Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard®
CreditShout Rating
Credit Required: Excellent
- Earn 60,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
- Admirals Club® membership for you with guest privileges.
- Complimentary Admirals Club® lounge access for authorized users.
- 10,000 Elite Qualifying Miles from American Airlines after $40,000 spent on purchases every year (January through December billing statement).
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases.
- Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on other purchases.
- First checked bag is free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to eight companions traveling with you on the same reservation.
Intro APR Intro Balance Transfer
N/A N/A
Verdict
If you fly American Airlines a lot and are looking to feel like a VIP, the AAdvantage Executive card is for you. Just note that you must have great credit for this card.
The fee puts it on the level of an American Express Platinum card and Chase Sapphire Reserve card. The Citi/AAdvantage Executive card does not offer the same level of flexibility of those other cards. However, some of the benefits such as free checked bags, concierge service, upgrades, and miles that you can use toward future flights, may make it worth it for you.
If you do get this card, don’t get it just to earn free flights. You can get double miles with other cards that have lower fees. The perks are what set this card apart from travel cards with fees of $80 or $90.
How to Get $400 in Free Airfare with ANY Airline
New cardholders can earn 60,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days — that’s enough to redeem for a $600 travel statement credit. In addition you earn 2X miles on all purchases, plus get 5% miles back to use toward your next redemption, every time you redeem. Miles don’t expire as long as your account is open, active and in good standing.
Ways to Earn Miles
- 60,000 miles if you make $5,000 worth of purchases in the first three months
- 2 miles per dollar spent on American Airlines flights
- 1 mile per dollar spent on other purchases
- 10,000 Elite Qualifying Miles each year that you make at least $40,000 worth of purchases
- Yearly bonus opportunity to earn Elite Qualifying Miles
Card Benefits
- One free checked bag on domestic flights
- EMV chip (which is a technology often used in Europe instead of a magnetic stripe)
- No foreign transaction fee for purchases
- Concierge service, which will book flights and make dinner reservations for you
- Access to Admirals Club
- No mileage cap
- And more!
Elite Qualifying Miles
Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) are a way you can earn extra benefits. You need a certain number of points, miles, or segments in order to reach each new level.
You earn these points by flying on American Airlines flights.
Calculate your points by multiplying the number of miles you flew by either 0.5, 1, or 1.5, depending on the type of flight (deep discount, discount, full fare or higher).
You can find more information on how to calculate your EQMs here. You can also view how many points or segments you need to get to each level.
Your EQMs reset every calendar year.
Elite Status Levels
To get to the Gold level, you must fly at least 30 segments or get 25,000 points.
To get to the Platinum level, you need 60 segments or 50,000 points.
The final level, Executive Platinum, requires 100 segments or 100,000 EQMs.
With each level, the perks go up. Example benefits are complimentary upgrades for yourself and your companion, mileage bonuses, priority check in, and more seating choices when you redeem your miles for a ticket. If you want, you can view the full list of benefits.
15.49% Variable
This card is a premium travel card. Meaning it is not for light travelers. In fact, it can be a bit costly with an annual fee of $450.
If you are a heavy traveler, however, you can earn that back in no time through miles and perks.
To earn the full benefits from the Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard, you should fly American Airlines each time you fly.
If American is your favorite airline, that will be no problem for you. If it’s not, other airlines have their own rewards cards that you may want to look into.
