What you need to know about earning another American Airlines card sign-up bonus

15.08.2024 - 17:11 / thepointsguy.com

Each credit card issuer has its own set of restrictions regarding application approvals and sign-up bonus eligibility.

Criteria include the number of cards you can apply for, the timing of applications and how often you can earn a sign-up bonus or welcome offer. With American Airlines offering substantial welcome offers on its lineup of cards, those of you who have had one of the cards in the past may be wondering whether you're eligible for a second bonus.

AAdvantage cards are issued by both Citi and Barclays, so there are multiple sets of application restrictions to be aware of if you're considering adding another American Airlines card to your arsenal. Here's what you need to keep in mind.

Let's start with the lineup of card options.

*The information for these cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

When it comes to earning sign-up bonuses on Citi's AAdvantage cards, it's important to know that Citi changed the rules in 2019. If you've earned an AAdvantage bonus on a specific Citi / AAdvantage card, you won't be eligible to earn the bonus again for another 48 months.

Here is the fine print under the card application link for the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard:

American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive account in the past 48 months.

The terms apply for each individual card, as opposed to the entire Citi / AAdvantage card family. For example, if you recently applied for a Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard, you do not need to wait 48 months to apply for a Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard.

An important distinction that you should know is that the 48-month waiting period starts when you "receive a new account bonus" for a specific Citi / AAdvantage card. That is not the same as when you were "approved for the card," "received the card," "activated a card" and other common phrases you might see from an issuer.

In this case, semantics matter because the bonus that posts to your AAdvantage account may post several months after you were approved for the card itself.

Related reading: Choosing the best card for American Airlines flyers

Barclays is a bit more vague than Citi when it comes to sign-up bonus restrictions on the AAdvantage cards.

Based on our data points, if you've closed a card, you generally need to wait six months to be eligible for the welcome offer again. However, some application pages, like the one on the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard, state the following:

You may not be eligible for this offer if you currently