Citi AAdvantage Executive Card Refresh: New Benefits, Annual Fee and More

At the end of July, Citi and American Airlines introduced one of their best-in-class product revamps. Continuing their longstanding partnership, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® went through a number of significant changes starting July 23. These changes include new statement credits, expanded opportunities to earn miles and loyalty points, and higher annual fees.

Below are the changes in more detail. Now, new and existing cardholders will get the following credits each year:

• Up to $120 back on Avis and Budget car rentals charged to the card.
• Up to $120 back (up to $10 per monthly billing cycle) on Grubhub purchases charged to the card.
• Up to $120 back (up to $10 per month) in Lyft ride credits after taking three eligible rides.

In addition to statement credits, the Citi AA Executive card now has higher earning rates. All cardholders will earn:

• 10x miles on eligible car rentals booked through aa.com/cars and eligible hotels booked through aa.com/hotels.
• 4x miles on eligible American Airlines purchases, which may increase to 5x miles for the remainder of the year after you spend $150,000 in purchases in a calendar year.
• A 10,000 Loyalty Points bonus after reaching 50,000 Loyalty Points in a status qualification year. And another 10,000 Loyalty Points bonus after reaching 90,000 Loyalty Points in the same status qualification year.
• For a limited time, from July 23, 2023 to September 6, 2023, approved customers can earn 100,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after making $10,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.

The card also got new Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection, Trip Delay, and Lost Baggage Protections, as well as Worldwide Car Rental Coverage when you use the card to rent a vehicle.

New and existing cardmembers will continue to have access to the much-loved and handy benefits like Admirals Club access (which is now priced at $850 or 85,000 miles for an annual membership, and $79 or 7,900 miles for a one-day pass), up to $100 credit on a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee (now every four years), 25% savings on eligible American Airlines in-flight food and beverage purchases, an enhanced airport experience, and a dedicated concierge.

However, the annual fee for the card has gone up along with the new features. The updated Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard currently has an annual fee of $595 for primary users, an additional $175 annual fee for the first three authorized users (note there’s no difference in cost between having one, two, or three authorized users), and $175 for each authorized user thereafter.

If you’re a less frequent American Airlines loyalist, you may want to consider the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®. The card has a $0 intro for the first year and $99 thereafter. It also comes with 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.