7 Checklist Items for When Your New Citi American Airlines Card Arrives in the Mail

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INSIDER SECRET:   You can stretch American Airlines miles even further by flying during “off-peak” dates.  Team member Joseph flew from Cincinnati to Barbados for just 25,000 miles round-trip!

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® currently has an increased welcome bonus offer.  If you don’t have the card yet, you should strongly consider taking advantage of it, even if you don’t normally fly American Airlines!

That’s because the card is currently offering a higher than normal intro bonus of 60,000 American Airlines miles after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months of opening the account.  That’s easily worth more than $1,000+ in travel! The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

If you don’t want to miss out on this offer, here are some tips to improve your chances of being approved for the card.

To-Do List After You Receive Your Citi American Airlines Platinum Select

The Citi American Airlines Platinum Select comes with a slew of benefits, such as:

• Free first checked bag for you and up to 4 travel companions on the same reservation (domestic flights only)
• Preferred boarding for you and up to 4 travel companions on the same reservation
• 25% off eligible in-flight purchases
• Reduced Mileage Awards – get discounts up to 7,500 miles round-trip on award flights to certain airports

With the number of benefits available on the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select, it can be easy to forget about some of them.  So I’ve compiled a list of things to do once you get your card in the mail.

Step 1.   Mark Your Calendar for When the Minimum Spending Requirement is Due

To earn the welcome bonus of 60,000 American Airlines miles, you’ll have to meet the minimum spending requirement of $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening the account.  If you miss this time frame, you won’t earn the welcome bonus which is easily worth at least $1,000+ in airfare!  So you do NOT want to miss the deadline.

And it’s important to remember that you have 3 months from the date your account is opened, NOT when you receive your card in the mail or activate it!

The best thing to do is to meet the minimum spend requirement as soon as possible.  Here are some easy ways to meet minimum spending requirements.

Step 2.   Set as the Default Payment Method for American Airlines Airfare, Restaurants, and Gas Station Purchases

With the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select, you earn 2X American Airlines miles per $1 spent on American Airlines flights, as well as restaurants and gas station purchases.  So putting those types of purchases on this card will allow you to get the MOST miles for your money!

For instance, if you frequently fly American Airlines, you can have this set as your default payment method.  You’ll also receive 25% savings on in-flight purchases of food and beverages on flights operated by American Airlines.

And if you frequently order online from restaurants, you can also have this card set as the default payment method (but keep in mind that depending on the company, it may not code as a restaurant purchase in which case you may only receive 1 American Airlines mile per $1 spent.)

Step 3.   Plan Your Next Trip by Reviewing the American Airlines Award Chart

Once you earn the welcome bonus of 60,000 American Airlines miles, you can look at the American Airlines award chart to plan your next trip!

American Airlines uses a region-based award chart, which makes it very easy to figure out how many miles you’ll need to get a “free” flight!  All you’ll need to know is where you’ll be departing from, and where you’ll be flying to!  American Airlines has 2 award charts, 1 for flights operated by American Airlines, and the other for flights on partner airlines.

And after earning the welcome bonus, you’ll have enough miles to fly round-trip to Europe or South America!  Or you could book 2 round-trip tickets within the contiguous 48 US states.

Step 4.   Enroll in Exclusive American Airlines AAdvantage Programs, Such as AAdvantage Dining and AAdvantage eShopping

Did you know that you can earn additional bonus miles through the American Airlines program with your card?

In addition to earning miles by using your card for every day purchases, American Airlines has also partnered with a variety of retailers where you can earn bonus miles on top of your regular spending!

One way you can earn bonus miles is through the AAdvantage Dining program.  Registering for the program is free and can be done online.  Once you’re registered, you’ll earn bonus miles any time you order from any of the 10,000+ participating restaurants, bars, and clubs when you pay with your registered card.  These miles are in addition to your regular purchase rewards, so you’ll essentially be double dipping on the rewards by enrolling in this program!

And if you’re an online shopper like most of us, you’ll want to use the AAdvantage eShopping mall.  The eShopping mall has over 950 online merchants where you can earn extra miles at featured stores.  So if you were planning on buying something through another store and find that American Airlines has a featured partner through the eShopping mall, you might be better off buying there to earn additional bonus miles!

There are a number of shopping portals through other companies as well, like other airlines and hotels.  And because the bonus rates change frequently, it can be difficult to find the best deal.  That’s where shopping portal aggregators come in.  They keep track of all of the bonuses on each shopping portal to let you know which one will give you the highest return for your purchase.  Here are some tips for how you can use them!

Step 5.   Enroll in the Citi Private Pass Newsletter

As a Citi cardholder, you’ll have access to the Citi Private Pass program, which gives you special access to purchase tickets to thousands of events annually.  This includes presale tickets and VIP packages to events like concerts, sporting events, and dining experiences.  If you sign-up for the Citi Private Pass events email/newsletter, you’ll be notified of all these latest offers.

Step 6.   Check Back Monthly for AA Reduced Mileage Awards

You’ll also qualify for American Airlines’ reduced mileage awards, which lets you fly to select destinations on American Airlines operated flights for up to 7,500 fewer AAdvantage miles.  The number of miles you can save will be based on which card you carry and where you’ll be flying.  This is a great way to save on award flights!

While only certain cities are available, there are typically a very large number of cities that qualify.  For instance, the April 2019 list has 100+ airports that qualify for reduced mileage awards!  And the list is updated every month, so if you don’t see a particular airport this month, it could be added later.

Step 7.   Mark Your Calendar for When the Annual Fee is Due

The card’s $99 annual fee is waived for the first 12 months, so you’ll be able to use the card for ~11 months before deciding if it’s worth keeping.  So for instance, if your travel preferences change and you find that you’re no longer able to take advantage of the card’s benefits, you’ll want to either cancel the card or do a product change to another card product that better matches your needs before the annual fee is charged to your account.

Earn the 60,000 American Airlines Miles Increased Bonus Before It’s Too Late

Apply Here:   Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®

Read our review of the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®

The limited-time increased welcome bonus offer on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® won’t be around forever, so you’ll want to score it while you still can!  You can earn the intro bonus of 60,000 American Airlines miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening the account.

What can you do with 60,000 American Airlines miles?  That’s good for 2 round-trip tickets within the US, or a single round-trip ticket to Europe or South America!  Or a one-way ticket in Business Class to Japan!

American Airlines miles are also very flexible, as you can use them on any one of their partner airlines, like British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and more.

What do you plan on doing with the miles once you get the card?  Let us know in the comments below!  And sign-up for our newsletter to make sure you never miss an increased deal like this:

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