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American Airlines, now the world's largest airline in the world by passengers carried, has several co-branded credit cards. The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® delivers a solid 60,000 mile sign-up bonus while delivering benefits like a free checked bag and preferred boarding.
With a much lower annual fee than the premium Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® and more perks than the no-annual-fee American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card, the AA Platinum Select offers the perfect mix of a valuable ign-up bonus, airline-focused benefits like a free checked bag 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
Page Contents
AA Platinum Select Pros
- Annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months.
- Benefits when flying American Airlines, like free checked bags and Group 5 boarding.
- Earn elite status through spending on the credit card.
AA Platinum Select Cons
- Bonus spending categories are limited.
- Limited bonus miles on American flight purchases when compared to offerings from other airline cards.
- Limited to redemptions through American and its partners.
AA Platinum Select Welcome Bonus
The AA Platinum Select is currently offering a 60,000 mile sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. This is a great offer for a card that waives the annual fee the first year. American Airlines AAdvantage® miles are hard to come by. Bilt Rewards is the only transferrable program that currently offers transfers to American; sadly, that partnership ends in June.
Historically, the best offer we've seen on this card is 75,000 miles. We saw that for two brief flashes — once in 2023 and once in 2024.
Related: The Best Credit Card Offers Available This Month
AA Platinum Select Benefits
The AA Platinum Select‘s benefits aren’t as generous as our favorite flexible travel cards. However, if you're an American Airlines flyer, this card will provide some immediate benefits to help you save money and ease your trip through the airport. Cardholders receive:
First checked bag free
This perk 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 $35 (recently raised in 2024). And this benefit covers the first checked bag for up to five people, including the primary cardholder. This one perk alone can potentially save you up to $175 each way or $350 on a single round-trip ticket.
Even flying two round-trip solo flights per year can recoup the out-of-pocket expense of holding the card, thanks to 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 in-flight food and beverage purchases
If you purchase inflight food or drinks with your AA Platinum Select, you’ll get 25% of the purchase price back as a statement credit on your account. This perk is only 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. You'll board at the front of the Main Cabin line, just after first class and AAdvantage elites, as a part of Group 5. This can help you board earlier even when flying basic economy with AA.
Purchase and travel protections
While not as robust as in the past, the AA Platinum Select still offers extended warranty and purchase protection.
AA Platinum Select Earning Rates
The AA Platinum Select is relatively limited when it comes to bonus spending categories, unlike many other travel credit cards. You'll earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants, and on eligible American Airlines purchases. Plus, earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage® mile earned from purchases.
For reference, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® offers 4 miles per dollar on eligible American Airlines purchases (or 5 miles per dollar after spending $150,000 on the card in a calendar year). That being said, the card does have a $595 annual fee. However, even if the no-annual-fee American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card offers 2 AA miles per dollar spent with American Airlines.
Redeeming Miles With the AA Platinum Select
American Airlines uses a zone-based award chart starting at 7,500 miles for a one-way flight award within the contiguous U.S. That means 50,000 miles can cover more than three round-trip flights! That being said, American does price some awards dynamically, so finding the lowest-priced award flight might be tricky if your travel dates aren't flexible.
Business class awards to Europe officially start at 75,000 miles per person; in reality, you can find one-way American Airlines business class awards for less, like the example above. American has also begun experimenting with discounted round-trip awards, which could further reduce the miles you're using to fly.
My favorite use of AAdvantage miles is to fly with one of Amerian's 20+ partners, like Etihad and British Airways, as I find the onboard experience to be more enjoyable. It also opens up more destinations for you to use your miles.
Related: Sweet Spots Using American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
Application Restrictions
Travelers applying for the AA Platinum Select need to be aware of two sets of application restrictions. In addition to Citi’s standard application restrictions, certain rules apply to earning this bonus if you've had the card in the past.
The combined application rules include:
- You must be an individual who resides in the United States and its territories, excluding Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.
- Must not have applied for another personal Citi card in the past eight days.
- Citi has a maximum of opening two (2) total Citi cards per 65 days.
- The sign-up bonus isn't available if you earned a bonus on the same Citi AAdvantage card (AA Platinum Select) in the past 48 months.
In the past, Citi used a more restrictive rule that prevented you from earning an AAdvantage welcome bonus if you had opened or closed any consumer AAdvantage® card in the previous 48 months. This rule is no longer in effect. Now, your eligibility depends solely on your history of earning a bonus with the same card.
Related: Understanding Rewards Credit Card Application Rules and Restrictions
Cards That Compete With the AA Platinum Select
- Earn 10X miles for every $1 spent on eligible hotels booked at aa.com/hotels and eligible rental cars booked through aa.com/cars
- Earn 4X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases (increased to 5X miles through the end of the calendar year after you pass $150,000 in purchases annually)
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
- 2 AAdvantage® miles for each $1 spent at grocery stores, including grocery delivery services
- 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on other purchases
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
- If you're looking for an American Airlines credit card with more benefits, consider the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®, which offers higher earning on American Airlines eligible purchases, Admiral's Club membership, and Loyalty Points at certain thresholds to help you earn higher tier status faster. Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.. See our full AA Executive Card review to learn more.
- If you're looking for an American Airlines card with no annual fee, check out the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card. Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for each $1 spent at grocery stores, including grocery delivery services, 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, and 1 mile for every $1 spent on other purchases. Plus, earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage® mile earned from purchases. You won't get free checked bags, but you'll still get the 25% inflight purchase discount. Learn more in our AA MileUp Card review.
- If you're looking for a travel card with great benefits and robust earnings, look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. You'll earn Chase Ultimate Reward points as follows: 5X on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ (2X on all other travel purchases); 3X on dining, select streaming services, and online groceries; and 1X on all other purchases. While you can't transfer those points directly to American Airlines, you can redeem them at 1.25¢ apiece in the Chase TravelSM portal or transfer them to 14 airline and hotel partners, including British Airways and Cathay Pacific that you can use to book AA flights through their Oneworld partnership. The card also offers up to $50 in annual hotel credits. To see more details, read our Chase Sapphire Preferred review.
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.
Even if you don't fly American Airlines, this card's sign-up bonus can help your rewards strategy by banking the miles for an aspirational trip on one of AA's many airline partners. Having the annual fee waived for the first year lets you take the card for a test run 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, you should explore cards offering a wider variety of redemption options like the Sapphire Preferred or Citi Strata 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. However, those other cards won't give you priority boarding or free checked bags when flying with AA, and that might sway your opinion.
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
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees)
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