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With the announced changes to the Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard, we no longer have a cheap way to grant American’s Admirals Club lounge access to everyone in the family. However, we now have an interesting new path to earning elite status through spend… on other cards.
Overview
Ouch. We used to love this card because it offered AA lounge access with unlimited guests to the cardholder and up to 10 free authorized users for $450 per year. No longer. AA has announced the following changes which begin July 23rd…
- $595 annual fee
- $175 annual fee for the first three authorized users and a $175 fee for each authorized user thereafter.
- “Coupon Book” credits:
- Up to $120 back on eligible Avis® or Budget car rentals every calendar year.
- Up to $120 back on eligible Grubhub purchases (up to $10 statement credit on each monthly billing statement).
- Up to $120 in Lyft credits ($10 credit each month after taking three eligible rides).
- Earn 4X miles on AA purchases (5x after spending $150K in a calendar year). Earn 10X miles on car rentals booked through aa.com/cars and eligible hotels booked through aa.com/hotels.
- Earn a 10K Loyalty Point bonus after reaching 50,000 Loyalty Points in a status qualification year, and another 10K when you get to 90,000 Loyalty Points.
- Travel protections: Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Trip Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection, and Worldwide Car Rental Insurance.
Loyalty Points
As a reminder, AA grants elite status and Loyalty Point Rewards based on Loyalty Point earnings (which you can get from credit card spend, shopping portals, and other sources) rather than through flying alone.
As pointed out by View from the Wing, one very interesting side-effect of the Executive card changes is that the new card doesn’t reward big spend (except for the ability to earn more for AA spend). Instead, the card offers Loyalty Point bonuses when you reach Loyalty Point thresholds, regardless of how you get to those thresholds. Therefore, if you have other AA cards along with this one, you’re better off putting your spend on those to earn spend bonuses.
Consider the $195 Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Silver card. This card offers 5K bonus Loyalty Points when you reach each of these spend thresholds during the status qualification period (March through February): $20K spend, $40K spend, $50K spend. If you spend $20K within your membership year, you’ll also get a companion certificate good for 2 guests at $99 each (plus taxes and fees).
Now imagine that you have both the Citi Executive card and the Barclays Aviator Silver card. If you can put $50K spend on the Barclays card, you’ll earn a ton of Loyalty points in addition to the aforementioned companion certificate:
- 50K Loyalty Points from spend
- 15K Loyalty Points from the Barclay card’s spend bonuses
- 10K Loyalty Points from simply having the Citi Executive card and reaching 50K Loyalty Points
Now, with no other Loyalty Point earnings, you’ll have earned 75K Loyalty Points, which gives you AA Platinum Elite status (and OneWorld Sapphire status, which grants you access to OneWorld business class lounges). And, even before that, at 60K Loyalty Points, you’ll have earned a 20% Loyalty Point Bonus for points earned from AA Vacations, SimplyMiles, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and AA Hotels.
If you then earn 12,500 Loyalty Points from AA Vacations, SimplyMiles, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, or AA Hotels, the 20% bonus will be enough to get you to 90,000 Loyalty Points. Then, the second AA Executive card bonus will kick in with another 10K Loyalty Point bonus. You’ll now be at 100,000 Loyalty Points. Now you’ll get a 30% Loyalty Point Bonus for points earned from AA Vacations, SimplyMiles, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and AA Hotels. You’ll also get Avis President’s Club status.
AAdvantage Platinum Pro Status (and OneWorld Emerald status) kicks in at 125,000 Loyalty Points. With the above, you’ll be only 25,000 points away from that. With your 30% Loyalty Point Bonus, you could get to Platinum Pro status with 19,230 Loyalty Points earned through AA Vacations, SimplyMiles, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and AA Hotels.
