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Citi is offering a bonus of 65,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening on the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®. The current bonus is especially attractive thanks to an annual fee that is waived for the first year and a manageable $4,000 spending requirement which can be spread out over the first 4 months instead of the typical 3-month window.
- 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
- Reduced Mileage Awards can save you 7,500 miles on roundtrip MileSAAver Awards
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on cable and satellite providers
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at gas stations
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on select telecommunications merchants
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on car rentals
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
In addition to the high-value signup bonus, cardholders can take advantage of cash-saving perks when flying American. You’ll get the first checked bag free for you and up to four companions traveling on the same domestic booking, receive preferred boarding, save 25% on inflight food, drinks, and Wi-Fi, and secure a $99 companion certificate when you spend $30,000+ on purchases during a cardmember year (and renew your account).
As a business card, the AA Business Card won’t be reported to your personal credit report, making it a great card to apply for if you’re trying to get/stay under 5/24 for Chase card applications.
AA Business Card Card Highlights
Highlights of the AA Business Card include:
- Huge 65,000 signup bonus after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
- First checked bag free for the primary cardholder and up to 4 companions traveling on the same booking
- Save 25% on inflight food, drink, and Wi-Fi services purchased with your card
- Preferred boarding when you fly American Airlines
- Receive a $99 AA Companion Certificate each cardmember year you spend $30,000+ on your card (details below)
- No foreign transaction fees
- Annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months
- Complimentary employee authorized user cards
Signup Bonus of 65,000 Miles
Earn 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening. If you value AA miles on the conservative side at around 1.5¢ per mile, the welcome offer on the AA Business Card is worth roughly $975, but potentially much more if redeemed for premium cabin international fares.
AA Business Card Earning Potential and Bonus Categories
Co-brand airline cards are not typically celebrated for their generous earning rates, and the AA Business Card doesn’t dish up any surprises in this respect.
Cardholders earn:
- 2X miles per $1 spent on American Airlines purchase
- 2X miles per $1 spent at telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rental merchants, and gas stations
- 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning rates don’t compare well to the best flexible-points earning rewards cards. But, thanks to the relative isolation of American’s loyalty program (Marriott Bonvoy is the only flexible rewards program that transfers to American), the AA Business Card is actually one of the highest earning American Airlines miles’ earning cards for the bonus categories listed.
AA Business Card Feature Benefits
First Checked Bag Free
While not exactly a flagship perk, free checked bags on domestic itineraries are one of the quiet, hardworking benefits that continue to provide value in the background every time you fly. And it doesn’t take long for that value to add up. Your first checked bag on American will set you back $30 each way, so two round-trip flights per year would cover the out-of-pocket expense of holding the card each year. And that doesn’t take into account the waived annual fee for the first year, or that the benefit covers up to 5 people (including the cardholder) traveling on the same reservation which can put you in the green much faster.
$99 Companion Certificate After Spending $30,000 Each Year
Cardholders that spend $30,000+ in a cardmember year, and renew the account, receive a $99 American Airlines Companion Certificate, valid for a continental domestic economy flight. How does the Companion Certificate work? The cardholder purchases a qualifying round-trip economy ticket on American, and you’ll pay $99 + fees and taxes (currently between $21.60 and $43.20) for a companion to fly with you.
While certainly better than nothing if you plan to put significant spend on the card, this isn't a game-changing benefit. Considering the certificate is only valid for economy travel within the lower 48 states, it would be hard to get more than $300 in savings, which would be ~1% of the $30,000 spend needed to earn the certificate.
25% Savings on Inflight Purchases
If you purchase inflight food, drinks, or Wi-Fi services with your AA Business Card, you’ll save 25% off applied as a statement credit on your account. Valid on domestic American operated flights.
Preferred Boarding
You’ll get preferred boarding on American marketed flights which allows you to board with group 5—directly after passengers with American or Oneworld elite status. Although you can board one group earlier with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®, group 5 will still put you in front of the majority of the crowd on most flights.
Application Restrictions
The rules recently changed for the Citi American Airlines co-brand cards. To qualify for the AA Business Card, you can’t have earned a bonus on this card in the past 48 months. Note that earning a welcome bonus on a personal Citi AA card doesn’t stop you from applying for a CitiBusiness AA card.
Bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® account in the past 48 months
Since this is a small business card, you may be asked to provide some documentation on your business to qualify for the card. It doesn’t need to be a giant corporation. You can be eligible for a Citibusiness card as a contractor or freelancer, or even operating a side hustle such as selling items on eBay or even renting your spare room on Airbnb. Here's our resource on how to qualify for a business card.
