Citi and American keep earning at ground level

Best Loyalty Credit Card — Americas · Citi / American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum Select

The Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select wins Best Loyalty Credit Card for 2025.

Airline loyalty long ago stopped requiring an airplane.

That may be the single biggest economic change frequent flyer programs ever made.

Once airlines discovered they could sell miles to banks, the loyalty currency became something larger than a travel incentive.

It became a business.

The Citi-American relationship is one of the enduring examples.

Members earn AAdvantage miles through everyday spending and, increasingly, view the card as part of their overall strategy inside the program.

Groceries buy miles.

Restaurants buy miles.

Life buys miles.

Then, ideally, miles buy airplanes.

American won Best Redemption Ability too.

That’s a useful combination.

The card fills the account.

The program empties it.

At least that’s how it’s supposed to work.