One of the downsides of obtaining your Admirals Club membership through the Citi® / AAdvantage Executive World Elite™ MasterCard has been the inability to purchase a spousal membership. I received an email this morning letting me know that has now changed. As an AAdvantage Gold member I can add a spousal membership for $275. It is valid for 1 year and will remain valid as long as my account is open.

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The Math

The Citi Executive card is $450 per year. Adding a spousal membership to that gives us a total cost of $725. If I just purchased my membership directly from American, the cost would be $475 as a new member, and $750 with the spousal membership. As a renewing member, the cost is $425 and $700 respectively. I call that basically a wash as you have the benefit of the card with miles earning, especially 10K elite qualifying miles for spending $40K per year. Of course, the math is different if you have higher elite status. Visit aa.com for details.

While I’m not considering this at this time, this could be something of interest to others. I know that the lack of ability to add a spousal membership has been an issue for some. Trust me, it would be for this blogger if we were still living in DC. To add a spousal membership, just speak to a representative on your next Admirals Club visit or call member services.

-MJ, January 20, 2015