For those who are frequent flyers of American Airlines, the Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® is a great travels rewards card offering cardholders 2X AAdvantage miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, 1X AAdvantage miles on all other purchase, and you can earn $3,000 Elite qualifying dollars after spending $25,000 on purchases each calendar year.
It currently has a limited time welcome offer of 60,000 AAdvantage bonus miles + companion certificate after making your first purchase in the first 90 days. However, it does come with a $95 annual fee that is not waived. If you’re interested in what this card has to offer, continue reading on below.
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Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard Summary
| Bonus Available | Earn 60,000 bonus miles after making your first purchase in the first 90 days and paying the annual fee Get a companion certificate in addition to the bonus |
| Ongoing Rewards/Benefits | Earn 2x AAdvantage miles on all eligible American Airlines purchases Earn 1x AAdvantage miles on all other purchases 10% of your redeemed miles back, up to 10,000 per calendar year Earn $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars after spending $25,000 on purchases each calendar year Receive 25% in-flight savings on food, beverages, and headsets on American Airlines-operated flights |
| Foreign Transaction Fees | No |
| Annual Fee | $95 |
Recommended Free Credit Score (Get Free Score)
670 – 850 (Good-Excellent)
PROS
- Welcome bonus
- Companion certificate
- In flight discounts
- Cash back when you spend a minimum each year
- 10% of your redeemed miles back
- No foreign transaction fees
CONS
- High annual fee
- Relatively high spending minimum
Editor’s Alternate Pick
 The Hilton Honors American Express Card offers offers 75,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points with the Hilton Honors American Express Card after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in eligible purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. You'll have the opportunity to earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Honors portfolio of brands., 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations, & 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card. This card comes with annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, so you can enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad. |
AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Bonus Miles + Certificate
With this card, the welcome bonus is accompanied by a companion certificate, which is basically a plane ticket that costs only $99 plus tax.
When you make your purchase within the first 90 days of your account opening, you can earn 60,000 AAdvantage bonus miles + companion certificate. This is a pretty easy bonus to get especially when there’s no minimum spending requirement.
Here are some ideas on meeting the spending requirements:
| • Plastiq - Using Plastiq allows you to pay for your personal expenses such as rent, tuition, mortgage, auto lease etc. Although they charge a 2.5% processing fee for using your credit card, this will contribute to the card bonus that you will receive. There is also a referral program that allows you to earn "Free-Free Dollars" that goes towards processing fees as well. |
| • Funding Checking Accounts - When it comes to funding a checking account, opening your initial deposit with a credit card is the usual way to go about it. However, if you want to have more opportunities, you should open a checking account that offers a sign-up bonus. This allows you to work towards bonuses from not one but two different sources instead. Banks like Chase, Huntington Bank, TD Bank and BBVA offers credit card funding, and for your opening deposit, you can often fund anywhere from $50-$1000 with a credit card, depending on the bank. |
| • Gift Card Purchases With Using a Credit Card - Another way to acquire the bonus is using your credit card to purchase gift cards. Buying a a gift card or an individual merchant card typically do not require a purchase fee and are used towards leisure, so gift cards are ideal. However, gift cards such as a Visa or American Express do incur purchase fees because they can be spent anywhere, but gift cards that are specifically for a certain online shopping site such as Amazon or eBay don't. |
| As for a Citi Credit Card, you should call customer service and ask them to lower your Cash Advance limit to $0 before making any purchases because Citi tends to read gift card purchases as a Cash Advance. Ideally, you should do this with any card just to be safe. Lastly, there is such thing as a discounted gift card which can be purchased on Raise or eBay. If you use a credit card often for everyday purchases, it can build your credit score that will contribute towards paying for things such as bills and taxes. |
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Why You Should Apply for This Card
This card earns 2X AAdvantage miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and all other purchases earn 1X AAdvantage miles back.
Get your first checked bag free and preferred boarding for you and up to 4 companions on eligible bags when traveling on domestic itineraries operated by American Airlines. You get preferred boarding for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions on their reservation for all American Airlines operated flights. Plus when you’re shopping in the air, you’ll get 25% inflight savings on food and beverages when you use your card on American Airlines operated flights.
You can earn $3,000 elite qualifying dollars after spending $25,000 on purchases each calendar year
Make purchases abroad without worrying about foreign transaction fees with the Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard.
Bottom Line
If fly a lot and are looking to earn miles for it, check out Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®. You will earn more American Airlines AAdvantage miles at a faster rate along with all the great American Airlines perks for a $95 annual fee.
You’ll get the opportunity to enjoy 2X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and 1X miles on all other purchases. If you feel like this credit card wasn’t for you, check out our full list of the credit card bonuses to find out which one suits your needs. If you’re interested in what Barclays has to offer, check out our list of Barclaycard Promotions!
(Visit Barclay for more details)
Who’s the Competition?
Looking For Travel Redemption Options?
The Hilton Honors American Express Card offers offers 75,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points with the Hilton Honors American Express Card after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in eligible purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. You'll have the opportunity to earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Honors portfolio of brands., 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations, & 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card. This card comes with annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, so you can enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad. |
 The The Business Platinum® Card from American Express has a welcome offer where you can earn up to 100,000 Membership Rewards® points. Earn 50,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 and an extra 50,000 points after you spend an additional $15,000 all on qualifying purchases within your first 3 months of Card Membership. You'll also earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com. In addition, you'll get 50% more Membership Rewards® points. That's 1.5 points per dollar, on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more. You can get up to 1 million additional points per year. If you use your Membership Rewards® Pay with Points for all or part of a flight with your selected qualifying airline, you can get 35% of the points back, up to 500,000 bonus points per calendar year. This card does come with a $595 annual fee. (See Rates & Fees) Now, you can earn up to $200 in statement credits annually by getting up to $100 semi-annually for U.S. purchases with Dell. Terms apply. |
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The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
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