Citi Prestige vs. Citi AA Executive

[MJPEREZ77]

Hi CB!

 

Hope everyone is enjoying their week. I am wondering what opinions are out there on the Citi Prestige vs. Citi AA Executive (and for that matter feel free to chime in, as I am sure you will, regarding your opinions on other Premier Cards, i.e. CSP, SPG, etc). The reason I ask is that I am seeing my FAKO's improve, and being that I just payed for a Tri Report on myFICO on 10/26, I feel as though on 11/1 or whenever I pay again, real FICO's will be higher as well). That being said, if I am considering cards like CSP (just showed up on my Chase Pre Approvals Page), Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive (AF's considered), which card would you choose? (I am considering (will try) accumulating approx 250k AA points between sign up bonuses and spend req.'s along with 100k-110k UR Points if I can get the Chase Ink Plus all during upcoming app spree). Hope everyone has a great nite!!

 

Thanks

[rel]

I have the Citi Prestige card, there's no reason to choose the Citi AA Executive over it besides the signup bonus.

Citi AA Executive gives you 10k American EQMs after 40k a year though.

[MJPEREZ77]

I have the Citi Prestige card, there's no reason to choose the Citi AA Executive over it besides the signup bonus.

Citi AA Executive gives you 10k American EQMs after 40k a year though.

Thanks for the input. i am definitely leaning towards the Prestige. I figure DW can get any AA card in the next 90 days or so. I am trying to expand the CC portfolio between the both of us and not double up on cards (I mean why do we really need to Freedoms, right?) as we PIF and only would carry a balance if we had 0% BT Fee and APR on one card, which we don't but we do have them on seperate cards, lol. And I figure if I pass on the CSP now, as I am leaning towards the British Airways Card for the Bonus, I can possibly get it in the next 4 mos or so. Again, thanks!!!

[BDK]

Prestige is a better card, IMHO.

[cv91915]

I have the Citi Prestige card, there's no reason to choose the Citi AA Executive over it besides the signup bonus.

Citi AA Executive gives you 10k American EQMs after 40k a year though.

 

This is on my list of things to research. Is this spending per calendar year, or based on the anniversary date of the card? IIRC, it's calendar year.

[mendelssohn]

The Prestige has more benefits and now that you can transfer points, more flexibility. With the 2 and 3% categories, it also has more earning potential. Both cards give you Admiral's Club access.

 

My personal plan is to app for the Exec at some point for the bonus and then close it after a few years for the Prestige.

[rel]

Prestige

3-2-1% Categories

60% +value when using points on AA/US Air, 33% + value on all others when booked through ThankYou

Admirals Club for primary account holder and all immediate family or 2 guests

Priority Pass Select for primary account and authorized users + 2 guests

4th night free at ALL hotels & NO LIMIT.

$250 a year on ANY airline fee credit

No foreign transaction fees + $100 Global entry reimbursement if paid with card.

 

Executive AA

The Executive card gives you AA airline perks such as baggage and boarding

Admirals Club

50k-100k signup bonus miles

2x miles per $1

10k EQM after spending 40k a year

 

 

You can use ANY CARD & get majority of the Executive AA card benefits by flying AA often as a AAdvantage member.

Edited October 31, 2014 by rel

[cv91915]

 

I have the Citi Prestige card, there's no reason to choose the Citi AA Executive over it besides the signup bonus.

Citi AA Executive gives you 10k American EQMs after 40k a year though.

 

This is on my list of things to research. Is this spending per calendar year, or based on the anniversary date of the card? IIRC, it's calendar year.

 

 

Elite Qualifying Miles7

Each calendar year when you reach $40,000 in spending on purchases with your Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive credit card, you will earn 10,000 AAdvantage® elite qualifying miles from American Airlines to put you on the fast track to American Airlines AAdvantage® elite status membership. Elite qualifying miles can only be used toward attaining AAdvantage® elite status levels that are explained and defined in the Elite Qualification Requirements section. Purchases made from additional cards on the primary cardmember's account will count toward the primary cardmember's qualifying spend for Elite Qualifying Miles. Additional cardholders do not earn this benefit.

[pbarnes]

I got the AA Exec when the sign up bonus was 100k.

 

I have barely used it since. They have improved the various benefits since, but AA miles aren't worth much to me. I plan to burn them on a Hawaii trip and never use AA again (I fly VX domestically but I'm not going anywhere near Comenity, and non-US carriers internationally).

 

I plan to PC it to the Prestige.

