If you fly frequently with American Airlines, you might want to consider getting one of its co-branded Citi cards.
The top of the hierarchy is Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see Rates & Fees), it offers the most AA-specific benefits of any credit card. But it comes with a hefty annual fee.
So, is it worth the $595 annual fee for the first year and beyond? Let’s do the math.
welcome bonus
Within a limited time, Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard Currently, you can earn 100,000 miles after spending $10,000 in the first three months after opening an account.
Based on TPG’s January 2026 valuation, the bonus is worth $1,550, matching the highest offer we’ve seen in the card’s history.
This bonus makes up a large portion of the card’s total value, so earning and redeeming miles wisely is crucial to offsetting the card’s hefty annual fee.
RELATED: Best deal ever is back: Earn 100,000 AAdvantage miles with Citi/AA Executive card
Use the lounge
Arguably the most valuable ongoing benefit of this card is the free Admirals Club membership you’ll receive each year you hold it. when you have Citi/AAdvantage Executiveall you have to do is walk to the lounge and show your same-day boarding pass for your qualifying flight.
Membership costs $700 to $850, depending on your membership level and whether it is a new or renewal membership. Given that this card has an annual fee of $595, it doesn’t make sense to purchase a separate Admirals Club membership unless you don’t qualify for the card.
Reward your inbox with the TPG daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers and get breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive offers from TPG experts
When flying with American Airlines or one of its Oneworld partners, you’ll have access to approximately 50 Admirals Clubs and more than 60 partner lounges around the world. Notably, this includes Alaska lounges at hubs such as Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Portland International Airport (PDX), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
You can bring immediate family members (spouse or common-law partner and children under 18) or up to two guests. They don’t need to be on the same flight as you – just any American Airlines or Oneworld flight with a same-day boarding pass.
Related: The Best Lounge Access Credit Cards to Add to Your Wallet
travel benefits
this Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard Enjoy great benefits when flying with American Airlines, including priority check-in at the Business Class counter (where available) and priority boarding for you and up to eight passengers on the same reservation (where available).
You can also check your first bag for free on American Airlines domestic itineraries. (Note that this only applies to domestic flights; I will have to pay $35 when traveling to Mexico in 2024 and forgot about the limitations of this benefit.)
Plus, get 25% off on in-flight food and beverage purchases (excluding Wi-Fi) and get up to $120 in Global Entry/TSA PreCheck bill credit. (I recommend maximizing your credit by applying for Global Entry since it includes a pre-check anyway.)
Additionally, the card includes travel protection such as trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, lost baggage coverage and car rental insurance.
And there are no foreign transaction fees, making this card a great choice for international travel.
Related: Which airline is best right now if you don’t want to pay baggage fees?
elite status
If pursuing AAdvantage elite status is important to you, Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard will help you achieve it. You earn 1 loyalty point for every mile you earn from a purchase.
In addition to this, you will receive a bonus of 10,000 loyalty points upon reaching 50,000 loyalty points during the status year. When you reach 90,000 loyalty points that year, you will receive an additional 10,000 loyalty points as a bonus.
Related: 8 Ways to Earn America’s AAdvantage Executive Platinum
Claim credits
This statement is attributed to Citi/AAdvantage Executive Card include:
- Up to $120 back per calendar year on eligible prepaid rentals booked directly on Avis.com or Budget.com
- Get up to $120 back on eligible Grubhub purchases (up to $10 credited on your monthly bill)
- Up to $120 in Lyft points ($10 in Lyft points per month), but you must first take 3 qualifying rides per month to earn the points
Grubhub points are the only points I have found that are easy to maximize. When I’m on the road, I use my $10 monthly credit to order takeout food.
I’m having trouble with car lease credit so I wouldn’t rely on getting value out of it. Previously, budget rents in Cabo were coded incorrectly and Citibank would not manually apply the credit. I later completed another budget rental in Ireland and waited the mandatory 10 weeks. Again, it was not posted and Citi again declined to apply for a manual credit.
I don’t value Lyft’s perks because you only get $10 in points after 3 rides (non-discounted) in a month. Instead, I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve® (See Rates & Fees), earn 5 points per $1 spent, plus $10 in in-app credit with monthly Lyft purchases (through September 30, 2027).
Related: Use Uber or Lyft often? These are the best credit cards for you
Earn and redeem miles
If you’re looking to rack up points across multiple programs, I recommend putting your spend on a card that earns transferable points. However, if you specifically want to maximize your AAdvantage mile balance, Citi/AAdvantage Executive Card You will win:
- Earn 10 miles per $1 spent on qualifying car rental and hotel bookings through American Airlines’ car rental and hotel booking sites
- Earn 4 miles per dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases (once you spend $150,000 in a calendar year, jumping to 5 miles per dollar spent for the remainder of the calendar year)
- Earn 1 mile per $1 spent on all other qualifying purchases
According to our valuation, AAdvantage miles are the best value of all US airlines programs at 1.55 cents per mile. They’re more valuable than United MileagePlus miles (1.3 cents each) and Delta SkyMiles (1.25 cents each).
I used this card to redeem part of my welcome bonus for a luxury flight. I spent 70,000 miles plus $174 on a one-way business class flight from Doha to Houston on Qatar Airways’ fantastic Qsuite.
Considering the flight retails for $3,910 one-way, I got a good value of 5.6 cents per mile from this redemption, more than three times TPG’s valuation of AAdvantage miles.
Related: Best uses for American Airlines AAdvantage miles
authorized user
at last, Citi/AAdvantage Executive Card If you want your friends and family to use the Admirals Club at a lower price, this is a great option.
You can add up to three authorized users for a total fee of $175 (approximately $58 per person), and additional authorized users thereafter for $175 per person.
Admirals Club access is available to each authorized user and up to two travel companions with a same-day boarding pass on an eligible flight. However, authorized users only receive access to Admirals Club, not full Admirals Club membership.
Related: Everything you need to know about authorizing credit card users
bottom line
Ultimately, if you value Admirals Club access, priority benefits on U.S. flights, and a huge welcome bonus, this card can easily justify its cost. You’ll get even more value if you take advantage of its statement credits and authorized user benefits.
But if lounge access isn’t important to you, consider one of Citibank’s lower-fee AAdvantage cards.
To learn more, read our full review of the Citi/AA Executive World Elite Mastercard.
Apply here: Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard
