I currently have Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and AA Platinum Select card.
I travel for leisure, I’d say once a month and work twice a month. I’ve been loving my Amex Platinum for the Centurion Lounge, and I like my AA Citi for the Gold Status and getting priority boarding with a free checked bag.
However, I am realizing I don’t have enough AA Loyalty Points to get Gold again this year. Honestly, just been bad about using the card and the shopping portal. Is it worth it to upgrade to Executive World Elite card for those travel benefits? I know it’s a hefty annual fee.
I’ve also thought about closing my Chase card. Between Amex Platinum, I don’t use it enough and my partner has the Amex Gold so he pays for groceries while I cover flights and travel. I do like having the Chase so I have a Visa, but what do you think I should do?
Does your airport/airports you frequent have a Centurion, Chase, or AA lounge? Do you mostly fly AA or alliance partners?
You already get decent travel insurance through the Plat and CSR, as well as Global Entry, lounge access, decent multipliers, etc.
Personally, unless I really wanted status and I had an AA lounge at my airport with few other options and I mostly flew AA, I wouldn’t bother with the Executive card. You can PC it to a Custom Cash or something.
@Samuel3
Ugh ya that’s what I was thinking. I like CSR and my Amex Platinum. I am moving away from CSR lounge and currently live in an Admirals Club lounge city, but whenever I fly home (which is maybe once or twice a year) to the CSR lounge. But I have 4 trips coming up all on AA and I’m worried I won’t get Gold by March 2025… so not sure what I should do.
The Citi AA PS is worth the annual fee just for the free checked bag if you can take at least 2 flights a year (or one flight if you fly with multiple people on your reservation). I have the AA Exec, and I like it, but unless you’re flying/spending enough to get the LP bonuses (and if you haven’t earned Gold you aren’t) or would use the Admiral’s Club heavily over your other lounge options, it’s not really worth it.
Are you flying primarily with AA, or is it mixed? Because at approximately 36 flights a year, you should easily be able to get Gold status on that fact alone. Also, if you are flying other airlines, be aware that you can only access Admiral’s Club when flying American or OneWorld partners.
@Sterline
I’d say I primarily fly with American or Delta or any other airline. For the other airlines, I just use my Amex Platinum.
I have 5 trips coming up and all are AA. Some to the west coast (from East Coast) but I am worried my Gold will not renew in March 2025 so that’s why I was thinking of upgrading my card to Executive. I’d say between leisure and work, I fly about 10 times a year.
@Thorne
The Executive won’t do anything to help you attain status that the PS doesn’t already do. The 10,000 LP bonuses come at 50,000 LPs and 90,000 LPs, but Gold status comes at 40,000 LPs, so those bonuses do you no good if your LP count is already low enough that 40K is difficult to reach. You will still get one LP (all spending categories) per dollar spent on the card, but that is no different than what spending on the PS card gives you. Whatever mileage bonus categories the cards may have, they still earn just 1 LP per dollar spent.
What the Exec could do for you is give you some perks similar to Gold (boarding group 4, first bag free for you and up to 8 people on reservation) as well as AC access. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get you MCE at check-in like Gold does.
Thorne said: @Sterline
Yeah, I was thinking Exec just for the early boarding and free checked bag. How does AA lounge compare to Centurion?
Never been inside a Centurion lounge. Having said that, from various descriptions, they mostly are nicer and have better food than ACs. However, ACs tend to be less crowded and quieter.
And in my case, my home airport is an AA hub. Meaning I could fly out of 1 of 4 different terminals. Every one of those terminals has an AC, and only one has a Centurion. So from a perspective of what lounge I will actually be able to, AC wins. Though your mileage will vary depending on your home airport and places you frequently fly. Also, the agents in the AC can be lifesavers during irregular ops.
Thorne said: @Sterline
Good to know, thank you! My new home next year airport only has Priority Pass.
The Executive card does have Loyalty Point benefits over the other cards, namely, it gives you an extra 10,000 LPs after earning 50,000 LPs through any source, and another 10,000 LPs after earning 90,000 LPs through any source.