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Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard review

  • Joseph Hostetler

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    The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is among the best airline credit cards, and a great addition to your wallet if you’re looking to save money on flights to Australia, Europe, Hawaii and other popular destinations around the world. Right now, you can earn 50,000 American Airlines miles after meeting minimum spending requirements. You can redeem those miles for award flights on American Airlines, as well as partner airlines like British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad and many others.

    You can apply for the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select here.

    Citi American Airlines Platinum Select review – You can use American Airlines miles to travel in style on airlines like Cathay Pacific, like Jasmin and her kids did. (Photo by Jasmin Baron/Million Mile Secrets)

    Citi American Airlines Platinum Select bonus

    When you sign-up for the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select, you’ll earn 50,000 American Airlines miles after spending $2,500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

    The AA award chart was officially discontinued months ago, so it’s difficult to estimate American Airlines miles value. You should be able to book 2 round-trip coach award flights within the mainland U.S. or Canada with this bonus — even a round-trip flight to Europe, depending on your origin and destination. You can book most partner award flights online, although there are a few exceptions, which you must call American Airlines at 800-433-7300 to reserve.

    If you know the best use of AA miles, this bonus can be worth hundreds and hundreds. I recently used 30,000 American Airlines miles to fly from Peru to the U.S. in lie-flat business class. Read our guide on how to use American Airlines miles to learn how to squeeze exceptional value from your miles.

    Is the card worth the annual fee?

    The card has a $99 annual fee, which waived for the first 12 months. This means you can test out the card for ~11 months and decide if it’s worth keeping for another year. If you fly American Airlines, the free checked baggage perk alone could be enough to make the card worth keeping. Read our post on why the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select is worth it.

    Benefits and perks of the Citi American Airlines credit card

    Besides a lucrative sign-up bonus, there are other ongoing Citi American Airlines Platinum benefits that make the Citi American Airlines credit card worth adding to your wallet.

    Spending categories

    It’s easy for Citi American Airlines Platinum Select cardholders to boost and replenish their miles balances with spending. You earn:

    • 2 American Airlines miles per dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
    • 2 American Airlines miles per dollar spent at gas stations and restaurants
    • 1 American Airlines miles per dollar spent on other purchases

    There’s also a special benefit for big spenders — you’ll receive a $125 American Airlines flight discount after you spend $20,000 or more in purchases during your card year and renew your card.

    Travel benefits

    With the Citi American Airlines credit card, you’ll get:

    Be sure to bookmark our AA Reduced Mileage Awards page, as we update the available cities whenever American Airlines makes a change.

    Having priority boarding means you shouldn’t have to fight for overhead bin space. (Photo by Surachet Jo/Shutterstock)

    Insider tip

    Citi won’t let you earn the welcome bonus from each chard if you’ve earned it within the last 48 months. For example, if you’ve opened the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® three years ago, you’d have to wait another year before you’d be eligible for the card’s bonus again. However, you’re still eligible to open the other Citi AAdvantage cards, such as the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® sign-up bonus.

    Which cards compete with the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select?

    If you don’t think you’ll benefit from the perks offered by the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select, consider these cards:

    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.

    Bottom line

    It’s a great time to consider applying for the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select to boost your stash of American Airlines miles. You’ll earn 50,000 American Airlines miles after you spend $2,500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. Plus, you can earn a $125 American Airlines flight discount after you spend $20,000 or more in purchases during your card year and renew your card.

    Collecting American Airlines miles can make a lot of sense, even if you never fly the airline — you can redeem miles for award flights on partner airlines, like British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, and several others. The sign-up bonus can get you much closer to your next vacation. And cardholders also enjoy many other fabulous perks, like preferred boarding and free checked baggage.

    Are you considering applying for the Citi American Airlines Platinum Select card? Let me know what you like about the offer in the comments below.

    For the latest tips and tricks on traveling big without spending a fortune, please subscribe to the Million Mile Secrets daily email newsletter.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)