American Airlines Credit Card: Best Way to Earn 40,000+ Bonus AAdvantage miles

You may now get 40,000 bonus AAdvantage miles added to your account when you sign up for a new card and spend $1,000 in purchases within three months of becoming a cardmember.  This credit card that earns one mile per dollar also gives you added benefits to keep you sucessful like quarterly and annual account summaries.

You notice there are to cards to choose from with one being the Business Visa version and the above card is the Personal MasterCard Option of the American Airlines frequent flyer miles credit card. The Visa card below says it will not charge a Annual Fee of $95 for the first year which is a big, big deal after all these new credit card laws have passed. You for sure want to jump on any card wtih no annual fees even if you have to cancel the card before it renews. In most cases you can negotiate with one of the Citibank reps on the annual fee and get it waived if you put on enough purchases on the card or if you pay it and they give you bonus miles. I highly recommend to apply for both if you own a businsess or plan to start a small businses you can get all these miles and it will score you twice the extra flights.

Small Business TIP – We recommend you apply for a business version of this card to get more Bonus Miles to your AAdvantage Accounts. You should also have your business signed up for Business ExtrAA.

Frequent Flyer Miles Tips for American AAdvantage Members
  • Earn even more additional points if you are a cardholder. Make sure you are an AAdvantage member or sign up on AA.com to be part of their program then apply for the credit card and fly American as your main airline and see the rewards come in!
  • Earn extra AAdvantage miles from banks such as BankDirect and Citibank and retailers such as Tom Thumb.
  • Earn more AAdvantage miles by signing up with Gexa or Reliant Energy (up to 7500 bonus miles) in Texas when you switch from TXU Energy. If you live in Texas we recommend you switch not just because of the bonus AA miles but for the cheaper monthly fees and price per kilowatt hour.
  • Cirque du Soleil Exclusive:  The Citi AAdvantage Card is the official credit card of the Michael Jackson and the Delirium tour, and will be giving you an insider’s pass to this unprecedented event.  Delirium is part of Cirque du Soleil, A Musical Feast for the Senses.
  • NOTE: YOU can apply for both business and personal cards and earn both introductory miles. Citibank brings us your new travel companion.. the AAdvantage Business Card where you Earn one mile for every dollar your business spends on purchases.

Cancel your Citi A’Advantage Credit Card?

When you call in to cancel your Citi AAdvantage account that earns you 1 mile per dollar you may get a sales person on the phone to ask for you to stay as a customer and offer you a few good promotions. First, if your reason for canceling is that you do not like the $85 annual fee you are seeing on your statement he or she will offer you a credit in your next billing if you make 5 purchases on the card in the next six months. If you choose to cancel the card because you want more miles per spend they may offer you a 2 mile per dollar promotion if you stay with the card and pay the steep $85 annual fee. While there are benefits to carrying this card such as owning a Citi Card for concert tickets (pre-sale) or for booking American Airlines flights for reduced miles you may want to think is it all worth a $85 annual fee when other credit cards offer higher rewards points or miles.

Should I Join Traavel Perks?

There is a new program called Traavel Perks from Points.com and American Airlines. I joined this program by accident thinking it would give me “up to $400 off flights” and that “it will pay for itself”. The $400 in flights is for companion fares which we know are always a rip off and a hassle for frequent travelers. I made the mistake myself so you do not have to do the same. It is a cheap way to get 2,500 AAdvantage miles in your account if you need them badly but it takes a few weeks I think for them to transfer to your account. Otherwise, save the $134 for something else.    Update:  The Traavel Perks program has since discontinued.  This was basically an empty program if you ask me not worth the investment.  I am glad to see American Airlines put an end to the much marketed “travel perks”.

Did you recieve a mailer for a Citi Gold / AAdvantage MasterCard in the mail?

The new promotion coming to your mailboxes for the 20,000 AAdvantage miles is not as good as you can get online anymore. You have to spend $750 worth of purchases within 4 months of opening your account instead of the $250 required from the links on this site or other credit card sites. The $50 off certificate you get in this package expires within a few months and is a hassle to book with.

Reduced Mileage Awards for Citi AAdvantage Cardholders

If you are a Citi AAdvantage cardmember they offer a benefit that is hardly publicized.  I have not even read about this great benefit on the leading travel forums.  I noticed on my Citi AAdvantage World MasterCard statement today that you can fly to destinations all over the world for 7,500 fewer miles (includes 70 cities).  This benefit is for cardholders of the Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Gold, Platinum, and Business cards.  An example would be a flight from St. Louis, MO roundtrip to New York, NY would be 37,500 miles first class or 17,500 coach class.  This is definitely a reason to keep the card once it charges you the $85.00 annual fee.  The gold cardholders have to pay a few thousand more miles and the bronze cardholders do not get this option.  More information can be found at ReducedMileageAwards.citicards.com.

Can I pay cash for my flight with American Airlines?  When you book your reservation on AA.com, you have the option to pay for your airline tickets using cash at participating Western Union® locations within the United States, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Uruguay. Simply put your reservation on hold, print the confirmation page and head to your nearest Western Union location.  You can still earn AAdvantage miles but you could earn more using miles credit cards when booking your flight.

What is the best credit card to for earning AAdvantage miles quickly?  We recommend the Starwood Card which earns a dollar per point like the AAdvantage card but gives you a 20% bonus when you transfer 20,000 points to AA Miles.  You may also consider paying a steep annual fee and applying for anExecutive Elite version of the card to earn more miles.

Do AAdvantage miles expire? Miles expire after 36 months of inactivity. Your best best is to have the credit card listed above and make purchases every year at least to keep the miles account active.

See what other frequent flyers say about the aadvantage program.

National Air Rewards Credit Cards: Continental | Delta Skymiles | United Mileage Plus | British Airways | Frequent Flyer Miles for all Airlines

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