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    American Airlines Is Offering 50,000 Miles Plus $125 Credit

    icon-user Anya Kartashova icon-comments Comments June 26, 2023

    New card members who sign up for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® and spend $2,500 in the first three months of account opening can earn a welcome bonus of 50,000 AAdvantage miles. The standard welcome offer on this card ranges from 30,000 to 60,000 AAdvantage miles.

    The AAdvantage Mastercard comes with all the benefits you’d expect from a co-branded airline card, including a free checked bag for the primary traveler and up to four companions on the same reservation, preferred boarding, a 25 percent savings on in-flight purchases and double miles for AA purchases.

    Citi and American have recently upgraded other benefits that come on this card, too. You can now earn double miles at restaurants and gas stations. Additionally, cardholders who spend $20,000 on the card in a year will earn a $125 flight discount.

    What Can I Use the $125 Flight Discount for?

    The $125 American Airlines Flight Discount certificate attached to this offer can be applied toward the initial ticket purchase of air travel on American Airlines flights, or air travel on any oneworld® carrier, or American Airline codeshare flight. The Flight Discount can be used all at once and will expire one year from the date of issue of the certificate. Flight products or services that are sold separately, car rentals, hotel reservations and elite status boost do not qualify for the credit.

    What About the 60,000-Mile Offer?

    What About the 60,000-Mile Offer Also Offered With This Card?
    Image via aa.com

    You might have seen the other bonus offer with the AAdvantage Platinum Select card – 60,000 miles. It also requires $2,500 to be spent within the first three months of account opening.

    This offer is not widely available but you can see it advertised on some travel portals. If you applied for the AAdvantage Platinum card with lower bonus offer and then saw the same card with a higher welcome bonus, you might be able to get it. Citibank might match the offer to the higher miles bonus! Let’s look at how the match works.

    Matching the AAdvantage Card Bonus: The Best of Both Worlds!

    Citibank typically offers bonus matching with the AAdvantage cards. Simply put, this means that they might match a higher bonus if it’s offered after you received your AAdvantage card.

    This can be done after you get the AAdvantage Platinum card and meet the minimum spending requirement for the sign-up bonus. Then, you can send a secured message to Citi via your account and mention that you’ve seen a different public offer with a higher mileage bonus. They will, at least in theory, match that bonus.

    So, once you get the 50,000 miles you can request another 10,000 miles to match the 60,000-mile offer. Better yet, if you’ve been sent a mailer from Citi with an even higher welcome offer, you can try for a higher match. You might be required to spend an additional amount to receive a bonus match, but in many cases it is not necessary.

    Personally, I applied for the AAdvantage credit card last year after receiving a targeted offer of 60,000 miles after spending $3,000 on the card. A few weeks after application, I received another offer, only that time it mentioned 65,000 miles. I sent a message to Citi asking for a match and received an additional 5,000 miles as a courtesy.

    If you can pull this off, you can wind up with 60,000 miles or more plus the $125 American Airlines Flight Discount. Although I was successful at requesting a bonus match, please note that your success may vary and this trick might not work for every account.

    A customer service representative can decline your request based on the different offer terms. Still, many have reported getting a match. It doesn’t hurt to try.

    Who’s Eligible to Receive a Bonus on This Card?

    Citibank restricts bonuses on the same family of cards to once per 24 months for both opened and closed accounts. The American Airlines family of cards includes the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard, the no-fee American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Mastercard and the premium Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard.

    If you’ve received a bonus on any of the aforementioned personal credit cards, you cannot receive another bonus if you opened or closed the accounts in the last 24 months.

    Who’s Eligible to Receive a Bonus on This Card?

    However, if you currently hold any of the AAdvantage credit cards and it’s been more than 24 months since you were approved, you are eligible for another bonus. Business credit cards do not preclude you from receiving bonuses on personal cards.

    Go for the Bonus

    If you’re eligible for this offer, it’s not a bad card to apply for. Even if you’re unsuccessful at receiving a bonus match, it’s still a good deal. And if you get the bonus match, you’re definitely coming out ahead with a total of about $215 worth of added bonuses ($125 credit + 10,000 miles worth $215).

    Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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