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After renewing my Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® this year, I finally earned the card's $125
If you've recently earned the benefit — or you're working toward it — follow along as I walk through what I learned. I'll show you exactly how I received mine, where to find it, and how to redeem it before it expires.
What Is the Citi $125 American Airlines Flight Discount?
The $125 American Airlines Flight Discount is a benefit of the AA Platinum Select. Unlike perks like a free checked bag or preferred boarding, this one isn't automatically given each year. Instead, you have to earn it by meeting a spending requirement and renewing your card.
Once you qualify, you'll receive a $125 discount that can be applied toward an eligible American Airlines flight booked directly through American.
One thing I learned along the way is that the benefit has changed over the years. Older articles mention receiving a paper certificate in the mail, but that's no longer the case. Today, the discount is issued digitally, which makes it much easier to redeem — or, at least, less likely to be misplaced.
How to earn the Citi $125 flight discount
Qualifying for the flight discount is fairly straightforward. All you need to do is:
- Spend $20,000 in eligible purchases during your card membership year.
- Renew your AA Platinum Select card by paying the annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months.
After you've met both requirements, Citi will issue the $125 Flight Discount. According to Citi, delivery can take eight to 12 weeks, although mine arrived sooner.
Keep in mind that the spending requirement resets every card membership year, so you'll need to qualify again if you want to earn the benefit next year.
How I received my flight discount
After renewing my card, I received an email letting me know my $125 Flight Discount was ready to use.
The email confirmed I'd earned the discount and directed me to my AAdvantage® account where I could access it. If you're expecting yours, keep an eye on both your inbox and your AAdvantage account after renewing your card. Because most cardholders don't earn this benefit every year, it's easy to overlook.
If you've met the spending requirement and recently renewed your card, it's worth checking whether your discount has already been issued.
How to redeem the $125 flight discount
Once I found the discount in my account, redeeming it turned out to be easy:
- Log in to your American Airlines AAdvantage account.
- Search for an eligible American Airlines flight on AA.com.
- Select your itinerary and continue to checkout.
- On the payment page, choose the option to apply a travel credit or flight discount.
- Select or enter your $125 Flight Discount code and verify it has been applied.
- Complete your booking.
Related: Citi American Airlines AAdvantage
Things To Know Before You Redeem
Before you book, there are a few important terms and restrictions worth knowing.
It only works on eligible AA flights
The certificate can be used on flights marketed or operated by American Airlines, as well as eligible American Airlines codeshare flights. Your itinerary must originate in the U.S., Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the ticket must be purchased in U.S. dollars.
You can only use it toward airfare
The Flight Discount can only be applied toward the base airfare and the taxes and fees that are included in the fare calculation on eligible American Airlines tickets.
It can't be used for:
- Award ticket taxes and fees
- Checked bags
- Seat assignments
- Upgrades
- Other separately purchased products or services
You don't have to book travel for yourself
During my test booking, I was able to apply the Flight Discount to a reservation for another traveler without any issues.
You can combine it with other travel credits
While checking out, I was able to combine my $125 Flight Discount with other eligible travel credits. American Airlines allows up to eight travel credits to be applied to a single reservation booked on AA.com.
You don't have to use all $125 at once
If your ticket costs less than $125, any remaining balance stays with the certificate and can be used toward another eligible booking until the certificate expires.
Your flight discount expires after one year
The $125 Flight Discount expires one year from the date it's issued. The terms specify that the certificate is redeemable toward the initial ticket purchase, which means you'll need to apply it before it expires. Your travel date can be later, as long as you redeem the certificate while it's still valid.
Be sure you're ready to book
If you cancel or change a ticket purchased with the Flight Discount, the certificate is forfeited. American won't reissue or replace it, even if there's remaining value.
For that reason, you'll want to wait until your travel plans are pretty firm before applying the discount.
Bottom Line
The$125 American Airlines Flight Discount available to AA Platinum Select cardholders isn't one of the card's most talked-about perks, but it's a nice reward for cardholders who naturally spend $20,000 on the card each year and renew their account.
After earning mine, I found the process to be much simpler than I expected. Now for the real hard part: deciding where to go.
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
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