If you’ve spent any time on a plane in the past few years, you’ve probably noticed the growing gap between business travelers and the folks riding in the “back of the plane.” Business owners face a choice: standardize travel on a single airline network, or scour bargain booking websites for cheap fares. Under those conditions, American Airlines and Citibank have doubled down on a strategy win back business travelers. With the CitiBusiness/ AAdvantage World MasterCard, the partners have combined a revamped rewards program with bonus miles for many business purchases.
How to earn more than you spend with AA’s business rewards card
Because Citibank also offers some compelling business credit cards attached to its ThankYou Rewards network, selecting this card really comes down to your company’s travel plans and spending patterns. Like most airline credit cards, the CitiBusiness/ AAdvantage World MasterCard racks up a frequent flyer mile for every dollar you spend. You’ll double your miles whenever you or your employees pay for an American Airlines itinerary with the card.
You’ll get the biggest return on investment from this account when you use free employee credit cards on featured merchant partners, including office supply stores, wireless phone companies, and car rental agencies. Citi and AA will double your miles on each of those eligible purchases, turning your team’s accounts payable process into a free travel generator for your company.
How to earn more than you spend with AA’s business rewards card
With a $95 annual fee, waived for the first 12 months, this Citi/AA card clocks in on the expensive end of the airline credit card spectrum. However, if you use all your cardholder benefits, the card can pay for itself a few times over:
- Waived baggage fees. AA normally charges $25 per checked bag each way in the United States. Book your itinerary with this card, and your first eligible checked bag flies free. So will the first eligible checked bags for each of up to 4 travel companions. That’s $250 in savings alone. Now, imagine how your staff will feel when you issue them each an employee card that treats them to the same perk.
- Annual companion certificate. Spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year, and you’ll earn a certificate that will let you bring a companion on a domestic economy round-trip flight. Note that when redeeming the companion certificate you will be responsible for ticketing fee, government taxes and fees that apply.
Best of all, new cardholders can redeem a signup bonus of 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 in purchases on the card in the first 3 months of card membership. Use that toward a domestic round trip ticket under the new MileSAAver program, or toward a one-way coach ticket under the classic fare structure. And enjoy a 25% Savings on eligible in-flight purchases.
Maximizing your rewards on AA’s global network
Choosing American Airlines as your company’s preferred airline makes the most sense when you travel often through any of the company’s “cornerstone” cities: Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and New York. Despite AA’s recent financial reorganization, the airline remains part of the “one world” airline alliance, opening up opportunities for reward travel on more than a dozen partner carriers. With AA codeshare flights operating nearly everywhere, it’s not hard for your team to rack up AAdvantage miles. While AA can be more expensive than discount airlines, their specialization in business travel means more flexibility for visiting clients and attending conferences.
Industry speculators have suggested that AA may end up merging with another legacy airline, like US Airways. As we learned from Delta and Northwest, and from United and Continental, it can take years for merged airlines to link up their rewards programs and their network partnerships. In the meantime, the CitiBusiness®/ AAdvantage® World MasterCard® could be right for your business if you’re an AA fan and you’re ready to cash in on some money-saving perks.
Updated March 21, 2013 and originally published May 31, 2012. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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