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[edit] USA

AAdvantage earning credit cards are issued exclusively Citibank and all relevant information is available at AA.com and at Citi Cards.

[edit] Foreign Purchase Fees

Citi charges a 3% (MasterCard/Visa) or 2.5% (AmEx) finance fee on any purchase made outside of the US, whether made in foreign currency or in USD. This can amount to a significant expense for nothing: $30 for every $1,000 spent, or $300 for every $10,000.

FTers strongly recommend having one of these free cards for foreign purchases:

• Capital One - 0% fee and 1% cashback
• USAA - 1% fee and 0.35-1.25% cashback
• Certain credit unions (check details)

A more complete discussion is available here.

[edit] Contactless Cards

Contactless cards are marketed as PayPass (MasterCard), payWave (VISA) and ExpressPay (AmEx) and allow for payment without having to physically swipe the card (just waving it, even without removing it from the wallet, in front of a reader). FTers who travel in places where the technology is widespread report that "contactless technology does indeed work, greatly speeds up the process at the cash registers and even eases commuting rail travel." [1]

Citi does not offer contactless cards; a test was made in 2007 but not implemented. Citi instead offers contactless key fobs, considered by many much easier to be stolen and not as convenient to carry/use; they are available only for their MasterCard products.