Citi Raises AAdvantage Platinum Select Card Annual Fee to $150: New Perks, Same Gaps

Another airline credit card is getting a refresh, and as usual, the changes come with a higher annual fee.

American Airlines and Citi said the annual fee on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is increasing from $99 to $150, a $51 jump of roughly 50%.

To help offset the increase, the card is gaining several new perks: a $100 annual in-flight credit, a complimentary Walmart+ membership, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® credit, new bonus categories, and for the first time, meaningful travel protections. The Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® is receiving a similar update, with its fee also rising from $99 to $150 while adding the same in-flight credit, Global Entry/PreCheck credit, travel protections, and business-oriented bonus categories.

Existing cardholders will not see the new benefits until Jan. 24, 2027, and the higher $150 fee will apply on the first renewal after that date. New applicants can access the refreshed cards and benefits now, and the first year fee is still waived.

None of this is especially surprising. Airline cards increasingly rely on a higher fee paired with a bundle of credits that may or may not get used.

American and Citi recently raised the fee on their premium Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®, while Delta updated its SkyMiles cards several years ago, United followed later with its own fee increase, and Southwest did the same more recently.

What stands out here is what Citi and American did not include: there is no discount on award tickets for cardholders. Delta has its TakeOff 15 benefit, and United added a similar perk earlier this year.

Here’s a closer look at the updated Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card.

Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card Benefits at a Glance

• Welcome offer: Earn 80,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $3,500 in the first four months
• New! Earn 3x miles on eligible AAdvantage Hotels® bookings made on aadvantagehotels.com and eligible AAdvantage Cars® bookings made on aadvantagecars.com
• Updated! Earn 2x miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, rides and rails (transit), select streaming services, at gas stations (& EV charging), and at restaurants (including takeout)
• Earn 1x mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
• First checked bag free: Your first checked bag is free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to 4 companions traveling with you on the same reservation
• Preferred boarding: Enjoy preferred boarding on American Airlines flights for you and up to 4 companions traveling with you on the same reservation
• Increased! $150 American Airlines Flight Discount (was $125), after spending $20,000 or more in purchases during your cardmember year and renewing the card
• New! Up to $120 Global Entry® or TSA PreCheck® application fee credit every four years.
• New! Up to $100 back in statement credits annually on in-flight purchases
• New! Complimentary annual Walmart+ membership ($98 in value) for primary cardmembers
• New! 50% discount on an annual FOX One subscription.
• Up to $180 annually on Turo car rentals (up to $30 in statement credits for each eligible Turo car rental trip completed).
• New! Travel protections, including Trip Delay Protection, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance and Lost Baggage Protection.
• No foreign transaction fees
• Increased! Annual fee: $150, waived for the first year

All information about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.

Learn more about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).

What’s New on the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card?

Nothing here is revolutionary, and the card’s overall value proposition is still broadly the same. Still, there are several real improvements worth noting.

$150 Annual Fee

There is no getting around the fact that this increase hurts. The annual fee rises from $99 to $150, which is more than a 50% jump for both current and future cardholders.

If you already have the card, you will not pay the new annual fee until Jan. 24, 2027. If your card renews before then, you will still pay the old $99 fee one more time and then receive the new benefits once they become available.

A $100 In-Flight Credit Replaces the 25% Discount

The old 25% discount on in-flight food and drinks is being removed. In its place, cardholders will get up to $100 back each year in statement credits for in-flight purchases, including food, beverages, and Wi-Fi. For anyone flying American a few times a year, that is a meaningful improvement. The old discount only came out ahead if you spent more than $400 annually on in-flight purchases, which is unlikely for most people.

That said, American’s onboard food selection is still limited. Even so, having $100 to use on a snack or drink during a tight connection is more useful than shaving a couple of dollars off a small purchase.

The timing also makes sense. When Citi took over Barclays’ American Airlines card portfolio earlier this year, some of those cards already included an in-flight credit. Citi is now folding that idea into its own lineup.

A Free Walmart+ Membership and 50% Off FOX One

Primary cardmembers will now receive a complimentary Walmart+ membership, normally worth $98 a year. The subscription includes free delivery on eligible orders of $35 or more, gas savings, and a streaming choice between Paramount+ Essential and Peacock Premium.

That is a solid add-on, especially for anyone who does not already have a premium travel card that offers a similar membership. In my view, the Walmart+ benefit is one of the more underrated perks available on cards that offer it.

Cardholders will also get 50% off an annual FOX One subscription, which is useful mainly if you were already planning to pay for it.

