BGR has partnered with The Points Guy for our coverage of credit card products. BGR and The Points Guy may receive a commission from card issuers.Please note: the offers mentioned below are subject to change at any time and some may no longer be available.Christmas is just a few weeks away, which for many people means traveling and trips home to see family and loved ones. Which also makes this as good a time as any to take a close look at your personal credit card and mileage situation, take stock, and perhaps keep an eye out for new card offers — especially if you’re looking for a boost in your mileage balance and other perks to enjoy while traveling. Citi has you covered on a number of fronts in that regard, and if you want those benefits we just mentioned (a good mix of miles and perks) AND you’d rather not pay a hefty annual fee, we’ve got the perfect credit card to tell you about:If you’re a frequent American Airlines flyer, heads up, because this one is tailored just for you: The card is the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard®, it’s currently got a 70,000-mile bonus offer, and we’ll get into everything you need to know about it below.
Here’s the card’s current offer:
Bonus offer details: 70,000 bonus miles, once you spend $4,000 in the first four months of owning your account (This is a step up from the previous offer of 65,000 miles).
The spending requirement: Yes, $4,000 might seem a little steep, but it’s a target that won’t be hard for small businesses to hit at all — because, remember, this is a business card. Moreover, four months to hit that target gives you an extra month than the normal three-month window with offers like these.
What else to know: This card is also offering a return of 2x miles on eligible American Airlines purchases (standard for the industry), plus 2x on eligible business expenses including telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rentals and gas stations. Additional perks include a free checked bag, priority boarding, plus in-flight discounts on Wi-Fi, food, and drinks.
Annual fee: Just $99, waived in the first 12 months.
Additional details:
Cardmembers get a 25% discount on Wi-Fi, food, and beverages when using this card on an American Airlines flight and in terms of the priority access available, cardmembers (along with up to four travel companions on the same reservation) can board American Airlines flights in Group 5. That’s the classification which comes after elite passengers but before the bulk of economy boarding.
In terms of other details to know about perks associated with this card that will be especially useful to business travelers, cardmembers will have access to personal business assistants 24/7 for help with travel, hotel, and dining arrangements. The cardmember’s business can also earn a certificate for domestic main-cabin travel after spending at least $30,000 on the card during the card membership year and each time the card is renewed. Note, the account must remain open at least 45 days after anniversary date, and redeeming the certificate comes with a $99 fee, plus taxes and fees.
The final word:
All of this leads to the inevitable question, really the only question that matters for anyone writing about credit card offers and anyone pondering offer details: Is this card worth signing up for? One way to think about an answer to that is if you’re at least a regular American Airlines customer, in our opinion you definitely ought to at a minimum take a look at this co-branded card thanks to the offer right now. Overall, the offer is pretty solid, even if it doesn’t include the highest bonuses we’ve seen before with this card.If you do decide to take the plunge, one thing to keep in mind is the restriction associated with the sign-up bonus. If you’ve received a new account bonus for the same card anytime in the past 48 months, you can’t earn the current sign-up bonus on the card.
