The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® offers an excellent welcome bonus, is anecdotally easy to approve and is a card that many people have not applied for in the past and are therefore eligible.
In this post, I wanted to give you seven reasons why you should apply for this card, assuming you don’t already have it. For a more detailed look at the map, see my review of the Citi AAdvantage business card. Let’s get started right away, in no particular order …
Earn 65,000 AAdvantage bonus miles
The Citi AAdvantage Business Card offers a great welcome bonus of 65,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after you’ve spent $ 4,000 in the first four months. I estimate AAdvantage miles to be 1.5 cents each, so this bonus is worth almost $ 1,000 to me – that’s huge!
That’s many miles – you’d be just under 70,000 AAdvantage miles, which is enough for a one-way business class ticket from the US to Europe, Asia, the Middle East, India, South America and more. 75,000 AAdvantage miles are enough for a one-way business class ticket between the USA and South Africa.
Personally, I prefer to use AAdvantage miles when traveling with Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways as they offer great business class products. For example, I redeemed 75,000 AAdvantage miles to fly Business Class from Cape Town to Doha to Dallas to Miami with Qatar Airways.
Check out this post for more great ways to redeem AAdvantage miles.
There is no annual fee of $ 99 for the first year
While the Citi AAdvantage Business Card has a reasonable annual fee of $ 99, it is waived for the first 12 months so you can “try it out” before you buy. The combination of a waived annual fee for the first year and a great welcome bonus is hard to beat.
The card does not count for 5/24
When it comes to applying for Chase credit cards, there is the 5/24 rule, which means that if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months, you will typically not be approved for a Chase card.
However, only certain cards count towards this limit. Most business credit card applications, including Citi business card applications, do not count towards this limit. This is because these cards will not appear on your personal credit report. If you want a great credit card but don’t want to increase your number to that limit, this is a good reason to get this one.
Non-restrictive admission requirements
Card issuers are subject to a variety of authorization restrictions when it comes to approving cards. This card is one of the less restrictive rules. In detail, here are the conditions for the Citi AAdvantage business card:
American Airlines AAdvantage Bonus Miles are not available when you sign up for a new bonus account for a. have received CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select account for the past 48 months.
You are not entitled to this card if you have received a new cardholder bonus for this very card in the last 48 months. However, having one of the Citi AAdvantage personal cards does not prevent you from receiving the bonus for that card. This is great because it means that a lot of people should be eligible for the bonus.
Anecdotally simple card approval
Of course, we never really know the underwriting standards of card issuers, although many OMAAT readers have anecdotally reported that the Citi AAdvantage Business Card is one of the simpler business credit cards that require approval. Of course, this assumes that you have a good or excellent credit rating.
So if you’re someone who has had difficulty getting approved for Chase cards in the past (for example), it might be worth trying a Citi business credit card like this one.
Spend counts towards AAdvantage status
The American AAdvantage program will be fundamentally changed from 2022. With these changes, it will be possible to achieve American AAdvantage elite status solely (or in part) through credit card spending.
Personally, I don’t think it’s worth it for everyone, although this is a big change in the way status is earned and I know that many people will be spending significant amounts on AAdvantage credit cards in order to earn Elite Status.
Once the new system goes into effect, $ 200,000 on this credit card would take you to premium Executive Platinum status. You can also take a hybrid approach and earn status partly through credit card spending and partly through travel and other activities.
First checked bag fee
Just for possession of the Citi AAdvantage Business Card, you will receive your first checked bag free of charge on American Airlines domestic flights. You do not need to pay by card to take advantage of this benefit; the primary cardholder’s AAdvantage number just needs to be on the reservation. This benefit also applies to up to four additional passengers traveling on the same itinerary.
American typically charges $ 30 per checked bag for a total of $ 60 round-trip. So if you had four companions, you can save up to $ 300 on a round-trip ticket.
Bottom line
The Citi AAdvantage Business Card offers a solid welcome bonus with no annual fee for the first year. In addition, this is a card that many people do not have and are eligible for, which makes it all the more interesting. 65,000 AAdvantage miles can bring you some great premium travel experiences.
In the long run, this card might be worthwhile for some people for perks like getting their first free checked bag and the ability to earn AAdvantage Elite status through credit card issuance from 2022 onwards.
To learn more about the CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Card or to apply, follow this link.
