I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Barclays and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.
Citibank’s American Airlines small business card, Citi® / AAdvantage BusinessTM World Elite Mastercard®, has an offer to earn 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 5 months of account opening. The card’s $99 annual fee is waived for first 12 months. 
[See rates and fees]
My wife was approved for this card. Her small business is… very small. I was approved for the card also. What I really like about the card beyond the initial bonus:
- Cardmembers have the normal requirements of unique business travelers at their company and minimum spend waived. Points go into your AAdvantage Business account (that gets opened when you open the card) instead of a personal AAdvantage account. You can link travelers to that AAdvantage Business account, and then transfer miles to them or to the accountmember.
- Earn an additional Loyalty Point per dollar spent on tickets as an AAdvantage Business customers – you’re earning AAdvantage status faster.
- Spend on the card earns Loyalty Points which means 1 point towards status for every dollar spent on purchases.
With annual fee waived for the first 12 months, and a nice bonus plus these benefits, it’s a no brainer to get, but does it make sense to hang onto?
I’m going to keep it because for me, it will more than pay for itself with a lesser-known benefit. And then I’ll get to continue earning an additional Loyalty Point per dollar spent on tickets and also being able to transfer points out of my AAdvantage Business account to associated travelers.
Here’s why it makes sense to hang onto for me. AAdvantage cards promote a benefit of 25% savings on inflight food and beverage purchases on American Airlines flights. This card also offers 25% back on inflight wifi purchases. That includes American Airlines wifi subscriptions.
25% savings on inflight Wi-Fi purchases
Receive a 25% savings when you use your Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ Mastercard® credit card for the purchase of inflight Wi-Fi service from American Airline’s Wi-Fi merchants Gogo, Viasat, or Panasonic, and on American Airlines’ Wi-Fi Subscription Plan. This benefit applies to flights marketed and operated by American Airlines or on flights marketed by American Airlines and operated by Envoy Air Inc., Republic Airways Inc., SkyWest Airlines, Inc., Air Wisconsin Airlines LLC, PSA Airlines, Inc., or Piedmont Airlines, Inc. This benefit is not available on codeshare flights booked with an American Airlines flight number but operated by another airline. Savings will appear as a statement credit 8-10 weeks after the transaction is posted to the credit cardmember’s card account. Applicable terms and conditions are subject to change without notice.
I spend $49.95 per month for this, almost $600 per year, so yielding a rebate of nearly $150 against a $99 annual fee. I’d come out ahead spending nothing on the card by my inflight wifi.
I’m not saying this is the most rewarding card for spending, although it can be an important part of American AAdvantage status-earning. But it makes clear sense to get, given the value proposition of the upfront bonus offer, and for me it makes a lot of sense to keep because I get value out of the wifi rebate alone and then can continue to have the benefits of the card.
By
