Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®
Limited Time Signup bonus:
For a limited time only, you can earn 75,000 AA bonus miles for opening a Citi AAdvantage Business Card and spending $5,000 in 5 months.
Annual fee:
$99, waived for the first 12 months.
No fee for additional cardholders. Additional cardholders will earn loyalty points that credit to their own AA account.
Signup bonus rules:
- You can receive the bonus on this card if you haven’t received a bonus for the same card in the past 48 months.
- You can receive the bonus on this card even if you currently have this card.
- You can receive the bonus even if you have been an authorized user on another person’s card.
- You can receive the bonus even if you have received a recent bonus on an AAdvantage consumer card.
- Citi allows applications for 1 card every 8 days and 2 cards every 2 months
Card earnings:
- 1 mile per dollar everywhere (Up to 1.34-1.37 miles per dollar plus up to top tier elite status for big spenders, as described below.)
- 2 miles per dollar on American Airlines purchases.
- 2 miles per dollar on telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rental merchants and at gas stations.
There are no foreign transaction fees.
You will also receive 1 loyalty point for every dollar spent on the card.
You need to earn 40K loyalty points for Gold, 75K for Platinum, 125K for Platinum Pro, and 200K for Executive Platinum status. You can combine loyalty points from all sources, such as flights, stays at partner hotels, SimplyMiles, credit card spending, and more. See below for more on this benefit.
Spend Threshold:
You’ll need to spend $5,000 on this card within 5 months.
You can pay your federal taxes for a 1.82% fee. If you overpay your taxes you can request a refund or apply it to your next year’s taxes.
My local natural gas company allows me to prepay up to $1,000 on a credit card for a $1.65 flat fee. That’s a great way to earn miles and help meet a spend threshold. My electricity supplier allows me to pay with a credit card for free as long as I am enrolled in autopay.
AAdvantage Business Membership:
Businesses normally need to have 5 active registered travelers, $5,000 in flights every rolling 12 months, and a tax ID number to enroll in AAdvantage Business.
However, new CitiBusiness AA cardholders will be automatically enrolled in the program, even if they don’t meet those criteria. Existing cardholders will be enrolled within the year.
Enrolled businesses will earn 1 AA mile per dollar spent, which can be transferred on demand to employees of the business. Those are on top of regular mileage earnings for employees.
Enrolled employees will earn 1 bonus loyalty point per dollar spent, on top of the normal loyalty points earned for travel.
On new CitiBusiness AA cards, an AAdvantage Business account will be opened automatically. Miles earned from purchases will post to the company’s AAdvantage Business account. Loyalty points earned by the primary cardholder’s card will post to the primary cardholder’s AAdvantage account, while loyalty points earned by secondary cardholder’s cards will post to the secondary cardholder’s AAdvantage account. Miles can be transferred from the business account to employee accounts on demand. If the card is closed, the AAdvantage Business account remains open, but it will then be subject to expiration and the threshold rules above.
You can read more in the FAQ here and program terms here.
Companion certificate:
Earn an American Airlines Companion Certificate for domestic main cabin travel after you spend $30,000 or more in purchases each cardmembership year and cardmembership is renewed. Redeeming the certificate costs $99 for the ticketing fee, plus taxes and fees, based on itinerary.
Waived checked baggage fees:
The first checked bag for the cardholder and 4 companions is free on domestic flights, even on basic economy fares.
You don’t need to pay for the flight with this card, you just need to make sure that your AA mileage number is in your reservation.
That means you can get a free bag even when using partner award miles from airlines like BA or Alaska to book your AA flight!
Preferred Boarding:
You and 4 companions will receive group 5 preferred boarding, even on basic economy fares.
In flight rebates:
Pay with this card and get 25% off on all AA in-flight WiFi, food, and beverages via statement credit rebate.
Mastercard Easy Savings:
Get a cash rebate on top of miles with select merchants by registering here.
Sample savings:
Using AA Miles:
While Delta and United have killed off their award charts and increased miles needed for flights, American has retained published partner award charts, though their own flights are now dynamic.
When Delta and United eliminated their close-in award booking fees, they increased the miles needed for flights. American also removed their close-in booking fees, but they haven’t yet increased the miles needed for close-in flights.
You can transfer AMEX points into Delta miles and Chase points into United miles, making their own credit cards typically a poor value.
However, no major bank points transfer to American, making their own credit cards the best way to earn them. Plus, you can earn AA elite status through spending as well.
American also has a very useful award map here to help find cheap awards. Just use my tips here to help find 5K coach awards and 15K lie-flat first class awards.
American still has valuable partner awards on airlines like Alaska, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Finnair, Iberia, Qatar, Qantas, Royal Air Maroc, and Air Tahiti Nui. Some partner flights must be booked over the phone.
