Citi Is Adding $200 a Year in Dining Credits to Its American Airlines Executive Card, With $100 Available Now

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Citi is introducing $200 in yearly inKind dining credits for the American Airlines AAdvantage Executive card, and the benefit begins immediately. It comes on top of the card’s recent refresh, which I had already felt delivered more value than the $100 annual fee increase.

I already use inKind to save money at restaurants I would have visited anyway, including several that are genuinely good. So as a cardholder, I’m happy to see this added.

The benefit briefly appeared in the Citi app’s benefits section before disappearing. I asked Citi whether it was real, and the company confirmed it. A spokesperson said,

Starting today, eligible Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive cardmembers will receive $200 in annual dining credits through inKind, with $100 to use from January through June and $100 to use from July through December each calendar year.

Eligible cardmembers can access the benefit by downloading the inKind app and adding their Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive card to their inKind account. When dining at a participating restaurant in the inKind network, they can select and apply the dining credit to their check when paying through the inKind app.

How the new $200 dining benefit works

The card’s yearly dining credit is split into two halves:

• January through June: $100 in dining credits.
• July through December: $100 in dining credits.

To use it, download the inKind app and add your Citi AAdvantage Executive card to your account. Then, when paying a participating restaurant through the app, choose the credit and apply it to the bill. Because we are already in the latter part of the year, $100 is currently available to use through December.

I already use inKind at restaurants I like

I have explained before how inKind works and how existing users can still get value from it. In Austin, I use it at places such as The Well, Peached Tortilla, Wu Chow, Lao’d Bar and Old Thousand. I used to use it frequently at Waterloo Ice House, where the food is not great but my kids enjoy the playgrounds.

You do not need to make a reservation through inKind. Just ask for the check, choose the restaurant in the app, enter the check number, and pay on your phone. Normally, the tip is charged to your linked credit card and cannot be covered with inKind credits.

inKind serves both diners and restaurants. The company provides restaurants with money upfront in exchange for future food and beverage credit, and then sells or distributes that credit to customers. That structure lets it offer meaningful discounts while also giving restaurants capital.

The Executive Card was already a better value for me

When I covered the card’s refresh, the annual fee rose from $595 to $695. In my view, the added benefits more than made up for the increase.

• Up to $500 each year in American Airlines Vacations statement credits, divided into two $250 periods.
• Up to $100 each year in statement credits for inflight purchases and eligible Admirals Club spending.
• Two extra 10,000 Loyalty Point bonuses at 165,000 and 240,000 qualifying Loyalty Points, bringing the total available from these bonuses to 40,000.
• Omni Select Guest Champion status and an annual free night after enrollment and a qualifying stay of at least two nights booked directly with Omni.

The extra Loyalty Points alone made the fee increase worthwhile for me. Those milestone bonuses also do not require that the qualifying Loyalty Points be earned through card spending. Adding an inKind dining credit makes the card even easier to keep.

American and Citi are also continuing to invest in the lounges this card unlocks, which are now being co-branded with Citi. The newer designs at Washington National’s E concourse, Denver, Newark and Philadelphia are a major improvement over the old modern hospital look. The food has improved as well.

More lounges are also opening, being renovated or expanded. A new Chicago L-concourse club is in development, more space is planned for Miami, and a 40,000-square-foot Admirals Club is planned for Charlotte.

My home airport is finally getting a new Austin club with more than 12,000 square feet and an outdoor terrace. American’s rendering shows what is planned:

How to get an extra $75 from inKind

inKind has brought back its $50 referral bonus, which is double the usual amount, for a limited time. New members still receive $25 off their first qualifying $50 restaurant bill. If you refer a spouse or partner who has not joined yet, that creates $75 in combined discounts and credit between you.

• A new member signs up through an existing member’s referral link.
• They pay a qualifying restaurant bill of at least $50 before tax and tip through the inKind app.
• The new member gets $25 off that bill.
• The person who referred them receives $50 in inKind Cash Back to use on a future meal.

After you join, you can refer other new users as well. If you are already a member and your spouse is not, referring them keeps both benefits within the household. On a $50 qualifying meal, they would pay $25 plus tax and tip, and you would receive $50 toward a later visit. Use the “Refer a Friend” option in your account to find your own link. Feel free to share referral links in the comments.

Ultimately, the value of the dining credit depends on whether you have participating restaurants you will actually use. For me, it is money toward meals I was already planning to buy, attached to a card I was already planning to keep.