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The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is the highlight of Citi’s American Airlines branded credit cards, offering the perfect mix of a high-value 60,000 mile signup bonus, carrier-focused benefits like free checked bags and preferred boarding, and an affordable annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months.
With these perks, it's easy to justify the annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months.
- Free checked bags for you and up to 4 companions on domestic itineraries
- Priority boarding to help you win the race for overhead bin space
- A 25% discount on inflight food, beverage, and Wi-Fi purchases
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at restaurants
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at gas stations
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
The AA Platinum Select benefits are designed to make flying American Airlines a more enjoyable experience for AAdvantage members, and a little cheaper to boot. While the perks are AA focused, cardholders can redeem AAdvantage miles earned on the card for flights on American and Oneworld partners such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and Qantas, plus with direct partners that include Alaska Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Fiji Airways, and Etihad.
Here’s the link to apply for the AA Platinum Select, or read on for a full breakdown of the card’s benefits.
AA Platinum Select Signup Bonus
Signing up for the AA Platinum Select will land you Earn 60,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles bonus AAdvantage miles after $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. That’s enough for round-trip domestic flights for two within the continental US with miles left in your account for future use, or a round-trip economy fare to Europe at 60,000 miles. Redeeming miles this way, we find we can typically achieve a value of ~1.5¢ per mile, allowing you to extract roughly $900 from the signup offer on the AA Platinum Select. Potentially more if pooled with other miles in your account for premium cabin international fares.
AA Platinum Select Earning Potential and Bonus Categories
While the bonus categories aren’t as generous as our favorite flexible travel cards, the AA Platinum Select still comes in as one of the highest-earning cards for AAdvantage miles due to the lack of programs transferring to AA.
Cardholders earn:
- 2X miles per $1 spent on American Airlines purchases
- 2X miles per $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants
- 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
You also receive a $125 AA flight discount when you spend $20,000 in a cardmember year, and renew your card. Not the most aspirational perk, but if your spending on the card to collect AA miles, the AA flight discount is the icing on the cake.
AA Platinum Select Feature Benefits
First Checked Bag Free
This is a perk that can be a real money saver if you travel with friends or family on the same reservation. The first checked bag on American will typically set you back $30. And this benefit covers the first checked bag for up to five people including the primary cardholder. Potentially saving you $150 each way, or up to $300 on a single round-trip. Even flying two round-trip solo flights per year can recoup the out-of-pocket expense of holding the card using this benefit. And that’s not taking into account any other perks or the waived annual fee for the first year.
$125 American Airlines Flight Discount After Spending $20,000 In a Year
Each cardmember year you spend $20,000 on the AA Platinum Select and renew your account for another year, you’ll receive a $125 American Airlines Flight Discount. The flight discount expires one year from the date of issue and can be redeemed against ticket purchases of American marketed and operated flights only.
25% Savings on Inflight Purchases
If you purchase inflight food or drinks with your AA Platinum Select, you’ll save 25% off, applied as a statement credit on your account. Valid on domestic American-operated flights.
Preferred Boarding
You receive preferred boarding on American marketed flights for you and up to four companions traveling on the same reservation, which allows you to board directly after Priority Boarding groups.
Purchase and Travel Protections
Unfortunately, Citi made dramatic changes to retail and travel benefits in 2019. This included the removal of almost all travel and purchase protections and it affects almost all Citi cards.
The AA Platinum Select will retain extended warranty cover and purchase protection but lose many of its benefits including:
- Car Rental Insurance
- Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection
- Travel Accident Insurance
- Trip Delay Protection
- Baggage Delay Protection
- Lost Baggage Protection
- Citi® Price Rewind
- Return Protection
- Missed Event Ticket Protection
- Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service
- Travel & Emergency Assistance
Application Restrictions
In addition to Citi’s standard application restrictions, which apply across the full range of Citi rewards cards, folks applying for the AA Platinum Select also need to navigate rules that apply only to the Citi AA family of cards.
Rules include:
- Maximum of one (1) personal card per eight days
- Maximum two (2) total cards per 65 days
- Maximum one (1) business card per 95 days
- American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have had any Citi® / AAdvantage®card (other than a MileUp℠ or CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® card) opened or closed in the past 48 months.
To qualify for the AA Platinum Select, you can’t already have a Citi® / AAdvantage card, or have opened or closed one in the past 48 months. Note that holding a CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage card doesn’t stop you from applying for a personal card.
Final Thoughts
Whether you fly American regularly or just a few times per year, the AA Platinum Select can save you money on your flights and provide some added efficiency to your travel. It should go without saying, but if you don’t ever fly American Airlines, this card should not even catch a sniff of your rewards strategy outside of banking the signup bonus as a backup for your rewards portfolio. Having the annual fee waived for the first year means it is possible to take the card for a test-run for the better part of a year before deciding if it gets a permanent place in your wallet.
If you prefer more flexibility or prefer to travel with Star Alliance or SkyTeam, then you will want to explore cards that offer a wider variety of redemption options like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Citi Premier® Card, which earn points you can transfer to a variety of airline and hotel partners. AAdvantage miles can only be redeemed for airline flights on the Oneworld Alliance and American’s airline partners, and not used for other types of travel rewards.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
The 48 month language says: ‘American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® account in the past 48 months’.
It only says the Citi / AAdvantage Premium Select card, not the entire AA card family. So if one had other AA card opened/closed in the past 48 months, he/she should still be able to get the 60k bonus. Is that right?
Victor – correct. Citi used to have an “American Airlines family of cards” type of disclaimer about 2 years ago, then it changed to this “48 months just for this card” verbiage. You should be able to get a bonus from the new cardmember offer while having other card bonuses recently.
I have a question regarding the Citi 48 month rule. I am a federal employee and my official travel card was issued by Citi. Will this make me ineligible to get the bonus sign-up miles?
Should I have my wife sign up as the primary card holder in that case?
or
We have an antiques shop; and I assume we could sign up for the business card instead.
Looking for some words of wisdom.
That’s a unique question! Citi only considers the cards you’ve opened in the same family. So, unless your official travel card earned AAdvantage miles, you should be eligible to get a new AAdvantage credit card with a sign-up bonus. And yes, the Citi AA business card is a great option. Check out our review of it here: https://awardwallet.com/blog/citibusiness-aadvantage-card-review/
This is one card that I’m looking forward to getting, since I already have the MileUp card. Honestly, it seems all of the mid-range AA cards are designed to work as a pair, as the MileUp card is the only one that has a bonus category on groceries. It’s a strange setup, but you can’t have “too many cards” – if you know how to use credit effectively.
Great post! I know this is an old article but will see if someone can answer: my wife and I have this Citi AAdvantage card. We just booked 3 award tickets (Wife, kid and I) using the miles on her account (same reservation). We are planning to cancel her card when the annual fee is due (which will happen before our travel date). Since I have the card, will we be able to have the first bag checked free (each of us)? I’m just wondering if we would have any problem with that (since we booked the award tickets using her miles…). Thanks!