American Airlines’ Solid No Annual Fee Credit Card

American Airlines’ Solid No Annual Fee Credit Card

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In the interest of full disclosure, OMAAT earns a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the below links. Citi is an advertising partner of OMAAT. These are the best publicly available offers (terms apply) that we have found for each product or service. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the bank, credit card issuer, airline, hotel chain, or product manufacturer/service provider, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Please check out our advertiser policy for further details about our partners, and thanks for your support! The offers for the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®, and Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® have expired. Learn more about the current offers here.

Link: Apply now for the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®

I’m rarely impressed by no annual fee airline cards. The way I view it, one of the primary benefits of airline credit cards is that they offer perks when flying with that airline, and typically no annual fee cards offer limited perks.

There’s one exception, though — the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® has no annual fee, and is probably the best no annual fee airline credit card out there. I actually think there are several types of consumers where this might be the best American Airlines credit card, so let me explain why.

AAdvantage MileUp Card benefits & perks

First let’s cover the basics of the no annual fee American AAdvantage MileUp Card:

  • The card offers a welcome bonus of 10,000 AAdvantage miles plus a $50 statement credit after making $500 in purchases within the first three months
  • You’re eligible for this card (including the bonus) if you have any other American Airlines card; you just can’t have received a bonus on this exact card in the past 48 months
  • The card offers 2x AAdvantage miles on grocery store purchases and American Airlines purchases, and 1x AAdvantage miles on all other purchases
  • Your spending on the MileUp Card can earn Loyalty Points, which can help you qualify for AAdvantage elite status
  • The card offers 25% savings on American Airlines inflight purchases when paying with your credit card

You can read a full review of the AAdvantage MileUp Card here.

American Airlines’ no annual fee card is quite lucrative

Why American’s no annual fee card is worth it

I’m not suggesting that everyone should get the American AAdvantage MileUp Card, though I think it’s by far the most compelling no annual fee airline credit card. With American Airlines’ Loyalty Points system, credit card spending counts toward elite status:

  • You earn one Loyalty Point per dollar spent, and it doesn’t matter whether you have a no annual fee card or a $450 annual fee card
  • The card offers 2x AAdvantage miles on grocery store purchases, which is a useful bonus category you don’t even find on American’s credit cards with annual fees
  • American’s premium credit cards largely offer perks like a first checked bag free, priority boarding, etc., but those perks are redundant if you have elite status, since you get those benefits anyway
  • The 25% savings on inflight purchases can be useful for elite members who are purchasing something to eat or drink when in economy

Then there’s the general value of having no annual fee cards:

  • It helps your credit score to have lots of cards and use them responsibly, so I always try to pick up as many decent no annual fee cards as I can, since those are going to be the cheapest to hold onto in the long-run
  • This card can be a useful downgrade option if you have a premium personal Citi American Airlines credit card, and you decide you want to downgrade it to something less expensive
Earn Loyalty Points with the AAdvantage MileUp Card

How do American’s premium credit cards compare?

The American AAdvantage MileUp Card is a great option for an AAdvantage elite member looking to earn Loyalty Points for their credit card spending. How do the two premium Citi AAdvantage personal credit cards compare?

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® (review) is the mid-range card in the portfolio:

  • It has a welcome bonus of 50,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $2,500 within the first three months
  • It has a $99 annual fee, waived for the first 12 months
  • It offers 2x AAdvantage miles at gas stations, restaurants, and on eligible American Airlines purchases
  • It offers a first checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries, preferred boarding, and 25% savings on inflight purchases

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (review) is the premium card in the portfolio:

  • It has a welcome bonus of 70,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $7,000 within the first three months
  • It has a $595 annual fee
  • It offers 4x AAdvantage miles on eligible American Airlines purchases (After spending $150,000 on the card in a calendar year, cardmembers can earn a total of 5x AAdvantage miles on eligible American Airlines purchases for the remainder of the calendar year)
  • It offers a 10,000 Loyalty Points bonus after reaching 50,000 Loyalty Points in a status qualification year. And another 10,000 Loyalty Points bonus after reaching 90,000 Loyalty Points in the same status qualification year.
  • It offers a first checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries, priority check-in, priority security, priority boarding, and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit
  • It offers a lounge access perk, in the form of an Admirals Club membership for the primary cardmember, and Admirals Club access for up to 10 authorized users. The first 3 authorized users will cost you $175 (total); each authorized user thereafter is $175.

People will prefer different cards in the portfolio depending on their spending profile and AAdvantage elite status. Personally, I think there are quite a few people who would be best off with the American AAdvantage MileUp Card. Alternatively, I think there’s value with the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card thanks to the lounge access perk.

You can always pick up one of the premium cards, and then 12 or more months later you should be able to downgrade to the no annual fee card, if you so choose. That way you can take advantage of the big bonus being offered along with the better perks, and see how valuable they prove to you.

Redeem AAdvantage miles for travel in Qatar Airways business class

Bottom line

The American AAdvantage MileUp Card is a surprisingly lucrative no annual fee airline credit card. Spending on the card can earn you Loyalty Points, which will help you qualify for AAdvantage elite status. On top of that, the card offers 2x miles on grocery store purchases, which is one of the better bonus categories on an American Airlines credit card.

If you ask me, this is the only no annual fee airline credit card that it can potentially make sense to spend money on.

What’s your take on the American AAdvantage MileUp Card?

Conversations (7)
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  1. Leo Guest

    Can you hold multiple citi AA cards of the same type? For example, can you get this card (Mile Up) and later downgrade the Platinum aadvantage Card to a Mile Up one, resulting in two exact same cards?

  2. Jane Guest

    Should I get the no fee card with the signing bonus now and then cancel the fee card? Are there any benefits for getting no fee card at the moment of cancelation?

  3. nikita Guest

    Yes. I downgraded my fee card and kept it as a no fee card for that purpose.

  4. Storm Guest

    Will the MileUp CC prevent AA miles from expiring?

    1. JRG Guest

      Sure will. I have the card; easy to earn miles and loyalty points. Also, you can earn miles by registering it with Simply Miles, as an example. Not my main credit card, but it has its plus points.

    2. Joe Guest

      To renew my AA miles the coffee shop one block over from me is part of AA dining. So just a cup of coffee there now and then with the CC I have on file with AA will do the trick.

    3. Storm Guest

      Sorry, I probably should have been a little more clearer. I was actually referring to just keeping the $0AF MileUp CC open as a method to prevent AA miles from expiring without having to do any transactions whatsoever to reset the 2yr expiration clock. Do you know if that works? Asking for other household members with AA miles that aren't active travelers. Thanks.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Storm Guest

Sorry, I probably should have been a little more clearer. I was actually referring to just keeping the $0AF MileUp CC open as a method to prevent AA miles from expiring without having to do any transactions whatsoever to reset the 2yr expiration clock. Do you know if that works? Asking for other household members with AA miles that aren't active travelers. Thanks.

0
Leo Guest

Can you hold multiple citi AA cards of the same type? For example, can you get this card (Mile Up) and later downgrade the Platinum aadvantage Card to a Mile Up one, resulting in two exact same cards?

0
Jane Guest

Should I get the no fee card with the signing bonus now and then cancel the fee card? Are there any benefits for getting no fee card at the moment of cancelation?

0
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