Citi Raises AAdvantage Platinum Select and Business Card Fees to $150, Adding Walmart+ and a $100 Inflight Credit
American Airlines and Citi are raising the annual fee on the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select and Business cards from $99 to $150, starting at renewals on or after January 24, 2027. A Walmart+ membership, an inflight credit of up to $100 and travel protections are added, and the 25% inflight rebate goes away.
Citi and American Airlines are raising the annual fee on the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard and the Citi AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard from $99 to $150, View from the Wing and One Mile at a Time reported on October 27. New applicants get the changes immediately, and the first-year fee waiver remains. Existing cardmembers get the new benefits from January 24, 2027 and pay the higher fee at their first anniversary after that date. The MileUp, Globe and Executive cards are unchanged.
The Platinum Select adds a complimentary annual Walmart+ membership for the primary cardmember, worth $98 at retail, and up to $100 a year in statement credits for inflight purchases. The credit replaces the existing 25% inflight rebate. The card also adds a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit of up to $120 every four years, 50% off FOX One and trip delay, cancellation, baggage and rental car protections. The annual American flight discount rises from $125 to $150 for cardmembers who spend $20,000 and renew. New earning categories include 3x on AAdvantage Hotels and Cars, and 2x on EV charging, streaming, and Rides and Rails.
The business card adds a self-selected 2x category (U.S. shipping, office supply stores or U.S. advertising), 25% off a Melio subscription, and the same inflight and Global Entry credits. View from the Wing's Gary Leff calculated that a cardmember with about $100 of annual inflight spend gains roughly $24 of value from the new credit, net of the $51 fee increase. He also noted the old 25% rebate beats the capped credit for anyone spending more than $400 a year inflight.
Why it matters for loyalty teams
The Walmart+ benefit is the part a smaller operator can copy. Card issuers rarely pay full retail for bundled memberships, so a perk listed at $98 can justify a $51 fee increase while costing the issuer far less. A mid-market business with a paid tier can do the same on a smaller scale: bundle a non-competing local partner's perk, such as a car wash, a coffee each month or a streaming trial, at a negotiated wholesale price. The member sees retail value, and the business pays the partner's marginal cost.
Replacing a percentage rebate with a fixed credit is a cost decision, not a benefit upgrade. A capped credit turns an open-ended expense into a known one. The cost is that it shortchanges the heaviest users, who are usually the members a program most wants to keep. Any operator converting a percentage discount into a fixed monthly or annual allowance should check whether its top spenders lose value, and expect those members to notice.
This matters little to operators without a paid membership or co-brand card. For those that have one, the fee increase is a reminder that refreshing a benefit is the usual way to raise a price without it looking like a price increase.
Analysis by LoyaltyWire Editorial.