[mendelssohn]

I got the AA Exec when the sign up bonus was 100k.

 

I have barely used it since. They have improved the various benefits since, but AA miles aren't worth much to me. I plan to burn them on a Hawaii trip and never use AA again (I fly VX domestically but I'm not going anywhere near Comenity, and non-US carriers internationally).

 

I plan to PC it to the Prestige.

If you PC, you'll miss out on the signup bonus.

[pbarnes]

True. And the in branch bonus is 60k TYP.

 

But... Otherwise I have a useless card.

 

My thinking was to app the Premier for the 50k TYP, close it early the 2nd year so no AF, and then combine CL with the Prestige.

[mendelssohn]

True. And the in branch bonus is 60k TYP.

 

But... Otherwise I have a useless card.

 

My thinking was to app the Premier for the 50k TYP, close it early the 2nd year so no AF, and then combine CL with the Prestige.

 

I didn't think Citi combined CLs, only the occasional offer to move some of a CL from one card to another upon approval.

 

Either way, my intention is to get as many miles and TYP out of them as possible from signup bonuses.

 

Is the in-branch bonus always 60K?

[pbarnes]

 

 

True. And the in branch bonus is 60k TYP.

 

But... Otherwise I have a useless card.

 

My thinking was to app the Premier for the 50k TYP, close it early the 2nd year so no AF, and then combine CL with the Prestige.

I didn't think Citi combined CLs, only the occasional offer to move some of a CL from one card to another upon approval.

 

Either way, my intention is to get as many miles and TYP out of them as possible from signup bonuses.

 

Is the in-branch bonus always 60K?

I've seen many reports of Citi CL consolidation... But don't know what the current deal is.

 

Yes, always 60k in branch. Also $350AF for Citigold.

 

I guess I can PC the AA Exec to something with $0 AF then app in branch for Prestige.

[MJPEREZ77]

 

 

True. And the in branch bonus is 60k TYP.

 

But... Otherwise I have a useless card.

 

My thinking was to app the Premier for the 50k TYP, close it early the 2nd year so no AF, and then combine CL with the Prestige.

I didn't think Citi combined CLs, only the occasional offer to move some of a CL from one card to another upon approval.

 

Either way, my intention is to get as many miles and TYP out of them as possible from signup bonuses.

 

Is the in-branch bonus always 60K?

I've seen many reports of Citi CL consolidation... But don't know what the current deal is.

 

Yes, always 60k in branch. Also $350AF for Citigold.

 

I guess I can PC the AA Exec to something with $0 AF then app in branch for Prestige.

 

So just to confirm, there is NO requirement for getting the in branch offer of 60K, other than app'ing in branch? I ask because I have read that it requires a CitiGold Checking Account OR a to do app as a "Global Customer", just wondering if anyone has actually done this here.

[funkiehouse]

I have the AA executive and I use it a lot because we are AA flyers and like the miles, lounge access, and flight perks. I do agree that the Prestige may be the better card unless travel is you main use.

 

Other ways to grab AA miles would be to get the Barclays US Air card ASAP before its gone in the next month or so (40k in miles after first purchase and pay the $89 fee - these will eventually transfer to AA but I think you can now book AA flights using US Air miles on their site).

 

You could also get the Starwoods AMEX and (25k points after $5k spend in 6 months and then transfer those to AA at 1:1 - you'll have 30k points after meeting the spend). You always get a 5k points/miles bonus when transferring SPG points to AA miles (per 20k transferred) but you could also wait until they do a 50% bonus and get even more. The last one was in June I believe and they usually do the bonus every 6 months or so.

[MJPEREZ77]

I have the AA executive and I use it a lot because we are AA flyers and like the miles, lounge access, and flight perks. I do agree that the Prestige may be the better card unless travel is you main use.

 

Other ways to grab AA miles would be to get the Barclays US Air card ASAP before its gone in the next month or so (40k in miles after first purchase and pay the $89 fee - these will eventually transfer to AA but I think you can now book AA flights using US Air miles on their site).

 

You could also get the Starwoods AMEX and (25k points after $5k spend in 6 months and then transfer those to AA at 1:1 - you'll have 30k points after meeting the spend). You always get a 5k points/miles bonus when transferring SPG points to AA miles (per 20k transferred) but you could also wait until they do a 50% bonus and get even more. The last one was in June I believe and they usually do the bonus every 6 months or so.

