2tall4economy

If it was the same as DL, they'd also let you get another card for your wife that could give an additional 30k EQM to you and would let you get a Platinum version that gave 20k EQM.

80k EQM annually with $170k spend.

Sure that's a lot of spend, but not too far out of the realm of possibility if your company does a reimbursement (like mine).

If only I flew DL I'd be a guaranteed Plat Medallion annually and Diamond for only 35k BIS...

Would be nice to get that on AA!

dmsdfw

Everyone comparing this MC with the Platinum Amex is missing one key advantage - namely that worldwide, MC is accepted in way more places than Amex. If you don't believe me just try traveling to the UK with only an Amex card.

dopey!

+1

mreed911

One word: wi-fi.

Amex Plat does NOT get this benefit - only AC members.

kebosabi

Looking at the ad banners, it seems like UA responds back at FT by promoting their MP Explorer card. I wonder why CitiAAdvantage banners don't pop up at FT?

scubadu

You do know there is very strong evidence that this particular delta is going away; in fact it's already gone in the SFO AC.

Regards

lwildernorva

I agree, but there are a whole lot of MC and Visa cards that aren't hitting you for a $450 annual fee. I suspect this card will eventually add on some benefits, just as Amex has added some on to the Plat in the last year. It just seems shy a few benefits for its cost--unless the lounge access becomes a more exclusive benefit if AA decides to end access for Plat members.

JumboD

I didn't click through any of them, but I think the card is similar in looks alone (it's matte black); it appears to have only a $95 annual fee, which suggests considerably fewer benefits.

AmericanAirlines

Living near shamu & kebosabi,

An existing cardmember can call Citi to request a conversion to the Citi Executive / AAdvantage card.

JumboD

Amex has only added benefits from the perspective of AA and DL flyers: the PP membership was likely due to the elimination of CO PC access, so it's not out of the realm of possibility for AA to eliminate this benefit from Amex Plat members. More likely Amex will eliminate the benefit because they don't want to pay whatever price AA asks of them.

In my ideal world, AA would make a continued partnership with Amex contingent upon Amex making a huge AAdvantage mile spend and allowing the conversion of MR points to AA miles,a la DL.

kebosabi

So I did some number crunching to see if this card is worth getting. If I missed something, please let me know.

For reference I used the consideration of an "average" AA PLT member who's currently has the CitiAAdvantage World Elite MC and is also an Admiral's Club member. Let's call him "L Walker," from the fictitious name that's usually on the Citicard ads

Should L Walker upgrade his current World Elite MC to the new Citi Executive card?


L Walker is already an AA PLT member so he would already have the benefits like early boarding and free baggage check so those bennies will be taken out.

L Walker is an AC member so he already pays the AC annual renewal fees at $350/year as a PLT. (leave aside he can also pay for his annual renewal with 50k miles )

The annual fee for the Citi Executive card is at $450. As the benefit includes AC membership, you can say his AC renewal fees are already part of the annual fee should he decide to upgrade to the Citi Exec Card.

$450 - $350 = $100 is his true annual fee for the Citi Exec Card.


L Walker also already has a Citi AAdvantage World Elite MC which he currently pays $85 in annual fees. Should he upgrade to the Citi Exec card, then

$100 - $85 = $15 is the price difference between his current Citi AAdv card to the Citi Exec Card


One of the bennies for the Citi Exec card is the no forex fee for foreign purchases, which is 3% of the dollar conversion amount on the World Elite MC. Then the question becomes, how much would L Walker need to spend outside of the US (let's use the variable "F") in order to break even on the $15 difference?


F x 0.03 = $15
F = $500


So L Walker will have to charge over $500 outside of the US to break even on the $15 differential.

By providing the Citi Exec card with an EMV chip that is primarily used outside the US, would L Walker be able to use over $500 in charges outside of the US to break even? A hotel stay outside the US for several nights might be just enough to do that.


In this case, I think L Walker can benefit from upgrading his current card to the Citi Exec Card. YMMV.

Bucanero

You can not upgrade your AA platinum MC to this card, you have to apply for it.

Stripy

I like the thoughts behind this posting but, technically, I don't think you should include the cost of the Citi MC. As a lot of people have found, you can quite easily get that fee waived if you call the retention dept. (or whatever the name is)....something which you will not be able to do (apparently) with the $450 fee for the new Amex.

kebosabi

Post #85 says otherwise.

While you can possibly get the annual fee waiver, it's not really a published benefit on the current CitiAAdvantage World Elite MC; it does state in the T&Cs that the annual fee is $85, so it has to be included as a cost comparison.

Otherwise it's like saying an apple costs 50 cents at Store A versus 65 cents at Store B, but apples shouldn't be counted because one can ask for the fee waived if Store B has a negotiable "find a lower apple price and it's yours free" policy. The term negotiable is key here because it may or may not work at all times.

Furthermore, calling the retention number and pretending to cancel the card for the sole purpose of hoping to be retained and get the annual fee waived is also a risky move; some have mentioned that there was no negotiating at all and the agent just cancelled it. And of course, there's no recourse because the agent did what the caller said.

Noting that the "calling retention dept. to get the annual fee waived" is a variable outcome, it's better to use the $85 annual fee as stated in the T&Cs of the current CitiAAdvantage World Elite MC.

Ross0

Indeed, the Citigold/Private Bank division has confirmed that one can upgrade their other card. Of course, clients of that division do not pay yearly fees for the non-executive card, but would pay a fee for this executive card.