Although we live in the age of email, social media and, yes, points and miles blogs that keep up-to-the-minute tabs on the current credit card offers out there, sometimes the best offers come to you by good, old-fashioned mail, and that’s why I always tell people to look at what the credit card companies send you before tossing those envelopes in the trash.
Case in point: TPG Managing Editor Eric found this offer for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Visa Signature in his mail just yesterday:
The terms of it state that you can earn 60,000 bonus American Airlines AAdvantage miles when you are approved and spend $2,000 within 3 months of account opening, though the annual fee of $95 is not waived for the first year.
That hands-down beats the current public offer of just 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 in 3 months – you’re essentially spending $1,000 more to get double the miles, though with this one, the $95 annual fee is waived the first year.
It’s also better than the 50,000-mile offer available according to FlyerTalk where you have to spend $3,000 in the first 4 months, though again, the annual fee is waived the first year and it’s not a verifiable offer with no mileage bonus terms explicitly stated, so your mile may vary when you actually get the card.
Other than that, the basic card benefits are the same:
- Your first eligible checked bag is free
- Priority Boarding with Group 1 privileges and 25% savings on eligible in-flight purchases
- Earn 2 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 10% of your redeemed AAdvantage miles back – up to 10,000 AAdvantage miles each calendar year
- Earn a $100 American Airlines flight discount every cardmembership year when you spend $30,000 or more on eligible purchases
This is the best offer we’ve seen on this card in a while. In the past, people were able to score 75,000 and even 100,000 AAdvantage miles regularly for signing up, though the spending requirements and annual fee waivers varies, and the closest we’ve come recently were those 50,000-mile bonus offers on this card as well as the Citi Executive / AAdvantage World Elite Mastercard and the CitiBusiness / AAdvantage World Mastercard from back in December, though with those you had to spend $10,000 within 3 months to get the full bonus – an onerous requirement for a lot of folks.
I take this as a good sign that American and Citi are still promoting lucrative bonus offers, even if they are targeted. Often targeted offers become public, for limited time offers, so here’s crossing our fingers for that. Hopefully it’s an indication of good things to come as the merger with US Airways proceeds, though that might just be wishful thinking.
Has anyone else gotten this particular offer – or a better one? Please share your reports on anything interesting that’s come in the mail lately!
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author.s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.
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