AAdvantage Bronze Card Upgrades to ‘MileUp’ Status

Citi and American Airlines are polishing up the Citi® / AAdvantage® Bronze credit card, giving it enhanced earning power and a new name.

Launching on July 22, 2018, the new American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card will continue to have an annual fee of $0, but it will come with a new rewards structure:

• Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and at grocery stores.

• Earn 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases.

There's also a limited-time offer for new cardmembers: Earn 10,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles and receive a $50 statement credit after making $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.

Like all American Airlines credit cards co-branded with Citi, the American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card also comes with the following benefits:

• Get 25% savings off of in-flight food and beverage purchases.

• Ability to purchase presale tickets and VIP experiences through the Citi Entertainment program.

Why this version is better

The new rewards structure is a significant improvement over what's offered on the existing Citi® / AAdvantage® Bronze, which earns just 1 mile for every $2 spent on all purchases. The American Airlines AAdvantage program offers saver awards to American Airlines credit card holders starting at just 7,500 miles one-way on certain routes, so the sign-up bonus offered on this card could be worth a free flight.

Although existing Citi® / AAdvantage® Bronze cardholders won't be eligible for the sign-up offer, the good news is that they'll be automatically converted to the American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card's rewards structure on July 22. (When their current Bronze card expires, an American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card will be sent to them. Existing Bronze cardholders will retain their account numbers when they are converted.)

The American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card will remain the only no-annual-fee American Airlines credit card that's open for applications.

Because of incorrect information supplied to NerdWallet, a previous version of this article included an error about foreign transaction fees for the American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card . The article has been corrected.