Link: Learn more about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard®
American Airlines and Citi have been expanding their partnership in recent times, and that’s a trend that will continue. The two companies are now entering an exclusive credit card agreement, and AAdvantage has been added as a Citi ThankYou transfer partner.
We’re now seeing the introduction of a new premium co-branded credit card, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® (review). The intent is that this card is between the mid-range and uber-premium cards in the Citi AAdvantage personal card portfolio. Is it worth it, though? Well, let’s take a look…
In this post:
Details of the new Citi AAdvantage Globe Card
To start, the Citi AAdvantage Globe Card has a $350 annual fee, and it’s offering a limited time welcome bonus of 90,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $5,000 within the first four months of account opening.
That’s an excellent bonus — I value AAdvantage miles at 1.5 cents each, so to me, that offer is worth $1,350. Best of all, eligibility is unrelated to having any other Citi or American card, so as long as you don’t have this exact card, you’d be eligible.
On an ongoing basis, the Citi AAdvantage Globe Card is marketed as unlocking over $750 in value. As it’s described, this card is intended for those who fall between the occasional vacationer and the frequent flyer. So, what does the card offer on an ongoing basis, exactly?
- Four Admirals Club Globe passes — each calendar year, receive four Admirals Club Globe passes, each valid for multiple club visits across 24 hours
- American Airlines $99 Companion Certificate — redeemable for $99 plus taxes and fees, this is eligible for a single roundtrip qualifying domestic flight in economy each year after card renewal
- Up to $100 inflight purchase credit — each calendar year, earn up to $100 in statement credits on inflight purchases when using the card on qualifying American flights
- A first checked bag free — the first checked bag is free on domestic American itineraries for the primary cardmember and up to eight companions on the same reservation
- Preferred boarding — enjoy Group 5 boarding on American flights for the primary cardmember and up to eight companions on the same reservation
- Up to $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit — once every four years, receive a statement credit as reimbursement for the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- 6x AAdvantage miles on AAdvantage Hotels bookings, 3x AAdvantage miles on eligible American purchases, 2x AAdvantage miles on restaurants (including takeout and delivery), and 1x AAdvantage miles on all other purchases; on top of that, earn 1x AAdvantage Loyalty Points per dollar spent, which can help you earn status
- Up to $100 annual Splurge Credit — every calendar year, earn up to $100 in statement credits with a choice of AAdvantage Hotels bookings, 1stDibs, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation (you can choose up to two)
- Up to $240 annual Turo credit — earn up to $30 in statement credits for each eligible completed trip on Turo, for a total of up to $240 in statement credits annually
- Up to 15,000 additional AAdvantage Loyalty Points per year — with the Flight Streak bonus, earn 5,000 bonus Loyalty Points after every four qualifying American flights, for up to 15,000 bonus Loyalty Points each status qualification year (so you’d unlock that after taking 12 flights)
My take on the new Citi AAdvantage Globe Card
With American and Citi now having an exclusive credit card agreement (after Barclays got the boot), it’s logical to see a card like the Citi AAdvantage Globe Card introduced, with an annual fee between $99 and $595. This is essentially intended to be a more affordable version of the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (review), and it also has some elements of the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review), from the Admirals Club passes, to the Splurge Credit.
I don’t think the Citi AAdvantage Globe Card is some incredible slam dunk that’s going to appeal to everyone, but I think it’s a logical addition to the card product line, and I think it will appeal to many:
- For someone who flies American with some frequency, there’s value to the basic perks (preferred boarding, a free checked bag, Admirals Club passes, etc.), and then hopefully most people can recoup some of the annual fee with the Splurge Credit and the inflight spending credit
- For someone who flies American frequently, the ability to pick up an extra 15,000 Loyalty Points will prove handy, especially since you can take advantage of this and the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (review) 20,000 bonus Loyalty Points opportunity for passing certain thresholds
- The $99 companion certificate can help with recouping the annual fee, though it’s not valid on basic economy fares, or on first or business class fares, so there are definitely some restrictions to be aware of
I absolutely think this card is worth giving a try, given the huge bonus, and then you can see how the perks work out for you.
Bottom line
American has launched the new Citi AAdvantage Globe Card, which has a $350 annual fee, putting it between the annual fees of the existing products. It’s an interesting new card, as it offers the basic perks you’d expect for travel on American, plus a $100 inflight credit, a $99 companion certificate, the ability to earn 15,000 bonus Loyalty Points, and more.
I think this card will have appeal for many American flyers. Though as is standard with airline credit cards, it’s not going to be for everyone. Either way, the card is offering a big welcome bonus, so I do think this product is worth giving a try, at a minimum. I certainly plan on applying soon, and will report back with my experience.
What do you make of the new Citi AAdvantage Globe Card?
Barclays has no foreign transaction fee. Will the new Citi card continue to charge a foreign trabsaction fee?
Seems like an aviator silver with a higher fee, worse companion ticket, worse in flight purchase benefit, and 4 lounge passes to make up for that. not very compelling beyond the first year.
It's 90,000 AA points for $350. That's net $550 in value at breakeven. Close it after a year. There's little debate here. Churn and burn, fellas.
Could it even be that Citi brings the Aviator Silver over as is and treats it as a discontinued card? Like the Prestige. Rather than mandate conversion.
