Credit cards are in of themselves a complicated matter. Choosing the right one for your needs is quite complicated, choosing one to also build up airline miles add a whole new layer of complexity. Therefore it is good to take a minute, stop, and consider your options before committing to one or the other. In this article I’ll look into what your options are if you are based in the US and are either an American Airlines frequent flyer or aiming to build up AAdvantage miles. So, here’s your guide to American Airlines current credit cards available on the market. Also, remember, if you like this post or find it useful, consider signing up for my newsletter. It’s a simple gesture that helps support my work in a totally free way.
Which Credit Cards Are Available to Earn American Airlines AAdvantage Miles in 2025?
I’ll be only looking into private business cards, therefore, I’ll be leaving out the very few business options. There are currently 4 options you can choose from in terms of American Airlines credit cards. They are divided among two issuing banks with all of them on the same card circuit. Let’s dive straight into a breakdown of American Airlines credit card options, their of perks and costs before delving a little deeper into the details:
| Credit Card |  Aviator® Red World Elite |  Mileup® Card |  Executive World Elite |  Platinum Select® World Elite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issuer Bank | Barclays | Citi | Citi | Citi |
| Yearly Fee | 99$ | 0$ | 595$ | 99$ |
| Signup Bonus (AAdvantage Miles) | 60,000 | 15,000 | 70,000 | 50,000 |
| Bonus Spend Threashold | 1st Purchase | 500$ within 3 months | 7,000$ within 3 months | 2,500$ within 3 months |
| Lounge Access | No | No | Yes | No |
| Priority Boarding | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Free First Checked Bag | Flying Domestic | No | Flying Domestic | Flying Domestic |
| Foreign Transaction Fee | 0% | 3% | 0% | 0% |
| Milage Accrual Limits | None | None | None | None |
| Milage Accrual | 1$ Spent = 1 Mile | 1$ Spent = 1 Mile | 1$ Spent = 1 Mile | 1$ Spent = 1 Mile |
| Special Milage Accrual | 1$ Spent on AA Purchases = 2 Miles | 1$ Spent on AA Purchases or Grocery Stores = 2 Miles | 1$ Spent on AA Purchases = 4 Miles (5 after spending 150K$/year) | 1$ Spent on AA Purchases or Gas&Restaurants = 2 Miles |
| Circuit | MasterCard | MasterCard | MasterCard | MasterCard |
Now there are a few things to point out about these four options. None of them grants you direct access to a particular tier of American Airlines’ loyalty program AAdvantage. So, you either have a status eligibility before applying or these options won’t help in any way getting there. The welcome (or signup) bonuses are only for the currency miles, usable to book reward flights, and not tier eligibility points.
Other thing to point out is that the Mileup American Airlines Credit Card by Citi is a very appealing entry level credit card with its o$ yearly fee. However, if you are often abroad that 3% foreign purchase transaction fee might sting a little if transactions build up.
Only one card out of the lot grants American Airlines lounge access. No surprise it is also the most expensive of the four cards: the Executive World Elite by Citi Bank. All cards run on MarsterCard.
Two Bank Options, However, One Is Soon To Disappear So Choose Carefully Your American Airlines Credit Card
Now, another extremely important thing to point out is that although there are currently, as of January 2025, two bank options to choose from for an American Airlines credit card, this is soon to change.
American Airlines and therefore its AAdvantage frequent flyer program have just recently signed an exclusive deal with Citi Bank. Therefore Citi will be the sole bank licensed to issue co-branded AA credit cards from 2026 moving forward.
Hence, if you are considering of going for a Barclays Aviator Red World Elite card this might not be the best timing as you might need to move over to another provider in just a couple of years.
The Good The Bad and The Ugly of Co-Branded Airline Credit Cards
So, as with everything in life, airline co-branded credit cards come with some pros and cons. Here’s what to keep in mind before signing up for one.
Co-branded credit cards are a fantastic tool to efficiently and rapidly build up miles for a specific frequent flyer or loyalty program. In this case American Airlines’ AAdvantage Miles. They are specifically built to maximize mile accrual and incentivize you in spending and traveling with the partner airline.
The other side to that coin is that you are limited to just that one frequent flyer program, contrary to some other credit cards out there which free from the exclusivity commitment allow to transfer points to a variety of airline loyalty programs. However this too comes at a cost. The freedom to transfer to more programs comes with less favorable points-to-miles conversion rates.
So make sure to consider this too before committing to a credit card in one or the other direction.
