Between Rob and I, we have many different Citibank credit cards, all which earn AAdvantage miles, the miles program of American Airlines. In this post I am going to focus on the Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard.
The offer that I took advantage of back in the winter of 2014 and the offer that still stands is to earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. The annual fee of $95 is waived the first year. Citibank was hesitant to approve me with my online application, probably because I have a couple of other Citbank cards. So I called them. I explained to them that I was not applying for the card to obtain additional Citibank credit but just wanted to take “advantage” (no pun intended) of the 50,000 bonus point offer. They extended me a credit line of $1,000. I did not care, the bonus was now in my reach. I did ultimately spend that $3,000 (don’t forget on things I would have been buying anyway just with a different points earning card), and got the 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
The only annoying thing about this bonus was the fact that I had to go to a Citibank bank a few times to pay down the balance so I could charge more to ensure I spent the $3,000 in 3 months. Worth it to me for 50,000 American Airlines miles! I have since stopped using the card.
Citi frequently sends both Rob and I incentives to use our CitiCards. These incentives include extra bonus points on certain purchases. However, I find many of Citi’s bonus categories to be too similar to what I am already earning bonus points on with my Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Freedom and my American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card, so I rarely take advantage of these offers. However, Rob just did take take advantage of an offer on his Citi Gold AAdvantage World Mastercard where he needed to spend $600 in certain categories by September 30, 2014 to receive 2 Admirals Club (the American Airlines Airport lounge) One-Day passes. Since he has a ski trip planned to Colorado over MLK weekend 2015 with the boys, I figured he may be able to use these. I put the card back into circulation for a bit, he spent the $600 and we are currently waiting for the passes. Ok, I know, they still need one more as there are 3 of them traveling, but I have about 5 months to figure that out. 🙂
So, what will I do when the time comes for me to pay the annual fee of $95? Unlike Chase and American Express, I have found that Citi will waive the annual fee if you so something for them as well. The last time I called to cancel a Citi card because I did not want to pay the annual fee, they made me a deal where I needed to use the card on 5 purchases (OF ANY AMOUNT) and they would waive the fee. I happily did this! I am glad I got to keep the card because there are other many good benefits associated with this card as indicated below…….
Earn 2 AAdvantage miles for every $1 you spend on eligible American Airlines purchases and 1 AAdvantage mile for every $1 spent on other purchases
Get the first eligible bag checked free for you and up to 4 travel companions. (perfect for my family of 5!)
Enjoy Group 1 boarding and use the extra time to prepare for your flight.
Earn a $100 American Airlines Flight Discount each year of card membership in which you spend $30,000 or more in purchases and renew your cardmembership
Earn AAdvantage miles for using AAdvantage miles.
Earn 10% of your redeemed AAdvantage® miles back — up to 10,000 AAdvantage miles each calendar year.
Receive a 25% savings on in-flight food and beverage purchases when you use your Citi® / AAdvantage® card
Fly using fewer AAdvantage miles with Reduced Mileage Awards
Apply for the Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard.