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The American Airlines AAdvantage® Mile Up® card has an introductory offer of: 10,000 bonus miles and $50 statement credit. You have to charge your card with a minimum of $500 in expenses in the first 3 months of having your account open to be able to qualify for this offer.
This was launched in 2018, this American Airlines AAdvantage Mile Up credit card is a suitable replacement card for the AAdvantage Bronze credit card.
This AAdvantage Mile Up credit card comes with no annual fees attached. However, they do come with a better variety of rewards that will increase your earning potential.
It’s a great choice credit card to have for a casual American Airlines flyer that wants a card with no annual fees included.
But, if you want to have a round-trip more than a few times a year with check bags, then you should consider a different travel card that’s better suited for you.
American Airlines AAdvantage Mile Up Card Summary
*If interested see our list of Citi Bank bonuses for Checking & Savings accounts.*
American Airlines AAdvantage Mile Up Card Bonus
Make use of the sign-up bonus combination. Gaining the 10,000 AAdvantage miles and $50 statement credit is fairly simple. You would just have to charge your American Airlines AAdvantage Mile Up card with a minimum of $500 in the first 3 months of having your account open.
The value of the 10,000 AAdvantage miles will be worth about $140 (more on that below). This welcome offer will be worth about $190 altogether.
What are AAdvantage Miles Worth?
Compared to other airline branded credit cards, depending on how you choose to use your miles will reflect their value. Typically, the value for every AAdvantage mile will be worth about $0.014. Knowing this, the 10k miles will be worth about $140.
Your miles can be redeemed for American Airlines, American Eagle, Oneworld Flights, or one of their several partners (scroll down to see the list). To get the best value for your miles worth will all reflect on the airline you’ve picked and where you’re headed.
The AAdvantage miles can even be used for seat upgrades, car rentals, and hotel bookings. If you want to get the best value for your miles, it’s better to use them towards flights instead.
This process of finding the best value for your miles is definitely worth your time and effort. However, if calculating numbers for your miles doesn’t sound like something you’d normally do, then you should go with a general travel rewards credit card instead.
American Airlines AAdvantage Mile Up Top Features
If you don’t reside in the Dallas or Fort Worth area, the American Airlines AAdvantage Mile Up is still worth it. They have many airline partners that you can fly with and gain AAdvantage miles for travel with more than 1,000 locations globally.
Gain or redeem with American Airlines or with a qualifying AAdvantage partner every 18 months just to be sure that your miles won’t expire.
Benefit from a 25% savings on American Airlines inflight food and beverages. You would just need to put these purchases onto your credit card.
All cardholders benefit from a suite of Citi services, including:
- Citi Concierge. Get help at any time when you book a flight or hotel, or if your planning a night out. Just call them to get some assistance.
- Citi Cards with Apple Pay. Buy something fast and simple with their easy in-app card with more than 200,00 retailers.
Bottom Line
With this American Airlines AAdvantage® Mile Up® credit card, it’s a good beginners card for someone who wants to build up their miles with no annual fees attached.
This card is great if you don’t normally travel a lot. If you want a credit card that’s simple and low priced to gain miles for a free flight each year, this card is for you.
That in mind, there are a couple setbacks with this card that you have to remember such as:
- Lack of airline perks. Co-branded airline credit cards normally give you travel related benefits such as: free checked bag or priority boarding. But, this card will only give you a 25% inflight discount for food and drinks.
- Complicated rewards structure. If you want to receive the best value for your points, then you would need to transfer your rewards or do some major calculations to figure out the best value.
- Foreign transaction fees. With a 3% fee, it’s a good idea to have another credit card on you when you want to travel overseas.
If you travel round-trips more than 1 time each year with American Airlines, or want a free checked bag, then this isn’t the card for you. You will enjoy a credit card that offers you a high-tier rewards and travel benefits included.
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