Earning status through spending:
American offers the easiest path towards earning elite status through spending with loyalty points. You’ll earn 1 loyalty point per dollar spent on this card.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® will also earn 10K bonus loyalty points after earning 50K loyalty points and another 10K loyalty points after earning 90K loyalty points annually.
- If you want Gold status, you’ll need to spend $39,000 on AA cards between 3/1/24-2/28/25 and the status will last through 3/31/26. Together with 1K bonus loyalty points at the $15K level choice reward, you’ll have 40K loyalty points. Or you can spend less if you earn loyalty points from flying and other sources.
- Benefits include OneWorld Ruby status, Alaska benefits, 40% bonus loyalty points on flights, a free checked bag, group 4 boarding, upgrades for you and a companion when available starting 24 hours before flights, upgrades on award tickets for you and a companion, preferred seats at booking, and main cabin extra seating at checkin.
- If you want Platinum status, you’ll need to spend $74,000 on AA cards ($64,000 if you have Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Consumer Mastercard, which earns 10,000 bonus loyalty points after hitting 50K loyalty points) between 3/1/24-2/28/25 and the status will last through 3/31/26. Together with 1K bonus loyalty points at the $15K level choice reward, you’ll have 75K loyalty points.
- Benefits include OneWorld Sapphire status, Alaska benefits, 60% bonus loyalty points on flights, 2 free checked bags, priority baggage handling, group 3 boarding, OneWorld business class lounge access when flying internationally, upgrades for you and a companion when available starting 48 hours before flights, and main cabin extra seating at booking.
- If you want Platinum Pro status, you’ll need to spend $124,000 on AA cards ($104,000 if you have Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Consumer Mastercard, which earns 20,000 bonus loyalty points after hitting 50K+90K loyalty points) between 3/1/24-2/28/25 and the status will last through 3/31/26. Together with 1K bonus loyalty points at the $15K level choice reward, you’ll have 125K loyalty points.
- Benefits include OneWorld Emerald status, Alaska benefits, 80% bonus loyalty points on flights, 3 free 70 pound checked bags, priority baggage handling, group 2 boarding, free same day flight changes, OneWorld first class lounge access when flying internationally, upgrades for you and a companion when available starting 72 hours before flights, upgrades on award tickets for you and a companion, upgrades for you and a companion on Alaska, and main cabin extra seating at booking.
- If you’re gunning for top-tier Executive Platinum status, you’ll need to spend $199,000 on AA cards ($179,000 if you have Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Consumer Mastercard, which earns 20,000 bonus loyalty points after hitting 50K+90K loyalty points) between 3/1/24-2/28/25 and the status will last through 3/31/26. Together with 1K bonus loyalty points at the $15K level choice reward, you’ll have 200K loyalty points. If you select 5K bonus loyalty points at the $175K level choice reward the spending requirement will be further reduced, though there are better rewards at that level. Of course, if you’re earning loyalty points from flying or other methods, that requirement will be reduced.
Executive Platinum benefits include:
- OneWorld Emerald status
- Alaska benefits, such as priority access, preferred seating, 3 free bags, same-day flight switch, upgrades for you and a companion, lounge access, and more.
- 120% bonus loyalty points on flights
- Three free 70 pound checked bags
- Priority baggage handling
- Group 1 boarding
- Free same-day flight changes
- OneWorld first-class lounge access when flying internationally
- Upgrades for you and a companion when available starting 100 hours before flights
- Upgrades on award tickets for you and a companion
- Guaranteed availability in coach
- Free drink and snack in coach
- Main cabin extra seating at booking.
Loyalty point rewards:
- At 15K loyalty points you will obtain group 5 boarding and can select one of these Loyalty Point Rewards:
- 1,000 bonus Loyalty Points
- Group 4 boarding for a trip
- 5 preferred seat coupons
- At 60K loyalty points you will earn Avis Preferred Plus status and a 20% loyalty point bonus with AA Vacations, eShopping, SimplyMiles, AA dining, and AA hotels.
- At 100K loyalty points you will earn Avis President’s Club status and a 30% loyalty point bonus with AA Vacations, eShopping, SimplyMiles, AA dining, and AA hotels.
When you reach 175K loyalty points, you also get to select one loyalty point rewards from this list:
- 2 systemwide upgrades, good for a one-way upgrade on AA or BA flights from coach to business or from business to first class.
- 20K bonus miles or 25K bonus miles for AA cardholders
- 5K bonus loyalty points
- 15% award rebate for up to 2 passengers flying round-trip anywhere on any airline with AA miles. (This option is discontinued after the 2023 program)
- 6 Admirals Club day passes
- $200 trip credit or $250 trip credit for AA cardholders
- Carbon offset
- $250 donation to select nonprofits
- 2 gifts of AAdvantage Gold status
- 35K miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience
At 250K loyalty points, you can select two of these Loyalty Point Rewards:
- 2 systemwide upgrades
- You can select this twice and earn a total of 6 systemwide upgrades if you also select systemwide upgrades at the 175K level.
