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4.1
Bottom line
The Platinum Select World Elite card offers an ample sign-up bonus, no annual fee for the first 12 months ($99 thereafter) and great yearly bonuses that add to your mileage pool. But if you’re looking for a less restrictive and more flexible card, this card may not be your best match.
Rewards rate
2X–2XAnnual fee
$99, waived for first 12 monthsIntro offer
50,000 milesRegular APR
17.49% - 26.49% (Variable)Recommended Credit Score
Good to Excellent (670 - 850)Citi is an advertising partner
Editor’s note: Some of the offers on this page may be expired. Check out our Best Credit Cards page for the most up-to-date offers for our favorite credit cards.
The Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard is the middle tier of three consumer credit cards offered in partnership between Citi and American Airlines.
As a middle-tier card, the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard has a less robust rewards program than its sibling, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (no longer available through our site). But its significantly lower annual fee of $99 (waived for the first 12 months) and substantial welcome bonus make it a great pick for those who aren’t constantly flying but are looking to diversify their loyalty portfolio.
If you do most of your flying on American Airlines, the Platinum Select World Elite card should be in your wallet. You’ll get great deals with reduced mileage awards and 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. But if you value travel flexibility over free checked luggage, there are travel rewards cards available that can allow you to use rewards any way you like.
With the Platinum Select World Elite card, you’ll earn 2 AAdvantage miles per dollar at gas stations, restaurants and on eligible American Airlines purchases and 1 mile per dollar on everything else.
With a variable APR of 17.49 percent to 26.49 percent, this card offers a 50,000-AAdvantage-mile sign-up bonus when you spend $2,500 in the first three months of account opening. Extra perks include a free checked bag with domestic flights, preferred boarding and a 25% savings on inflight food, beverages and Wi-Fi purchased with your card on American Airlines flights. You can even earn a $125 American Airlines flight discount each year after spending $20,000 and renewing your card.
One of the coolest perks of this card is that you’ll receive access to the American Airlines reduced mileage awards program. With the MileSAAver discount, you’ll receive up to a 7,500-mile, round-trip discount for flights over 500 miles.
According to The Points Guy’s most recent valuations, AAdvantage miles are worth around 1.4 cents, meaning the sign-up bonus is worth around $700—enough to easily cover two round-trip domestic flights.
The $99 annual fee, waived for the first 12 months, can easily be made up by using the free checked bag benefit (which offers one free checked bag per flight) four times. Furthermore, you can earn a $125 flight discount each year you renew your card and spend $20,000—also covering your annual fee.
To get the most out of the card, be sure to fully use its 2 miles per dollar on eligible American Airlines purchases, gas stations and restaurants (which is a slightly higher rate than similar cards). In general, it’s pretty easy to use this card, and you’re rewarded simply for using it on a regular basis. (Note: Make sure to redeem seats at the lowest MileSAAver level to get the most bang for your buck.)
If you’re an American Airlines loyalist but don’t fly much, this card should be the perfect happy medium for your lifestyle. The Platinum Select World Elite card offers valuable perks like no foreign transaction fees and reduced mileage awards throughout the year.
Plus, the sign-up bonus (50,000 miles after spending $2,500 in the first three months) is worth enough miles to essentially get you a free round-trip domestic ticket.
One thing to be aware of is this card’s lack of flexibility. There are blackout dates on some rewards flights, MileSAAver awards are capacity-controlled and AAnytime awards for flights as low as 20,000 miles each way are quite expensive.
The information about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® and Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
Claire Dickey is a product editor for Bankrate, CreditCards.com and To Her Credit. Before joining Bankrate, Claire worked as a copywriter for brands within the telecommunications industry as well as a hybrid marketing and content writer.
* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.
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