AAdvantage Loyalty Point and Elite Status Summary Tables
| Loyalty Points Earned | Loyalty Point Rewards |
|---|---|
| 15K | Automatic Benefit: Group 5 Boarding Choose 1: • Priority privileges & Group 4 boarding for a trip • 5 Preferred seat coupons • 1,000 Loyalty Points |
| 40K | Automatic Benefit: AAdvantage Gold Status |
| 60K | Automatic Benefits: • 20% Loyalty Point Bonus (AA Vacations, SimplyMiles, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and AA Hotels) • Avis Preferred Plus |
| 75K | Automatic Benefit: AAdvantage Platinum Status |
| 100K | Automatic Benefits: • 30% Loyalty Point Bonus (AA Vacations, SimplyMiles, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and AA Hotels) • Avis President's Club |
| 125K | Automatic Benefit: AAdvantage Platinum Pro Status |
| 175K | Choose 1: • 2 systemwide upgrades • 20K bonus AA miles (25K w/ AA credit card) • 6 Admirals Club One-Day Passes • $200 Trip Credit ($250 w/ AA credit card) • Carbon offset • $250 donation to select nonprofit organization • 15% award rebate • 2 gifts of AAdvantage Gold status • 35K AA miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience • 5,000 Loyalty Points |
| 200K | Automatic Benefit: AAdvantage Executive Platinum Status |
| 250K | Choose 2: • 2 systemwide upgrades • 20K bonus AA miles (30K w/ AA credit card) • 6 Admirals Club One-Day Passes • Admirals Club membership (requires 2 choices • $200 Trip Credit ($250 w/ AA credit card) • Carbon offset • $250 donation to select nonprofit organization • 2 gifts of AAdvantage Gold status • Bang & Olufsen product (requires 2 choices) • 1 Flagship lounge single visit pass (2 passes w/ AA credit card) • 35K AA miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience • 15,000 Loyalty Points |
| 400K | Choose 2: • 1 systemwide upgrade • 25K bonus AA miles • Admirals Club membership (requires 2 choices) • $200 Trip Credit ($250 w/ AA credit card) • Carbon offset • Gift of AAdvantage Platinum status • Bang & Olufsen product (requires 2 choices) • 2 Flagship® Lounge Single Visit Passes • 1 Flagship First Dining pass • 40K AA miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience |
| 550K | Choose 2: • 1 systemwide upgrade • 25K bonus AA miles • Admirals Club membership (requires 2 choices) • $200 Trip Credit ($250 w/ AA credit card) • Carbon offset • Gift of AAdvantage Platinum status • Bang & Olufsen product (requires 2 choices) • 2 Flagship lounge single visit passes • 1 Flagship First Dining pass • 40K AA miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience |
| 750K | Choose 2: • 1 systemwide upgrade • 25K bonus AA miles • Admirals Club membership (requires 2 choices) • $200 Trip Credit ($250 w/ AA credit card) • Carbon offset • Gift of AAdvantage Platinum status • Bang & Olufsen product (requires 2 choices) • 2 Flagship lounge single visit passes • 1 Flagship First Dining pass • 40K AA miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience |
| 1M | Choose 1: • 4 systemwide upgrades • Carbon offset • Gift of AAdvantage Platinum Pro status • Up to 100K miles back on award redemptions • 150K AA miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience |
| 3M | Choose 1: • 6 systemwide upgrades • Carbon offset • Gift of AAdvantage Executive Platinum status • Up to 300K miles back on award redemptions • 350K AA miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience |
| 5M | Choose 1: • 10 systemwide upgrades • Carbon offset • Gift of AAdvantage Executive Platinum status • Up to 500K miles back on award redemptions • 550K AA miles towards a Mastercard Priceless Experience |
| AAdvantage elite status | Gold | Platinum | Platinum Pro | Executive Platinum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loyalty Points Required | 40K | 75K | 125K | 200K |
| Mileage Bonus | 40% | 60% | 80% | 120% |
| Preferred Seating | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Main Cabin Extra Seating | Upgrade at Check In | Y | Y | Y |
| Domestic First Class Upgrade | 24 hour window | 48 hour window | 72 hour window | 100 hour window |
| Upgrade on Alaska Airlines | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Free checked bags | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| OneWorld Status | Ruby: Access to biz class check-in, preferred seating | Sapphire: Access to OneWorld Business Class lounges | Emerald: Access to OneWorld First and Business Class lounges | |
Sign up before July 23?
For those of us who don’t have the card, should we sign up now?
The new card features and annual fee kick in on July 23rd. And, from July 23 to Sept. 6, customers who apply and are approved for the card can earn 100,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $10,000 within the first three months of account opening.
But maybe we’re better off signing up before then? The current offer as I write this is for 60,000 miles after $6K spend in 3 months. That’s not as good as 100K miles, but consider the following advantages:
- You would lock in one year with the lower annual fee.
For the current qualifying year at least, you could qualify for 10K bonus Loyalty Points after you spend $40,000. That combo then should push you at least up to 50K Loyalty Points which should trigger the card’s new 10K Loyalty Point bonus as well. You would still be better off putting that spend on an AAviator Silver card, but if you don’t have that card (or if you want to spend a ton on both cards), this option may be worth considering. Update: They’re not allowing people to double-dip after all. Apparently you can earn either the 10K bonus from $40K spend or a 10K bonus after achieving 50K Loyalty Points, but not both. (Thanks AG)
I’m seriously considering grabbing the $450 card before it’s too late, but more because I’m a big credit card nerd rather than because it makes any sense for me.
Bottom Line
For those who used the Executive card primarily just to get themselves and a bunch of authorized users into AA Admirals Club lounges, the changes to this card are a serious bummer. For those who regularly seek AA elite status, though, the Loyalty Point bonuses alone, can easily make the card worth the extra $145 per year for a single cardholder.
I find it academically interesting that AA and Citi have decided to encourage using this card for spend on AA itself by rewarding that spend not just with miles (4x to 5x on AA purchases), but also by adding travel protections (which is something that’s missing from most if not all other Citi cards). I don’t personally spend enough on AA flights for those features to move the needle, but for people who do, that combo is a nice kicker.
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P2’s card just renewed at $450. Very surprised by that, was expecting the new fee plus a fee for the authorized user.
