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The Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard is a great card for loyal American Airlines clients that want an Admirals Club access and other glamorous benefits. They have an amazing offer of: 50,000 bonus miles. This will be worth about $700 in airfare.
If Admirals Club airport lounge access doesn’t really mean anything to you, then you should consider getting a different credit card. Other than the Admirals Club access, the other features on this card won’t be able to balance out for the large annual fee of $450.
American Airlines (AA) is the largest airline in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. They have about 6,700 flights every day to almost 350 locations in more than 50 countries.
Table of Contents
Citi / AAdvantage Executive Card Quick Facts
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| Bonus Available | Receive 50,000 bonus miles once you’ve made a minimum of $5,000 in expenses in the first 3 months of opening your account. |
| Bonus Value | $700 |
| Travel Credit | No travel credit. However, no more than $100 credit statement every 5 years for Global Entry or TSA Precheck application fees. |
| Ongoing Rewards/Benefits | Earn 2 miles for each $1 used towards qualifying American Airlines expenses, and 1 mile for each $1 used towards other expenses. Get the first checked bag free and priority check-in, airport screening and boarding for you and no more than 8 travel buddies. 25% discount on inflight food and beverages. |
| Foreign Transaction Fees? | No |
| Airport Lounge Access | 50 Admirals Club lounges & nearly 60 partner lounges worldwide. |
| Annual Fee | $450 |
Recommended Free Credit Score (Get Free Score)
690 – 850 (Good – Excellent)
*The AAdvantage Executive card is issued by Citi Bank. Compare it to other credit card offers.*
Pros
- Bonus miles
- Admirals Club access
- Free checked bag
- VIP airport treatment
- Elite Qualifying Miles
- Option to redeem with partner airlines
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Has an annual fee
- Excellent credit needed to qualify
- Low ongoing rewards rate
- Complicated rewards program
Editor’s Alternate Pick
 The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. You'll earn 3X points on travel immediately after earning your $300 travel credit. 3X points on dining at restaurants & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. When redeeming your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you'll get 50% more value. This card does carry a $550 annual fee and there are no foreign transaction fees. However, you're able to earn a $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year & up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓®. |
Citi/ AAdvantage Excutive Card 50,000 Bonus Miles
Make use of the Citi / AAdvantage Executive Card sign up bonus offer of: 50,000 bonus miles. You’ll be able to redeem these bonus miles for no more than $700 in airfare (more on that below). This is a good bonus offer if you compare it with other credit cards in this platform with the same annual fee.
You’ll need to charge your card with at least $5,000 in expenses in the first 3 months of having your account open to be able to qualify for this sign up bonus offer.
Here are some ideas on meeting the spending requirement:
| • Plastiq: Plastiq allows you to pay for expenses that you generally won’t be able to with your card like rent, tuition, auto lease, mortgage payment, and more. There’s a 2.5% processing fee for using your credit card. However, this’ll be worth the card bonus you’ll get. There’s also a referral program where you can earn “Fee-Free Dollars” to use towards processing fees. See our Plastiq review. |
| • Fund Checking accounts with your card: Many banks will allow you to fund the opening deposit with a credit card. Consider opening Checking accounts that also offer a sign-up bonus. This way, you can work towards bonuses from two different sources. Big banks like Chase, HSBC, Huntington, and TD Bank have great offers and allow credit card funding. You can generally fund anywhere from $50 to $1,000 towards the opening deposit with a credit card, depending on the bank. |
| • Buy gift cards: Consider buying gift cards with your credit card that you can then spend later at your leisure. Individual merchant cards (restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, etc.) generally don’t have purchase fees, so this is a plus. On the other hand, American Express and Visa gift cards will have purchase fees. Amazon gift cards are a great idea as you can shop for almost anything there with no purchase fees either. Unfortunately, Citi credit cards tend to code gift card purchases as Cash Advances and there’ll be a fee. Call in to customer service and lower your Cash Advance limit to $0 before purchasing gift cards. You can also buy discounted gift cards as well from Raise or find gift cards on eBay. |
| • Everyday spending & bills: Always using your credit card for everyday spending, such as for dining, gas, groceries, etc. You can also use your credit card to pay for things like insurance bills, property taxes and income taxes. However, you’ll have to consider the convenience fees. |
What are AAdvantage Miles Worth?
Compared to other airline-branded credit card, depending on how you use your miles will reflect their value. Typically, the value for every AAdvantage mile will be worth about $0.014. With this in mind, these 50k miles will be worth about $700. The airline and destination spot will have a role in the value of your miles when you fly.
You’ll be able to redeem your miles with American Airlines, American Egal, and OneWorld flights. You can even redeem with their other partners (more on that below).
These AAdvantage miles will also be good for gift cards, magazines, seat upgrades, car rentals, and hotel bookings. To receive the best value for your miles would be to use them for flights. Being a cardholder will mean you get reduced mileage reward privileges.
