Citi AAdvantage Executive Card: 125K Miles Bonus

One Mile at a Time has the details on a limited-time welcome bonus for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard®: 125,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after you put $15,000 in purchases on the card within the first five months.

That's the best offer this outlet has ever seen on this card. They value AAdvantage miles at 1.5 cents each, making the bonus worth $1,875 in their view. You could redeem for something like Etihad's A350 business class or Qatar Airways' A350 business class, they note.

But before you rush to apply, let's talk about what this card costs and what you're losing.

The annual fee just jumped from $595 to $695, which is a $100 increase. One Mile at a Time points out you can knock $145 off that if you're a Citigold client, but for everyone else, it's the full $695.

And with the recent refresh, new cardmembers no longer get a 25% discount on American inflight purchases or up to $120 in annual Grubhub credits. Those are gone.

What you still get

The biggest perk is Admirals Club access for the primary cardmember, including entry to partner lounges like Alaska Lounges. Authorized users can access Admirals Clubs too, but not the partner lounges. Both the primary and authorized users can bring two guests or immediate family when flying American or an eligible partner that same day.

You can add up to three authorized users at a reasonable cost, and the card earns 40,000 bonus Loyalty Points per year toward AAdvantage elite status. That helps reach Gold, Platinum, Platinum Pro, or Executive Platinum.

Who can't get this bonus

Standard Citi rules apply: one card per eight days, two per 65 days. And you're out of luck if you've received a new account bonus on this exact card in the past 48 months. Your other American Airlines credit cards don't affect eligibility, so you could hold a Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® and still qualify.

Bottom line from a traveller's advocate

125,000 miles for $15,000 in spending isn't nothing. But the fee is high, the spending bar is steep for a family, and you're losing perks that used to offset the cost. One Mile at a Time says this card has been in their wallet for years. My take: check whether Admirals Club access and the Loyalty Points are worth $695 to you, because the miles alone might not cover it.

• AAdvantage Executive Card
• Admirals Club
• American Airlines
• Citi
• welcome bonus