American Airlines credit card benefits include bonus miles on AA flights, 25% off in-flight food and beverage purchases, and rental car insurance. Those benefits are provided on all cards. Other benefits vary from card to card, including free checked bags, priority boarding, travel insurance, initial bonuses and airport lounge access.
American Airlines credit card annual fees range from $0 to $595. The more expensive a card is, the more benefits it tends to provide.
There are no American Airlines credit cards for bad credit, unfortunately. There are a few airline cards for bad credit in general, though.
American Airlines’ merger with US Airways spawned nine different American Airlines credit cards, in addition to creating the world’s largest airline. There are five American Airlines Aviator cards issued by Barclays, plus four offers from Citi. But you can only apply for two of the Barclays versions. The others are replacements for people who previously had US Airways cards.
One AAdvantage mile is worth 1.36 cents, on average, when redeemed for an American Airlines flight. That means 10,000 AAdvantage miles are worth roughly $136 in airfare.
For example, 10,000 miles are worth:
For example, 10,000 miles are worth:
- $129 in domestic airfare
- $168 in international airfare
Best American Airlines Credit Cards Comparison
| Credit Card | Best For | Initial Bonus | Ongoing Rewards |
| American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Credit Card | Winner | 50,000 miles | 1 - 2 miles per $1 |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® | Low Fee | 80,000 miles | 1 - 2 miles per $1 |
| American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® | No Annual Fee & Rewards | 15,000 miles | 1 - 2 miles per $1 |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® | Lounge Access | 70,000 miles | 1 mile per $1 |
| Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® | Business Bonus | 65,000 miles | 1 - 2 miles per $1 |
If you would like a personalized credit card recommendation, just sign up for a free WalletHub account. There are lots of birds in the sky, so to speak. And by not shopping around, you could end up missing out on a free flight or two per year.
In case you’re wondering, WalletHub arrived at these values by comparing the number of miles required to book American Airlines award flights with the dollar cost of those same flights quoted on Kayak.com. We compared short-, medium- and long-range roundtrip flights between the largest U.S. cities and popular travel destinations both foreign and domestic. And we did so for trips during different times of the year.
Methodology for Selecting the Best American Airlines Credit Cards
To identify the best American Airlines credit cards, WalletHub’s editors regularly compare hundreds of credit card offers based on their airfare rewards, frequent flyer perks, initial bonuses, interest rates, fees, and other WalletHub Rating components. In addition to co-branded American Airlines cards, we consider credit cards affiliated with American Airlines’ partners and other cards with general travel rewards. Our final selections are made based on the lowest two-year cost.
How Two-Year Cost Is Calculated
Two-year cost is used to approximate the monetary value of cards for better comparison and is calculated by combining annual and monthly membership fees over two years, adding any one-time fees or other fees (like balance transfer fees), adding any interest costs, and subtracting rewards. Negative amounts indicate savings. When fees or other terms are presented as a range, we use the midpoint for scoring purposes.
Rewards bonuses and credits have been taken into account for two-year cost calculations. However, bonuses applicable to only a very small portion of cardholders are not considered. For example, credits and bonuses awarded for spending or redeeming rewards through a company portal with non-co-branded cards have not been taken into account. Similarly, bonuses and credits related to spending with specific merchants using a non-co-branded card have not been taken into account (for example, if Card A offers credits with DoorDash, this feature would not be factored into calculations because it is hard to assess how many cardholders would use the benefit or exactly how much value they'd get from it).
Cardholder Spending Profiles
Different users have different goals and are likely to use their credit cards differently, so we identified spending profiles that are representative of the most common financial priorities and behaviors. For each cardholder type, we have assumed a specific amount of monthly spending by purchase type (e.g., groceries, gas, etc.), as well as an average balance, balance transfer amount, amount spent on large purchases and average monthly payment. Spending assumptions are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for consumers and PEX data for businesses.
Final Thoughts
WalletHub’s editors update their best American Airlines credit card selections on a regular basis, as offers change and new cards are introduced. If you don’t want to be tied to a particular airline brand, you can check out our latest picks for the best airline credit cards overall.
In addition to the cards listed above, there are a few more American Airlines credit cards that you can't apply for directly. For example, the American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Blue Credit Card and American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Credit Card are available as upgrades from the American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Credit Card. Similarly, if you apply for the American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Credit Card and do not qualify, you will be considered for the American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Credit Card.