bobnchi

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Ty Vil

On my last flight they also wanted to talk about my impending warranty expiration for my vehicle.

bobnchi

And AA pockets about $250 +/-. A few years ago I worked at a big box store and credit apps were big business. The store received $300 for each approved app.

PHL

Reminds me back in the late 80's as a clueless high school kid working at JCPenney for a whopping $3.35/hour. We were required to push the JCPenney credit card by any means with each sale we made if a customer wasn't using a JCP card to pay. This is when we would fill out the app by hand with the customer right there at the register counter as they would verbally tell us all their information including name/address/SS#/salary/etc for everyone in earshot to hear. The department managers came down on us hard and asked every hour how many apps we took in. The store GM was breathing down the dept managers' necks for apps APPS APPS - MORE APPS! There were definitely kickback incentives going on there.

DFWFlier

Exactly! The claims they make about the free tickets you can get with the bonus miles aren't anywhere near reality!

BrianV

There's probably another thread for this elsewhere, but is there a breakdown on what Citi pays AA for this stuff? I mean I know credit card companies are aggressive across the board, but the customer acquisition cost of some of these don't make sense. I never carry a balance or pay interest, so they're not making more than the trivial markup they're charging vendors when I seldom use the card, much of which is going to MasterCard directly. Then Citi is paying AA something for the other perks (Admirals Club being the only one I really use). I'm already Plat for Life and PPro or EXP so the baggage/boarding stuff of is of no value. Then there are the credit card churners. I'd just love to know the economics of this. It's not a new thing, so Citi must be making money somewhere.

I know they're going to raise the Citi Exec, but $450 for AC access and the TSAPre seems like a loss-leader for Citi. Given LP valuation pales in comparison to my other cards (Hilton Surpass AMEX, Bonvoy Biz Amex and Ritz JPMorgan) I just don't use it. I also made cards for my wife, mom and Dad so they enjoy the admirals club, and they never use the card for spend. The guest access alone is ridiculous; if I trusted my friends more I'd be giving out Admirals access like jello shots at a college party. Legit, for the last five years, my only payment to Citi was $450 per year (the annual fee).

The fact they're so aggressive and even bounty'ing FAs (whose primary responsibility is your safety) just blows me away. I do think it feels tacky coming from the FAs. They should just have an automated IFE/PA announcement like they do for the safety stuff.

QueenOfCoach

Another good reason to bring your own IFE. You don't have to pause for an announcement.

I listen just long enough to hear if it's safety-related, then tune them out if it's just another ad.

NYC Flyer

As I understand it, most of the vendor discount ends up in the issuing bank's hands, with Mastercard/Visa and processing agent getting a cut. So, Citi is probably doing just fine on this and other high value customer portfolios (i.e., Costco, which they famously paid a ton for) based solelly on "swipe" revenues. Just speculation, but I'm guessing AA provides the perks and marketing support in exchange for all or almost all of the annual fee. They also benefit from Citi's ongoing commitment to purchase Miles/LPs, including the sign up bonuses.

355F1

Do they have the same long-winded, full of lies pitches on UA or DL?

Amil

we should just make complaints to the CFPB or whatever govt institution monitors them and see if they'll stop lol

AAway

Just a minor clarification here - the onboard credit card pitches are for the Barclay's card from LUS. As part of the US/AA merger, Barclays is promoted onboard where Citi is promoted in the airports and lounges.

jcf27

The pitch appears to be working as intended - to get your attention. I'm sorry to hear people get so worked-up over this and aren't able to block it off.....

AADFW

Out of curiosity, which of those three cards do you find is best?

Antarius

Attention isn't always positive. Mooning someone onboard gets attention too.

I'll never carry an AA Barclays card due to this bush league mickey mouse amateur hour ......... (And also helping the case, the card itself is subpar).

aquanine

Citi is surely makes money on most $450 Citi Exec cards. Most people don't add 10 AU's, since AU spend is liable to primary cardholder. Global Entry is $100/5 years, so $20 annualized. Free checked baggage is also on the $99 card, so it can't cost Citi that much. Bulk AAdmiral Club access for $335 or less is fairly reasonable, especially since Citi pays AA so much for miles. Any money you spend in the card is extra cash (2%-4% interchange revenue against 1x on most purchases), and interest is a cherry topping.

Not OP, but IMO Aspire (uncapped cert + Diamond + $500 credits + 14x HH, $450 fee) > Ritz (85k cert + Plat + $300 credit, $450 fee) > Bonvoy Biz (35k no spend, $125 fee) == Surpass (uncapped cert but 15k spend, $95 fee).