Awesome info, Thanks!!! Yes, pretty much decided on the Prestige, especially as I had been thinking about opening up a CitiGold account and/or a BofA Preferred Awards Account also. Chase is good, but to get anything special, they want you to have $250k in deposits. So we figure we will transfer our relationships elsewhere. The main goal is to travel to NY in Fall of 2015 and Europe Summer of 2016, (oldest is already heading to Europe in May '15 and Jan '16 for study abroad) aside from any business and personal related domestic travel. As we have a family of 6, we can easily accumulate points/rewards ( and can even do better if I add M$ ) and am planning future app sprees accordingly. After a brief calculation last nite, assuming we obtain the cards I am shooting for, we can easily have 200k UR Points, 105k US Airways Miles, 150k min (possibly 250k if we can churn) AA Miles, 105k Avios, and hopefully free 4 weekend nites in both Hyatt and Hilton Properties each. Not to mention that she will be app'ing for AMEX in 2015 (possible D* to '95) so MR points are possible as are TYP for other Citi Cards. I can see how this can turn into a Full Time Job, between here and other sites (FT, TPG, etc) I can't stay up long enough to read everything, lol. Again, thanks for sharing! Hope everyone has a Great Halloween!!!

Edited October 31, 2014 by MJPEREZ77

[funkiehouse]

 

I have the AA executive and I use it a lot because we are AA flyers and like the miles, lounge access, and flight perks. I do agree that the Prestige may be the better card unless travel is you main use.

 

Other ways to grab AA miles would be to get the Barclays US Air card ASAP before its gone in the next month or so (40k in miles after first purchase and pay the $89 fee - these will eventually transfer to AA but I think you can now book AA flights using US Air miles on their site).

 

You could also get the Starwoods AMEX and (25k points after $5k spend in 6 months and then transfer those to AA at 1:1 - you'll have 30k points after meeting the spend). You always get a 5k points/miles bonus when transferring SPG points to AA miles (per 20k transferred) but you could also wait until they do a 50% bonus and get even more. The last one was in June I believe and they usually do the bonus every 6 months or so.

Awesome info, Thanks!!! Yes, pretty much decided on the Prestige, especially as I had been thinking about opening up a CitiGold account and/or a BofA Preferred Awards Account also. Chase is good, but to get anything special, they want you to have $250k in deposits. So we figure we will transfer our relationships elsewhere. The main goal is to travel to NY in Fall of 2015 and Europe Summer of 2016, (oldest is already heading to Europe in May '15 and Jan '16 for study abroad) aside from any business and personal related domestic travel. As we have a family of 6, we can easily accumulate points/rewards ( and can even do better if I add M$ ) and am planning future app sprees accordingly. After a brief calculation last nite, assuming we obtain the cards I am shooting for, we can easily have 200k UR Points, 105k US Airways Miles, 150k min (possibly 250k if we can churn) AA Miles, 105k Avios, and hopefully free 4 weekend nites in both Hyatt and Hilton Properties each. Not to mention that she will be app'ing for AMEX in 2015 (possible D* to '95) so MR points are possible as are TYP for other Citi Cards. I can see how this can turn into a Full Time Job, between here and other sites (FT, TPG, etc) I can't stay up long enough to read everything, lol. Again, thanks for sharing! Hope everyone has a Great Halloween!!!

 

 

Yeah, it can be a full time job. It sounds like your on the right track. We had 190k aa miles but just recently booked a trip from LAX to London and Paris back to LAX in Feb 2015 for 2 weeks. Used 80k in miles plus only $190 for 2 tickets. You may already know this but try to avoid using British Air flying through London to save a ton on fuel surcharges. Were flying into LHR on American and from Paris through Phily to LA on the way back so we were able to avoid paying $800 in fuel charges.

 

Have you ever looked at any of these sites:

 

thepointsguy.com

expertflyer.com

mightytravels.com

 

Mighty Travels is my fav because they find mistake fares all the time and post them. You have to be willing to act quick on them though because sometimes their gone in hours. A lot of people buy those and fly these really long flights that were mistake fares just for the points and to bump up their status in rewards programs. For example, I've found RT flights to Norway from LAX for $300.

 

The Points Guy has a lot of info on manufactured spending to help meet credit card spending levels quickly.

[MJPEREZ77]

 

 

I have the AA executive and I use it a lot because we are AA flyers and like the miles, lounge access, and flight perks. I do agree that the Prestige may be the better card unless travel is you main use.

