sdsearch

And why would you even think it would work differently?

Do you really that someone can have 6 (maybe even more) Citi AA cards at a time? (If that many, they might not be able to have any other Citi cards, though.) Did you really think that in that case someone would get 60% back (more than half off)? What if they could have 10 Citi AA cards, that would mean they'd get 100% back???

(Citi doesn't put limits on how many AA cards you have, as long as you apply for them "slowly enough". They only put limits on how many total Citi cards you have, but that limit varies from person to person. And I can't rule that someone somewhere might not be able to have as many as 10 Citi cards at a time. And if so, they could 10 Citi AA cards if they really wished. Though unless this worked the way you thought it might, I wouldn't see the benefit of having so many Citi AA cards...)

The way the system works is by "asking" a simple question:

Does the account holder have a qualifying Citi AA card? If so, enable card-related benefits. If not, don't enable card-related benefits. (There's nothing to enable twice, it's simply either enabled or disabled, an on/off flag. So it works the same no matter how many qualifying* Citi AA cards you have.)

*There's some confusion as to exactly which cards are qualifying, as has been discussed above, because some people with all the "right" wording on their card have been told by Citi CS agents that their card doesn't qualify! Most cards applied for in the past half year are clearly so, but cards applied for many years ago less clearly so. And we were told that qualifying cards would have their annual fee raised to $95, yet the Citi retention reports thread shows most people still getting $85 annual fees today!

MaineFlyer16

Well, it seems you omitted a word, so your first sentence makes no sense. And no, I did not "think" that, but that is why I asked. If it did work that way, it wouldn't be the first time Citi or AA had done something incompetently. And my guess would be that very very very few people have six or ten AA cards.

azepine00

I personally was hoping it would increase the cap on redemption accordingly while staying at 10%. It doesn't seem to be the case though from what i understand.

aznaphrodite

I can only speak from our experience in May. I paid for our tickets with our AA Citi Card and we had priority boarding on the way there. On our return, we asked for an earlier flight and was reissued new tickets for a different flight. No priority boarding.

Also, for another flight we took in early May, I paid with AA gift cards and also no priority boarding. However, I bought the tickets BEFORE signing up for the credit card so it may be because of that.

sdsearch

Well, just because you were reissued new tickets for a different flight, that different was still paid for with your AA Citi card. So whichever it works, it was because it lost track of your card-based status (whether that's due having a card or due to using the card) with the ticket reissue. If AA hasn't yet established this new level of status (Silver? Tin?) completely within its system, it may not have the ability to carry it over in such situations the way Gold/Plat/EXP status carries over in rebooking situations.

The reason I suspect it's tied to having the card, not to using the card, is because multiple people who have the card have recently booked tickets with Avios points they had, then changed the ticket to be associated with their AA number rather than their BA number, and got priority boarding. (A similar procedure has long worked for Gold/Plat/EXP members; book a ticket on AA with a partner airlines' miles, then change the account the ticket is linked to back to AA, and they have their Gold/Plat/EXP at-airport benefits on that ticket.)

Plus, in the very first post of this thread, there's a link to a page that links to this page:

https://creditcards.citi.com/credit-...m-information/

where it says, in part:
As you can see, it doesn't say anywhere that the ticket has to booked with the card, but how long the card had to be open, when the ticket had to booked after, and that the cardholder's AA number must be on the ticket (by the time you're checking your bag).

It then goes on to say extremely similar things about the priority boarding.

aznaphrodite

I don't always believe that what AA says is actually implemented. I also thought that it was concluded that getting priority boarding was a benefit of redeeming Avios points but I'm not sure I recall correctly.

