Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.
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Right now, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® is offering a higher than normal sign-up bonus. You can earn 60,000 American Airlines miles after meeting minimum spending requirements!
With those 60,000 American Airlines miles you can get over $1,000 in travel! For example, you can fly round-trip to Europe or South America for nearly free! Or you can book 2 round-trip flights within the contiguous US states, which is perfect if you and a friend are looking to explore California, Miami Beach, or anything in between!
The card also comes with great money saving perks like a free first checked bag on domestic flights for you and up to 4 travel companions on the same reservation, and no foreign transaction fees.
If you’re unsure whether you’d be approved for the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select Card, we’ll go through some tips to give you the best shot at opening the card.
We’ll help you decide if you’ve got a good chance of approval. And show you strategies that might help!
Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select 60,000 Mile Offer
Apply Here: Citi American Airlines Platinum Select
Our Review of the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select
When you sign-up for the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select card, you’ll earn 60,000 American Airlines miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account.
In addition to the sign-up bonus, this card comes with some great benefits as well! You’ll earn:
- 2X American Airlines miles per $1 spent on American Airlines flights
- 2X American Airlines miles per $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants
- 1X American Airlines mile per $1 spent on other purchases
You’ll also earn a $100 American Airlines flight discount after you spend $20,000 or more in purchases during your card year and renew your card.
Citi waives the usual $99 annual fee the first year, so you can try out this card for ~11 months before having to worry about paying the annual fee!
You also get some great travel benefits along with this card, including:
- 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
- Receive 10% of your redeemed miles back, up to 10,000 miles per calendar year
- Reduced Mileage Awards – Get discounts up to 7,500 miles round-trip on award flights to certain airports
- Baggage delay coverage
- Trip delay coverage
- Trip cancellation & interruption coverage
What Are Your Odds of Approval?
One of the most important factors in being approved for any card is your credit score. We recommend using myBankrate in order to keep track of your credit score and see where you can improve. Typically, a credit score above 700 gives you a better chance of being approved for most cards.
After looking through various forums and application success stories, the credit scores of those approved varied. The lowest score I saw being approved for this card was 630. However, this was definitely the outlier, as most approvals were given to those in the 720+ range.
If your credit score is above 700, you should have a good chance of approval as long as you meet other application criteria. Of course, Citi has the final say and take other factors into consideration besides credit score, including:
- Credit limit across all your accounts
- Credit utilization on your existing cards
- Too many recent credit card applications
Apply here for the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select Card
Citi Rules Limit Sign-Up Bonuses on Personal Cards Within the Same “Brand”
One important thing to keep in mind is that Citi has very strict rules if you’ve opened or closed a personal card of the same “brand” within 24 months.
For example, if you’ve opened or closed the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® in the past 24 months, you would NOT be eligible for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® sign-up bonus. Or vice versa.
But if you’ve opened or closed a personal Citi AAdvantage card in the past 24 months, there is some good news! You can still qualify for the small business version because it’s got different application rules. The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® is currently offering 70,000 American Airlines miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 4 months of opening your account!
And you may qualify as a small business without even knowing it! Here are a few different for-profit activities you may already be doing that would allow you to be considered a small business.
The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum and CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum 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.
What Should You Do If Your Application Isn’t Immediately Approved?
If your application was not immediately approved, don’t worry! We’ve all been in that situation before – we’ll walk you through what to do.
If your application is pending status, we recommend you wait and see what the final outcome is from Citi. Your application could be taking a little bit longer for a few different reasons, including the bank needing to verify your personal information, the need for an income verification, fraud prevention being conducted by the bank, dings on your credit report, or even just an overload of applications at the bank that need to be processed.
We recommend holding off on contacting the bank until you receive their decision or they reach out to you to clarify something in your application.
If your application was rejected, we recommend calling Citi’s reconsideration line at 800-695-5171. When calling, keep this in mind:
- Be prepared – Have a copy of your credit report handy to discuss any items that may appear and know your credit score
- Lead the call – We believe it is better for you to lead the credit card reconsideration call than to let the rep lead the call. Think of reasons why you may have been declined and offer solutions such as reducing existing credit lines on other card
- Know why you’re applying for the card – Perhaps you live near an American Airlines hub or you just like the benefits this card offers compared to your other cards. Avoid talking about just the sign-up bonus and focus on wanting to be a Citi customer
- Remind them of your existing relationship with the bank – If you have any other relationships with Citi like a checking or savings account, mention that you have been a loyal customer and are looking to build on that relationship
- Be polite with the telephone representative – This one is huge. As someone who has worked for years in the service industry, just a friendly demeanor on the phone can make a huge difference. Customer service representatives put up with a lot so being understanding and friendly can go a long way
Several Million Mile Secrets team members have had success getting approved for cards by offering to shift credit from other cards to the new credit line. If you have another card or 2 with Citi, offering to move some of your existing credit lines to the new card could help you get approved!
Bottom Line
Citi is currently offering a higher than normal sign-up bonus on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®. You can earn 60,000 American Airlines miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
One great benefit is that the card’s annual fee is waived for the first year. This lets you try out the card for ~11 months and then decide if the money-saving perks make it worth keeping for the long term.
According to online and reader reports, a credit score of ~700 or more will get you the best odds at approval. Remember, credit score alone doesn’t guarantee approval as the bank takes other factors into consideration, but it’s a good starting point. Make sure you follow our credit card reconsideration tips if your application is declined or you speak to a Citi credit representative.
Don’t forget about Citi’s rule about earning sign-up bonuses on personal cards within the same “brand.” However, the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® is currently offering 70,000 American Airlines miles after meeting minimum spending requirements and can be a good alternative if you qualify as a small business!
If you’ve recently applied for the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select Card, tell us about your experience below!