Whenever you’re ready to use your AAdvantage miles to buy a round-trip domestic MileSAAver flight, you’ll be able to reserve award travels for:
- 7,500 miles on longer destinations
- 2,000 miles on shorter destinations
Their destinations do change every month, MileSAAver seats will be limited. To reserve a flight, just call American Airlines or go to their ticket office for more information.
If looking for the best value for your miles is in your wheelhouse, it’s definitely worth the extra leg work. However, if calculating numbers and values isn’t for you, then you should consider a general travel rewards card instead.
Citi/ AAdvantage Excutive Card Top Features
Admirals Club consists of a group of airport lounges. They have about 50 American Airlines lounges and almost 60 partner lounges globally. Being a cardholder will give you access to any of these Admirals Club lounges. Even your family or no more than 2 travel buddies will be able to join you.
You’re able to put no more than 10 authorized users (they will receive their own cards) with no additional charge. Authorized users will also gain access to the Admirals Club without having the primary cardholder there. They will even allow no more than 2 of their travel companions to have access to this too.
A one-day Admirals Club pass will be $59 for non-cardholders. This means, having access to the lounge about 8 times a year will be able to cover the annual fee that comes with this card.
A one-year Admirals Club membership will be $650 (base AAdvantage membership status), so the $450 card cost is great.
How much are your checked bags charging you for your recent trips? if it’s $30 for each, that can build up real fast.
If you fly with American Airlines in the United States, your first checked bag (and the first bag for no more than 8 people) will be for free.
When there are about 8 people in your party, you can saving about $540 per round-trip. This is a great benefit for a credit card that’s airline-branded.
You and no more than 8 travel buddies on the same booking will be able to benefit from:
- Priority check-in
- Priority airport screening (where available)
- Boarding privileges
Going through the airport and plane will be less chaotic.
Get a 25% savings on American Airlines inflight food and beverages. You have to charge your card with these expenses to be able to qualify.
With this benefit, it will be able to cover your application charge for Global Entry or TSA Prechecks. Receive no more than $100 statement credit for every 5 years. Global Entries will include the TSA Precheck, this is a great option.
Do you want an elite status and are willing to charge your card with a good amount? Then you will be able to gain 10,000 AAdvantage Elite Qualifying Miles. This will be worth about $40,000 in expenses in one year.
You can get mileage bonuses, upgrades, extra airport perks, and more when you get the elite status.
If you aren’t in the Dallas or Fort Worth area, the Citi / AAdvantage Executive card is still beneficial. With about 23 airline partners, you’ll be able to use and gain AAdvantage miles towards travel to more than 1,000 global locations. See them down below.
| Air Tahiti Nui | Alaska Airlines | British Airways |
| Cape Air | Cathay Pacific | Etihad Airways |
| Fiji Airways | Finnair | Gulf Air |
| Hawaiian Airlines | Iberia | Interjet |
| Japan Airlines | Jet Airways | LATAM Airlines |
| Malaysia Airlines | Qantas | Qatar Airways |
| Royal Jordanian Airlines | S7 Airlines | Seaborne Airlines |
| SriLankan Airlines | WestJet |
Be sure that your miles won’t expire. Gain or redeem them with American Airlines or an AAdvantage airline partner at least 1 time every 18 months.
Buy things overseas without having to stress over any foreign transaction fees with the Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard.
Bottom Line
The Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard is an amazing card to have if you fly with American Airlines or their partner airlines often.
With that in mind, there are some restrictions that you need to remember such as:
- Annual fee. Having this card will come with an annual fee of $450. It’s a decent cost for the benefits that come with this card. However, you should see if this is a good fit fir you first before committing to this credit card.
- Low ongoing rewards rate. You can only get bonus miles towards American Airlines expenses. If you compare it to the Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select Card, they will have double miles towards gas and dining.
- Complicated rewards structure. If you want to get the best value for your points, you need to calculate some major planning.
If premium glamorous benefits don’t catch your eye, then you should consider other travel rewards cards that have good rewards offers with a cheaper annual fee charge.
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What’s the Competition?
There are some of the Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard’s top competitors listed below.
 The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card offers 80,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®! You'll earn 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide, eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. And when you redeem your points for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you'll get 25% more value! This card carries a $95 annual fee. |
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. You'll earn 3X points on travel immediately after earning your $300 travel credit. 3X points on dining at restaurants & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. When redeeming your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you'll get 50% more value. This card does carry a $550 annual fee and there are no foreign transaction fees. However, you're able to earn a $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year & up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓®. |
 The The Platinum Card® from American Express offers 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases in your first 3 months. This card comes with an annual fee of $550, but you cardholders can enjoy Uber VIP status and free rides in the U.S. up to $15 each month, plus a bonus $20 in December. That can be up to $200 in annual Uber savings. Furthermore, you'll receive $200 Airline Fee Credit, up to $200 per calendar year in baggage fees and more at one qualifying airline. Plus, up to $100 in statement credits annually for purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue on your Platinum Card® & receive complimentary benefits with an average total value of $550 with Fine Hotels & Resorts. In addition, you can earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel & on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com. |
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