American Airlines Raises AAdvantage Card Fees to $150 a Year

By Grace Kim

American Airlines will raise the annual fee on the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard to $150 from $99 on Jan. 24, an airline spokeswoman said. It is the first fee increase on that card since 2018.

The move adds $51 a year. American Airlines last repriced the card in 2018, when it raised the fee from $95 to $99, the spokeswoman said. The airline also increased the annual fee on the Citi AAdvantage Business Mastercard, which will now cost $150 a year.

CNBC reported the changes on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in a story by Leslie Josephs. Both Citi AAdvantage cards now carry the same $150 annual price, with the Platinum Select holding the larger package of benefits.

An American Airlines spokeswoman described the change as the "first increase for the card since 2018," and said the airline added benefits alongside the higher price.

What changes on Jan. 24?

American Airlines attached three new benefits to the card:

• Three times AAdvantage miles on hotels booked through the airline's portal.
• A credit of up to $120 every four years for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
• A $100 annual statement credit on in-flight purchases such as food.

The $120 travel credit covers either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, not both, and averages $30 a year over a four-year cycle. The $100 statement credit applies to spending on flights rather than general purchases.

For a cardholder who uses all three, the new benefits equal $520 over four years: $100 a year in in-flight credits plus the $120 travel credit. Added fees over the same period total $204. The catch: the $100 credit pays out only when cardholders buy food and other items in flight.

The takeaway: cardholders pay $51 more a year and pick up triple hotel miles plus two new travel credits.

Where does $150 sit among premium travel cards?

• American Express Platinum card: $895 a year, up from $695 last year, with airport lounge access.
• JPMorgan Chase Sapphire Reserve: $795, up from $550.
• American Airlines Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard: $150, up from $99.
• American Airlines Citi AAdvantage Business Mastercard: $150.

American's increase follows similar moves by rivals such as United Airlines, CNBC reported. American Express raised its Platinum card fee last year, and JPMorgan Chase increased the Sapphire Reserve fee to $795 from $550, according to CNBC's reporting.

Even after the increase, American's consumer card remains far below the $795 and $895 charged on those two premium travel cards, which package lounge access and higher fee income for the issuers.

The takeaway: $150 keeps American's consumer card well under the premium-card fees now charged by Chase and American Express.

Why airlines keep repricing the cards

Airlines and their bank partners have been steadily raising fees on rewards credit cards, CNBC reported. Those cards "generate billions of dollars a year for airlines," the report said, describing the core mechanism: airlines make money when they sell miles to banks, and the banks then give those miles to customers.

Annual fees add a second revenue layer on top of that mile-sale business. Every account that stays open contributes more, while the airlines keep selling the miles that sit behind the cards.

American Airlines now prices its flagship consumer offering at $150 and packages benefits — triple hotel miles, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, and a food credit on flights — around the higher charge. The airline is asking travelers who spend and bank their miles to accept the $51.

The takeaway: airlines keep raising these fees because the rewards-card business produces billions of dollars a year, and the repricing runs through both airlines and their bank partners.

Jan. 24 is the checkpoint: cardholders will show whether triple hotel miles and $520 in new credits over four years outweigh $204 in added fees, and airlines will learn whether a card priced at $99 since 2018 can carry a $150 charge.