Originally Posted by
VegasGambler
Yeah, because it's better for them 🤣
Obviously the people who will get a lot from the portal are people who are trying to maximize their miles and status. The CC is "easier" in the sense that it's less work if you happen to have a lot of CC spend that you can put on a personal card. But most people just don't have enough CC spend to make a significant dent towards anything other than gold with their CC spend.
It's unlikely that it's better in terms of per-mile profitability, though. It seems likely Citi pays the least per mile of any AA partner. But the CCs are obviously better overall, since miles earned on the CCs undoubtedly outnumber miles earned via portals by a factor of 500 or more. Maybe 5,000. (Which was the point I was making above.)