Link: Learn more about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (review) is American Airlines’ most premium credit card. Not only does the card have a huge welcome bonus at the moment, but it also offers valuable ongoing perks.
If you don’t yet have the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card, in this post I’d like to take a look at why you might want to apply. Here are 10 reasons you should consider picking up this $595 annual fee, in no particular order…
In this post:
Welcome bonus of 70K AAdvantage miles
The Citi AAdvantage Executive Card is offering a welcome bonus of 70,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $7,000 within the first three months of account opening.
I value American AAdvantage miles at ~1.5 cents each, so to me, those miles are worth around $1,050. That’s a great bonus, especially for a card that also offers a lot of value in the long run. There are lots of great uses of American AAdvantage miles.
An American Admirals Club membership
The single biggest perk of the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card is that the card offers an Admirals Club membership for the primary cardmember. This card is arguably the best way to get Admirals Club access, as the card’s annual fee is less than the Admirals Club membership cost, even if you have elite status.
If you fly American with any frequency, having Admirals Club access is worth it for having somewhere comfortable to sit with complimentary drinks and snacks, and for access to the Admirals Club agents during irregular operations.
Admirals Club access for authorized users
Authorized users on the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card can also receive Admirals Club access. You can add up to three authorized users for a total of $175 (so potentially under $60 each), and then you’ll pay $175 for each authorized user beyond that.
The sweet spot is really adding three authorized users, as you’re looking at paying under $60 each for them to get Admirals Club access annually. They can access Admirals Club whenever flying a oneworld airline same day, and can bring two guests or immediate family.
Up to 20K Loyalty Points just for being a cardmember
If you’re going for elite status with American AAdvantage, the reason you may want to get the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card is because it offers up to 20,000 Loyalty Points per year, without even spending a dime on the card.
The card offers 10,000 bonus Loyalty Points when you earn 50,000 Loyalty Points in a status qualification year, and another 10,000 bonus Loyalty Points when you earn 90,000 Loyalty Points in a status qualification year. It doesn’t matter how those Loyalty Points are earned, so it could be from spending on the card, or from flying.
Note that this also applies retroactively within a membership year. So if you’ve already pass 50,000 or 90,000 Loyalty Points in a particular year and then apply for the card, you’d still potentially qualify for this offer. This can also be stacked with the up to 15,000 Loyalty Points bonus you’ll find on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® (review).
The ability to earn Loyalty Points with spending
As is the case with virtually all of American’s co-branded credit cards, the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card offers one Loyalty Point per dollar spent. Loyalty Points is the system by which you can qualify for elite status nowadays, so spending on the card can help you achieve that.
For example, AAdvantage Executive Platinum status requires 200,000 Loyalty Points per year, so spending $180,000 on this card would earn you that (since you earn 20,000 bonus Loyalty Points). I’m not suggesting you should qualify for status that way, but you could.
4-5x AAdvantage miles on American Airlines spending
If you’re a frequent American Airlines flyer, the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card offers (by far) the best return of any American Airlines card when it comes to spending on American.
The card offers 4x AAdvantage miles on eligible American Airlines purchases. On top of that, if you spend $150,000 on the card in a calendar year, you earn 5x AAdvantage miles on all American Airlines purchases for the rest of the calendar year.
10x AAdvantage miles on AAdvantage Hotels spending
The Citi AAdvantage Executive Card offers 10x AAdvantage miles on eligible spending with the AAdvantage Hotels booking platform. I’d argue that AAdvantage Hotels is the most lucrative airline portal for booking hotels.
Not only can you earn a huge number of AAdvantage miles when booking through AAdvantage Hotels in the first place, but then you earn an extra 10x miles when paying with the card. Given the excellent earnings rates through the portal, this can be really lucrative.
For context, all miles earned directly through AAdvantage Hotels are Loyalty Points. Meanwhile for the credit card spending, only 1x miles would be considered Loyalty Points, while all miles would be redeemable. Admittedly there’s sometimes an opportunity cost to booking through AAdvantage Hotels, but I know it’s a feature that many AAdvantage loyalists appreciate, especially if they don’t otherwise care about hotel loyalty.
Priority services with American Airlines
If you’re a less frequent flyer with American Airlines and don’t have elite status, you’ll appreciate the perks offered by the card, which include the following:
- A first checked bag free on domestic American itineraries for the cardmember and up to eight companions on the same reservation
- Priority airport check-in
- Priority airport security screening
- Preferred boarding
The value of that can add up. However, I do think this card is most valuable for those who have AAdvantage elite status.