- 20K bonus miles or 30K bonus miles for AA cardholders
- You can select this twice and earn a total of 85K miles if you also select miles at the 175K level.
- 15K bonus loyalty points
- 6 Admirals Club day passes
- 1 Flagship Lounge visit or 2 visits for AA cardholders
- Admirals Club membership (requires 2 rewards)
- Bang & Olufsen product (requires 2 rewards)
- $200 trip credit or $250 trip credit for AA cardholders
- Carbon offset
- $250 donation to select nonprofits
- 2 gifts of AAdvantage Gold status
- 35K miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience
You can select the same award choice multiple times, so after earning 250K loyalty points you can have 6 systemwide upgrades or 85K bonus miles.
Additional rewards are available for spending 400K (such as 2 systemwide upgrades or 50K miles), 550K (such as 2 systemwide upgrades or 50K miles), 750K (such as 2 systemwide upgrades or 50K miles), 1M (such as 4 systemwide upgrades or 100K award rebate or gift of Platinum Pro status), 3M (such as 6 systemwide upgrades or 300K award rebate or gift of Executive Platinum status), and 5M (such as 10 systemwide upgrades or 500K award rebate or gift of Executive Platinum status) points.
Earning More Miles Per Dollar Through Loyalty Point Rewards:
When you earn 175K loyalty points, you can choose 25K bonus miles as a reward.
AA cardholders need to spend $174K to reach that level, so they’ll earn 199K miles (plus Platinum Pro elite status), or an effective 1.14 miles per dollar spent.
AA Executive cardholders need to spend $154K to reach that level, so they’ll earn 179K miles (plus Platinum Pro elite status), or an effective 1.16 miles per dollar spent.
When you earn 250K loyalty points, you can choose another 60K bonus miles as a reward.
AA cardholders need to spend $249K to reach that level, so they’ll earn 334K miles (plus Executive Platinum elite status), or an effective 1.34 miles per dollar spent.
AA Executive cardholders need to spend $229K to reach that level, so they’ll earn 314K miles (plus Platinum Pro elite status), or an effective 1.37 miles per dollar spent.
Of course, you’ll earn more miles than that if you spend on AA flights or car rentals or hotels booked through AA.
You can use paying taxes to earn status, here are the calculations to determine if it will be worthwhile.
Citi AA Card Comparison Chart:
| CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum World Mastercard | Citi AAdvantage Platinum World Elite Consumer Mastercard | Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Consumer Mastercard | Citi AAdvantage MileUp Consumer Mastercard |
| Annual fee | $0 for the first year, then $99 | $0 for the first year, then $99 | $595 | $0 |
| Miles per dollar on car rentals | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Miles per dollar on gas | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Miles per dollar on dining | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Miles per dollar on telecom, internet, cable, and satellite service providers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Miles per dollar on groceries | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Loyalty points per dollar spent | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Miles per dollar on AA purchases | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Free first domestic checked bag | Valid for cardholder and 4 companions | Valid for cardholder and 4 companions | Valid for cardholder and 8 companions | No |
| Priority boarding | Group 5 | Group 5 | Group 4 | No |
| Priority check-in and security | No | No | Yes | No |
| 25% off AA in-flight WiFi | Yes | No | No | No |
| 25% off AA in-flight food and beverages | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Foreign Transaction Fee | 0% | 0% | 0% | 3% |
| Admirals Club Membership | No | No | Yes, allows primary and secondary cardholders to bring entire immediate family or 2 guests into clubs | No |
| Annual $125 AA flight discount companion certificate if you spend $20K/year | No | Yes | No | No |
| Annual $99 companion certificate if you spend $30K/year | Yes | No | No | No |
| Annual 10,000 Loyalty Points bonus after earning 50K Loyalty points | No | No | Yes | No |
| Annual 10,000 Loyalty Points bonus after earning 90K Loyalty points | No | No | Yes | No |
| Mastercard Easy Savings | Yes | No | No | No |
| Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit | No | No | Yes | No |
| Avis and Budget Credit | No | No | $120 per calendar year | No |
| Grubhub Credit | No | No | $10 statement credit per billing statement | No |
| Lyft Credit | No | No | $10 Lyft credit after taking 3 rides per calendar month | No |
| AAdvantage Business membership | Yes, with bonus miles and loyalty point earnings | No | No | No |
Dan’s Quick Thoughts:
This is a worthwhile card just for the signup bonus miles, as AA miles can be hard to come by.
If you fly AA, it will also help you earn bonus miles and loyalty points with AAdvantage Business, which is a great perk.
Finally, if you are a big spender, it’s also nice to earn bonus miles on spending that can increase your earnings to 1.34-1.37 miles per dollar spent, plus top-tier elite status to boot.
Will you signup for the Citi AAdvantage Business Card