Either way, I'll find out in a couple of weeks. DH is taking an AA flight that was booked this week and purchased by his company (so not with the card) but has had the card for months so we'll see if he gets priority boarding or not. I'll report back on what happens.

cathammer

Regarding priority boarding/access benefits:

Just got back from a European trip with 5 flights in the itinerary. Outbound (ATL-LGA, JFK-MXP), online check in at home produced boarding passes with Priority Access notation that worked for counter bag line and boarding, although some employees didn't seem familiar with the perk yet. At JFK, we were looking for a priority check-in line and noticed a small walled-off area with some sort of "exclusive" notation (don't remember its exact wording). Showing the pass, & asking if we could check in there, the "guardian" asked how the priority status was given. We briefly explained it to her, & while showing her the Aadvantage MC, she noticed an adjacent British Airways Signature VISA, which seemed to end her inquiry more quickly than our explanation. Odd.

Returning, AA's site switched online to the British Airways site for boarding passes since the first leg was on BA (BLQ-LGW), & they did not print with any kind of priority notation, even on the first AA flight (LHR-JFK). Checking in with American at LHR, however, produced new passes for the AA leg with the Priority Access noted (again, the counter agent didn't seem familiar with why, but didn't question it). I don't know whether the BA pass would have also had that if it had been the second leg and/or if I had been able to print it from the AA site, or at an AA counter. Another open question for now, I suppose. In any case, it seems to give full priority access, not just boarding, at least on AA flights.

bww

Glitches with the priority boarding benefits:

Boarded a flight from ORD to JFK today. The boarding pass I printed off at home had Priority AAccess on it. However, AA cancelled my original flight and I had to print the new boarding pass at the terminal. The new boarding pass did not have priority boarding and the ticket agent was unable to fix the ticket. The agent did tell me this was a known glitch and that I could call AAdvantage customer service or wait for a supervisor. It wasn't worth the wait, but wanted to give everyone the heads up on the glitch.

sent

The "exclusive" notation at JFK says "Priority Access" on a big standing board. A few weeks ago the "guardian" wouldn't let me in even though my boarding pass says "Priority" and I held it up to the giant board that also says "Priority." No go. I was told to go around back around the counters and join the long un-Priority line on the other side. She was only letting those whose boarding passes said "Business" through. I stood in the line on the other side, finally got to the front when the agent says "You're Priority, you should've gone over there." I pointed out that the "guardian" over there didn't let me in (literally pointed to her). She then showed me that there is a separate line for Priority guarded by a different guardian, but this line is hard to find because you have to walk past the huge non-Priority line to locate it. Well now I know for future trips.

When we boarded (JFK-SAN), huge line when they called Priority. I overheard multiple "I don't know why my boarding pass says Priority but sweet!" The gate agents commented "Wow, half the plane is Priority." Are there really that many AA Citicard holders out there?

JIMCHI

The Citibank AAdvantage card does not entitle the holder to use the priority lines at baggage check-in; the benefit it gives is with priority boarding. Priority baggage check-in lines are for first and business class passengers and AAdvantage elite members.

abk

As well as those on Anytime awards and full Y fares.

sent

Not sure if this was in reference to my post, but the guardian I was trying to get past was at security line, not baggage check-in. I don't know if showing my Gold card would've helped. There was more than one Priority entrance at JFK security that Thursday afternoon. The guardian at the first one was turning away Prioritiy boarding passes even though she was standing next to a huge "Priority" sign. The problem was that she wasn't clearly directing anyone to the other Priority line.

JIMCHI

Your Gold card should have gotten you through the priority line at security.

thetravelabstract

I can add my anecdote to support your claim.

I used Avios Points for international travel (JFK-EZE), used my BA card to pay for it, had my AA Citicards open and I got priority boarding.

no1cub17

Great thread. Something else I want to make sure is that does the free checked bag benefit apply to tickets purchased with miles? I imagine it should, it's just not explicitly stated anywhere. I got the card in June, just got my bonus miles and booked a ticket for next weekend, so let's see if it works. Another thing I'm wondering is if the checked bag benefit will work on an itinerary bought with miles before I had the Citi card. Of course it's been much longer than 7 days since I received the card so technically I should get a free bag on that itinerary too? Let's see!