Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard review: Full details

Citi is a TPG advertising partner.

Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard overview

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees) is best for American Airlines flyers who value lounge access. It provides a full Admirals Club membership, as well as several other benefits that make flying American Airlines more enjoyable. These include a free checked bag, priority check-in, airport screening and boarding privileges and a boost toward elite status. Card Rating*: ⭐⭐⭐

*Card rating is based on the opinion of TPG’s editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.

---

While many credit cards offer airport lounge access, the types of lounges each card gets you into can vary greatly. There’s only one cobranded credit card that includes complimentary access to the American Airlines Admirals Club lounges: the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard.

The card’s annual fee is $595, which might seem steep but is still much less expensive than an Admirals Club membership (currently $850 for new members).

To be approved for the card, a credit score of 670 or higher is recommended.

This card underwent major (mostly negative) changes in mid-2023, and TPG senior editorial director Nick Ewen wasn’t thrilled with them.

Let’s review all the benefits of this American Airlines cobranded card to help you decide whether to carry — or keep — it in your wallet.

Citi /  AAdvantage Executive World Elite pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Admirals Club membership Loyalty Point bonus during status qualification year based on earning Statement credits for ride-hailing, Grubhub and car rental	High annual fee No free authorized users

Citi /  AAdvantage Executive World Elite welcome offer

New Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard cardholders can earn 70,000 bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first three months of account opening. This bonus is worth $1,155, based on TPG’s January 2025 valuations.

The highest offer we’ve seen on this card in the past is 100,000 bonus miles. It’s impossible to say if we’ll see an offer this high again, but it’s likely that we’ll see an elevated welcome bonus at some point in the future.

Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite benefits

What sets this card apart from the competition is that it provides complimentary Admirals Club access. The primary cardholder receives a full Admirals Club membership, which allows them and their immediate family or two traveling companions access to the club when they have a same-day boarding pass for American or one of its partners.

This credit card will be tied to a cardholder’s AAdvantage account number, so there’s no need to carry it to get club access.

Admirals Club membership ordinarily costs between $700 and $850, depending on your status level with American. That means the annual fee covers the lounge access — without all the other benefits factored in.

You can add up to 10 authorized users. They cost an additional $175 annual fee for the first three authorized users and $175 for each authorized user thereafter. Each authorized user receives Admirals Club access for themselves and up to two traveling companions. Just be aware that authorized users only get Admirals Club access, as opposed to a full Admirals Club membership.

There are three statement credits available:

• Up to $120 back on eligible Avis or Budget car rentals every calendar year (this credit was restricted in July 2024)
• Up to $120 back on eligible Grubhub purchases every 12 billing statements (up to a $10 statement credit on each monthly billing statement)
• Up to $120 in Lyft credits annually ($10 Lyft credit each month), but you have to take three eligible rides each month first to receive this credit

Here are some other valuable perks the card offers:

• Enhanced airport experience: You and up to eight travelers on the same reservation will get priority check-in (where available), airport screening (where available) and boarding privileges. You can even check in at any business-class check-in position (or first-class check-in when business class is not available), regardless of the class of service in which you’re traveling.
• First checked bag free on domestic itineraries: On domestic itineraries flown by American Airlines or any regional subsidiary, the first checked bag for you and up to eight traveling companions on the same reservation is free. The flight must be marketed, sold and operated by American to qualify for the free checked bag.
• 25% off eligible inflight purchases: This essentially means 25% off inflight food and beverages when you pay for them with your card (not including inflight Wi-Fi).
• Global Entry/TSA PreCheck fee statement credit: Get an up-to-$120 statement credit when paying your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee with this card. You’ll receive the credit once every four years. Because you also receive TSA PreCheck when enrolling for Global Entry, there’s no real reason you should ever just enroll in PreCheck.

This card removed travel protections a few years back but has reintroduced trip cancellation and interruption, trip delay and lost baggage protections and car rental insurance coverage.

Finally, there are no foreign transaction fees, making this card a good choice when traveling abroad.

Earning miles on the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite

With the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard, you’ll earn 4 miles per dollar on eligible American Airlines purchases. Then, if you spend $150,000 on purchases in a calendar year, you’ll earn a boosted rate of 5 miles per dollar spent on American purchases for the remainder of the calendar year.

You’ll also earn 10 miles per dollar spent on eligible car rentals and hotels booked through American’s car rental and hotel booking sites, respectively.

Finally, you’ll earn 1 mile per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.

Cardholders earn a bonus of 10,000 Loyalty Points after reaching 50,000 Loyalty Points in a status qualification year. They receive another bonus of 10,000 Loyalty Points after reaching 90,000 Loyalty Points in the same status qualification year.

You will receive the bonuses regardless of how you earn the Loyalty Points. For example, you could earn 50,000 Loyalty Points by buying American Airlines tickets and shopping through the AAdvantage portal and get the 10,000 bonus points just by holding the card.

Redeeming miles on the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite

The lowest round-trip tickets in the U.S. tend to start at 7,500 miles one-way for flights less than 500 miles long.

Web specials previously offered include domestic cross-country flights for 5,000 miles each way in economy or 15,000 miles each way in first class, flights to Europe from 9,000 miles each way and flights to Brazil from 15,000 miles each way.

Alternatively, you could get a ton of value by redeeming your AAdvantage miles for premium-cabin awards on partner airlines, including Cathay Pacific, Etihad and Qatar Airways.

TPG contributing editor Matt Moffitt and TPG credit cards writer Danyal Ahmed‘s favorite way of redeeming AAdvantage miles is to book business-class flights on Etihad or Qatar Airways to the Middle East, India and Africa.

One TPG reader put all of their spending on the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite to accumulate enough miles for multiple tickets to Hawaii:

“I charged everything to my CitiAAdvantage Mastercard. When I got enough miles I booked tkts to Hawaii from the east coast 5 times, a total of nine round trips.” — Arlene Finn via Facebook

Note: Reader-submitted responses have not been edited, reviewed or approved by the issuers nor reflect TPG’s opinions of these cards.

The miles you can earn with this card could help you make the vacation of your dreams come true if you know how to redeem them for high value.

Which cards compete with the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite?

American is not a transfer partner of any of the major points programs, with the exception of Marriott Bonvoy, so the biggest competitors of this card are mostly other cobranded American Airlines cards. That said, you can also get tons of value from a more general premium card.

For additional options, check out our full list of the best travel cards.

Related: Choosing the best credit card for American Airlines flyers

The information for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select 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.

Bottom line

Since an Admirals Club membership starts at $700 each year, the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard should catch the eye of any frequent American Airlines flyer’s attention.

If you want Admirals Club access and to boost your AA mileage balance with a welcome bonus (while also easing elite status requirements), this card provides ongoing value. However, you might want to look elsewhere if you’re looking for a card that will give you a better return on your spending.

---

Apply here: Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard

---