 

Other ways to grab AA miles would be to get the Barclays US Air card ASAP before its gone in the next month or so (40k in miles after first purchase and pay the $89 fee - these will eventually transfer to AA but I think you can now book AA flights using US Air miles on their site).

 

You could also get the Starwoods AMEX and (25k points after $5k spend in 6 months and then transfer those to AA at 1:1 - you'll have 30k points after meeting the spend). You always get a 5k points/miles bonus when transferring SPG points to AA miles (per 20k transferred) but you could also wait until they do a 50% bonus and get even more. The last one was in June I believe and they usually do the bonus every 6 months or so.

Awesome info, Thanks!!! Yes, pretty much decided on the Prestige, especially as I had been thinking about opening up a CitiGold account and/or a BofA Preferred Awards Account also. Chase is good, but to get anything special, they want you to have $250k in deposits. So we figure we will transfer our relationships elsewhere. The main goal is to travel to NY in Fall of 2015 and Europe Summer of 2016, (oldest is already heading to Europe in May '15 and Jan '16 for study abroad) aside from any business and personal related domestic travel. As we have a family of 6, we can easily accumulate points/rewards ( and can even do better if I add M$ ) and am planning future app sprees accordingly. After a brief calculation last nite, assuming we obtain the cards I am shooting for, we can easily have 200k UR Points, 105k US Airways Miles, 150k min (possibly 250k if we can churn) AA Miles, 105k Avios, and hopefully free 4 weekend nites in both Hyatt and Hilton Properties each. Not to mention that she will be app'ing for AMEX in 2015 (possible D* to '95) so MR points are possible as are TYP for other Citi Cards. I can see how this can turn into a Full Time Job, between here and other sites (FT, TPG, etc) I can't stay up long enough to read everything, lol. Again, thanks for sharing! Hope everyone has a Great Halloween!!!

 

 

Yeah, it can be a full time job. It sounds like your on the right track. We had 190k aa miles but just recently booked a trip from LAX to London and Paris back to LAX in Feb 2015 for 2 weeks. Used 80k in miles plus only $190 for 2 tickets. You may already know this but try to avoid using British Air flying through London to save a ton on fuel surcharges. Were flying into LHR on American and from Paris through Phily to LA on the way back so we were able to avoid paying $800 in fuel charges.

 

Have you ever looked at any of these sites:

 

thepointsguy.com

expertflyer.com

mightytravels.com

 

Mighty Travels is my fav because they find mistake fares all the time and post them. You have to be willing to act quick on them though because sometimes their gone in hours. A lot of people buy those and fly these really long flights that were mistake fares just for the points and to bump up their status in rewards programs. For example, I've found RT flights to Norway from LAX for $300.

 

The Points Guy has a lot of info on manufactured spending to help meet credit card spending levels quickly.

 

Awesome, have never been on mightytravels.com, I definitely will check it out. I am thinking of BA only because they are part of the OneStar Alliance. TPG is one of my frequented sites as is MMS, EF, FT, FTG, and a few others. I just recently found www.travelsort.com www.rewardsreditcards.org www.creditcardfly.com www.webflyer.com www.pointchaser.com some of which are not updated with current info, but for a newbie good to read. One of my goals is to fly in the Suites available on some of these airlines as I have seen some great articles on accomplishing this with points. So it is definitely turning into a "hobby", lol.

[pbarnes]

It's not hard to accumulate enough points to fly SQ Suites as MR, UR and TYP transfer into KrisFlyer.

 

There's decent award availability. Easily the best return on investment (>10cpp).

 

Avois are extremely useful for short haul domestic flights and can be transferred in from UR and MR (and now Diners).

 

If you play the game right... The possibilities are pretty awesome.

 

As for Chase CPC - not worth the effort unless you have some investments to transfer over anyway.

 

Citi have been nerfing CG for a while, and now you need 500k for the really good benefits.

 

The thing is, most CUs offer those benefits for nothing with low or non-existent balance requirements (I.e. My CU offers free incoming wires, free ACH, no FTF on withdrawals, etc, etc with no monthly fee or balance requirements -- hard to beat).

 

There's also Schwab and Fidelity with free checking accounts, etc.

Edited November 1, 2014 by pbarnes

[funkiehouse]

Looks like you have found many of the good sites too. Just make sure you take the time to fool around with many different flight options for the best deal (including multi-city options like we did). The BA fuel charges through LHR can be murder, especially in business or first. Were flying economy so we can go to Japan later in 2015 with the rest of our miles. You probably know this but it you fly economy you should check in exactly 24 hours ahead of time because a lot of the premium seats (or ones closer to the front) open up at that point, even if you used miles for the ticket. Sometimes you can change the seat then, and sometimes you have to complete the check-in process then go back and change seats; unless the flight is really full but using the expert flyer site can truly show you how full your flight is. We have also found the people working in the Admirals lounge are good at getting you better seats if you sweet talk them.

