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The Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard was created with frequent American Airlines flyers in mind. The rewards aren’t too impressive, but you’ll be able to fly much more comfortably thanks to perks like Admirals Lounge access, priority boarding, and an in-flight discount, to name a few.
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We’re awarding the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® 5 out of 5 Stars. As with most premium airline credit cards, its rewards aren’t very impressive, but it (mostly) makes up for this shortcoming with a plethora of premium benefits designed to enhance the American Airlines travel experience.
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The Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard is clearly designed for active travelers who prefer to fly American.
It carries a significant annual fee and features a milquetoast rewards program. But beneath these drawbacks are a plethora of benefits that effortlessly complement the travel habits of the typical American Airlines superfan.
Priority boarding, check-in, and screening help you get through the airport and to your seat as quickly as possible, while an Admirals Club membership lets you kill extra time in comfort.
So, while the Executive World Elite is a fairly average example of a premium airline credit card, it shares one characteristic with most of its competitors: It serves its audience well.
Take a look at the other cards offered through American Airlines:
Card | Annual Fee |
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American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card (Review) | $0 |
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® (Review) | $99, waived for first 12 months |
AAdvantage® Aviator™ Red World Elite Mastercard® | $99 |
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (this review) | $450 |
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® | $99, waived for first 12 months |
AAdvantage® Aviator™ Business Mastercard® | $95 |
While the rewards aren’t overly impressive, you could still see a pretty solid return. If your miles are worth about 1–2 cents, you’re looking at a cash back equivalent of about 7%–14% (assuming you earn 7X miles with AA).
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In addition to what you’ll earn from the card, you’ll get at least 5X miles per dollar from your American Airlines AAdvantage membership on flights. That brings your total to 7X miles per dollar, which equates to 7%–14% cash back.
There are quite a few things you can do with your miles, once you earn a bunch. Here’s a short overview of the options you have when it comes time to redeem. Your best bet would be to redeem miles for AA flights, as that would give you the most bang for your buck.
You can:
AA’s hotel partners include: Best Western Hotels and Resorts, PointsHound, and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. But AA states you can redeem your miles for hotels and car rentals at over 150,000 locations in 500+ destinations worldwide.
Go to the American Airlines website and search for your flight. You can check the Redeem Miles box to fund it with your miles instead of your cash.
You can only redeem for seats in the main cabin or first class, however. We researched a few one-way flights in order to give you an idea of the per-mile value you could expect to see:
Flight | Cash (including taxes and fees) | Miles | Mile Value |
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Chicago (CHI) to Rochester (ROC) | $123.10 | 12,500 + $5.60 | 0.98 cents |
Indianapolis (IND) to Phoenix (PHX) | $143.10 | 12,500 + $5.60 | 1.14 cents |
Orlando (MCO) to Denver (DEN) | $142.60 | 17,500 + $5.60 | 0.81 cents |
Philadelphia (PHL) to Los Angeles (LAX) | $367.10 | 12,500 + $5.60 | 2.94 cents |
New York City (JFK) to Houston (HOU) | $153.60 | 10,000 + $5.60 | 1.54 cents |
For the most part your mile value will be pretty solid, but as you can see in some cases the value could be pretty low.
If you look at Philadelphia to Los Angeles, at a mile value of 2.94 cents, you’d see a cash back equivalent of 20.6% when earning 7X miles per dollar. That’s a pretty great return on your spending.
But at the low end, like on the Orlando to Denver flight where your miles would be worth about 0.81 cents, you’d get a cash back equivalent of 5.7%. That’s a pretty significant difference.
But if that initial value doesn’t satisfy you, the somewhat good news is mile values are pretty volatile. So if you take a moment to calculate the value (the cost of the flight divided by the mile requirement) prior to locking in your ticket, you can ensure you’re getting the value you want.
If it’s not the value you had hoped for, you could check back later to see if it’s improved, shop around for a different flight, or save your miles for your next trip and use your card to pay for this one.
This is where the card attempts to make up for the hefty annual fee it asks for. A lot of the value is going to come from your Admirals Club membership, priority boarding and security screening, and the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit.
Purchase APR | Balance Transfer APR | Cash Advance APR |
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15.99% - 24.99% (Variable) | 15.99% - 24.99% (Variable) | 25.24% (Variable) |
Annual Fee | Foreign Transaction Fee |
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$450 | 0% |
Balance Transfer Fee | Cash Advance Fee |
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3% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum. | 5% of each cash advance; $10 minimum |
Penalty APR | Late Fee | Returned Payment Fee |
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Up to 29.99% (Variable) | Up to $40 | Up to $40 |
If you’re an avid traveler and swear by American Airlines, you’d likely find some value from the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®.
The large annual fee is somewhat mitigated by the throng of benefits attached to the card, but it lacks anything like an annual travel or hotel credit that other high-end travel cards have. Those credits go a long way to effectively drop the annual fee.
But what it does provide are quite a few amenities for people who spend a great deal of time in airports and on planes. You’ll even earn a cash back equivalent of about 7%–14% while you fly with AA to make things a bit more lucrative.
So if you want to travel comfortably and earn a little while you do, this could be the card for you.
Follow the link below and you’ll be directed to Citi’s website where you can apply now. It should only take you a few minutes if you have all the necessary information handy. You’ll typically hear back right away if you’ve been approved or not, so you probably won’t have to bide your time for too long.
It’s recommended that you have excellent credit before applying for this card.
