6 reasons to get the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® offers a couple of benefits that make flying American Airlines more pleasant. It’s also a great pick for anyone looking to diversify their loyalty portfolio.

Here are the top six reasons why you may want to add it to your wallet.

The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Sizable welcome offer

New AAdvantage Platinum Select cardholders can earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $2,500 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.

Based on TPG’s January 2025 valuations, these 50,000 miles are worth about $825. From round-trip first-class flights to Alaska to one-way premium economy flights to Europe or Asia, there are plenty of ways to make excellent use of those miles — especially when redeeming for partner awards in and out of the Oneworld Alliance.

The card has offered up to 75,000 bonus miles in the past, so if you don’t mind waiting for a larger welcome offer, it could be worth it.

TPG credit cards writer Danyal Ahmed utilizes his AA miles for long-haul redemptions, such as flying nonstop in business class from the West Coast to Tokyo on Japan Airlines (JAL) for 60,000 miles one-way.

While this benefit isn’t particularly unique to an airline credit card, it can be valuable for those without American Airlines elite status.

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Since American charges $40 (or $35 if you pay online) for the first checked bag on domestic itineraries, it only takes four avoided first checked bag fees each year to offset the card’s $99 annual fee (which is waived for the first year).

Best of all, the benefit becomes linked to your AAdvantage account, so you can still book and pay for your tickets any way you’d like.

As a cardholder, you and up to four customers traveling on the same reservation will receive Preferred Boarding for your flights, which means you’ll board in Group 5.

This perk is especially beneficial when flying basic economy on American since it means you’ll have early access to overhead bin space and get to keep your usual carry-on allowance.

The Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select card also offers a $125 American Airlines flight credit after you make $20,000 in purchases in a cardmember year and renew your card. Your card must remain open for one full billing cycle after your card renews to receive the credit.

The credit is redeemable for flights marketed by American Airlines and must be used on itineraries originating in the U.S., Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

25% off inflight purchases

If you frequently fly American domestically and purchase food or drinks on board, this benefit could save you some serious cash. You’ll get 25% savings — applied via a statement credit — each time you use your Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard to purchase inflight food and beverages.

Savings apply only to domestic flights marketed by American Airlines and operated by American or any of American’s regional airlines.

Since TPG currently values American AAdvantage miles at 1.65 cents as of January 2025, you’ll get a 3.3% return on eligible American Airlines purchases, at gas stations and restaurants.

While these returns aren’t outstanding — and you can do better in each category with other cards — having bonus categories beyond extra points on AA purchases can come in handy when working to rack up AAdvantage miles.

To learn more, check out our full review of the AAdvantage Platinum Select.