Anybody know how long it takes to get this card in the mail? I have some big upcoming spend and as I understand, Citi doesn’t provide instant credit card numbers for its AA cards.
It took only three or four days for me
Just approved for the card and received an instant credit card number.
Interesting. Were you logged into your Citi account when you applied? I ended up applying for this card and was auto-approved but wasn’t offered an instant credit card number. Maybe because I wasn’t logged into my Citi account at the time?
I actually wasn’t logged into my account. However, the pop-up almost looked like an error message so perhaps people are closing it out and not reading it carefully? I almost x’d out of it myself. It also said the card would arrive in a week but came in just 2 days.
Trip delay insurance-
Someone pointed out on FT that they seem to exclude one of the major reasons to want to have that trip delay insurance:
Per the guide the trip delay coverage does NOT apply if “The Covered Traveler(s) is delayed due to a missed connection of their Common Carrier, but the delay that caused the missed connection does not meet the required time period of 6 hours.“
PDF of benefits here: https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/-/media/CPP/Files/LegalDocs/SOAPI/PID93_AAExec_CRE119_GTPB_0723_tagged.ashx
The free bag is only for domestic flights , right?
Yes but AA offers a free checked bag on most (but not all) international routes
Don’t know if this was mentioned or it not, but some other AA cards have big spend bonuses, like a competition certificate for the Citi business AA card. So if you went all in on AA cards, you could spend $50K on silver aviator and $30K on the business card. Together with executive card you can get 80K loyalty points from spend plus 15K from Barclay bonus, getting you 95K. Add to that the 20K bonuses from the executive card and you are at 115K plus a companion certificate and very close to platinum pro. Not a strategy for everyone but a consideration.
If I am locked in with the current card and a set number of AU, is it the next account anniversary where they charge the AU fees and increased card fees?
Yes, it should be on the next account anniversary post July 23
I am authorized user on P2’s card and it renews mid August. So thinking it makes sense for me to get the card now and make him an AU so the two of us extend the $450 fee for both for roughly 11 months.
Will I be able to add him as an AU now when he is already a Citi Executive card primary cardholder? And can I get the card now even though I am currently an authorized user? I assume so on both counts but would appreciate any insight from those who know better.
(Yes I know I’d be losing out on 40,000 additional miles for roughly $320 but I’m OK with that – I really prefer a lower spend requirement)
Yes you can add him even if he’s already a primary cardholder
Yes, AUs are free before 7/23.
Starting 7/23, you would have to pay $175 for up to 3 AUs. If you have more than 3 AUs, then each additional AU is $175 more.
If I get the card before 7/23, would I be able to get the first year of AUs free?
Thinking about adding this card with 3 AUs, so it would be nice to save that $175 in year one (plus the savings on the annual fee).
If not though, it’d probably be worth it to just go for the higher SUB. Though that does require higher spend, so tough to say for sure.
I did this. Card arrived 2 days after approved for me.
Yes, that’s my understanding
I just got approved for the current card (have expenses coming up and didn’t want the higher fee). What about the authorized users with the current card? Will they still be able to get into the admiral’s club for the next year? Or is the current rule I get them in with my card as guests? Are they going Centurion going forward and requiring a card for every person going in the club? Thanks.
Once you get the card sign them up and they’ll have it 1 year for free.
Ok thanks. I wasn’t sure when the new rules would apply to the previous card.
I take it that if you have the Aviator Silver already and get the Citi AA executive that you would still get both LP bonuses for each card?
Yes
Hi Folks, I had thar Citi AA executive for a few years but canned it about 4 years ago. Any datapoints on whether I would be able to get the 60k points if I sign up now?
If it has been more than 48 months since you received a welcome bonus for the card, then yes.
So if spouse currently has the card with 3 other authorized users and she plans to drop. I can either lock in the $450 now and get 60K miles, or wait and pay $770 for 100k miles. So essentially it comes down to the willingness to pay $320 fee for 40k points, or .8cents per mile? Aside from loyalty points and which are irrelevant to me as a lifetime Plat, am I missing something?
That sounds about right, but you do have to do more spend to get the 100K miles
Small correction on this point: “For the current qualifying year at least, you could qualify for 10K bonus Loyalty Points after you spend $40,000. That combo then should push you at least up to 50K Loyalty Points which should trigger the card’s new 10K Loyalty Point bonus as well.”
The terms in the email I received from Citi indicate that you wouldn’t be able to double-dip:
“For AAdvantage® status qualifying year, defined as March 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024, the Primary credit cardmember will earn 10,000 additional Loyalty Points for fulfilling one of the following milestones: (1) after earning 50,000 Loyalty Points, or (2) after spending $40,000 in purchases that post to the cardmember’s account. You can only earn the first 10,000 additional Loyalty Points once in the AAdvantage® status qualifying year of March 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024.”
Great to know, thank you! I’ll fix that now.
If I already have 70k LPs for the year and get this card do I still get the 10k bonus for having 50K LPs?
I believe so