Should I Get the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card?

This card has an excellent bonus with no annual fee in the first year. You will receive American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles as you spend on the card and after you hit the welcome offer requirements. I love the American Airlines mileage program because I can get great value for my miles.

What’s the intro offer?

What’s funny is the reason I’m writing this article is because I recently received a mailer from Citi to apply for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®. This past Monday I came home from work and checked the mail and was pleasantly surprised by this mailer—the offer was that you could earn 70,000 AA miles after spending $4,000 in the first four months from the account opening.

This is an incredible offer as Citi is offering me 20,000 more AA miles with this mailer than the current public offer. For context, the public offer for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is that you can earn 50,000 AA miles after spending $2,500 in the first three months from the account opening.

Citi is known to send mailers or have special offers for cards like these. You can check out our article about the in-flight offer for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, where you could receive 80,000 AA miles after spending $3,500 in the first four months from the account opening.

What’s the annual fee?

The annual fee on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is $99 with the annual fee being waived for the first year. This is wonderful as you can earn 70,000 AA miles in the first year just through everyday spend.

What are the earning rates for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®?

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® has some pretty decent earn rates:

• 2 AA miles for every dollar spent at restaurants and gas stations

• 2 AA miles for every dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases

• 1 AA mile for every dollar spent on all other purchases

If you are looking to earn American Airlines miles, this card has a decent earn rate. It’s especially nice with the card having its $99 annual fee waived for the first year.

What’s the free checked bag benefit?

You and up to four other companions (booked on the same reservation) will enjoy a free first checked bag on American Airlines domestic flights. Depending on how much you fly American with checked bags, this benefit can be worth hundreds of dollars.

What’s the $125 American Airlines flight discount?

You will receive a $125 American Airlines flight discount on revenue fare bookings after you spend $20,000 on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®. For high rollers I suppose this can be an ok benefit. Personally I find it to be a useless benefit as you can find better value for $20,000 spend elsewhere (like on other credit card welcome bonuses).

What’s the 25% off on purchases perk?

On American Airlines flights, you will get 25% off on inflight food and beverages purchases when you use your Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®.

It’s not an overwhelming benefit, but it's nice to have if you are looking for an extra snack or drink on a long flight.

What are the preferred boarding privileges?

With the preferred boarding privileges, you get to board early in group 5 when you book your next American Airlines flight with this card. It’s a pretty meh perk in my book as I like to board planes later on in the boarding process. I don’t see any benefit sitting on the plane early when it’s not needed. I would only enjoy this benefit if I was worried about overhead space for my carry-on bags.

Does the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® have foreign transaction fees?

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® does not have any foreign transaction fees so you can have peace of mind when using this card abroad.

What can you do with 70,000 American Airlines miles?

With the 70,000 American Airlines miles that you earn from the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® welcome offer, the possibilities can be endless.

You could book a business class flight from JFK airport in New York City to London, England for just 65,000 American Airlines miles along with $5.60 in fees—a spectacular deal!

There’s another intriguing redemption where you could fly business class from Dulles Airport in DC to Madrid, Spain on November 14 of this year for 57,500 American Airlines miles along with $126 in fees.

With both of these redemptions, you can save money AND fly in style and luxury in business class.

Most folks talk about flying business class as some sort of unattainable goal. But here it is. All you have to do is use this card for your everyday spend (assuming you spend $4,000 in four months) and boom you have 70,000 American Airlines miles to book this flight.

Right now I am working on the welcome offer for the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card that also has an amazing bonus but I’m hoping to apply for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® by the end of this year. The mailer that I received states that my offer expires on 12/15/25 so I’m thinking of applying in early December.

Who is the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® good for?

In my opinion, I think everyone in the credit card space should be considering this card if you travel at least once a year. With the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, you can book a one way business class flight abroad OR you could book three one-way economy class flights. You’ll save hundreds to thousands of dollars on your flights.

And after you use the 70,000 American Airlines miles from the welcome offer, you can cancel the card before the account anniversary to avoid the $99 annual fee. Assuming you already spend $4,000 in four months in everyday purchases, this welcome offer is a bargain.

Final Remarks

Offers like the one I received in the mail for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® don’t come often so it's good to see if these kinds of offers are worth it for you. I figured that when I received this offer I’d be able to search around online and find it—not the case. American Airlines miles are incredibly valuable both domestically and internationally so I can tell you that I’m taking Citi up on this offer.

Whether you’re looking to maximize a one-time bunch of miles or strengthen your relationship with the AAdvantage program, this card can open the door to luxury travel for cheap.