If American Airlines is your carrier of choice, two Citi co-branded cards are currently offering peak sign-up bonuses — and one of them is the richest the card has ever had.
The headline act is the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Legend Mastercard. It's offering 125,000 bonus miles after you spend $15,000 in the first five months, which The Points Guy values at roughly $1,813. That's the highest welcome offer in the card's history. It carries a steep $695 annual fee, but it comes with a full Admirals Club membership for you and up to two guests, up to $500 a year in American Airlines Vacations credits, a $100 annual credit for inflight and club purchases, Omni hotel elite status with a free-night reward, and Avis President's Club status. It also lets you earn up to 40,000 bonus Loyalty Points per qualification year, which matters if you're chasing American elite status.
The quieter but arguably better-value deal is the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select. New cardholders get 80,000 miles after spending $3,500 in four months — matching its previous record. The fee is $0 for the first year, then $99, and the perks are the everyday ones casual flyers actually use: a free first checked bag for you and up to four companions on domestic American itineraries, preferred boarding, inflight discounts, no foreign transaction fees, and 1 Loyalty Point per mile earned on purchases. TPG values the bonus at about $1,160.
The rest of the lineup is less exciting right now. The Citi / AA Globe (60,000 miles, $350 fee) and the Citi / AA Business card (65,000 miles, $0 first year then $99) are both on their standard offers, so patient applicants may want to wait for a bump. The Globe does include four Admirals Club passes a year, an annual $99 companion certificate, and free checked bags for up to eight people on your reservation, which softens the blow. The no-fee MileUp card offers a modest 15,000 miles plus a $100 statement credit — fine as a starter card, but anyone flying American more than a couple of times a year will do better further up the range.
A few Citi rules to know before applying: you can only apply for one Citi card every eight days, two within 65 days, and one business card every 90 days. Citi's 48-month rule also blocks a repeat bonus on the same AAdvantage card within four years.
The practical takeaway: if you've been sitting on the fence about an American Airlines card, the Executive's 125,000-mile bonus is genuinely historic and enough for a lie-flat business-class seat to Europe or beyond on American or an Oneworld partner. The Platinum Select is the low-commitment version of the same idea — record-matching bonus, first-year fee waived, and enough miles for a solid long-haul economy award. If neither card is at a record, the usual advice applies: wait. Sign-up bonuses on these cards cycle up and down regularly, and the same offer usually returns within a few months.
Story via The Points Guy.
