Earn 2X miles on American Airlines purchases made directly with American Airlines. Otherwise, earn 1X.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
The right business credit card for you will greatly depend on your company’s expenditures and travel goals. However, the CitiBusiness/AAdvantage card is a great option for those who live near an American Airlines hub. With a $0 introductory annual fee (then $99 after the first year), it’s an affordable option if you have a small business and want to maximize the rewards earning potential for your expenditures.
With this card, you’ll earn both redeemable AAdvantage® miles for award flights and Loyalty Points to qualify for AAdvantage® elite status. For starters, you’ll earn 2x miles on cable and satellite providers, eligible American Airlines purchases, gas stations, select telecommunications merchants, and car rental merchants; and 1x miles on all other purchases (excluding cash equivalents).
Loyalty Points are much simpler: you’ll earn 1x Loyalty Point per dollar spent, no matter the purchase. Theoretically, a business owner who can spend $200,000 or more on this business credit card can earn top-tier AAdvantage® Executive Platinum elite status — even without flying!
Loyalty Points replaced American Airlines’ old AAdvantage® system of elite qualification via Elite Qualifying Miles. While those required flying, the new tier status system combines both flight miles and spending, including on AAdvantage® credit cards like this one.
The more you spend, the more perks you earn. By hitting $30,000+ in spend in a card membership year, you can earn a companion certificate that’s valid for domestic American Airlines flights. You’ll just have to pay $99 plus government taxes and fees, but this perk can help you save hundreds of dollars and get you “buy one, get one” flights.
From takeoff to touchdown, there are a few important benefits that will elevate your travel experience with American Airlines. You and up to four guests on the same American Airlines booking will get a first checked bag free (on domestic itineraries) and Group 5 preferred boarding. Not only that, but you’ll get a 25% discount that applies to inflight purchases, including food, drink and inflight wifi purchases.
With no foreign transaction fees to worry about, the CitiBusiness/AAdvantage credit card is a reliable option when you’re traveling domestically or internationally. Thanks to the card’s strong welcome bonus and solid earning rates on select business categories, you’ll be on your way to award flights in no time.
Business credit cards like the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® also help you organize your personal and business expenses. There are various online tracking tools to keep tabs on your finances in your credit card account. If you’d like to add employee cards to the account, there’s no additional fee to pay — and any spending on those cards will accrue miles to the primary cardholder account.
Ultimately, when picking a business card, you’ll have to decide between earning cash rewards, airline miles, or another form of loyalty currency.
If award flights are your goal and American Airlines is your favorite carrier, there’s no better business credit card than the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
American Express seems to have positioned the Green Card to more directly compete with high performing mid-tier cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Citi Premier card, offering a few more direct benefits than each of them in exchange for a $150 annual fee (vs. $95 on those other cards). (Rates and Fees)
Whereas the The Platinum Card® from American Express is all about the benefits (elite statuses, statement credits galore, etc), the American Express® Green Card is all about the 3X Membership Rewards points on all things travel (including Transit!) plus 3X on dining – all for a relatively low annual fee of just $150 (Rates and Fees). It’s great for frequent travelers, especially if you don’t already have a card that earns at least 3X on travel purchases.
And it does have a couple of benefits that can cover the annual fee. If you don’t have access to CLEAR (which lets you go ahead of most other people at airport security in select airports / terminals), this card will cover $189 in CLEAR fees which is enough for a whole family to have a membership. And you also get up to $100 in credits for airport lounge access with LoungeBuddy.
It’s worth considering this card in combination with other American Express cards. One solid Trifecta that maximizes points would be an Amex Gold Card, an Amex Green Card, and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. You’d use the Gold for Dining and U.S. Supermarkets, the Green for 3X points on travel and transit, and the Blue Business Plus for 2X on other eligible purchases (up to $50,000 a year; 1X Membership Rewards points per dollar thereafter).
In another Trifecta replace the Gold Card with a Platinum Card and enjoy all the perks and benefits of the Platinum card while putting all non-airfare travel and transit charges on the Green Card and the rest on your Blue Business Plus.
In short, I don’t think anyone should have the Green Card as their sole credit card, but I do think it has a nice place among a handful of American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards points.
Keep in mind that American Express Membership Rewards points never expire and combine among all of your Membership Rewards-earning cards. All points earned from various American Express cards have the same transfer partners.
The Amex Green card is part of the same family of Amex proprietary cards formerly referred to as charge cards. However, the Green Card has a built-in Pay Over Time feature, making it function in many ways as any other standard credit card. Unlike a typical credit card, the Green Card allows you to carry a balance for certain charges, but not all.
What this means: Amex generally limits a cardmember to 5 credit cards (personal and small business combined), while they have a limit of 10 on proprietary Amex cards (formerly known as Charge). This means that even if you already have 5 Amex credit cards, you would still be eligible for a Green Card.
Bonus Eligibility: They still state that if you had the Green Card before, you are not eligible for a welcome bonus on this card. So you’ll be eligible if you have less than 10 Amex charge cards and have never had the Amex Green card before.
Rates and Fees for the American Express® Green Card