily steep for an airline miles card, but it does mean you'll need to earn enough miles and take advantage of the special perks like a free checked bag if you're going to offset the fee.
If you’re looking for a credit card that offers travel rewards, and especially if you’re a loyal customer with American Airlines, the CardName may be worth your consideration. Citi is a CardRatings advertiser.
CardName rewards
The CardName offers two AAdvantage® miles for every dollar spent at gas stations, restaurants and on eligible American Airline purchases.
This is a card designed to get you up in the air and traveling. The card sets this tone immediately with its bonus offer of 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles, earned once spending $2,500 on the card within the first three months of opening an account. Furthermore, you can earn a $125 American Airlines Flight Discount certificate after you spend $20,000 or more in purchases that post to your credit card billing statement during your credit cardmembership year (every 12 months from the billing cycle after your anniversary month through the billing cycle of your next anniversary month).
CardName travel benefits
The CardName offers more than just rewards. It has travel perks, too, which could save you money. Some of these travel benefits include:
- No foreign transaction fees. If you do a lot of international traveling, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have a credit card that comes with a foreign transaction fee. Your entire trip will be more expensive. With this card, though, you can avoid that added expense thanks to there being no fees charged on foreign transactions.
- First checked bag free. As long as you pay for your airline tickets with your card you and up to four traveling companions will get your first checked bag free. This is a savings of up to $300 per round trip.
- Less waiting around. Enjoy preferred boarding on American Airlines flights.
- Inflight discounts. When you’re on American Airlines flights, if you use your card, you’ll save 25% on inflight food and beverage purchases.
Potential downsides of the CardName
This is a pretty solid card if you’re loyal to American Airlines, but if that’s not your preferred airline, or you rarely travel, this might not be the card for you. The annual fee (AnnualFees) is manageable, so even if you only travel once or twice a year with American Airlines, the card may still be worth it; however, if you rarely use the card for other purchases, you’ll probably have trouble offsetting the cost of carrying it in your wallet. If you prefer more flexibility with how you earn travel rewards, you may want to consider a more general travel rewards credit card instead.
How do cardholders rate the CardName?
CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results for the CardName:
| Current Scores | Past Scores | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 79.8 | 82.9 |
| Features Satisfaction | 7.9 | 8.2 |
| Customer Service | 7.8 | 8.5 |
| Website/App Usability | 7.8 | 8.7 |
| Likelihood of Continuing to Use | 8.5 | 8.3 |
| Recommend to a Friend/Colleague | 8.3 | 8.1 |
How the CardName compares to other cards
CardName vs. CardName
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The two credit cards are pretty similar but with a few distinctions. First, it’s important to note that there is no annual fee with the CardName.
Both cards offer two miles per dollar spent on grocery store purchases as well as on eligible American Airline purchases, and with both cards, you’ll save money with 25% savings on your American Airlines in-flight food and beverage purchases (provided you pay with one of these cards). The two credit cards slightly differ when it comes to welcome bonuses, though. The CardName offers 15,000 bonus miles after spending only $1,000 in the first three months of opening the account, which is quite a bit less than new cardholders can earn with the CardName.
Mainly, these two cards differ in that you get a few more perks with the CardName – and more room for earning rewards (i.e., spending at restaurants and gas stations and not just grocery stores). But if you love American Airlines and love traveling and don’t want to pay an annual fee, maybe the CardName is the better card for you. On the other hand, if you go to a lot of restaurants, you’ll likely earn enough points to easily offset the CardName annual fee, which isn’t too high as annual fees go.
CardName vs. CardName
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Not surprisingly, given that the names are almost the same and they both hail from Citi, these two credit cards are almost twins. They’re very much alike, but the CardName comes with a few more premium perks. For instance, having the first bags checked for you and up to four traveling companions? Well, that’s a nice feature, but with the Executive World Elite card you’ll get the first bag checked for free, for you and up to eight traveling companions.
You also get other perks, like Admirals Club® membership and up to a $120 statement credit every five years to cover your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee.
Does this mean the CardName is superior to the CardName? Not necessarily.
We didn’t mention yet that the CardName comes with a AnnualFees annual fee.
Also, to earn the 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus mile welcome bonus that the CardName offers to new cardholders, you have to spend $7,000 in purchases in the first three months of opening an account. This is obviously a higher spend threshold than with the CardName, though for significantly more rewards. But, as this is an executive card, meeting that threshold likely won’t be difficult for the right cardholder.
Despite its high annual fee, the CardName is still a great choice if you regularly travel with American Airlines. The money you’ll save on checked bags and Admirals Club® access alone should offset the cost of the card. It really just comes down to how you travel.
Is the CardName a good card?
If you love to travel, and you’re a fan of American Airlines, this is definitely a credit card to consider. If you’d rather take the train or are a homebody, you’re probably better off finding a different credit card.
For travelers, though, there’s no doubt about it. For every dollar you spend at gas stations, restaurants and on eligible American Airline purchases, you’re going to get AAdvantage® miles, and if you use your card regularly, those miles are going to add up quickly. This is a credit card that really will take you places.
Our Methodology
Survey methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September 2023 to conduct surveys among 1,869 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2023-Aug. 31, 2023 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents’ scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. Current Scores reflect scores from the most recent survey (2023); “Past Scores” reflect scores from the 2022 survey.
Disclaimer:The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.
This content is not provided by any company mentioned in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed here are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any such company. CardRatings.com does not review every company or every offer available on the market.