Another bonus of getting the AA Business Card is that it won’t get listed on your personal credit report, so won’t add to your Chase 5/24 count. This is important if you are trying to get back under 5/24 to apply for Chase business and personal cards.
Final Thoughts
If you fly American even a couple of times per year, this card will pay for itself. It takes just one or two round-trip flights per year for the card benefits to offset the annual fee, and the annual fee is waived for the first year so you can take the card for an extended test-drive at no expense. The AA Business Card currently offers a high-value 65,000 mile signup bonus after you meet the minimum spend, which will fast-track your efforts to redeem your next award flight.
It should go without saying that if you don’t plan on flying American regularly, you would be better off with a flexible rewards card like the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card or The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, which earn points you can transfer to a variety of airline and hotel partners.
- 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
- Reduced Mileage Awards can save you 7,500 miles on roundtrip MileSAAver Awards
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on cable and satellite providers
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at gas stations
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on select telecommunications merchants
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on car rentals
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
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Any suggestions to “stretch” the 5/24 restrictions are most appreciated.
It might be a good time to stock up on miles during this travel slowdown, but that four year gap between earning a bonus on this card is a real long time.
4-year gap? What do you mean? Could you clarify? I am VERY confused.
Why do business cards always get better sign up bonuses than personal cards?
Hopefully the personal version of this card will also get a 70K sign up bonus soon.
I guess that they think businesses will spend more.
The card is worth it, still, if you can travel a lot on AA.
My Norton protection tells me there is possible malicious content at the website where you apply for the card. Is it safe?
Hi Mary, thanks for letting us know. The links in this post are safe. Is it showing the warning on CardRatings or Citi’s website?
Not a bad bonus, wondering if they will increase that in the future with what is going on.
For sure, they will, in order to stimulate demand and renew loyalty again.
@Karl – It would be nice, but there are no guarantees, obviously. And FWIW, the highest-ever bonus for this card is 75k with a $5k spend, so this offer is really not to bad at all.
ya no es atractivo el programa de a.a. , aereolineas como lanChile Iberia, tienen mejores programas de fidelización y uno suma millas más ligero.
Looks doable. If not enough to purchase, there’s tax season ahead.
At this point, I dont think its wise to invest in a mileage earning program. For one, we do not know if the airline will survive and with no use for the miles now, you cant cash out either. Even if they survive, they can devalue the value of the miles at any point in time so it is a lose lose proposition as of now. When the travel industry returns to some sort of normalcy, then you can consider this card again.
@Jennifer – Devaluation is a danger *every day* for all un-redeemed miles/points. That said, it’s highly unlikely any of the big 3 US airlines would be allowed to fold. read:bail-out, should it even get that far. Finally, while this is definitely not the time to make speculative points/miles purchases, I’m also definitely not planning to change my normal accumulation plans, which includes CC sing-ups, like this one.
Mileage credit cards aren’t as attractive as old days any more.
Not a bad collection of benefits for a $99 AF, especially given it is waived the first year. First year waivers seem to be getting rare.
I love my Citi AA MileUp card running two times points on groceries. Getting ready for a new card in the near future and may have to consider this new offer from Citi.
I’ll double up on that AA Miles UP Card ++
No thanks. AA will be filing for bankruptcy any day now.
I don’t think miles are likely to be at risk even if a major airline does file for bankruptcy. United, Delta, American, and Northwest have all filed for bankruptcy, and frequent flyers made it out the other side okay, although in some cases with a merger. If you’re worried, a cash back rewards program or transferrable points are probably a safe bet. Personally, I’m not changing my diversification strategy with miles based on the current turmoil. AA miles cover some big gaps that are hard to fill with Amex, Chase, Citi or Capital one, especially for Oneworld business class.
Thanks for the perspective, Erik. You actually might consider a post on the topic, i.e. the history of airline bankruptcy. EG How likely is airline bankruptcy actually, when looking at the historical record? And, how are miles actually treated in bankruptcy. I think this would help many folks out, since many are assuming their miles are at risk in today’s climate.
Thanks for the reply! I’ll see if we can put something together.
I think so too, DAL is better than AA
I don’t think AA is going anywhere. If they go under, the industry gets closer to a monopoly so I truly can’t see the government allowing that to happen.
And that is definitely a perk. Because there are definitely times you may not have your card used for payment.