@ Fred -- It's anyone's guess (I have no inside info here), though it seems hard to bring over a card from another issuer and maintain those exact benefits, since it's not like this was a legacy Citi product. So if I had to guess, I'd say that a product conversion is likely, but who knows.
Sounds like this is what Citi will offer as a (more expensive) Barclay Silver replacement - with the 15K bonus LP (flights, not spend) and the $99 companion.
Seriously a contender for the extra 15K LPs, as the $100 splurge credit will easily knocjk the AF down to $250 before any other credits kick in. But also the extra miles on transit and rideshares can be major. The biggest personal drawback is that I have AC membership. I'd prefer if those passes were transferable or they offered a choice between those and [something].
Atmos Summit has 8 visits, 2 per calendar quarter. That would seem appropriate for this card.
You'd think that with such an expensive annual fee, you'd at least get one free suitcase when traveling internationally. I recall a few years ago checking-in FDF-MIA and having to pay for my suitcase. On Delta it would have been free. So this credit card offer, meh.
I assume the companion pass will be just as worthless as the Barclay's passes which have every conceivable blackout date and you need to call the meeting line to redeem?
The t&cs reference Meeting Services so yes that is a fair assumption.
This actually sounds fairly decent for someone with my admittedly niche travel pattern. Because I mostly fly internationally and only rack up about 12 domestic segments a year. So I don't need an Admirals Club membership (Emerald covers enough of that), but wouldn't mind the extra LPs and such.
I'll be disappointed if this is the replacement for Barclays AA Silver Mastercard as it does not give everything that Barclays Silver does and costs more. Yes, it has additional perks, but none I want or need or would use as I have the very expensive Citi card as I use the Admiral's Club at least twice a month flying between primary and secondary homes. I have had the card since US Airways days and...
I'll be disappointed if this is the replacement for Barclays AA Silver Mastercard as it does not give everything that Barclays Silver does and costs more. Yes, it has additional perks, but none I want or need or would use as I have the very expensive Citi card as I use the Admiral's Club at least twice a month flying between primary and secondary homes. I have had the card since US Airways days and only used the companion passes once. I will miss the Barclays AA Silver.
Sounds like the Executive would be the card for you. As for earn rate, if you don't need tier status, use the Citi Premier and transfer points to American?
Are we certain the 15k LP’s will stack with the 20k LP’s via exec card? That works on biz + personal hotel cards but not two personal cards. Also believe Citi and Barclay LP’s didn’t stack in past if had both.
Yes Citi Exec and Barclay Silver stacked.
I applied for this earlier but instead of instant approval (which there is no reason to believe I wouldn't) it told me it was going to take 7-10 business days for a response.
I have the aviator Silver so I wonder if that is playing a part as well. I'd hate to be automatically given this without an opportunity to do the sign up bonus
I really want to like this card but the dining and transit multipliers should have been at least 3x across the board for a $350 annual fee.
Also who at Citi came up with the $240 Turo credit? Why Turo out of all other potential companies to offer credits for?
As always, "the devil is in the details." Do you know/can you find out whether new applicants be able to keep the transitioned card and earn an additional 15K LPs for 12 flights…and is each segment counted as a flight?
Under the terms and conditions it does mention flight segments. It also says award flight segments do not count
FINE PRINT.. only the primary cardholder can use the Admiral Club passes AND MUST accompany any of the other people using passes… this is VERY different than the Executive Platinum!
It's the same with the Citi Strata Elite passes . . . acknowledging the comment below about the passes on the Globe card potentially will not be subject to capacity restrictions.
I like this, but the more billions of miles AA generates as part of sign up bonuses and transfer partnerships with Citi, I know the day is coming…
“We know that premium partner award availability is a problem, so we fixed it by introducing dynamic pricing. Now it’ll cost you 450k miles to fly to Japan in business. But the good news is you can do it any day of the week.”
They pretty much already have that
@Andrew:
They better not change the current redemption of 80K for first class on JAL. I flew ORD/TYO/ORD for 80K points o/w mid September. While it took lots of checking back, I managed to get the seats. I do not see myself racking up that many points for a 450K redemption much less the 1.8M miles that JAL first would require. If they were to make this change, these programs would be of even less value to me.
I’ll be getting this card next year and canceling my Exec (only waiting because I’ve opened too many cards this year). Only use an Admirals Club maybe 2-3x a year and Alaska Lounges about the same amount, so it’s an easy call to save myself a bit of money when combined with having the Summit card. My AUs are probably going to be mad when I tell them they’re on their own. :)
I am guessing this new card is what Aviator Silvers will transfer to. The inflight credit and the 15K loyalty points are all benefits of the Silver, just earned differently.
This is only $100 inflight credit per year. Barclay Silver is $25 per day.
Considering both the 350 and 595 credit card. I also have gold status and if I can’t use the Admiral passes, that would be a major disappointment.
I'm at a united hub and there are some features here I wish the middle level united card offered
This explains why Citi was so generous with its Strata screw ups.
I’d be mildly interested but for the fact the last several admirals clubs I walked past at dfw, aus, and clt all had signs out front saying they’re not accepting passes. So that benefit is useless. Group 5 is such a joke, I’m already group 4 with gold status!
I read on Upgraded Points these passes (the “Globe” pass) will not be restricted when a standard day pass will be, so it seems it’ll be more useful. Wait and see how it works in practice of course.
yeah. I saw that group 5 nonsense and laughed.