Whether you're a diehard American Airlines flyer or hope to never set foot on an American jet, you should be earning American AAdvantage miles. Here's your chance for small business owners (and trust us, you might be one) to earn a bunch of them.
Citi has an American Airlines business credit card to help you earn even more AAdvantage miles with a new, limited-time sign-up bonus on the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®.
To top it all off, the card's $99 annual fee is waived for the first year.
Read on for a full look at the card and why this bonus should be on your radar.
All information about the Citi AAdvantage Business Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not be verified by the issuer.
Learn more about the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).
Full Benefits of the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®
Sign-Up Bonus
If you open the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® and hit the spend requirement, you'll snag a big bonus in the form of American Airline miles. For a limited time, earn 75,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $5,000 in purchases within the first 5 months of account opening.
That's a lot of AA miles for a reasonable spending requirement.
Still, don't forget: Credit cards are serious business. You should never open a credit card and rack up thousands of dollars in charges if you can't afford to pay them off in full, no matter how many miles you may earn.
Earn 2x Miles on AA and Select Business Purchases
You'll earn 2x miles per dollar spent on purchases with American Airlines, telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rentals, and at gas stations.
You'll also earn 1 AAdvantage mile per $1 spent on other purchases and 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage mile earned from purchases.
First Checked Bag Free
The primary cardholder and up to four traveling companions will receive a free checked bag on domestic flights operated by American Airlines. You don't even need to pay for your American Airlines flight with the card – just having it open and attached to your account gets you free baggage.
Considering bags cost a minimum of $35 each way to check, you can come out way ahead on your annual fee just by checking bags on two trips each year. Plus, that annual fee is waived for the first year.
Using your card to check your bag for free can be a great way to beat American Airlines basic economy fares. Just keep in mind: With American, this card only gets you a free bag on domestic flights – not international journeys.
Preferred Boarding
The primary cardholder and up to four traveling companions booked on the same reservation will get preferred Group 5 boarding. This is the first boarding group after first class and all levels of American Airlines elite status.
Learn more about the American Airlines boarding process.
Earn an American Airlines Companion Certificate
If you spend $30,000 or more on purchases with your card during your membership year, you'll receive an American Airlines Companion Certificate for domestic travel after renewing your card for another year.
While spending $30,000 a year is steep, this is another way to wipe out the card's $99 annual fee once that kicks in.
25% Inflight Wi-Fi Savings
When you use your AAdvantage Business card to pay for inflight Wi-Fi service from American Airline’s wi-fi merchants including Gogo, Viasat, or Panasonic on American Airlines’ Wi-Fi Subscription Plan, you will receive a 25% discount as a statement credit.
25% Inflight Food and Beverage Savings
When you use your AAdvantage Business card to pay for in-flight food and beverage purchases you will receive 25% in savings.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
When you use your AAdvantage Business card to pay for purchases abroad, you will not be charged foreign transaction fees.
$99 Annual Fee
The AAdvantage Business card has a $99 annual fee. But that fee is completely waived for the first year of card membership.
That means you won't start paying an annual fee until your second year with the card.
Learn more about the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).
Why You Should Be Earning American Airlines Miles
Don’t want to fly American? No problem.
One of the best parts about AAdvantage miles – and all airline miles – is that they’re not just good for booking flights on American Airlines itself. Airline alliances and partnerships open up the world of using your miles, making them far more valuable and versatile. And if you ask us, American has some of the best partners out there.
From far more spacious seats in economy at the back of the plane to the incomparable service in first class at the front, Japan Airlines is one of the best ways to fly from the U.S. to Asia. You can book these flights from 35,000 AAdvantage miles each way in economy, 60,000 in business class, and 80,000 miles for first class.
If you want to fly the best airline in the world, your best bet is … you guessed it, AAdvantage miles. Booking flights on Qatar Airways is one of our favorite ways to use AA miles – especially if you’re flying in their Qsuite business class.
There are so many great ways to use American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
Read more: Why You Should Earn American AAdvantage Miles (Even If You Never Fly Them)
AAdvantage Business Application Restrictions
Citi limits welcome bonus offers to one bonus per card in a 48-month period. This means you're not eligible for the current offer if you have received a new account bonus for this card in the past 48 months.
Finally, Citi allows you to apply for only one credit card within an eight-day period, one business card in a 90-day period and only two Citi credit card applications total in any 60-day period.
Bottom Line
Now is a great time to pick up the Citi AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard. With 75,000 AAdvantage miles up for grabs and a waived annual fee in year one, this is a tremendous offer.
Citi is calling this a limited-time offer but hasn't given an official end date. If this card has been on your radar, act quick before the increased offer is gone!
Learn more about the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).
My husband applied for this credit card on aa.com when buying our plane tickets for a trip we have this upcoming summer. The offer that came up for him was 40,000. However I recently got an email to apply fro the card with the 75,000 bonus points. Any way we can switch to the 75,000 bonus points instead of the 40,000?
Every bank handles this a bit differently but it is worth a call to see what they can do.