Airline co-branded cards: top-tier club cards: updated!

This post is an update on a post from a year ago covering top-tier airline credit cards. All three airlines have changed how these cards earn status qualification metrics since that post in 2022, but specifically, Citi/American has thoroughly updated its AAdvantage Executive card, so I wanted to redo this comparison before doing deep dives into all these cards.

I’ve also made an additional change to the ranking metrics. Each card will get rated in each category out of 5 points, rather than just assigning scores of 3, 2, 1 based on ranking because not every win or loss in every category is equivalent. The winner in each category will get the maximum 5 points.

These cards all offer a key perk: airline club access.  They also all have high annual fees ($500+), but the annual fee is consistently lower than buying a club membership.  So, off the bat, if you would independently buy a club membership with a given airline, getting one of these cards already makes sense.  The interesting follow-up though is if any of the cards are worth using beyond that single perk. 

American offers the Executive World Elite Mastercard through Citi ($595 annual fee).  United offers the Club Infinite Card through Chase ($525).  Delta offers the Reserve Card through Amex ($550).

I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card.  All information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.

Welcome Offers

American’s Executive card offers 70 000 bonus miles after spending $7 000 in the first 3 months (worth around $910).  Delta’s reserve card offers 60 000 bonus miles after spending $5 000 in the first 3 months (worth around $660).  United’s Club Infinite card offers 90 000 bonus miles after you spend $5 000 in the first 3 months (worth around $1080). 

All three cards offer solid welcome offers, but United’s offer tops it for 5 points.  American’s card gets 4 points, and Delta’s gets 2 points. (No change in ranking)

Points earnings

Like the cheaper versions of these cards, the best multiplier is offered on direct airline purchases.  American’s card offers 4x miles on American (for the first $150 000 of AA flight purchases and then 5x miles after that) and 10x on rental cars and hotels booked through American.  Delta’s card offers 3x miles on Delta.  United’s card offers 4x miles on United, 2x miles on all other travel (including non-United airfare) and dining.  All cards offer 1 mile/$ on everything else.

As the only card with a non-airline bonus category, the United Club Infinite card wins (5 points), then the American Executive card (3 points), and finally the Delta Reserve (2 points). (AA and Delta switched spots in the ranking)

Elite earnings

The American Executive card has an enhanced earning of 1 loyalty point per eligible mile earned. This means 4x (or 5x) on AA spend, 10x on AA hotels/car rentals, and 1x for all other spend.  This means if you spent no money on AA but $30 000 on the card, you’d get entry-level Gold Status on American. 

You also get 10 000 additional Loyalty Points after reaching 50 000 loyalty points in a year (regardless of spend) and then another 10 000 additional Loyalty Points after reaching 90 000 loyalty points in a year.

Starting in 2024, the Delta Reserve card offers 1 Medallion Qualifying Dollar per $10 spent on the card with no caps and a $2 500 MQD boost to status. If you spend $25 000 on the card, with the boost, you’ll have $5 000 MQD, and you’d be granted entry-level Medallion Silver status. It’s unclear if (and perhaps even unlikely that) the boost will continue to exist after 2024, so if it doesn’t, then you’d need to spend $50 000.

Starting in 2024, the United Club Infinite card offers 25 PQP per $500 spent on the card (up to a maximum of 10 000 PQP). This means if you spent $100 000 on the card, you’d be granted entry-level Premier Silver status, which is extremely weak.

The American card wins (5 points), followed by the Delta card (3 points), and then the United card (1 point). The ranking doesn’t change, but the fact that you can earn more than 1x LP/$ spent on the AA Executive Card is huge.

Benefits

As is often the case, with higher annual fee credit cards, the benefits on these cards are generally much stronger than the free/low annual fee cards. 

The American Executive Card offers an Admirals Club membership, 25% savings on inflight food/beverages. You can also get some Lyft and Grubhub credits each month. The card also offers priority check-in/boarding/security and a first checked bag free (for you + 8 others).  The biggest benefit of the card that was reduced is that adding authorized users is no longer free, but they still get a club membership. The first three authorized users costs $175 and then each additional one costs $175 each.

The Delta Reserve card offers a Delta SkyClub membership and access to Amex Centurion lounges (when flying Delta), an annual companion certificate automatically with renewal (incl a domestic first class ticket), a first checked bag free, a Global Entry Credit, 20% back on in-flight purchases, (the lowest level of) complimentary upgrades on flights.  Authorized users cost $175 each and also get club access. However, starting in 2024, each Reserve cardholder (and authorized user) can only use the lounge on 15 days per year, not unlimited. A well-used companion ticket can likely justify the credit card’s entire annual fee.

The United Club Infinite card offers a United Club membership, free first and second checked bags, Premier Access, a Global Entry Credit, 25% back on United inflight food/beverages and on ‘premium’ (alcoholic) drinks in the United Club, and premier upgrades on award tickets.  The card also recently has added IHG Rewards Platinum Elite status and Avis President’s Club.  Authorized users are free but do not get club access.

Despite the downgrade, the AA Executive Card’s Admirals Club perks are still the best (5 points).  The Delta Reserve card’s automatic companion certificate is probably the best non-lounge benefit, but the SkyClub restrictions may be off-putting for some (4 points).  The United Club Infinite card offers several solid perks beyond the club membership, but it’s also the only card where authorized users don’t get club access (1 point). (No ranking change)

How to use the points

The main use for earning airlines points is to redeem them for flights on the respective airline.  In general, American has the best redemption opportunities because they still use an award chart, rather than dynamic pricing, for redemptions on partners.  United is generally the next best because of its Star Alliance partners and generally better redemption prices.  Delta’s miles are generally worth the least. Based on what I’ve seen online, American miles are worth around 1.3 ¢/pt, United’s are worth around 1.2 ¢/pt, and Delta’s are worth around 1.1 ¢/pt.

In terms of redeeming the miles, American comes first (5 points), United comes second (4 points), and Delta is the weakest (3 point). (No ranking change)

Which of these cards is/are right for you?

The results are as follows:

AA Executive Card: 18
Delta Reserve: 12
United Club Infinite: 11

What these numbers tell us is that the AA Executive Card has the most compelling structure if you were completely agnostic to which club network you wanted access to, which is unlikely to be the case. The updated scoring system means that Delta Reserve card comes in second, assuming you can use the companion voucher (I wouldn’t be able to for example). The United Club Infinite card ends up in last place, which I think is reasonable because the United card has some strong perks and some very weak perks, whereas the Delta Reserve consistently has mid-range perks (and the companion voucher)

If you would otherwise purchase a membership to an airline’s club network, these credit cards are absolutely worth it without a doubt.  If you’re not interested in club access, I don’t think these cards necessarily make sense.  You could get equivalent perks with one of the entry-level or mid-tier cards and then earn transferrable points on a different card and have a lower total annual fee. 

With American’s Executive card, you can give lounge access to a lot of people with a relatively low fee compared to the others, which might change the value proposition of having a lounge membership.  Delta’s companion pass might be able to make the annual fee make sense if you fly occasionally with other people (which I don’t).  I’m not entirely convinced on the United card’s value outside the club membership.

PS For a direct comparison with the previous post, American’s Executive Card would have gotten 13 points, compared to the United Club Infinite’s 9 points and the Delta Reserve card’s 8 points. The winner wouldn’t have changed, but the AA Executive card net gained one point and the Reserve card lost 1 point.