Get Citi Prestige by August 31 to Get American Airlines Lounge Access

MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.

Right Now

Citi Prestige® Card offers American Airlines lounge access on any day you are flying American Airlines flights for you and either your spouse and kids or any two guests.

It also offers Priority Pass lounge access worldwide for you and either your spouse and kids or any two guests, no matter what airline you fly.

Full post on Citi Prestige Airport Lounge Access

But Only Until July 23, 2017

The Citi Prestige® Card loses access to American Airlines lounges on July 24, 2017. It maintains Priority Pass lounge access.

By August 31, 2016

If you are a current cardholder or open a new Citi Prestige® Card by August 31 (next Wednesday), you can enjoy American Airlines lounge access through July 23, 2017. If you open your card September 1 or later, you don’t get that 11 months of American Airlines lounge access.

That information is from an email Citi sent me:

I wanted to note that you are correct in stating that existing Citi Prestige cardmembers will have Admirals Club lounge access until July 23, 2017. But, we also want to be transparent that for those who become a Citi Prestige cardmember on or after September 1, 2016, they will not have access to American Airlines Admirals Club lounges.

The following benefits of the Citi Prestige card will remain unchanged:

• Annual $250 Air Travel Credit
• $100 Statement credit for the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases
• 24/7 Access to the Citi Prestige Concierge
• 3x Points on Air Travel & Hotels, 2X points on Dining & Entertainment and 1 Thank You® Point per $1 spent on other purchases
• Travel & Emergency Assistance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection and Trip DelayProtection

Full Admirals Club membership costs $500 per year, so an extra 11 months of free membership is a big deal for a lot of people. Admirals Clubs feature free:

• Wi-Fi
• House wine, beer and spirits
• Light snacks as well as coffee, specialty coffee drinks, tea and soft drinks
• Personal use computers with Internet access*
• Cyber-cafes*
• Power outlets to help you stay connected
• Work areas with access to copiers and printers
• Shower suites*
• Children’s play areas*
• Personal travel assistance with your reservations

*only at select Clubs

My favorite Admirals Club is at Honolulu Airport with lots of food and overlooking the gardens. There are more than 50 Admirals Clubs worldwide.

As a reminder, to access an Admirals Club with a Citi Prestige® Card:

• You must present your Citi Prestige® Card and a boarding pass on American Airlines for a flight that takes off in the next 12 hours or landed in the last 12 hours.
• You can bring in your spouse and all your children under 18 for free, or you can bring in any two guests for free.
• Only the primary cardholder of a Citi Prestige® Card account receives the Admirals Club lounge access benefit. Authorized users on the same account do not.

Should You Get the Prestige by Next Week?

Right now the Citi Prestige® Card comes with 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after $4,000 in purchases made with your card in the first 3 months the account is open.

I value those bonus points at about $760.

If you get the card this week, you have about four months to get your first $250 Air Travel credit and eight months to get your second. That’s $500 worth of airfare, award taxes, airline fees, or fuel surcharges in the first twelve months.

Full post on $250 Air Travel Credit

If you get the card this week, you’d get 10.5 months of AA lounge access and 12 months of Prioirty Pass lounge access for you and guests in the first year of cardmembership.

All that dwarfs the $450 annual fee.

Maybe you’re kicking yourself because a few weeks ago you could get the card with 50,000 bonus points and a $3,000 spending requirement. But if you missed that, getting the card this week is the next best deal, and quite a bit better than getting it in September with no American Airlines lounge access.