Looking for the best American Airlines credit cards to earn AAdvantage Miles? With so many options available, it can be difficult to determine which one is the most lucrative. We've done the research and put together a comprehensive list of credit cards that let you rack up bonus miles, as well as ongoing spending rewards.
View our top picks and use our calculators to find the perfect way to maximize your mileage points and get closer to your next flight!
Best Credit Card Offers
Looking to build up your AAdvantage miles? Here are the 10 best American Airlines credit card offers currently available. This table is updated automatically whenever our partner offers change, so you will always find the most up-to-date bonuses listed.
AAdvantage Credit Cards
American Airlines offers a total of 6 credit cards which consists of 4 consumer credit cards and 2 business credit cards. These credit cards are offered by Citi and Barclays.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
- Earning Rate: Earn 2 AAdvantage Miles per $1 spent on American Airlines purchases and 1X AAdvantage miles on all other purchases.
- Main Highlights: Complimentary Admirals Club membership, free checked bag for yourself and up to 8 others, and priority perks.
- Intro Bonus: Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
- Annual Fee: $450
- Summary: This is the best option if you're looking for Admiral Club membership which normally costs $650 annually. On top of that, you'll also receive a bunch of additional benefits as the cherry on top.
- Learn More about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®.
- Calculate AAdvantage Miles & Card Value per dollar for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
- Earning Rate: Earn 2 AAdvantage Miles per $1 spent on American Airlines, gas station, and restaurant purchases. Earn 1 AAdvantage Miles per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Main Highlights: $125 American Airlines discount after spending $20K on the card during the cardmembership year, free checked bag for yourself and up to 4 companions traveling with you, and priority perks.
- Annual Fee: $95.
- Summary: If you normally pay for checked bags, this card will pay for itself after 1-2 trips depending on if you have companions checking bags as well. It's a solid entry level card if you occasionally fly AA.
- Calculate AAdvantage Miles & Card Value per dollar spent for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®.
American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®
- Earning Rate: Earn 2 AAdvantage Miles per $1 spent on American Airlines and grocery purchases. Earn 1 AAdvantage Mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Main Highlights: 25% off in-flight purchases and no annual fee.
- Intro Bonus: Earn 10,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles and receive a $50 statement credit after making $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
- Annual Fee: $0.
- Summary: Earning 2X miles on grocery purchases is great considering the card has no annual fee. Good option for in-flight purchases as well.
- Learn More about the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®.
- Calculate AAdvantage Miles & Card Value per dollar spent for the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®.
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
- Earning Rate: Earn 2 AAdvantage Miles per $1 spent on American Airlines purchases and on telecommunications, rental car, and gas station purchases. Earn 1 AAdvantage Mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Main Highlights: $99 Domestic Economy Companion Certificate every membership year that you spend $30K or more on the card, free checked bag for yourself and up to 4 companions, and priority perks.
- Annual Fee: $0 the first year, then $99 thereafter.
- Summary: Fantastic entry level business card for earning miles on business purchases and saving on checked bags. The companion pass is also a nice touch that can add significant value if you can hit the $30K annual spend.
- Calculate AAdvantage Miles & Card Value for the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®.
Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Card
- Earning Rate: Earns 2 AAdvantage Miles per $1 spent on American Airlines purchases and 1 AAdvantage Mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Annual Credits: $25 back in statement credits annually for Wi-Fi purchases on AA operated flights.
- Main Highlights: $99 Companion Pass after spending $20K on the card during the year, free checked bag for yourself and up to 4 companions, preferred boarding, and great travel insurance.
- Annual Fee: $95.
- Summary: This card is lacking on bonus categories when compared to the Citi Platinum Select, but it can be a solid option if you care about travel insurance and can obtain the Companion Pass.
- Calculate AAdvantage Miles & Card Value for the Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Card.
Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard
- Earning Rate: Earn 2 AAdvantage Miles per $1 spent on American Airlines, office supply store, telecommunications, and car rental purchases. Earn 1 AAdvantage Miles per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Main Highlights: 5% mileage bonus on your card anniversary, $99 annual companion certificate after spending $30K during the year, and free checked bag for yourself and up to 4 companions.
