How LendingTree Rates Credit Cards?
Our experts rate credit cards based on several factors including card benefits, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers do not influence or have a say in our card ratings. Read our credit card methodology here.If American Airlines is your go-to airline, and you’re searching for a way to save on the high cost of airfare, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® could be worth the price of entry. You’ll get a decent sign-up bonus and accelerated rewards on American Airlines purchases, gas and dining. With valuable extras like a free checked bag* and the chance to earn an annual flight discount, this card offers a solid lineup of perks to make your travel more rewarding.
We estimate that you can save nearly $2,000 in the first year with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®.
The card does charge an annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months — so if you don’t travel regularly or take advantage of the card’s benefits, it may not be worth its annual fee after the first year.
Instead, the $0-annual-fee American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card or a more flexible travel card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card may be a better fit.
| Credit Cards | Our Ratings | Welcome Offer | Rewards Rate | Annual Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
 Apply Now
on Citibank's secure site Rates & Fees |
50,000 miles
Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
| 2X miles / 1X points
| $99, waived for first 12 months |
Apply Now
on Citibank's secure site Rates & Fees |
|
American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card
Apply Now
on Citibank's secure site Rates & Fees |
15,000 miles
Earn 15,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after making $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
| 2X miles
| $0 |
Apply Now
on Citibank's secure site Rates & Fees |
|
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®*
|
100,000 miles
For a limited time, earn 100,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $10,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.
| 1X point
Earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage® mile earned from purchases
| $595 | ||
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Apply Now
on Chase's secure site Rates & Fees |
75,000 points
Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
| 1X - 5X points
| $95 |
Apply Now
on Chase's secure site Rates & Fees |
Decent sign-up bonus
This card offers a good and easy-to-earn sign-up bonus: Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
When redeemed for American Airlines flights, it’s worth around $850 by our estimates*. It’s not the best sign-up bonus available from the American Airlines credit card lineup, but it is one of the lower spending thresholds to reach.
→ See the best credit card sign-up bonuses.
Rewards in popular spending categories
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® lets you 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.
This is an average rewards earning per $1 spent compared to some other credit cards*. General travel credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card can be more valuable due to their wide range of travel partners and redemption options. However, there’s no direct way to transfer miles to American Airlines from these cards.
| Rewards earned per $1 spent* | |
|---|---|
| Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card | $0.043 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | $0.035 |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® | $0.022 |
| American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card | $0.022 |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® | $0.021 |
Earns valuable miles
By our estimates, American Airlines tickets are worth around 1.7 cents per mile, which are on the more valuable side compared to other airlines.
→ See: How Much Are Airline Miles Worth in 2025?
American Airlines miles are also fairly simple to redeem. Award flights are readily available and American Airlines has a large flight network with plenty of options. Just make sure to use your card regularly, since American Airlines miles will expire after 24 months of card inactivity.
| Usability overall score = 3.91 out of 5 (Good) | |
|---|---|
| Miles expiration | 5 out of 5 (miles don't expire as long as you keep account active) |
| Flight network | 4.75 out of 5 |
| Award availability | 4.53 out of 5 |
| Ease of booking | 4 out of 5 |
| Complexity | 1.5 out of 5 |
American Airlines benefits
By taking advantage of the following benefits, you can squeeze even more value from your Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® :
Earns American Airlines Loyalty Points
For every eligible AAdvantage mile you earn from purchases, you’ll earn 1 Loyalty Point. This perk can help you reach AAdvantage loyalty status faster, which unlocks other valuable travel benefits, like priority boarding, preferred seating and complimentary upgrades.
How many Loyalty Points do you need for AAdvantage status?
→ Learn more about American Airlines AAdvantage status
“Our local airport is an American Airlines hub, and using the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® allows us to earn maximum reward travel (at least as good as Chase or American Express). Plus, we get perks like free checked baggage on eligible flights* and the chance to earn airline status with everyday spending.”
– Kelsey Huffman, credit card manager at LendingTree
0% foreign transaction fees
While some cards charge fees ranging from 3% to 5% of each transaction when you use it to make purchases outside of the U.S., the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® offers a 0% foreign transaction fee. This makes it ideal to bring along when traveling abroad.
Annual fee
You’ll have to pay an annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months. While this amount is on par for a mid-range airline card, you can find travel credit cards with no annual fee.
Locks you into using American Airlines
The perks and benefits of this card are mostly restricted to American Airlines. This means you’ll need to do most of your flying with American Airlines to get the full value from this card. If you prefer more flexibility on which airline you fly, a general travel card may be a better fit for you.
No lounge access
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® doesn’t offer Admirals Club®
lounge access or other luxury travel perks like travel credits or TSA PreCheck®/Global Entry, for that matter. If you want Admirals Club access via your travel card, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® offers complimentary membership.
→ Learn more about the best credit cards with airport lounge access
Weak travel protections
Unlike many other travel credit cards with annual fees, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® doesn’t offer any travel insurance or protections like trip delay insurance, rental car insurance, baggage delay insurance or trip cancellation insurance.
In comparison, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (our top credit card for travel insurance) offers car rental insurance, trip cancellation/interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, lost luggage reimbursement and more (see rates & fees).
American Airlines miles expire
American Airlines miles expire after 24 months of account inactivity, so you need to use the card regularly or redeem your miles in a timely manner.
These two cards have similar rewards rates. If you spend more on groceries than you do on gas and restaurants, the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card may be better for you.
Unlike the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, this card charges foreign transaction fees and doesn’t offer a flight discount*, free checked bags* or preferred boarding on eligible flights*. But again, if you only fly American Airlines a few times a year within the U.S., this card’s $0 annual fee and earning rate can still make it worth your while.
While the card charges a high annual fee of $595, the price tag gets you access to valuable benefits, like the first checked bag free for you and up to eight companions on the same reservation. You’ll also get up to a $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee credit and 0% foreign transaction fees.
Best of all, you’ll get Admirals Club membership — which provides free access to almost 50 airport lounges worldwide — for you and up to two guests or immediate family members.
You’ll earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage mile earned from purchases like you would with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®. But you also get the chance to earn additional Loyalty Points — up to 90,000 each year. Earn a 10,000 Loyalty Points bonus after reaching 50,000 Loyalty Points in a status qualification year. Earn another 10,000 Loyalty Points bonus after reaching 90,000 Loyalty Points in the same status qualification year.
You can enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.
Although the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card doesn’t have American Airlines as a direct transfer partner, there are ways to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards® for American Airlines flights. You can transfer your Chase points to Oneworld alliance members that are partners, like British Airways, and book flights on AA from there.
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® offers a good sign-up bonus and bonus miles on restaurant and gas station purchases — which makes it a smart choice for frequent American Airlines travelers who spend a lot on those categories.
However, if you travel often and can bear the expensive $595 annual fee, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® may be the better choice — simply for its complimentary Admiral Club membership.
Or, if you don’t travel regularly (and when you do, it’s in the U.S.), the $0-annual-fee American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card will be a better choice.
Apply Now
We use calculations to estimate the value of each card for the average cardholder, based on LendingTree and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply
The information related to the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® and Chase Sapphire Reserve® has been independently collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply.
The content above is not provided by any issuer. Any opinions expressed are those of LendingTree alone and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any issuer. The offers and/or promotions mentioned above may have changed, expired, or are no longer available. Check the issuer's website for more details.
