Citi AAdvantage Executive Review: Your Key to the Club

Admirals Club membership

• Getting in. Admirals Clubs have nearly 50 locations worldwide, along with dozens of partner lounges. The card gets you into the lounge, along with your immediate family or up to two traveling guests. There, you'll have access to free snacks, drinks, showers, office space and personalized travel assistance. The airline requires same-day boarding passes on American Airlines or partner airlines for entry. So if you’re at the airport to fly United Airlines, for example, you wouldn't be able to use the American Airlines lounge.

• Savings. Without the card, a one-day pass costs $79. If you value the card solely for lounge access, you would have to use the lounge eight times a year to make up its annual fee. The cash cost of an annual membership varies, but a regular frequent flyer without elite status would pay $850 a year. By that measure, the $595 annual fee of the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® seems like a bargain.

• Authorized user benefit. You can add up to 10 authorized users who get their own cards and can get into lounges without the primary cardholder present if they have a same-day boarding pass for an eligible flight. You'll pay $175 total for up to three authorized users, and $175 for each authorized user above three. That can be a huge benefit over buying multiple memberships. Read the fine print, though. Authorized users don’t get some membership benefits, such as access to non-Admirals Club partner lounges or special pricing on conference rooms in the lounges.

Progress toward elite status

In 2022, American Airlines revamped the process to earn elite status. Following this change, you're able to earn Loyalty Points toward AAdvantage status when you make everyday purchases with your Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®. Cardholders can also earn two separate 10,000 Loyalty Point bonuses after earning 50,000 and 90,000 Loyalty Points per qualifying year (defined as the period between March 1 and Feb. 28).

You’ll need at least 40,000 Loyalty Points to earn the airline’s lowest tier, AAdvantage Gold® and at least 200,000 to earn the highest tier, AAdvantage Executive Platinum®.

To learn more about elite status in the frequent flyer program, see NerdWallet's complete guide to the American Airlines AAdvantage program.

Sign-up bonus

Bonuses change, but this card generally gives you enough miles to get a free domestic award flight, or at least enough to get close to one. That could translate into savings of several hundred dollars.

The current bonus is: Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.

Bonus miles on hotel reservations and car rentals

Cardholders can earn a hefty 10 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent on hotels and car rentals booked through AA.com. While that’s a solid earnings rate, there are potential downfalls to booking travel through a third party. You’re likely to pay more for your car rental or stay, you won’t earn points or elite credits and any loyalty status you have probably won’t get recognized. Be sure to price shop and make sure you aren’t overpaying simply to earn additional miles.

Travel protections

Most premium travel cards come with different forms of travel protections, and the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® is no different. Cardholders can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per canceled or interrupted trip and up to $500 per covered traveler for trip delays. You’ll also get primary rental car insurance for rentals outside the U.S., and secondary rental car insurance for domestic rentals.

How it compares with other American Airlines cards

Among American Airlines credit cards, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® is the most premium. It comes with the richest benefits — and the highest annual fee. If you're looking to earn miles with American Airlines but want to pay a lower annual fee, consider going with one of the other cards. For more analysis, read NerdWallet's comparison of American Airlines credit cards.

Here's how the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® stacks up with some of its sibling cards on key benefits.

High annual fee

You can get a lot of value for the annual fee of $595. But that hefty price will be a nonstarter for some. You can find travel credit cards that charge a lesser annual fee or none at all, but you'll miss out on some of the luxury perks offered by premium travel cards like the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®.

One that will defray the cost of occasionally getting into airport lounges — though, not Admirals Clubs — is the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card, which has a significantly lower annual fee ($95) and comes with up to $200 in statement credits, including up to $100 toward a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee, and up to $100 a year for airline incidentals, such as seat upgrades, checked baggage fees and day passes to lounges. If you want a card that helps you cover the cost of getting into another airport lounge, this could be a good pick. The sign-up bonus is also generous.

Low ongoing rewards rate

The card is an overall mediocre tool for racking up frequent flyer miles. You do earn a generous 4x on eligible American Airlines purchases up to $150,000 spent per calendar year (and 5x after that threshold for the remainder of the calendar year). But even the more basic American Airlines cards come with additional bonus categories.

Hard-to-maximize statement credits

Everyone loves a discount, but the coupon-book style credits that come with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® are restrictive. You can get $120 in credits toward an Avis or Budget car rental, but will be stuck renting with those companies only. The $10 GrubHub credit resets every statement period (not each calendar month), so you’ll have to track your statement date to maximize it. And the $10 monthly Lyft credit? That applies only after you’ve already used your card for three Lyft rides in that calendar month.

Lack of flexibility

If you spread your flying among multiple airlines, a general travel card might be a better fit. For those looking for premium perks, including travel transfer partners, good choices include the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or The Platinum Card® from American Express.