These 2 Credit Cards Become More Valuable February 1st

As you know, holders of The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express will lose the ability to bring guests into the Amex Centurion Lounges after January 31st, 2023 unless they spend $75,000 on their card the previous year, which incidentally, you should absolutely not due to the terrible earn rate on the card.

I already wrote one article outlining some other options for lounge access.

But there are two things I didn’t think of until I was chatting with Angel of Pennywise Traveler last night.

If you fly one airline alliance regularly, you can grab a different credit card to suit your guesting needs. Instead of the Centurion Lounge, you’ll be using airline lounges. (Of course, if Priority Pass works fine for your travels, you don’t need more cards – the Platinum cards still provide guest access there).

Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite MasterCard®

The primary card holder gets access for two guests plus anyone in your family under the age of 18 as long as you have same-day boarding passes for American Airlines or any oneworld^® airline.

And, your Admiral’s Club membership additionally grants you the same access when flying oneworld airlines as follows:

• • • Domestic and international Admirals Club locations
    • All Alaska Airlines Lounges (when departing or arriving on flights marketed and operated by American or Alaska Airlines)
    • All Qantas Clubs (when departing or arriving on same-day flights operated by Qantas, or operated by American out of Auckland, New Zealand or Sydney, Australia)
    • Select partner lounges operated by third parties (on same-day flights operated by American)

Note that your authorized users get entry only at AA Admiral’s Club lounges, but do get guest privileges for immediate family (spouse, domestic partner and/or children under 18) or up to 2 guests. Guests must be accompanied by the eligible authorized user and present boarding pass for same-day travel on American or a partner airline.

The Authorized User must present their credit card and be traveling on any departing or arriving flight that is marketed or operated by American, marketed and operated by any oneworld® airline, or marketed and operated by JetBlue (excluding JetBlue flights operating to and from Europe).

Note that Authorized Users cost $715 a year for the 1st three authorized users and $175 for each additional Authorized User after that.

How to Apply for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite MasterCard®

United Club Infinite Card

First off, I want to make sure you know that this card’s elevated bonus offer to earn 100,000 United MileagePlus Miles, after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months, ends 1/25/2023. It comes with a $525 annual fee.

The Club Infinite will grant you:

• United Club membership. Guest access includes 2 adults or 1 adult and dependent children under 21 years of age.
• The United Club membership can also access participating Star Alliance member airline lounges with up to one guest when departing on a same-day flight on a Star Alliance carrier.

Note that authorized users will not receive their own United Club membership and only get United Club access if they are with the primary Cardmember.

Learn how to apply for the United Club Infinite before Jan 25th to grab the 100,000 mile bonus offer

The Delta Reserve Cards – Honorable Mention

On the surface, these two cards, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card don’t help much as you only get 2 guest passes per year – not access for any guests all of the time.

But they are an honorable mention because you can add an authorized user for $175 who would then each have access to the Centurion Lounge or Delta lounge when flying Delta. Of course, you could then just get an authorized user card on your Platinum Card® for the same $175.

Therefore, I wanted to note this to avoid the “what about the Delta Amex cards” question, but really, only the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite MasterCard® and United Club Infinite Card solve the free guest access problem. You’ll just need to be flying those respective airline alliances whereas your Platinum card is airline-agnostic.

Something to think about!

Thoughts?

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You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards. 

New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.