Citi AAdvantage Executive 60,000 Miles After $5,000 Spend w/ $450 Annual Fee

Contents

1 The Offer
2 Card Details
3 Our Verdict

The Offer

Earn 60,000 American Airline miles after $5,000 in spend within the first three months of account opening on the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard.

Card Details

Annual fee of $450 not waived, but you’ll receive the following benefits:
- Admirals Club® Membership Privileges
- Earn up to 10,000 Elite Qualifying Miles per calendar year after you spend $40,000 within a calendar year
- No foreign purchase fees
- Enhanced Airport Experience
- First Checked Bag Free
Earn 2 miles for every $1 spent on American Airlines, 1 mile per $1 for all other purchases
$100 Credit For Global Entry/TSA PreCheck
Admirals Club Access For Authorized Users
Not eligible for this bonus if you’ve opened or closed it within the past 24 months.

Our Verdict

There has been an 100,000 offer after $10,000 in spend , 75,000 offer after $7,500 in spend & also an in branch offer for 60,000 miles after $15,000 in spend within the first year. Personally I don’t think the annual fee on this card justifies the benefits, especially when you already have lounge access with another card. I think the Citi Prestige provides much better value and also gives you access to Admirals Club.

Hat tip to View From The Wing

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8 Comments

newest

oldest most voted

Rojer (@guest_264779)

June 2, 2016 15:24

#264779

I have had AA Platinum Select card that I received 50K bonus which got upgraded to Elite., as the 24 month rule applies can I apply for the Executive and benefit from the 60K points?

Ken (@guest_264787)

June 2, 2016 15:46

#264787

Rojer

Since the Executive card is not the same as the AAdvantage Platinum cards they have no bearing on each other.

Jose (@guest_264768)

June 2, 2016 14:42

#264768

I totally agree with you. This card should be $195 tops… You’re much better off with the Citi Prestige

Ken (@guest_264749)

June 2, 2016 13:38

#264749

The $450 was worth it when they offered the 100k bonus points, but for 60k it’s definitely not worth it unless you were going to buy Admirals Club access anyways. You can get 50k AA points from a Citi AAdvantage card that waives the AF for the first year.

Joey1 (@guest_264657)

June 2, 2016 09:56

#264657

Agreed $450 is definitely steep. Seems like Citi is trying to copy Amex but doing it subpar…

Gary (@guest_264913)

June 3, 2016 02:27

#264913

Joey1

Not doing it subpar at all. The citi prestige, in many ways, is superior to the amex platinum. A better comparison would be the aa executive and the Delta reserve, which is pretty similar. Chase has yet to offer a card rivaling the amex platinum and Citi prestige, which is interesting, being as the citi premier, amex prg, and Chase Sapphire preferred are basically all rivaling each other (and with the identical AF after you take the $100 amex airline credit into account). It makes you wonder how profitable the prestige and platinum are.

For the prestige, for example, there is a $250 airline credit (which unlike amex, I’m sure they expect to be utilized fully by the majority of cases holders). Considering that they’re only getting a $200 AF after that for a comprehensive priority pass membership and three rounds of golf, aside from the admiral lounge access, the fourth night free, the global entry benefit (assuming that at $20 a year), and the various other benefits, the card seems to be just breaking even or a loss leader AF wise. They’re obviously banking on high worth individuals utilizing the card heavily. This is certainly true for the platinum, which until recently was known as a status symbol for the wealthy. Chase seems not to be too impressed with this math, being as they aren’t offering a competing product. (Arguably, chase has access to these individuals through their banks and JP Morgan investment products, and the chase palladium could be cited as a weak answer to those clients who may have asked why Chase isn’t offering a platinum alternative, as citi is.) As someone who isn’t exactly too profitable for some of the larger institutions, I can commiserate with Chase not wanting to deal with the lower end crowd that seems to be swallowing up the platinum and prestige as a great deal. Cards like the CSP, which are cheap to operate, are heavily touted to these people, but chase seems reluctant to offer a real travel card, perhaps for good reason. It’s notable that the Ritz Carlton, the closest match to these cards, is offered by JP Morgan. At the end of the day, though, the ritz is a hotel card, with the other benefits thrown in to answer amex and Citi. It’s a rather half-hearted attempt, not a standalone high end travelers card.