Travel Protections Are Back

Citi removed travel protections from these cards years ago, leaving cardholders with little help when trips went wrong. That is changing, and the Platinum Select will now include a more complete set of coverage:

• Trip delay protection: Up to $500 per covered traveler, per trip for reasonable expenses like meals and a hotel when you are delayed six hours or more.
• Trip cancellation & interruption protection: Up to $5,000 per trip, or the amount you actually paid, whichever is lower.
• Lost baggage protection: Up to $3,000 per traveler and $10,000 total per trip.
• Worldwide car rental insurance: Up to $75,000 in damage coverage, secondary in the U.S. and primary abroad.

The useful part is that coverage can be triggered by paying at least part of the trip with the card and/or AAdvantage miles. That means even award tickets where you only charged the taxes and fees could still qualify for trip delay coverage. Trip cancellation coverage, however, is limited to what you actually paid.

This is not on the same level as top premium travel cards, but it is far better than having no protections at all.

New and Expanded Bonus Categories

The card’s updated earning structure is now as follows:

• New: Earn 3x miles on eligible AAdvantage Hotels and AAdvantage Cars bookings
• Earn 2x miles on eligible American Airlines purchases
• Earn 2x miles at restaurants
• Expanded: Earn 2x miles at gas stations, including EV charging stations
• New: Earn 2x miles on select streaming services
• New: Earn 2x miles on eligible rides and rail purchases like rideshares, taxis, and transit
• Earn 1x mile on everything else

One important detail remains unchanged: you will still earn 1 Loyalty Point per eligible mile earned from purchases, regardless of category.

The new categories are fine, but they do not transform the card into a strong everyday earner. Earning 2x on streaming and rideshare spending is helpful, but many no-fee and low-fee cards still offer better returns, including Citi’s own Strata cards, which can transfer to AAdvantage.

A Bigger Flight Discount and a Global Entry/PreCheck Credit

The annual American Airlines Flight Discount increases from $125 to $150, but there is a catch: you still need to spend $20,000 in a cardmember year and renew the card to unlock it. If you meet that spending threshold before Jan. 24, 2027, you will still receive the older $125 version.

For most people, that spending hurdle makes the perk hard to reach. Putting $20,000 a year on a card that mostly earns 1x is rarely appealing unless you are trying to build Loyalty Points toward status.

The card is also adding a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® credit worth up to $120 every four years. That is useful for anyone who does not already have one, though many frequent travelers already have several of these credits in the household.

What Stayed the Same?

The card still keeps the benefits that matter most to many American Airlines flyers:

• Free first checked bag on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to four companions on the same reservation
• Preferred boarding on American flights for you and up to four companions
• Up to $180 a year in Turo credits, up to $30 per eligible rental
• 10% off eligible American Airlines Vacations packages
• No foreign transaction fees
• 1 Loyalty Point per mile earned from purchases

That is the key takeaway: even with the higher fee, the free checked bags alone can still make the card worthwhile for occasional American flyers. One roundtrip with checked bags for two travelers can offset the annual fee, and the new in-flight credit makes the value proposition even stronger.

What’s Missing? An Award Discount

Airline credit card strategy tends to move in lockstep. When one carrier introduces a new fee or benefit, the others usually follow. In recent years, the biggest change has been discounts on award tickets for cardholders.

Delta led the way with TakeOff 15, which gives SkyMiles cardholders 15% off Delta-operated award flights. United later added a 10% award discount for cardholders, along with broader access to saver award space.

Those benefits have made holding a co-branded Delta or United card much more compelling for travelers who redeem miles often. If you book SkyMiles or MileagePlus awards without a card, you are likely giving up value each time.

So American seemed like the natural next airline to follow, especially with a card refresh that pushes the annual fee higher by more than 50%. Instead, nothing was added.

American AAdvantage is often seen as the strongest of the three major U.S. airline loyalty programs. Award pricing is usually fairly steady and reasonable, whether you are flying American or partners such as Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines, or Cathay Pacific. Many observers have been waiting for American to make a major devaluation, and the discounts Delta and United offered cardholders gave them a cushion as award prices rose elsewhere.

That leaves an open question: maybe American feels its award pricing is strong enough already and does not need a cardholder-only discount. After all, that stability is one of the program’s biggest advantages.

Still, American could change award pricing at any time, and now there is no cardholder discount to soften the impact. I am not sure which direction it will go, but I will be watching closely.

Bottom Line

The Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select is moving from a $99 annual fee to $150, but new perks such as a $100 in-flight credit, Walmart+, travel protections, and improved bonus categories help explain part of the increase. For travelers who fly American a few times a year, the checked-bag benefit and in-flight credit can still justify keeping the card.

Even so, the most notable omission is the lack of any award-ticket discount. Unlike Delta and United, American is not giving cardholders a break when redeeming miles, and that keeps a major question mark around the future value of the AAdvantage program.