Great Card If
- You’re a frequent traveler on American Airlines and their subsidiaries
- You already have a bunch of AA miles and status
- You’d like to earn enough miles quickly to get a free round-trip
- You like to travel in style and will enjoy the host of benefits available to you through the card
Don’t Get If
- You won’t fly American (or any Oneworld partner) frequently or you’re not a traveler in general
- You’re not a big spender in general (see Card Math for more details)
Welcome Offer, Earning Categories, and Points
Currently, applying for the AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card could earn you the welcome offer bonus listed above in the card summary table.
You also earn AAdvantage miles at a rate of 2x on AA flights and services. While this isn’t the greatest, it is certainly a respectable amount of bonus miles for making flight purchases.
You’ll also earn 2X miles at restaurants and gas stations, and 1x for all other purchases made on the card. The card costs $99 per year, but this fee is waived the first year.
Bottom Line: The AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card earns 2x points on all AA flights and services, 2x at restaurants and gas stations, and 1x points everywhere else. It costs $99 per year, but the fee is waived for the first 12 months.
AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Card: Bags, Boarding, and Discounts
However, what really makes the card great is its fringe benefits. American Airlines likes to operate on the idea of status, and this card gives you just that.
First, you and up to 4 people traveling with you get 1 checked bag free! You all must be listed on the same reservation though, so make sure you book your travel companions’ tickets through your card (which should be easy enough if they’re your family).
Next, once you’re through security and ready to board, you’ll have boarding privileges above the other non-status passengers.
This means you can get on, get your carry-on bags into the compartments before they fill up, and get comfortably situated before the rest of the plane boards.
Third, you get 25% off all inflight food and beverage purchases, as well as headsets if you need one.
That discount is enough to make the prices a bit more reasonable (a $7 drink is now only $5.25), and it allows you to enjoy your trip just a little bit more, save time from eating in the airport, and earn double miles for your purchase.
If you’re going to have a drink and a snack, you may as well do it in style at 30,000 ft in the air!
Bottom Line: Get a free first bag for you and up to 4 traveling companions, priority boarding privileges, and a 25% inflight discount on food and beverages when you have the AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card.
More Partners Than You Can Handle
One last thing that AA does to help you earn miles is partner with over 1,000 vendors. When you do business with them, you’ll get more miles in your account!
As you know, AA is a Oneworld alliance partner, which allows you to share miles and status with other alliance members.
But did you know there are actually more airlines outside of Oneworld that are still partners? In addition, there are the hotel partners, car rentals, vacation packages, cruises, and any other bonus offers they have going.
With this option, however, keep in mind that earning AA miles may conflict with earning miles in those partners’ own loyalty programs. So, it’s really good to have an overall strategy to know where your earning priorities lie!
Bottom Line: When you fly American, you also have access to all their Oneworld and other airline alliance partners. Having the AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card gives you a head start on earning awards!
AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Card Drawbacks
Are there disadvantages? Sure. One is the annual fee of $99, although that is waived the first year. This isn’t too bad considering it’s the same price or less than you’d pay for the majority of other points cards out there.
This card’s points-earning potential at 2x is a bit low, especially when considering it’s restricted to just airline purchases. Users of the card need to be frequent and heavy travelers in order to get any value out of it.
Also, the fact that some of the benefits have fine print means you’ll need to check before you want to use the card for that purpose.
Bottom Line: Some drawbacks of the card include the $99 annual fee and no 0% APR period.
Best Way To Redeem AAdvantage Miles
We always encourage you to maximize the value of your redemptions. Be sure to check around for the best deals and do your homework so you can squeeze the best value out of your points!
Tip #1: When redeeming miles on AA, the best value will always be for international trips. At 30,000 miles one-way, you can get to pretty much anywhere in the world.
Tip #2: If you want to use rewards domestically, make sure to take advantage of the reduced mileage offer by calling in to book your ticket. You can get a discount of 7,500 miles on a round-trip by waiting for the specials that come out every other month.
