New Citi American Airlines MileUp Card Now Live

Earlier this month Citi & American Airlines announced that they would be launching a new no annual fee co-branded credit card. That card, called MileUp is now live and accepting applications.

Card Basics

  • No annual fee
  • Card earns at the following rates:
    • 2x miles per $1 spent on American Airline purchases and at grocery stores
    • 1x mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
  • Sign up bonus of 10,000 American Airlines miles and a $50 statement credit after $500 in spend within the first three months
  • This card replaces the current Bronze card offered (previously this only earned 1 mile per $2 spent)

Our Verdict

This card isn’t great, but it’s treated as a different product/family for the purposes of Citi’s 24 month per brand rule. This card states:

“Statement credit and American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have had an AAdvantage MileUpSM card opened or closed in the past 24 months.”

Other Citi American Airlines personal cards state (emphasis mine):

“American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have had any Citi® / AAdvantage® card (other than an AAdvantage MileUpSM or CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® card) opened or closed in the past 24 months.”

Given the sign up bonus is only 10,000 miles + $50 I still don’t think it’s worth signing up for. That being said some people will find the 2x American Airlines miles on grocery store purchases worth signing up for. But hopefully they offer a better sign up bonus in the future.

Hat tip to reader dmlin

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15 Comments
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carl wilson
carl wilson (@guest_620783)
July 23, 2018 18:30

DOC, obvi luv the blog but just curious why so harsh on Citi AA deals? If you’re not a hardcore churner and value aa miles this seems like a solid downgrade option. Am I missing something? Not a perfect card by any means but AA miles are getting a bit harder to accrue/transfer, and this is a decent no fee way to get them, especially if you eat a lot of groceries.

I just wish you could have more than 1 citi business card cuz that platinum aa biz 75k mile is appetizing , I’ve got Costco biz card which I love but word-on-the-street is you can only have 1 citi biz card per EIN.

Matthew
Matthew (@guest_632593)
August 22, 2018 20:13

Agreed, get the Platinum and then downgrade to this one after a year. Interesting it is considered a different product tho! I hope the 2x grocery isn’t abused too badly, but that’s why I’m interested in the card.

jwapa2
jwapa2 (@guest_620721)
July 23, 2018 16:44

The card number didn’t change when I PC’ed Plat to Bronze, probably not resetting the clock. I think the automatic conversion from Bronze to this one (am already seeing the new name and design for the Bronze as of today) without change in the card number may also not reset the clock. Am I missing something?

Snorlax
Snorlax (@guest_620743)
July 23, 2018 17:17

On the other hand, my card number did change when I PCed Plat to Bronze.

Mike
Mike (@guest_622936)
July 27, 2018 16:49

Just inquired about the possibility of PCing Platinum to Mileup and included in the lengthy disclosures was that the card number would change. This likely resets the 24 month clock for Plat, so cancelled the PC and will now call retention in hopes of an offer on the Plat. Will wait for a better sign-up offer to apply for the Mileup to get the 2X grocery.

PoorChurner
PoorChurner (@guest_620637)
July 23, 2018 14:26

You say Bronze but they took down the AA Gold card. Oops! Page Not Found.

Harold
Harold (@guest_620614)
July 23, 2018 13:48

FYI: This card also does not have the reduced mileage discount. You can see this information when compare this card to other AA cards on AA website.

Blue
Blue (@guest_620593)
July 23, 2018 13:21

2x groceries makes this a no brainer for a PC on one of the AA cards folks churn.

Dave C
Dave C (@guest_620628)
July 23, 2018 14:10

Agree, easy MS on AA

EB
EB (@guest_620551)
July 23, 2018 11:34

Worthless – unless you spend a lot on “groceries”.

Abe
Abe (@guest_620476)
July 23, 2018 08:51

Card could be worth a glance down the line if citi changes the rules like Amex and chase….can’t get a sub on a card you hold

Jamie
Jamie (@guest_620469)
July 23, 2018 08:39

Looks like they are treating this card separately regarding the 24 month bonus restriction.

MileUp Terms:
“Statement credit and American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have had an AAdvantage MileUpSM card opened or closed in the past 24 months.”

Platinum Select Terms:
“American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have had any Citi® / AAdvantage® card (other than an AAdvantage MileUpSM or CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® card) opened or closed in the past 24 months.”

Security
Security (@guest_620505)
July 23, 2018 09:50

I’m seeing the same thing. Separate restrictions so you could have both cards.