Our Verdict
The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* earns elevated rewards on several areas of spending, comes with a free checked bag perk on domestic flights, preferred boarding, 25% inflight savings and shopping and travel protections, for a $ annual fee. That makes it a compelling option for even the occasional American Airlines flyer. There’s also a sweet welcome bonus: 75,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 5 months of account opening.
Pros
- Excellent travel perks with AA
- Large network of partner airlines via OneWorld Alliance
- No foreign transaction fee
Cons
- No intro APR offer
- Doesn’t give access to American Airlines’ Admirals Club airport lounges
- $99 annual fee (waived first year)
Highlights
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 5 months of account opening
- Earn 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, purchases at telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rentals and gas stations
- Earn 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other eligible purchases
- Earn one loyalty point for every one eligible mile earned from purchases
- $99 annual fee, waived for the first 12 months
Introduction
The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* comes with a nice set of benefits when flying American Airlines for a reasonable annual fee of $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99.
Cardholders get a free checked bag when flying domestically, preferred boarding and a 25% savings on inflight purchases—such as food, beverage and Wi-Fi. American Airlines charges $30 for the first checked bag on domestic flights. Since the checked bag benefits extend to up to five people on the same reservation, one flight with your family would knock out the annual fee.
And don’t sleep on the 25% savings on inflight purchases. This benefit can easily justify the annual fee for some business travelers. If you have a $49.95 American Airlines Wi-Fi subscription plan, you’ll receive a $12.49 statement credit each month you charge the subscription to your CitiBusiness Platinum Select card. That’s almost $150 in annual savings from just this one benefit.
There’s a strong welcome bonus too: 75,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 5 months of account opening. Plus, the annual fee is waived for the first 12 months, giving you a free trial to see if it’s worth keeping the card long-term.
Featured Partner Offers
Quick Facts
- Earn 2 miles for every dollar spent on cable and satellite providers, select telecommunications merchants, eligible American Airlines purchases, car rentals, and gas stations and 1 mile for every dollar spent on other purchases. Also earn 1 loyalty point for every one eligible mile earned from purchases.
- First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines flights for the cardholder and up to four travel companions
- Preferred boarding on American Airlines flights
- 25% savings on inflight purchases such as Wi-Fi, food, and beverage
- Earn an American Airlines Companion Certificate good for domestic travel after spending $30,000 in a cardmember year and renewing for another year.
- None in foreign transaction fees
- $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99 annual fee
- No additional fee for adding employees as authorized users
CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard Rewards
Earning Rewards
The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* earns 2 miles for every dollar spent on cable and satellite providers, select telecommunications merchants, eligible American Airlines purchases, car rentals, and gas stations and 1 mile for every dollar spent on other purchases. Also earn 1 loyalty point for every one eligible mile earned from purchases.
You’ll also earn a first-year welcome bonus of 75,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 5 months of account opening. Note that this offer isn’t available to those who have received a new account bonus for another CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* account in the past 48 months.
Cardmembers can also earn an American Airlines Companion Certificate toward domestic travel by spending $30,000 on purchases in a cardholder year. This certificate will allow a companion to travel with you for a cost of $99 plus taxes and fees. The certificate is limited to economy class within the contiguous 48 states.
Redeeming Rewards
The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* earns AAdvantage miles. There are four main ways you can redeem AAdvantage miles for travel: Award flights, upgrades, vacation packages and Admirals Club lounge memberships. You can also redeem miles for charitable donations, but these are typically at a poor redemption rate. American Airlines flights cost as little as 7,500 miles one-way in economy class.
Rewards Potential
Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies to determine baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households brings in $116,000 annually, and has $36,177 in annual spending that can reasonably be charged to credit cards. We base small business spending on a freelance or sole proprietorship.
|
Category
|
Earning Rate
|
Estimated Annual Spend
|
Estimated Annual Earnings
|
|
Airlines, gas, cable, internet and cellphone
|
2X
|
$7,457
|
14,914
|
|
All Other Purchases
|
1X
|
$28,720
|
28,720
|
|
Total: 43,634 AAdvantage miles
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|||
The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* stands out from many co-branded airline and hotel cards by having several bonus categories. At a conservative redemption rate of 1.3 cents per mile, the first year earnings are worth $567.24 in value toward free flights each year.
