American Airlines First Class Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® has been loved by many loyal American Airlines customers for years — especially because of the airline’s generous authorized user and lounge benefits.
But there have been rumors for months that the annual fee on the card will go up and the benefits will change. Currently, Citi made it official.
Below is a breakdown of what existing and new cardholders can expect from the card when the changes kick in on July 23.
Annual fee increase
The annual fee will increase from $450 to $595.
Existing cardholders will be notified directly over the next few weeks of their new annual fee and when the increase will go into effect. (We hope this will be your next annual due date on or after July 23.)
Authorized user fee increase
As leaked last monthcard will move from allowing cardholders to add up to 10 authorized users to their account at no additional charge to charging:
- An additional $175 annual fee for the first three authorized users
- $175 per authorized user thereafter
Existing cardholders with authorized users on their account will be charged a new fee when their next annual fee is posted. If you have this card and DO Are not have authorized users on your account, you’ll want to add them by July 23 to lock in the free benefits until next year.
Increase rate of income
Right now, cardholders earn 2 miles per dollar on qualifying US purchases. That will double to 4 miles for every dollar spent. Then, if you spend $150,000 on purchases in a calendar year, you’ll earn a 5-mile rate increase for every dollar spent on purchases in the U.S. for the rest of the calendar year.
You’ll also be able to earn 10 miles for every dollar spent on qualifying car rentals and hotels booked through American’s car rental And hotel booking sitecorresponding.
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There will be no change to the unrewarded earning rate of 1 mile per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
New Loyalty Points Reward
Cardholders will earn a bonus of 10,000 Loyalty Points after reaching 50,000 Loyalty Points in a year of qualifying status. They will receive another bonus of 10,000 Loyalty Points after reaching 90,000 Loyalty Points in a year of status eligibility.
New statement credit
The three new statement credits will be:
- Up to $120 cashback on qualifying Avis or Budget car rentals per calendar year
- Up to $120 cashback on qualifying Grubhub purchases (up to $10 statement credit per monthly billing statement)
- Up to $120 Lyft credits ($10 Lyft credits per month), but you must make three qualifying trips per month Firstly to get this credit
Reintroduce travel protection
Travel protections are making a comeback with this card, and we’ll post full details as we get them from Citi:
- Trip cancellation and interruption protection
- Trip delay protection
- Lost baggage protection
- Car rental insurance
Limited time offer coming
As often happens with “refresh” or “improved” cards, there will be a limited-time welcome offer of 100,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $10,000 within the first three months of account opening. This offer will start on July 23 and run through September 6.
For comparison, the current offer is 50,000 miles after making $5,000 purchases within the first three months of account opening. Best offer we’ve seen on this card in recent years 80,000 bonus miles after spending $5,500 within the first three months of account opening. So the upcoming offer will be the best we’ve ever seen but will require almost double spending.
If you’re considering applying for this card and can hit the $10,000 spending requirement in three months, you should postpone it until July 23.
Other changes
A credit of up to $100 towards the Universal Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee will be offered every four years (currently five years), which is a positive change.
As part of the changes, American says the Admiral’s Club membership (which comes with this card) will increase the cost from $650 to $850 for a junior AAdvantage membership. Renewals will also increase costs. Day passes will increase by $20 from $59 to $79. Read this page for more information.
The airline will be refreshing its food and beverage offerings and design at the Admiral’s Clubs over the next few months.
bottom line
The writing on the wall about changes to this tag has been around for a while. The ability to pay a flat $450 annual fee for a flagship airline pass with Admiral’s Club access for primary cardholders and up to 10 authorized users is too good to last much longer in today’s highly competitive premium credit card market.
For those able to maximize these benefits, these changes — starting July 23 — will be a hit to their wallets. When the next annual fee and authorized user fee appear, you should ask Citi for it retention offer and calculate to decide whether to keep the card or not. However, paying the annual fee for this card will continue to be cheaper than buying an Admiral’s Club membership right away.
If you’re considering getting this card, even if your annual fee is about to increase, you should hold off until the 100,000 miles bonus appears. Even if factoring in the annual fee increases by $145, doubling the mileage offered to sign up for the card will increase its value from $885 to $1,770, each TPG . points and miles pricing.
More information: Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard Review
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