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American Airlines (AAL+0.47%) has picked Citi (C+3.54%) exclusive co-branded credit card partner, ending its decade-long partnership with Barclays (BCS+2.69%).
The two companies inked a new 10-year agreement that extends and deepens the two companies’ partnership, making Citi the sole issuer of the AAdvantage co-branded card in the U.S. starting in 2026, they announced Thursday.
“The strength of our relationship with Citi has enabled us to deliver first-class products and customer service to millions of AAdvantage cardmembers,” said American Airlines CEO Robert Isom. “This expanded partnership will unlock even more value and exciting new benefits for all of our customers in the future.”
Shares of American were up nearly 8% in pre-market trading Thursday.
American has split issuance of its co-branded cards since the airline merged with US Airways in 2013. American’s partnership with Citi goes back 37 years, but it kept US Airways’ deal with card partner Barclays until now.
Citi will acquire all Barclays American Airlines co-branded card portfolio and will begin transitioning cardmembers to Citi in 2026, the company said. Barclays cardmembers will continue to have access to their existing benefits.
The deal is especially sweet for Citi, which will absorb holders of Barclays’ AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard and Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard.
“We’re now excited to take this relationship to greater heights through an expanded customer base and a series of new loyalty and reward offerings,” said Citi CEO Jane Fraser in a statement.
Citi currently offers four American Airlines co-branded credit cards, including the American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp, the AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard, the AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard, and the CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard.
CNBC (CMCSA+1.28%) first reported in September that American and Citi were in talks to forge an exclusive partnership. American was one of the few airlines to offer co-branded cards with multiple issuers. Other exclusive co-brand partnerships include United Airlines (UAL+1.42%) and Chase Bank (JPM+2.03%), and Delta (DAL-2.12%) and American Express (AXP-0.47%).