Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® World Elite Mastercard^® Review [2025]

Card basics

Who should get the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard?

This Citi AAdvantage card is a good fit if you frequently fly with American Airlines and want to quickly rack up miles. It tends to offer a compelling welcome bonus when you apply, so we'd suggest applying a few months in advance of your next trip, if possible.

Because this card earns American Airlines miles, also known as AAdvantage Miles, you'll want to make sure you fly with the airline fairly regularly so you can easily use the rewards you earn. The card's other perks, such as free checked luggage or preferred boarding, are also only good on the airline, so it's probably not worth getting this card if you rarely fly with American Airlines.

You're most likely to get the maximum value from an American Airlines credit card if you live in or near one of the airline's hubs, which include the following cities:

• Charlotte
• Chicago
• Dallas-Fort Worth
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• New York
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• Washington, D.C.

Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select benefits and perks

Generous welcome offer

American Airlines has a generous welcome offer that's relatively easy to attain. You can earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. That could be enough miles for more than two round-trip flights, depending on your flexibility.

Easy miles with everyday spending

You can easily grow your bank of miles by doing your everyday shopping with the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard. You'll earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants, and on eligible American Airlines purchases; and 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage® mile earned from purchases.

Those bonus categories can rack up miles quickly. Loyalty Points don't necessarily help you earn more free flights, but they can increase your status with American Airlines. This can help you get priority boarding and other upgrades when you fly.

Flight perks

This card gives you some cool perks when flying. The first is one free checked bag for you and up to four companions on the same reservation when flying domestically. With bag fees on the rise, this is a valuable perk that could save you up to $400 per round trip.

You'll also get preferred boarding on American Airlines flights. If you want lounge access to the Admirals Club, however, you'll need to opt for the Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive Card instead.

American Airlines discounts

You'll get some nice discounts when using the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard. First, you'll get 25% off eligible in-flight food and beverage purchases when flying American Airlines.

You can also earn a $125 American Airlines flight discount after you spend $20,000 or more in purchases annually (or about $1,666.67 monthly) and renew your card membership. This amount is fairly easy to hit if you use the card for all your eligible monthly expenses.

No foreign transaction fees

Like many other travel credit cards, this card does not charge foreign transaction fees. I hate paying extra fees when I travel abroad, so I only bring a card with no foreign transaction fees.

Loyalty Points

Earn one Loyalty Point for every eligible mile you earn from card purchases. Loyalty Points can help you achieve elite status with American Airlines.

Drawbacks to this card

Lack of flexibility with rewards

This card will be best for people who regularly travel with American Airlines or its Oneworld Alliance partner airlines. Unlike other travel rewards credit cards, you won't be able to use your miles to book flights on airlines outside the Oneworld network.

This can be a drawback for frequent travelers looking to fly on other airlines or with other networks. I prefer more flexible travel cards that aren't tied to a specific airline because I want more flexibility with my rewards.

Annual fee

With the $99 (waived first year) annual fee, make sure the travel benefits end up being worth more than the fee.

Earning & redeeming AAdvantage Miles

Potential earnings in years one and two

Here's a look at how your AAdvantage miles can add up with the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard. To calculate these values, we used a point valuation of 1 cent per mile.

Remember, this is an estimation. The actual value will be determined by how much you spend and in which categories you spend.

Year one earnings: $1,487

Year two earnings: $798

These values are based on the FinanceBuzz Credit Card Rewards Valuation Model, which takes a look at points earned via spending, the welcome bonus, and the annual fee. If you are able to use the various credit and travel perks that come with this card, you'll experience far more earnings.

In addition, the "travel" spending used to calculate these numbers did not include any American Airlines spending or spending with their partner airlines. Of course, with this card, you are likely to book with American and its hospitality partners. So your earnings in your first year and second year would potentially be much higher than what is projected here.

Best ways to earn

Earning miles is easy with the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard. When you use your card at gas stations, restaurants, and eligible American Airlines purchases, you earn 2X miles per dollar spent. Those are common spending categories for many consumers, so you could earn miles quickly depending on your budget. If you're someone who travels for work, this card could be an easy way to rack up a lot of miles.

For all other eligible purchases, you'll earn 1X per dollar spent. Unfortunately, you can't earn extra rewards in popular categories like grocery stores, hotels, rental cars, streaming services, and more. If you're like me, you probably spend a large portion of your household budget on groceries, so this is a major blind spot.

Maximizing your redemptions

Redeeming miles is certainly easy with the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard. American Airlines has flexible fare options as low as 7,500 miles each way, which makes earning enough miles to get free or discounted airfare fairly simple.

If you really want to score a deal, you should try to have flexible travel dates. If you can travel on cheaper days (typically mid-week), you can stretch your miles even further. Traveling off-peak, like during the winter, is another way to get more bang for your buck.

Travel cards to consider instead

The Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard might sound like the best airline credit card for some, but it's far from the most well-rounded travel credit card. Here are some cards we recommend instead of the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select if this card doesn't sound like it'd be worth its annual fee.

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card is a great overall travel credit card that delivers perks and benefits for multiple airlines, which could give you much more bang for your buck if you're not loyal to American. It earns 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠; 3X points on dining, select streaming services, and online groceries; 2X points on all other travel purchases, and 1X points on all other purchases. This is an excellent beginner travel card because it's packed with travel benefits like insurance, and its earning structure makes it easy to earn rewards whether you're traveling or shopping at your local store.

With the welcome offer, you can earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That could be worth up to $1,125 in eligible travel through Chase Travel℠. Chase Ultimate Rewards points are known for being flexible to redeem and providing great value, especially when you cash them in for travel.

Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive Card

If it's American Airlines perks you want, it's American Airlines perks you get with the Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive Card. This is a much more costly card, coming in at an annual fee of $595, but it could be worth it if you're interested in hitching your wagon even more decisively to American Airlines. It earns 10X miles on hotels booked through aadvantagehotels.com and eligible car rentals booked through aa.com/cars, 4X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases (after spending $150,000 per calendar year this increases to 5X for the remainder of the calendar year), and 1X miles for every $1 spent on other purchases. For its welcome offer, it lets you earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening..

Although it offers the same base rate for earning loyalty points toward elite status (one point per mile), it makes it easier to achieve AAdvantage elite status than the Platinum version, with points bonuses for reaching specific thresholds.

This card, unlike the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select, also offers priority boarding and check-in, free checked bags for up to eight companions traveling on the same reservation instead of four, and statement credits for TSA Precheck or Global Entry. Also, very importantly, it offers travel insurance.

Check out our full Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive Card review.

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Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® World Elite Mastercard^®

4.3

FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® World Elite Mastercard^®

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Rates and fees

Current Offer

Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening

Annual Fee

$99 (waived first year)

Rewards Rate

2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants, and on eligible American Airlines purchases; and 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage® mile earned from purchases

Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits

• Free checked bag on American Airlines domestic flights
• Early boarding on American Airlines flights
• Good bonus categories that align with everyday spending
• American Airlines miles might offer more value than other major airlines

Drawbacks

• Limited rewards flexibility
• No lounge access
• Doesn’t offer automatic elite status as a perk

Card Details

• Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
• Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants, and on eligible American Airlines purchases
• Earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage® mile earned from purchases
• No Foreign Transaction Fees
• First checked bag is free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to four companions traveling with you on the same reservation
• Enjoy preferred boarding on American Airlines flights