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American Airlines Federal Credit Union Review 2024

Updated January 5, 2024
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At a glance

4.4
Rating: 4.4 stars out of 5
Bankrate Score
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CDs

Rating: 4.1 stars out of 5

Checking

Rating: 4.7 stars out of 5

Savings

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

About Bankrate Score

Overview

American Airlines Federal Credit Union is best for airline industry employees looking for a convenient, full-service financial institution with decent savings rates and low fees, as well as resources for developing financial wellness.

Highlights

  • High APY
  • No Monthly Fees
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Bank logo
Member FDIC
Savings Account
3.90
%
APY
APY
Info Icon
As of 12/6/2024
Rating: 4.4 stars out of 5
$0
Min. balance for APY
View offer Arrow Right Icon
Promoted offer:
Bank logo
Member FDIC
Savings Account
3.90
%
APY
APY
Info Icon
As of 12/6/2024
Rating: 4.2 stars out of 5
$0
Min. balance for APY
View offer Arrow Right Icon
Promoted offer:
Bank logo
Member FDIC
Savings Account
3.80
%
APY
APY
Info Icon
As of 12/6/2024
Rating: 4.4 stars out of 5
$0
Min. balance for APY
View offer Arrow Right Icon
Promoted offer: It only takes about 5 minutes to open a fee-free account.

Overall

American Airlines Federal Credit Union offers a range of banking and lending products for its airline industry members, including savings accounts, checking accounts and share certificates. Yields overall are above average, and the credit union pays interest on checking accounts, too, without charging a monthly fee. Customers looking for the highest savings rates might want to shop elsewhere. But AAFCU offers plenty of other consumer-friendly features, including low minimum balance requirements and access to a large network of fee-free ATMs.

Pros

  • Checkmark Icon

    The credit union pays above-average APYs on its deposit products, including checking accounts.

  • Checkmark Icon

    It offers fee-free products with attainable minimum deposit requirements.

  • Checkmark Icon

    Just $6 is needed to join the credit union. ($5 to open a savings account and $1 to pay the credit union’s one-time fee.)

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    Customers have access to fee-free ATMs in the Co-op network and shared branches.

Cons

  • Membership is limited to certain airline industry members and their families.

  • The credit union doesn’t offer a money market account.

  • Only the first four transactions are free each month at shared branches. After that, it’s $5 per transaction.

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American Airlines Federal Credit Union banking products

4.0
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Bankrate Score

American Airlines Federal Credit Union savings overview

American Airlines Federal Credit Union’s Primary Savings Account requires only a $5 opening deposit and a one-time $1 membership fee. It pays an above-average APY, though higher rates can be found elsewhere. There’s no monthly service fee.

The credit union also offers its Emergency Fund Savings Account, which can be opened after establishing a Primary Savings Account. It pays the same APY but doesn’t require a minimum balance.

A $5 fee is assessed on inactive Primary Savings accounts should the balance fall below $250 and 12 months have passed since the last transaction.

Pros

  • Checkmark Icon

    There’s no monthly fee.

  • Checkmark Icon

    Only a $5 deposit and one-time $1 fee are needed to open.

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    The savings account pays a decent yield.

Cons

  • Though the APY is above average, those looking for the highest possible yield will want to shop around.

  • Inactive accounts (accounts with balances under $250 and no transactions for 12 consecutive months) are charged $5 a month.

  • American Airlines Federal Credit Union
    APY
    APY
    Info Icon
    National average APY
    How do we get this data?
    Info Icon

Bank fees

Fee Charged?
Non-sufficient funds fee $25
Monthly service fees None
Out-of-network ATM fee $2
Incoming wire transfer fee None

About American Airlines Federal Credit Union

Founded in 1936, American Airlines Federal Credit Union offers a range of banking and lending products for its airline industry members. Membership is limited to certain active or retired airline industry workers and their families. Funds deposited with American Airlines Credit Union are insured up to $250,000 by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. The credit union has branches in most major U.S. airports and is a part of the Co-op network of ATMs and shared branches.

Customer experience

Customer service. Members can get in touch with the credit union in a number of ways, including through a live chat, on the phone and in a branch. Live chat is available Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central. Phone representatives are available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Highly rated app. The credit union’s app has close to five stars on both the Google Play store and the Apple app store. Its features include mobile banking alerts, mobile check deposit, credit score monitoring and the ability to notify the credit union of travel plans.

Referral reward. American Airlines Credit Union was offering a $25 reward for each family member referred to the credit union, up to a total of $250, at the time of Bankrate’s review.

Financial wellness resources. Through the credit union’s site, members can access helpful resources to learn financial skills, build an emergency fund and develop a budget. These include financial coaches, interactive courses and seminars. 

Review methodology

With so many financial institutions to choose from, it can be hard to know who to trust. Bankrate’s ever-growing list of bank and credit union reviews is updated regularly. Our editorial team analyzes and reviews each institution across deposit products such as savings accounts, checking accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs) and money market accounts (MMAs). Banks are rated by important factors such as offered interest rates, fees, minimum balance requirements, access to funds and more.

We assign a score to each type of account and its features, weigh them carefully based on importance to account holders and determine an overall score. Read our full review methodology.