Other CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard Benefits
- MasterRental insurance coverage: Provides up to $50,000 in physical damage coverage when renting a car for 15 days or less.
- Purchase assurance coverage: Protects new purchases from damage and theft for 90 days, up to $10,000 per loss.
- Extended warranty coverage: Doubles the original manufacturer warranty up to a maximum of 24 months.
- Personal business assistant: Get assistance with things like ordering a gift for a client, researching a potential vendor, or logistics planning.
- Mastercard Easy Savings: Get automatic statement credits on business purchases from participating merchants.
- MasterAssist: Provides travel information such as visa requirements, immunization needs, and help with lost or stolen travel documents or luggage.
- Business assistant: Cardholders get a 24/7 personal business assistant to help with travel, hotel and dining arrangements.
- Special offers: Companies like Microsoft, Salesforce and Intuit frequently have special offers to help businesses save money.
Fine Print
Interest Rates
- Regular APR: 21.24% - 29.99% variable
- Purchase intro APR: N/A
- Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
Fees
- Annual fee: $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99
- Balance transfer fee: N/A
- Foreign purchase transaction fee: None
How the CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard Stacks Up
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* vs. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
It may come with a hefty annual fee of $695, but for those who can utilize all the plush perks that come with the card, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Terms apply, see rates & fees) the price can be worth it. The card offers a rich suite of airport perks including the most extensive lounge access of any business credit card you’ll find, plus other valuable credits and benefits like statement credits toward a CLEAR® Plus membership and TSA Precheck or Global Entry application fee credits.
It doesn’t offer the free checked bag perk of the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®*, but it does come with up to a $200 airline incidental fee credit. If you want to breeze through the airport and wait for your flight in comfort, the Amex Business Platinum Card is one of the best options to do so.
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* vs. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Small businesses not loyal to American Airlines may want to consider a general travel rewards credit card such as the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, which has a similar $95 annual fee.
Instead of earning American Airlines AAdvantage miles, Ink Preferred cardholders will earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. These points can be transferred to multiple airline and hotel partners. Alternatively, small businesses can use these points to book travel through the Chase Travel Portal at a rate of 1.25 cents per point.
The Ink Business Preferred earns 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. That’s a higher earning rate and a more extensive set of bonus categories.
However, the downside of choosing the Ink Business Preferred over the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* is that you won’t get the American Airlines-specific benefits like a free checked bag on domestic American Airlines flights, preferred boarding and 25% savings on inflight purchases.
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* vs. Capital One Spark Miles for Business*
If you want an even simpler travel rewards card, you should consider the Capital One Spark Miles for Business*. This card earns 2 miles per dollar on every purchase and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Those miles can be redeemed toward travel expenses at a rate of one cent per mile. Or, you can use your miles to cover recent eligible travel purchases, which can sometimes yield greater value.
The downside is that Capital One generally partners with secondary airlines. While American Airlines isn’t a travel partner, you can book American Airlines flights with miles through Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Etihad Guest, Finnair Plus or Qantas Frequent Flyer.
Earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening with the Capital One Spark Miles for Business* card.
Is the CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard for You?
An American Airlines co-branded card can provide significant savings, even for the occasional American Airlines flyer. Between free checked bags on domestic flights, inflight savings, and discounts on redemptions, many cardholders can easily justify the CitiBusiness Platinum Select’s $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99 annual fee.
The question you need to ask is which card is right for your situation. With numerous bonus categories, a strong welcome bonus, and a modest annual fee, the CitiBusiness Platinum Select makes a strong case but only if you want to earn rewards to use toward future flights.
Find the Best Business Credit Cards of 2024
Methodology
Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:
- Annual fees
- Welcome bonus offers
- Ongoing earning rates
- Value of individual points or miles
- Included travel or merchant credits
- Additional cardholder benefits
Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.
Read more: How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards
To view rates and fees for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.
*The information for the following card(s) has been collected independently by Forbes Advisor: CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®, Capital One Spark Miles for Business. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