 

Here's what we saved ($1200) by avoiding BA through London (I mentioned Philly earlier but we are actually going back through Dallas):

 

Flying American:

 

 

 

Flying BA:

 

[cv91915]

I have the AA executive and I use it a lot because we are AA flyers and like the miles, lounge access, and flight perks. I do agree that the Prestige may be the better card unless travel is you main use.

 

Other ways to grab AA miles would be to get the Barclays US Air card ASAP before its gone in the next month or so (40k in miles after first purchase and pay the $89 fee - these will eventually transfer to AA but I think you can now book AA flights using US Air miles on their site).

 

You could also get the Starwoods AMEX and (25k points after $5k spend in 6 months and then transfer those to AA at 1:1 - you'll have 30k points after meeting the spend). You always get a 5k points/miles bonus when transferring SPG points to AA miles (per 20k transferred) but you could also wait until they do a 50% bonus and get even more. The last one was in June I believe and they usually do the bonus every 6 months or so.

 

You can definitely book award travel on US Air flights via aa.com, using AAdvantage miles. You cannot book award travel from aa.com using Dividend Miles.

 

All of my reward redemptions for the past few months have been one-way, so I haven't tried booking anything with my US Air miles, since US Air prices one-way and roundtrip redemptions at the same number of miles.

[funkiehouse]

 

I have the AA executive and I use it a lot because we are AA flyers and like the miles, lounge access, and flight perks. I do agree that the Prestige may be the better card unless travel is you main use.

 

Other ways to grab AA miles would be to get the Barclays US Air card ASAP before its gone in the next month or so (40k in miles after first purchase and pay the $89 fee - these will eventually transfer to AA but I think you can now book AA flights using US Air miles on their site).

 

You could also get the Starwoods AMEX and (25k points after $5k spend in 6 months and then transfer those to AA at 1:1 - you'll have 30k points after meeting the spend). You always get a 5k points/miles bonus when transferring SPG points to AA miles (per 20k transferred) but you could also wait until they do a 50% bonus and get even more. The last one was in June I believe and they usually do the bonus every 6 months or so.

You can definitely book award travel on US Air flights via aa.com, using AAdvantage miles. You cannot book award travel from aa.com using Dividend Miles.

 

All of my reward redemptions for the past few months have been one-way, so I haven't tried booking anything with my US Air miles, since US Air prices one-way and roundtrip redemptions at the same number of miles.

 

 

Thanks for uniting my tongue and explaining that better!! Meant to say you can book AA flights on US's site using Div miles.

Edited November 1, 2014 by funkiehouse

[cv91915]

 

 

I have the AA executive and I use it a lot because we are AA flyers and like the miles, lounge access, and flight perks. I do agree that the Prestige may be the better card unless travel is you main use.

 

Other ways to grab AA miles would be to get the Barclays US Air card ASAP before its gone in the next month or so (40k in miles after first purchase and pay the $89 fee - these will eventually transfer to AA but I think you can now book AA flights using US Air miles on their site).

 

You could also get the Starwoods AMEX and (25k points after $5k spend in 6 months and then transfer those to AA at 1:1 - you'll have 30k points after meeting the spend). You always get a 5k points/miles bonus when transferring SPG points to AA miles (per 20k transferred) but you could also wait until they do a 50% bonus and get even more. The last one was in June I believe and they usually do the bonus every 6 months or so.

 

You can definitely book award travel on US Air flights via aa.com, using AAdvantage miles. You cannot book award travel from aa.com using Dividend Miles.

All of my reward redemptions for the past few months have been one-way, so I haven't tried booking anything with my US Air miles, since US Air prices one-way and roundtrip redemptions at the same number of miles.

Thanks for uniting my tongue and explaining that better!! Meant to say you can book AA flights on US's site using Div miles.

That makes sense.

 

Don't book a one-way, though.

[funkiehouse]

That whole one way thing is really stupid with US. So glad thats going away after the merger of miles plans.

[cv91915]

That whole one way thing is really stupid with US. So glad thats going away after the merger of miles plans.

 

If they could only get rid of the Phoenix hub and all of the horrible people they employ who are left from the America West days...