- Annual Fee: $95
- Summary: If you prefer 2X miles on office supply stores over gas station purchases, this is the better option over the CitiBusiness Platinum Select. It's also worth noting that this card offers a 5% mileage bonus based on your yearly earnings which is major plus.
- Calculate AAdvantage Miles & Card Value for the Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard.
Best Partner Credit Cards
American Airlines AAdvantage is not a direct transfer partner of any major U.S. credit card rewards program. The best transfer partner for earning AAdvantage Miles outside of using AA's own credit cards is Marriott Bonvoy.
Marriott Bonvoy
Marriott offers a whopping 7 credit cards that you can use to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. These points can be transferred to American Airlines AAdvantage at a 3:1 ratio meaning that every 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer will give you 1,000 AAdvantage Miles.
Marriott also offers a 15,000 point bonus for every 60,000-block of points you transfer. So all-in-all, transferring 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to your AAdvantage account would give you 25,000 AAdvantage Miles.
Here are the Marriott credit cards you can use to earn Marriott Bonvoy points:
How many AA credit card miles can you earn per dollar?
This table lists how many AAdvantage Miles you can earn per dollar spent with American Airlines credit cards and all credit card transfer partners.
You can click on a card to learn more about it and to calculate total rewards for the card based on the spend amounts you enter. When calculating rewards, you will be able to compare any credit card side-by-side up to two additional credit cards.
If you want to know which of these credit cards will earn you the most AAdvantage Miles based on your monthly and yearly spend, jump down to the AAdvantage Credit Card Miles Calculator.
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AAdvantage Credit Card Miles Calculator
This calculator will give you a list of the best credit cards for earning AAdvantage Miles based on the monthly and yearly spend amounts you enter. Results will include credit cards that earn AAdvantage Miles directly and credit cards that earn rewards that are transferable to your AAdvantage account.
Find out which credit cards will earn you the most rewards and best value based on the spend amounts you entered
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Results
These estimates are to help guide you towards making the best decision when it comes to picking up a rewards credit card. They should be used for illustrative purposes only.
You can click on the estimated earnings to see the calculations or click on the card to learn more and apply for the card through our partners.
Do note that all spend amounts entered into the tool above will carry over to every credit card rewards calculator on the site, so there's no need to re-enter spend if you choose to dive deeper into calculating rewards for credit cards on the site.
**Amount of rewards when transferred to program.
FAQ
What's the most AA miles you can earn per $1 spent using credit cards?
You can earn up to 2.1X AAdvantage miles per $1 spent using partner credit cards.
What's the best credit card rewards program for earning AAdvantage miles?
You'll earn the most AAdvantage miles using AA's own co-branded credit cards.
Which AA credit card is best?
In our opinion, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is the best well-rounded AA credit card while the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® is the best credit card for AA flyers that want Admiral Lounge access.
Are American Airlines credit cards worth it?
Even if you fly American Airlines once or twice per year, picking up an AA credit card can be well worth it due to the ability to earn miles on everyday spending, free checked bags, priority boarding, in-flight discounts, and much more.
AAdvantage miles calculators
Check out all of our American Airlines AAdvantage miles calculators and calculate everything from how many miles you can earn with credit cards to the cash value of your miles based on redemption!
These calculators and guides are all about maximizing your spend and earning the most miles per dollar spent.
Use our AAdvantage credit card calculators to estimate how many miles you can earn and the cash value of the card based on the spend amounts you enter, how much you value benefits, and annual fees.
Our calculators allow you to compare up to two additional credit cards side by side based on same or different spend. Plus, all spend amounts you enter in the Primary card's column rolls over to all credit card rewards calculators on the site!
Need more miles? Check out our guides on transferring rewards directly to your AAdvantage account. You can also top off your account by purchasing AAdvantage miles.
Want to know how much your miles are worth when redeeming them for flights, rental cars, gift cards, and more? Use these calculators to calculate American Airlines miles to dollars.
Our Credit Card Recommendations For American Airlines
