Review: Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage MasterCard

This post comes from Logan Abbott, editor of the credit cards section of MyRatePlan.com.

Citi used to offer an American Airlines travel rewards card through Visa, but the company recently relaunched the card as the Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage MasterCard. The new MasterCard version of the card offers even better perks.

Advantages

• Huge sign-up bonus. Cardholders earn 40,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months that they have the card.
• Earn miles from making purchases. Cardholders earn one reward mile for each dollar spent on purchases, and two reward miles for each dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. AAdvantage miles can be redeemed for free flights on American Airlines and its partners.
• Earn a flight discount each year. The card offers cardholders a $100 American Airlines flight discount each year of card membership with qualifying purchases and card membership renewal.
• Earn miles for using miles. When they redeem AAdvantage miles for free flights, cardholders receive 10 percent of those miles back. There’s a cap of 10,000 AAdvantage miles that can be earned back each year.
• Travel perks. Cardholders receive travel perks including one free checked bag per flight and priority boarding with Group One privileges, as well as 25 percent off in-flight American Airlines purchases.
• Annual fee waived in Year One. There is an annual fee of $95, but it’s waived in the first year of card membership.

Disadvantages

• Annual fee. Although the card waives the annual fee in the first year, the $95 fee for subsequent years is a bit steep.
• Foreign transaction fees. Although the card offers excellent travel rewards, it also charges a 3 percent foreign transaction fee. This fee goes against the main draw of the card, which is travel.
• No introductory offers. The card doesn’t offer a 0 percent APR introductory period, which many similar cards do.

Bottom line

Get it if: You have great credit and want a travel rewards credit card that offers very effective rewards that can be redeemed for free flights, and you don’t mind flying American Airlines.

Forget it if: Your credit isn’t great, or you want more choice in the airlines you fly on or the types of rewards you can redeem your points for.

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