TWA884

If you are the primary Executive cardmember, your AAdvantage number is already on the back of the card. It does not appear on your authorized users cards.

fliesdelta

Neat. I'm the primary cardholder, and my Exec card doesn't have my AA number on it.

psychtobe

i'm not sure why people persist in posting this erroneous information, based on a blog post from a decade ago.

Many current primary cardholders do not have their AA number printed on their card.

EZTraveler

YUP, same here. I actually went and looked at my card just out of pure curiosity from this discussion. My number is not on the card but "Admirals Club" is in billboard sized letters. Just for GIP, my Marriott cards once had my Marriott Rewards number but not no mo! (I'm just going to beat somebody to the punch and say that they Bonvoyed it!!)

TWA884

I've been the primary cardholder of the AAdvantage Executive card for 10 years. The back of my current card, which was issued in August 23, looks exactly like this one except that it has my name and AAdvantage account number.

psychtobe

Just because it's true for you doesn't mean it's true for everyone. 🤗

I don't think anyone knows who gets which version or why.

notquiteaff

I am the primary cardholder, and the card is two months old. No AAdvantage number on my card. In fact my card has a completely different design, perhaps the result of last year’s product changes… and your Aug 2023 card still got the old design with the number?

AAway

This is how mine looks as well

Riled

It's been a while since I was an American elite, mostly flying Delta and UA last decade.

Any scuttlebutt on improvements to the earn on this card? I get the Loyalty Points piece but that's now table stakes across the big 3. My UnitedClub Card at least gets me 2x on dining. Hard to see why they wouldn't want to incentivize some extra category spend on this for those remotely interested in getting more than 1pt per dollar outside of airfare. For context, I've spent most of my career in or around the card industry working with major issuers, so I'm very familiar with the economic model the for issuer and partner airline, but still feels uncompetitive unless people really love the lounge. What am I missing?

mikeFT

[Edit: Haven't heard of any new improvements coming.]

For me, the value is in the 10x on hotels and cars through the AA portals, which are pretty good portals in their own right. For example, the cars portal (10x on Avis and Budget) gives me the same discounted price as going directly through Avis (where I also have status, largely because of AA), and my reservations are accessible on the Avis portal as if I had made them there. It really is a simple way to earn 10x (redeemable miles) by doing something you were going to do anyway. Then the hotels portal which is powered by Rocket gives you the opportunity for up to 15k RDMs AND LPs per stay, plus the 10x RDMs that the card offers on top of that. So I rarely book hotels anywhere else; this may not be as valuable to you if you're tied into a particular hotel's points program, but for me, I'd rather earn the American miles especially with these bonuses and if the company is paying for the stay. Then I can redeem miles for personal travel. For me it's the best way to maximize the perks of having (getting) to travel for work.

Then there's 4x on AA purchases, and those things I've mentioned so far are really the only things I purchase with this card. I also have the Aviator Silver from Barclays, at least until the card anniversary in August, and I use it as my catchall card - they offer spending targets that the Executive does not, but the LP bonuses the Executive offers apply regardless of how your points were earned. So I use the Silver for discretionary spending that doesn't align with another category, and large purchases, plus all spending onboard flights or at the Admiral's Lounge (2x on that and refunds for in-flight purchases). I hit the spending targets on the Silver and earn the bonus LPs on the Executive from doing so.

Then there's the lounge access.

LovePrunes

they just relaunched the card last year with added perks when they raised the annual fees significantly. I dont think they're about to juice it up again so fast after the recent benefit boosts. The LPs they offer through some clever engagement bonuses are significantly more than "table stakes" of the other airlines.

TWA884

I have no idea if this is old or new design; I have not saved my expired cards.

This is a photo of my actual card.

notquiteaff

Ok, so yours does have the same design as mine … except that mine doesn't have the AAdvantage number on it. Perhaps the initial card issued doesn’t have it for some technical reason? E.g., perhaps the card gets printed/processed before Citi has confirmed the AAdvantage number with AA or created a new account. (my first statement miles/points haven’t posted yet either, statement close date was 2/26, so I should have received RDM and LP as the one and only charge was in Feb).

Maybe when I have a period of time without travel I will ask Citi for a new card due to “damage” to the old card and see if one with AA # shows up.

ZenFlyer

You are focusing on redeemable miles rather than elite status. I'm not aware of any other co-branded card where one accumulates status points on everyday credit card spend, no matter how large or small. (Other cards require x amount of spend for y number of status points). That also gives a certain amount of flexibility at the end of the status year - eg if you find yourself 3000 points short of a desired status threshold at the beginning of February, you can can close the gap by making $3000 of charges.

I'm not arguing that status points are more valauble than increased RDMs, just that they serve a different purpose which may be appealing to some people.

I agree with this assessment - as much as I too would like to see increased bonus categories I don't see it happening soon.

S80

Delta/Amex reserve does give MQD (the equivalent of the EQM) for spend, and it is roughly the same ratio (1:10) that AA has for EP flight spend (1:11 sans taxes). However, yes, it does not give the other metrics to obtain status (so one can't wholly with just CC spend like they can on AA)