Best Way To Maximize AAdvantage Miles
To maximize points using the AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card you will need to put most of your spending on your card, but there are also other ways to earn lots of miles:
Tip #1: Purchase all flights directly with the airline, and make inflight purchases with the card as well.
Tip #2: If you book rental cars, use your AA account with Avis, Budget, and any of its other partners to earn 250-1,250 miles per rental. Plus, earn 1x miles if you book it with your card.
Tip #3: Sign up with the AA dining program and dine at designated restaurants using your registered card. Use the AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card to rack up even more points. That could end up as 7x miles total when using your Citi AAdvantage card!
Tip #4: Many hotel chains offer partnerships where you can earn AA miles for stays. These include Hilton Honors and more.
With Marriott, you can transfer hotel points to your AA account and earn a 25% bonus when you transfer 60,000 at a time!
Tip #5: If you’re checking bags past the free ones offered, pay with your AAdvantage credit card to earn 2x points for the baggage fee.
Being cognizant of American’s baggage fee rules is important to make sure you’re not spending more than you need.
Tip #6: Earning Elite Status helps you rack up points much more quickly: 25% for Gold, 100% for Platinum (this used to only be 50%), and 100% for Executive Platinum.
If you aren’t even close, there’s a quicker way to do it: an Elite Status Challenge. Check around for current deals, since sometimes it’s not even offered (although FoundersCard has offered it in the past).
The challenge is sometimes free, but other times you’ll have to pay (usually $100-$200) — but you’ll typically end up with Platinum after flying 10,000 miles within a 3-month period.
Once you complete it, you will be on your way to 100% bonus earning for only 10,000 miles, as opposed to the 30,000 normally needed!
Tip #7: You can earn additional miles through other partners (see partner details below), such as through the eShopping Mall or certain wine clubs. If these seem valuable to you, then use them to earn additional miles.
Hot Tip: Check out our article on earning 100k AA miles in 90 days, as well as our post on the best ways to redeem 100K AAdvantage Miles.
The AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card gets you access to American Airlines and all its partners, which is probably the most extensive list available in any program. Being the largest airline in the world, anyone would be happy to sign up with them to promote their businesses!
- American Airlines (and American Eagle)
- AA Dining Restaurant Network (over 11,000)
- Other Retail Partners: AAdvantage eShopping Mall, Points.com, FTD, Teleflora, 1-800-FLOWERS.com, Vinesse Wine, Audience Rewards, Next Issue
Travel Partners: Airlines, Hotels, Rental Cars, and Cruises
Oneworld Partners: British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas Airways, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian Airlines, S7 Airlines, SriLankan Airlines
Additional Airline Partners: Air Tahiti Nui, Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air, Cape Air, EL AL, Etihad Airways, Fiji Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, Jet Airways, Seaborne Airlines, WestJet (more info on airline partners)
Hotel Partners: Hilton Portfolio, Marriott Hotels, InterContinental Hotels, Choice Hotels, Wyndham Hotel Group, Best Western, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Fiesta Americana Hotels and Resorts, Hotel JAL City, Hyatt, Langham Hospitality Group, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Melia Hotels International, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, New Otani Hotels, Nikko Hotels International, Park Inn, Park Plaza, PointsHound, Preferred Hotel Group, Quorvus Collection, Radisson, Radisson Blu, Raffles Hotels & Resorts, Rocketmiles, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Swissotel Hotels & Resorts, WORLDHOTELS (more info on hotel partners)
Rental Car Partners: Avis, Budget, Alamo, National, Dollar, Hertz, Thrifty, Carmel, Europcar, Sixt, GroundLink, SuperShuttle (more info on car partners)
AA Vacations: Total trip packages
Cruise Lines: Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, Azamara Club Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard, Oceania Cruises, Paul Gauguin Cruises, Ponant, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Seabourn, SeaDream Yacht Club, Silversea Cruises, Uniworld River Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises, Viking River Cruises, Windstar Cruises (more info on cruises)
The information regarding the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold Mastercard® has been collected independently by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