Up to $120 annual credit with Avis & Budget
To help offset the annual fee, the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card offers up to $120 back on eligible Avis or Budget rentals every calendar year. All you have to do is charge an eligible prepaid rental to your card, and you’ll receive a statement credit up to the $120 limit. You can use this for one rental or multiple rentals, it’s totally up to you, as long as they’re prepaid.
Up to $120 back annually with Grubhub
The Citi AAdvantage Executive Card offers up to $120 back on eligible Grubhub purchases every calendar year. This comes in the form of up to $10 in statement credits with Grubhub each billing cycle. Just charge at least that much to your card from Grubhub each billing cycle, and you’ll receive the credit.
While I wouldn’t say it’s as useful as the Avis or Budget credit (given that it can be used in one go), there’s still potentially quite a bit of value to be had if you use the food delivery service regularly.
Bottom line
The Citi AAdvantage Executive Card is American’s most premium credit card. While it has a steep annual fee, many American flyers will find it worthwhile. The card offers an Admirals Club membership, the ability to get reasonably priced Admirals Club access for authorized users, up to 20,000 bonus Loyalty Points per year just for being a cardmember, and more.
What’s your take on the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card?
My family pretty much flies AA/OneWorld exclusively and I have this card BUT, I never use it for car rentals or purchasing even American Airlines tickets because IT DOES NOT INCLUDE TRAVEL INSURANCE (as the Chase Sapphire Reserve does) and does not include car rental coverage insurance. In the end, I use the Americanexecutive card for a cheaper AAdmirals Club lounge access and for the extra point.
When CSR fee went up, I decided to cancel and applied for the AA WEMC card since I only travel on AA and AS. This turns out to be a good move for me. Admirals access before departure and, esp. after arrival are great when you're flying red eye and need breakfast before leaving the airport. The up to 20k loyalty points upon reaching certain threshold also helps.
I've said this before, but as a flyer based out of HNL that typically flies AS or HA, the lounge benefit is definitely better than priority pass offerings. I'd be able to access the Admirals Club/Sakura Lounge at HNL, which looks better than the HA Plumeria Lounge. I'd have access to the AS lounges in SEA/SFO/PDX and the Admirals Club lounges at some of these airports as well. I may end up trying to fly AA more from HNL as well.
This card is a no brainer if you fly AA even just a couple of times a year. The lounge access is essential. If you fly DL and AA for instance, get an Amex Plat and the AA Exec and enjoy your travels that much more.
And as you noted, AA Hotels can often have amazing value. If you book a hotel for $1000 you'd get 10k miles with the card (plus 1k LPs). Plus...
This card is a no brainer if you fly AA even just a couple of times a year. The lounge access is essential. If you fly DL and AA for instance, get an Amex Plat and the AA Exec and enjoy your travels that much more.
And as you noted, AA Hotels can often have amazing value. If you book a hotel for $1000 you'd get 10k miles with the card (plus 1k LPs). Plus if you have any status with American you'll get an elevated additional mileage offer with AA Hotels. It's not unusual to be able to get 10-15k extra base points through AA Hotels bookings. Yes you need to price shop the AA Hotel rate versus direct versus other portals, but if you can get 10k miles / 1k LPs with the card and then another 15k miles and LPs with the card, you'd get a total of 25,000 miles and 16,000 LPs on one booking. If you earned 60k LPs and are in the 25% LP bonus? 19,750 LPs. For one stay.
If you value AA miles at 1.5cpp (and I can routinely get that value from AA miles), that's $375 of value. With the (admittedly not overly generous) coupons, card basically pays for itself.
If you travel enough like many more expensive travel cards (annual fee) it's worth it.
I feel like there have been several stories regarding this card in the past few months. Not sure why.
Anyhow, my response is the same as those other times: The Platinum card offers 2x miles at gas stations and restaurants all for as lower fee. Individual goals differ, but if the goal is to earn as many miles as possible to redeem for flights, then the Platinum card is the way to go. I guess...
I feel like there have been several stories regarding this card in the past few months. Not sure why.
Anyhow, my response is the same as those other times: The Platinum card offers 2x miles at gas stations and restaurants all for as lower fee. Individual goals differ, but if the goal is to earn as many miles as possible to redeem for flights, then the Platinum card is the way to go. I guess I'm just a bit frustrated that the higher cost card earns fewer miles. If it even matched the Platinum, I'd go for it. For someone who flies AA a few times annually the Admirals Club membership isn't worth it; indeed, I could buy access as needed and still realize a net savings accounting for the higher card fee. Obviously, the calculation may differ for a more frequent flyer, and the 10x on hotels vs the 8x on my CSR is worth consideration. Still, I think the lower earnings merits at least a mention.