You are about to guide an American Airways flight. You attain on your pockets and pause — must you be utilizing a cobranded AA card to pay or go for a normal journey rewards card?
The excellent news is that there are a number of AA bank cards, so you have obtained choices. Let’s evaluate them to different journey rewards bank cards to see which is the most suitable choice for paying for AA flights.
Evaluating bank cards for American Airways flights
Other than utilizing an American Airways bank card, you may additionally take into account paying with a journey rewards card, which might earn transferable factors on journey purchases, together with reserving your subsequent flight with AA.
| Card title | Incomes fee on American Airways flights | Worth of the rewards earned (per TPG’s Sept. 2025 valuations) | AA-related card advantages | Annual payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Government World Elite Mastercard® (see charges and charges) | 4 miles per greenback | 6.2 cents |
|
$595 |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Choose® World Elite Mastercard® | 2 miles per greenback | 3.1 cents |
|
$0 introductory annual payment, then $99 |
| Citi® / AAdvantage Enterprise™ World Elite Mastercard® (see charges and charges) | 2 miles per greenback | 3.1 cents |
|
$0 introductory annual payment, then $99 |
| American Airways AAdvantage® MileUp® | 2 miles per greenback | 3.1 cents |
|
$0 |
| AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Enterprise Mastercard®
This card is at present not accepting new candidates |
2 miles per greenback | 3.1 cents |
|
$95 |
| AAdvantage® Aviator® Crimson World Elite Mastercard® | 2 miles per greenback | 3.1 cents |
|
$99 |
| The Platinum Card® from American Specific | 5 factors per greenback spent (on as much as $500,000 on these purchases per calendar 12 months, then 1 level per greenback) | 10 cents | $895 (see charges and charges) | |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see charges and charges) | 4 factors per greenback spent (or 8 factors per greenback spent if booked via Chase Journey℠) | 8.2 cents (or 16.4 cents if booked through Chase Journey) | $795 | |
| Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card | 2 miles per greenback spent (or 5 miles per greenback spent if booked within the Capital One Journey portal) | 3.7 cents (or 9.25 cents if booked through Capital One Journey) | $395 | |
| Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (see charges and charges) |
6 factors per greenback spent on air journey booked through CitiTravel.com (or 1.5 factors per greenback spent on all different airfare purchases made exterior the portal) | 11.4 cents if booked through Citi Journey (or 2.85 cents for purchases made exterior the portal) |
|
$595 |
| Citi Strata Premier® Card (see charges and charges) | 3 factors per greenback spent on air journey | 5.7 cents | 1:1 factors switch to AAdvantage | $95 |
The data for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Choose, AAdvantage MileUp, AAdvantage Aviator Crimson and AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Enterprise playing cards has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
Which card must you use for American Airways flights?
So long as you have had your card open for at the very least seven days and have hooked up your AAdvantage account quantity to your reservation, you’ll obtain the precedence boarding and checked baggage advantages out there out of your bank card. Simply having it in your pockets is adequate.
Associated: American Airways baggage charges and learn how to keep away from paying them
Which means you would pay with a card just like the Amex Platinum Card to earn additional factors or pay with the Sapphire Reserve to make use of a part of your $300 journey credit score in opposition to your flight reservation.
In truth, utilizing your journey credit on the Sapphire Reserve when paying for the taxes and charges on an award ticket means you would erase even that minimal amount of money you needed to pay for a flight.
Reward your inbox with the TPG Each day publication
Be a part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s consultants
On the flip facet, which card you pay with may very well be decided by the insurance coverage protections you wish to have throughout your journey. In that case, paying with the Sapphire Reserve might be your greatest guess, because it has among the greatest journey protections in the marketplace.
For those who’re engaged on American Airways elite standing, paying together with your American Airways bank card is probably going one of the best guess. That is since you’ll earn additional Loyalty Factors for every eligible mile earned in your AA bank card.
Associated: How my AAdvantage bank card helps me earn American Airways elite standing every year
And you probably have the Citi / AAdvantage Government that gives Admirals Membership lounge entry, you will be completely satisfied to know you possibly can nonetheless entry the lounge whether or not you paid on your American Airways flight with that card or not.
In any other case, for those who’re a cardholder of the Citi Strata Elite, you should buy your American Airways tickets from Citi Journey and earn 6 factors per greenback spent and use among the Admirals Membership passes that include this card.
Plus, Citi ThankYou factors switch 1:1 to AAdvantage, so it is not a foul thought to buy your AA tickets utilizing one in every of Citi’s premium playing cards.
For those who usually spend cash inflight, select the cardboard you pay with rigorously. Merchandise just like the AAdvantage Aviator Crimson and the AAdvantage Aviator Enterprise present reductions when making these purchases — however provided that you utilize the fitting card. You will not obtain the relevant low cost for those who do not pay with an eligible American Airways bank card.
Associated: How one can entry American Airways Admirals Membership lounges
Backside line
The excellent news is you could get pleasure from advantages like free checked baggage and precedence boarding from American Airways bank cards even for those who do not pay on your flight with a cobranded AA card. As an alternative, you possibly can pay with one other card to invoke journey protections or to earn additional rewards whereas nonetheless having fun with AA’s cardholder perks.
You will most likely get higher journey protections — and extra versatile factors and miles — with a normal journey rewards card just like the Sapphire Reserve. Nevertheless, for those who’re chasing AAdvantage elite standing, a cobranded AA card is the way in which to go.
Associated: How one can redeem American Airways AAdvantage miles for max worth
For charges and charges of the Amex Platinum card, click on right here.