To qualify for excellent credit, your credit scores would need to be within the ranges of 800–850 for FICO and 750–850 for VantageScore.
But don’t count yourself out if your scores aren’t exactly in those ranges. Credit card companies take more into account than just your scores when determining your creditworthiness. Credit card issuers will check out things like income and source of income when determining if you should be approved or not.
So even if you have lower credit scores, you could still be approved. However, that means if you have higher credit scores, you could be denied for those same reasons. In the end it comes down to Citi’s discretion.
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We found your miles, on average, will be worth about 1–2 cents. That equates to a cash back equivalent of 7%–14% when spending with AA, assuming you’re earning 7X miles per dollar.
Check out our research into mile values, and how to redeem them for AA flights.
No, there were quite a few travel protections attached at one point, but Citi slashed perks like travel accident insurance, rental car insurance, baggage delay insurance, and others.
We’ve outlined all the benefits you can expect with your card.
The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (Review) is very similar to the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard, except it’s co branded with Delta Airlines rather than AA.
It’s a bit more expensive, coming in at $550 annually, but the rewards are a tiny bit better and there are a few key differences in the benefits.
You’ll still get things like the Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit, priority boarding, an in-flight discount, and your first checked bag free, but you’ll also get a few more bells and whistles. Most notable is the addition of an annual companion ticket. That means you can take one friend or family member along for the ride, only for the cost of fees which can’t exceed $75.
So depending on the ticket, that’s a pretty great value, and could go a long way to making the annual fee more digestible.
Airport lounge access is still attached, only rather than Admirals Club access you’ll get into Delta Sky Clubs and Centurion Lounges. You get two free Delta Sky Club guest passes per year, but then there’s the small caveat of having to pay a $39 ($50 for Centurion Lounge) fee for each of your two guests, rather than no fee with the Citi AAdvantage card.
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Your miles are typically worth 1–1.5 cents, which is slightly under the 1–2 cents your AA miles are estimated to be valued. And after you factor in your 5X additional miles per dollar for Delta flights from your membership, your cash back equivalent would be 8%–12%.
The United Club℠ Infinite Card (Review) asks for a larger annual fee, but also provides slightly greater rewards for United patrons.
The benefits this credit card offers are a bit different, mainly because it not only supplies a United Club airport lounge membership program, but also a membership for Hertz. You’ll gain some nice amenities from both, including Star Alliance lounge access for you and two guest and rental upgrades.
There are a few extra details, like you’ll get two free checked bags instead of one, and a nice collection of shopping and travel protections. If you’d rather fly United than AA, this card might be a good pick.
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Additionally, you’ll get at least 5X miles per dollar from your United membership, bringing the total you’ll earn from United flights to 9X miles per dollar. And if your miles are sometimes worth as much as 2 cents, or potentially more, you’d see a cash back equivalent of 18% or more, which is higher than average for the AAdvantage card.
The Citi Prestige® Card (Review) isn’t tied to any one airline, but instead focuses on all travel.
You won’t have any perks for specific airlines like priority boarding or free checked baggage, but there is an annual $250 travel credit. After taking that into account, the effective annual fee drops from $495 to $245, which is lower than the AAdvantage card. You’ll still have airport lounge access (via Priority Pass) and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, too.
The signature perk of the Citi Premier is for hotels — you’ll get your fourth night free when booking through ThankYou.com, up to twice per year. This could deliver some serious savings if you stay at a nice resort.
This card offers a flexible redemption program, allowing transfers to several airline partners, which could yield higher point values than what you would see from the AAdvantage Executive card.
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We recommend aiming for a point transfer redemption that’ll get you at least 2 cents per point. That’ll ensure a cash back equivalent of 10% in the 5X categories. The 3X categories will provide an equivalent of 6% cash back.
Citi is a Credit Card Insider advertiser.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Review) is one of the best travel rewards credit cards that isn’t tied to any airline or hotel.
A few important features are its 1:1 transfer rate to travel partners, along with its other redemption methods. That 1:1 rate means you can transfer your points to any of Chase’s travel partners and they won’t lose any value. The partners include JetBlue, Southwest, United, and many more, covering several airline alliances. So you’ll have far greater flexibility with where you can redeem your points than you would with the AAdvantage card.
The benefits aren’t as focused on making your flight experience better, more so improving your overall travel experience. You’ll still get Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit and airport lounge access, and will gain an annual $300 travel credit. That’ll help bring your effective annual fee down to $250, which is less than the AAdvantage Executive card.
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If you can find a mile value of 2 cents via a point transfer, you’d see a cash back equivalent of 6% in the 3X categories, which is good. And that would mean you’d get a 20% cash back equivalent on Lyft rides!
There’s also a 50% point bonus when you redeem for travel expenses through Chase Ultimate Rewards, meaning your cash back equivalent would be 4.5% in the 3X categories if you go that route, which is still a nice offer.
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Citi is a Credit Card Insider advertiser.
Do you use the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard? How’ve you enjoyed the airport lounges and expedited airport experience? Let us know in the comments below!
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, please click here.
Evan graduated from SUNY Oswego with a degree in journalism and creative writing. In his professional writing career, he strives for precision and comprehension in his work. He’s written news articles, blog posts, and copy, working across a slew of different mediums. With in-depth research and great care for accuracy and detail, he now works to bring you the most up-to-date credit information.
The information related to Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® and CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® have been collected by Credit Card Insider and have not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of these products.
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