July 9, 2025: Citi just launched a new 80k welcome bonus on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, making that card a great choice if you want an American Airlines credit card with a free checked bag.
Here are the best welcome offers on American Airlines credit cards.
American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card
Earn 15,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
This bonus is awarded as American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
Annual fee: None
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
For a limited time, earn 80,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $3,500 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
This bonus is awarded as American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
Annual fee: $99. However, the annual fee is waived for the first 12 months.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after making $7,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
This bonus is awarded as American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
Annual fee: $595
Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®
Earn 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
This bonus is awarded as American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
Annual fee: $99. However, the annual fee is waived for the first 12 months.
AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
Earn 50,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days.
This bonus is earned as American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles.
Annual fee: $99
Our take: The Platinum Select bonus is a clear winner.
American Airlines miles are not easy to earn—the AA cards don’t really have compelling rewards for spending and the program does not currently partner with any of the major bank transferable point programs. So your best bet to earn a bunch of AAdvantage miles in one go is with a credit card sign-up bonus.
With the increased bonus on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, that card is a clear winner, especially considering that you won’t pay an annual fee in the first year.
But the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® might also be worth a look, and probably jumps to the top of my recommendations when the limited-time offers on the Citi card expires. Eventually the Barclays cards are going away once Citi absorbs the entire AAdvantage credit card book of business. Once that happens, you’ll have one fewer option to earn AAdvantage miles with a signup bonus.
Eligibility: Can you get a bonus on a new American Airlines credit card?
For Citi-issued American Airlines credit cards, you can typically get a bonus on a new card once every 48 months or if you’ve received a bonus on an an account that you converted to a specific card product within the last 48 months.
The terms and conditions on all of Citi’s American Airlines credit card offers are similar. Here’s what the terms of the AAdvantage® MileUp® bonus say:
American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a AAdvantage® MileUp® account in the past 48 months or if you converted another Citi credit card account on which you earned a new account bonus in the last 48 months into a AAdvantage® MileUp® account.
Bonus terms for the AAdvantage® MileUp® card.
My reading of this is that if, for example, you applied for and received a bonus for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® 24 months ago, but converted the account to an American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card, you would not be able to receive a bonus on either card for an additional 24 months.
Barclays appears to be much more strict, allowing only one bonus ever. Here’s what the terms of the American Airlines® AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard® say about earning the bonus again:
These bonuses and/or incentives are intended for applicants who are not and have not previously been American Airlines® AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard® cardmembers. You understand and agree that you may no longer be eligible for any bonuses and/or incentives in connection with a new American Airlines® AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard® Card Account after this Card Account is opened.
American Airlines® AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard® bonus terms
My reading of this is that if you have ever had the card, you’re ineligible for the bonus, even if you didn’t receive a bonus when you opened the card.
