Compare the Features and Benefits of CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® and
United Club℠ 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®.

The United Club Infinite Card is a surprisingly robust offering from United Airlines and Chase.

The primary reason to get this card is because you fly United enough that you would like to have United Club lounge access for all of your flights.

The average person will save $55 by gaining United Club access via this credit card than by buying it directly – before taking into account all the other benefits and statement credits the card comes with. Why would anyone buy United Club access directly when it’s cheaper to pay a lower annual fee on the credit card?

By the way, the exact same thing applies to the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite MasterCard® and as well as the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Credit Card. The Delta cards even offer American Express Centurion Lounge access when flying Delta, although they also have a limit on lounge visits per year.

You also have the ability to earn the most Premier Qualifying Points towards United elite status of any of the United credit cards. You’ll earn 1 PQP for every $15 you spend on purchases with your Club^℠ Card, up to 28,000 PQP in a calendar year. This can be applied toward your Premier® status qualification, up to and including the Premier 1K® level

Now, sure, outside of 4X miles per dollar spent on United purchases, the earn rate on other categories aren’t particularly strong. But the card’s features and benefits that we’ve described above that come on top of the United Club lounge access are incredibly compelling.

To recap, those benefits include:

• United Club lounge access
• First and second free checked bags
• Receive 25% Back on United inflight and Club Premium Drink Purchases
• Earn up to 28,000 Premier qualifying points per calendar year (1 PQP for every $15 you spend on purchases)
• 1,500 Card Bonus Premier® qualifying points (PQP) each program year (starting in 2026)
• 10% Saver Award Flight Discount
• Expanded Award Availability
• Premier Upgrades on Award Tickets
• Premier Access including priority check in and priority boarding
• Return Protection for Items a Store Won’t Take Back + Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection
• Access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
• Primary Car Rental CDW Insurance
• Global Entry / TSA PreCheck / NEXUS Reimbursement as a Statement Credit
• IHG Platinum Status
• Top Tier Avis President’s Club status
• Free Instacart membership and up to $240 in Instacart statement credits
• Up to $150 in rideshare credits
• Up to $100 in United travel credits on Avis or Budget car purchases
• Up to $200 in credit on JSX purchases annually
• Up to $200 in credits for Renowned Hotels and Resorts for United® Cardmembers

That’s not all of the card features, but it sure is enough to see that the value you are getting for that annual fee is pretty amazing.