Citi American AAdvantage Business Card Review: 75K Miles & Waived Fee

Link: Apply now for the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®

American Airlines has co-branded credit cards issued by both Barclays and Citi. In this post, I wanted to take a look at the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®, which is the only small business card in the portfolio that’s currently open to applicants.

This card boasts an excellent welcome offer with the annual fee waived for the first 12 months. On top of that, the card offers useful perks, plus can help you earn AAdvantage elite status. The current offer is so good that I even applied for the card recently, and added it to my card portfolio.

Citi AAdvantage Business Card Review For December 2024

The Citi AAdvantage Business Card is one of American’s two co-branded business credit cards, and in this post I wanted to take a close look at everything you need to know about this card. What is the welcome bonus like, is this a good card for your everyday spending, and what are the best alternatives? Let’s look at what you need to know, in no particular order.

Welcome Bonus Of 75,000 AAdvantage Miles

The Citi AAdvantage Business Card is offering a limited time welcome bonus of 75,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $5,000 within the first five months. This is an excellent welcome bonus with a reasonable minimum spending requirement. I value American miles at ~1.5 cents each, so to me those 75,000 miles are worth about $1,125.

As far as restrictions go when applying for this card, keep in mind Citi’s general application rules, which include that you can only apply for one Citi credit card every eight days, and at most two Citi credit cards every 65 days.

There’s also a 48-month rule on this card, which means you can’t receive the bonus on this card if you’ve received a bonus on this exact card in the past 48 months. However, you are eligible for the bonus even if you’ve received bonuses on any other American Airlines credit cards.

$99 Annual Fee, Waived The First 12 Months

The Citi AAdvantage Business Card has a $99 annual fee, though it’s waived for the first 12 months. This is a great way to “try” the card before you have to really pay an annual fee on it. You can also add authorized users to the card at no extra cost.

Earn Up To 2x AAdvantage Miles

When it comes to actually spending money on the Citi AAdvantage Business Card, there are some categories eligible for bonus miles:

• Earn 2x AAdvantage miles on eligible American Airlines purchases
• Earn 2x AAdvantage miles on telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rental merchants, and gas stations
• Earn 1x AAdvantage miles on all other purchases

Those are some potentially useful bonus categories, though there are also other cards offering bonuses in those categories.

Spend Your Way Toward AAdvantage Elite Status

Nowadays elite status in the AAdvantage program can be earned with Loyalty Points, which is the currency that determines your status. AAdvantage elite status requirements are as follows:

• AAdvantage Gold status requires 40,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Platinum status requires 75,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Platinum Pro status requires 125,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum status requires 200,000 Loyalty Points

Spending money on AAdvantage credit cards earns you Loyalty Points, as you earn one Loyalty Point per dollar spent. This means your spending on the card can help you earn elite status (all the way up to Executive Platinum), and it can also help you earn Loyalty Point Rewards, allowing you to select from perks like systemwide upgrades, bonus miles, and more.

One quirk to be aware of is that spending from authorized users will count toward their own total of Loyalty Points, rather than toward the Loyalty Points total of the primary cardmember. This is one of the few cards that directly rewards authorized users in that way (at the expense of the primary cardmember).

No Foreign Transaction Fees

The Citi AAdvantage Business Card has no foreign transaction fees, so this can be a good option for purchases you make abroad.

Citi AAdvantage Business Card Benefits

In addition to the great welcome bonus and the ability to earn elite status with spending, there are some other reasons to get the Citi AAdvantage Business Card, which may justify the annual fee for some small businesses. Let’s go over the benefits and perks you should be aware of with this card.

First Checked Bag Free On American Airlines

Those with the Citi AAdvantage Business Card receive a first checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to four companions traveling with you on the same reservation. There’s no need to actually pay for the ticket with your card, you just have to make sure it’s linked to your AAdvantage account.

American ordinarily charge $35-40 for the first checked bag, so that’s a $70-80 value per person roundtrip (and if you had four companions all checking a bag, that would be a value of $350-400).

Preferred Boarding On American Airlines

Those with the Citi AAdvantage Business Card receive preferred boarding on American Airlines flights. Having this card allows you to board with Group 5 on American Airlines flights, which should help to ensure that you can board while there’s still room in the overhead bins. This applies globally, and there’s no need to pay for the ticket with the card, as long as you’re the primary cardmember with your AAdvantage account linked.

25% Inflight Savings On American Airlines

Those with the Citi AAdvantage Business Card receive 25% savings on inflight food and beverage purchases on American Airlines flights when paying with the card. You’ll pay the full amount in advance, and then you’ll receive a statement credit for 25% of that amount. If you fly American with any frequency and make inflight purchases, this could save you a bit of money.

American Airlines Companion Certificate

You can receive a domestic main cabin companion certificate when you spend a minimum of $30,000 in purchases on the Citi AAdvantage Business Card in a cardmember year, and when you renew your card. Personally, this isn’t something that I’d take advantage of unless you were going to spend that much anyway, since there are better cards on which you can spend that much money.

When it comes time to redeem the companion certificate, there are some restrictions to be aware of:

• It’s only valid for travel within the lower 48 states
• It’s only valid for a roundtrip ticket in economy
• You have to book your ticket through American Airlines Meeting Services, so it can’t be booked online
• The certificate is valid for one year from the date of issue
• You have to pay $99 plus taxes and fees when redeeming it
• The companion booked with this certificate isn’t eligible for mileage accrual or upgrades

American AAdvantage Business Program Benefits

AAdvantage Business is American’s free small business rewards program:

• AAdvantage Business offers the individual traveler one bonus Loyalty Point per dollar spent on eligible airfare (that’s not a redeemable mile, but just a Loyalty Point toward earning elite status)
• AAdvantage Business offers the business one AAdvantage redeemable mile per dollar spent on eligible airfare (which can be transfered to an individual member)

As you can see, it’s a nice way to rack up additional rewards for money you’d spend with American anyway. There’s a card benefit in here as well, though. Usually to be able to redeem through this program, you need at least five unique travelers who have credited flights to the AAdvantage Business account, totaling at least $5,000 in revenue over the course of a year.

However, if you have the Citi AAdvantage Business Card, the AAdvantage Business program minimum is waived, so there’s no minimum spending or minimum number of travelers. That can help you be rewarded much more easily with the program.

Is The Citi AAdvantage Business Card Worth It?

There’s a lot of merit to applying for the Citi AAdvantage Business Card. For one, the card is offering a generous welcome bonus with the annual fee waived for the first year. Furthermore, the benefits for having the card, including a first checked bag free, preferred boarding, and inflight savings, could more than justify the annual fee after the first year for many, especially if you’re an occasional American flyer.

As far as spending on the card goes, this is a card I’d primarily consider for those purposes if you’re pursuing elite status with American AAdvantage. Nowadays a lot of people are spending their way toward status, given how American has evolved its loyalty program.

However, if you’re not going for elite status, this isn’t the credit card that I’d recommend using for your everyday business spending. That’s because there are so many other cards that are more rewarding for everyday spending.

Bottom Line

The Citi AAdvantage Business Card is offering a huge welcome bonus with an annual fee that’s waived for the first year. 75,000 miles is an awesome bonus, and is a great reason to pick up this card and see how it works out for your small business. The card also offers perks like a first checked bag free and preferred boarding, which some people might get value out of.

On top of that, spending on American Airlines credit cards can help you earn status, as you earn one Loyalty Point per dollar spent. For some people, that could be enough reason to put some spending on this card.

If you want to learn more about the Citi AAdvantage Business Card or apply, follow this link.