Compare the Features and Benefits of CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® and
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card

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®.

If you’re on the hunt for a Marriott credit card, the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card is a relatively newcomer to the family of Marriott cards. Issued by American Express, this card debuted in 2022 and offers a middle ground for Marriott loyalists who are looking for solid perks without paying up an annual fee as high as $700, as with some other premium cards.

Instead, the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card comes with a $250 annual fee. And with that, you’ll get automatic Gold elite status just by being a cardholder. Normally requiring 25 elite nights per night, carrying the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card is one of the ways to bypass this threshold. As such, you’ll get 2 p.m. late checkout (based on availability), 25% bonus points at Marriott properties, and enhanced room upgrades upon availability. However, even Gold elite status leaves a bit to be desired, as it doesn’t come with complimentary breakfast, suite upgrades, or a guaranteed late checkout benefit.

Outside of elite status, the Bevy card offers 1,000 bonus points per paid eligible stay at properties participating in Marriott Bonvoy and earns 6x bonus points per dollar on eligible Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You can also earn 4x bonus points per dollar on restaurants worldwide (including takeout and delivery in the U.S.) and U.S. supermarkets, on up to the first $15,000 spent per year combined. That’s a potential of earning 60,000 bonus points on those two bonus categories alone, and you’ll earn 2x points after this limit and all other eligible purchases.

Another incentive to keep the card and pay the ongoing annual fees is the potential to earn a free night award, with a redemption value of up to 50,000 points. This certificate is actually much better than the one that comes on the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card, as its redemption value is capped at 35,000 points per night. Unfortunately, the major downside is that you have to spend at least $15,000 on the card per year to earn it, which breaks down to $1,250 in monthly spending.

In estimated monetary value, we calculate that Marriott Bonvoy points are worth about 0.6 cents each. That means you can achieve around $300 in value from the Bevy free night award if you can meet the spending requirements, which can easily wipe out the $250 annual fee before considering all the other perks.

Lastly, the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express card makes for a solid travel card with no foreign transaction fees (see rates & fees), trip delay reimbursement, baggage insurance and more. However, you may want to look for a credit card with primary rental car insurance, as the Bevy only provides secondary coverage for theft and damage.

Rates and fees for the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card