In my endless pursuit to retain my American Airways elite standing, I’m at all times looking out for methods to earn extra Loyalty Factors. I’ve been a loyalty member since 1994 (again when it was US Airways) and have held Gold, Platinum and Govt Platinum statuses through the years.
I desire the American Airways AAdvantage loyalty program over different U.S. carriers as a result of it stays easy, utilizing Loyalty Factors as its main foreign money for elite standing, whereas different airways use a extra sophisticated components.
On the finish of 2025, American Airways launched a mid-tier cobrand bank card with Citibank, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® (see charges and costs), with a $350 annual payment and some distinctive perks (extra on that shortly).
It matches properly between the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Choose® World Elite Mastercard® with its $99 annual payment ($0 intro annual payment for the primary yr) and the premium Citi® / AAdvantage® Govt World Elite Mastercard® (see charges and costs) with its $595 annual payment.
The data for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Choose has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
My quest for elite standing
I utilized for the Citi / AAdvantage Globe Mastercard in December when it had a limited-time welcome supply to earn 90,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first 4 months from account opening.
That provide is again, nevertheless it ends quickly.
I shortly started working making the most of the perks and advantages earlier than Dec. 31, when some annual credit reset, and earlier than the top of February, when the elite standing qualification yr resets.
Even with the cardboard’s assist (and my late begin), I used to be solely in a position to qualify for AAdvantage Platinum standing this yr (so lengthy AAdvantage Govt Platinum standing and simpler upgrades). However, up to now this yr, I booked one worldwide journey utilizing the cardboard and I used to be in a position to earn over 20,000 Loyalty Factors towards 2027 standing as a result of not solely does the cardboard earn at a better charge than my AAdvantage Platinum Choose card (3 miles per greenback on American Airways flights versus 2 miles), however the Flight Streak bonus after 4 qualifying flights kicked in. That gave me an extra 5,000 Loyalty Factors.
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What’s a Flight Streak bonus?
The Flight Streak bonus is exclusive to the Citi / AAdvantage Globe Mastercard and needs to be one among my favourite bank card perks, not just for its elite status-boosting capabilities, but additionally as a result of it is automated and really easy for cardholders to earn. You possibly can earn as much as three Flight Streaks per qualifying yr after flying 4 flights. Every Flight Streak is price 5,000 Loyalty Factors for a complete of 15,000 doable further Loyalty Factors every year.
I had 4 flights alone (two segments every manner) throughout my round-trip worldwide flight to Africa in Might, which unlocked my first Flight Streak of 2026.
How 1 round-trip flight earned 20,000 Loyalty Factors
This is the breakdown of how I racked up my Loyalty Level earnings for this one journey.
I earned 1,863 Loyalty Factors for the round-trip financial system ticket that price $1,863.03 after I used my Citi / AAdvantage Globe Mastercard for the acquisition. (As a result of the cardboard earns 3 miles per greenback on eligible American Airways purchases, I additionally earned 3,726 bonus miles.)
The miles flown earned me an extra 12,504 Loyalty Factors, which have been posted to my account after the final flight.
The round-trip flight was 4 flight segments: I flew from Philadelphia Worldwide Airport (PHL) to Accra Worldwide Airport (ACC) with a visit London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) after which again the identical manner. These 4 segments counted as one Flight Streak, incomes an extra 5,000 Loyalty Factors.
That brings my grand complete of Loyalty Factors to twenty,367 for one flight booked utilizing my AAdvantage Globe Mastercard.
Backside line
I really like utilizing my Citi / AAdvantage Globe Mastercard to maximise my American Airways purchases for Loyalty Factors towards elite standing, and I additionally earn miles I can redeem for extra flights. Subsequent, I plan to comply with in my colleague Eric Rosen’s footsteps and ebook some AAdvantage Lodge stays to extend my earnings.
The cardboard at present has a limited-time supply that’s ending quickly. So in case you are pondering of getting the cardboard — do not delay!
Apply right here: Citi / AAdvantage Globe Mastercard
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