Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > American Airlines | AAdvantage
Reload this Page >

ARCHIVE: Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Silver and Red Cards

Old Sep 28, 2019, 3:51 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JDiver
Archive Of ORIGINAL AAdvantage Aviator Silver and Red Cards from BarclayCard


FOR CURRENT THREAD SEE HERE.

NOTE: The BarclayCard US Airways Aviator credit cards were offered to US Airways Dividend Miles members and "grandfathered in" to the AAdvantage program. Now you can sign up for several Aviator cards, though the Silver Card is generally available after one has had another Aviator Card at least three months.

There are five AAdvantage-linked Aviator-branded cards by Barclaycard. An April 2015 article on The Points Guy details them.

The Many Flavors of Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator (Jason Steele, April 13th, 2015).

Where can I see information on all available Barclays Barclaycard AAdvantage cards?

Link to American Airlines AAdvantage Aviator Red MasterCard Reward Rules T&C (Feb 2017)

Link to American Airlines AAdvantage Aviator Silver World Elite MasterCard Reward Rules T&C (Feb 2017)

Link to FT thread Citi & Barclaycard AAdvantage Credit Card Free Domestic Checked Bag / Baggage

Aviator Red applications are available at the airport or in flight in 2017, or online at https://home.barclaycardus.com

New Red cardholders may apply to upgrade to Aviator Silver after 90 days. Existing Red cardholders (prior to 2017) may apply to upgrade to Silver at any time.

Aviator Silver offers EQM:

"Additional Benefits of your Account

Elite Qualifying Miles


The primary cardmember may earn 5,000 Elite Qualifying Miles ("EQMs") after spending $20,000 in Net Purchases that post to the AAdvantage Aviator Silver account from January 1st through December 31st each calendar year. The primary cardmember may earn an additional 5,000 AAdvantage EQMs each calendar year when the cardmember reaches $40,000 in spending on Net Purchases with the AAdvantage Aviator Silver account during the same period. An AAdvantage Aviator Silver primary cardmember may earn the maximum 10,000 EQMs once per calendar year, unless the cardmember has already earned the maximum number of EQMs through another AAdvantage Aviator Silver account. EQMs earned are in addition to the AAdvantage miles earned for Net Purchases made on the AAdvantageAviator Silver account. Net Purchases exclude returned goods and services, cash advances, convenience checks, transferred balances, credits, fees and interest charges. Net Purchases made by authorized users through additional cards on the primary cardmember's AAdvantage Aviator Silver account will count toward the primary cardmember's qualifying spend. EQMs earned as a result of this benefit will typically be posted to the primary cardmember's AAdvantage account 6-8 weeks after meeting the spend requirement. EQMs will not count toward Million Miler℠ status. EQMs cannot be redeemed for award travel, AAdvantage miles or any other AAdvantage program awards. EQMs earned with the AAdvantage Aviator Silver account qualify toward the primary cardmember's AAdvantage program elite status earning requirements each calendar year, subject to the limits under the Reward Rules and the AAdvantage Program. Full details on elite status and qualifications are available in the AAdvantage section of aa.com."

Both cards will offer spend offsets to the required Elite Qualifying Dollar spend in 2017.[/B]

Spend $25,000 or more on a Barclaycard-issued American AAdvantage Aviator Red credit card and earn 3,000 EQD.

Spend $25,000 on a Barclaycard-issued AAdvantage Aviator Silver credit card and earn an additional 3,000 EQD - a second $25,000 spend will earn another 3,000 EQD.

You can not hold both cards and combine earnings. You can notvearn more than $6,000 EQD spend offset in one year. Qualifying purchases are 1 Jan - 31 Dec of one year.

See EQ Dollar / EQD offset via Barclaycard Aviator Card announcement, details for further information.

and FAQ: Earning EQD / Elite Qualifying Dollars on AA and Partner Airlines (2017 on)

Spend $20,000 on your Silver card in one calendar year, earn 5,000 EQM; spend a total of $40,000 or more on your Silver card, earn 5,000 more EQM.

Above updated 16 Feb 2017 - JDiver


What are the benefits of the Aviator Silver card?
  • Earn 3X miles for every dollar spent on eligible US Airways and American Airlines purchases
  • Earn 2X miles for every dollar spent on hotels and car rentals
  • Earn 1X miles for every dollar spent on all other purchases
  • Earn 5,000 Elite Qualifying Miles for each $20,000 in annual purchases (10,000 maximum EQMs per year)
  • First checked bag free for you and up to 8 companions traveling on the same reservation
  • A Companion Certificate good for up to 2 guests at $99 each will be issued each year after your account anniversary when you spend $30,000 or more in purchases (taxes and fees apply)
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Premium Servicing including US-based Customer Service, World Elite Concierge and Luxury Travel Benefits
  • Receive 10% of your redeemed miles back, up to 10,000 miles each calendar year
  • Apply for Global Entry with TSA PreCheck and, upon approval, experience expedited, more efficient security screenings, moving you smoothly through U.S. Customs when returning from traveling abroad. Pay for the $100 Global Entry application fee with your card and you'll automatically receive a $100 statement credit 2-3 weeks after your transaction.
    • With this benefit, the primary cardmember can receive one application fee statement credit every 5 years when the Global Entry membership needs to be renewed.
What are the terms of the 10% rebate benefit?
According to the Aviator card FAQ,
For this benefit to apply, your account must be open and active at the time of redemption.

The American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles you will earn through this benefit will be based on 10% of the total AAdvantage miles you redeem each month during the calendar year. The maximum number of AAdvantage bonus miles that can be earned annually from this benefit is 10,000 AAdvantage bonus miles per calendar year and per AAdvantage account, regardless of how many AAdvantage miles you redeem in that calendar year.

This benefit only applies to AAdvantage miles redeemed from the primary Cardmembers AAdvantage account. Please allow 6-8 weeks after your redemption for American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles to post to the primary Cardmembers AAdvantage account.
Thus, this benefit
  • applies to all miles redemptions, regardless of the passenger name on the airline ticket or other award.
  • is limited to 10,000 miles in rebates per calendar year, regardless of how many Barclays and/or Citi AA cards you have.

For additional information about the 10% rebate benefit, see FAQ: AAdvantage Citi / Barclays 10% miles / mileage rebate (consolidated)and the associated wiki.
Print Wikipost

ARCHIVE: Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Silver and Red Cards

Old Aug 11, 2017, 6:50 am
  #1411  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: New York
Programs: Navy A-4 Skyhawk, B727 FE/FO, S80 FO, B757/767 FO, B737 CA
Posts: 1,333
For those of you who've been dealing with Barclays, how long after opening the red card are you typically closing it once you get the sign-up bonus? This thread seems to be qeared more toward going from red to silver; haven't noticed much discussion on closing it.
fredc84 is offline  
Old Aug 11, 2017, 10:15 am
  #1412  
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: USA & UK -- AA EXP 3.5MM, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, Avis President's Club
Posts: 6,411
Originally Posted by stheller
The question is whether I'm overlooking some feature of the Citicard or some drawback of the Aviator that means it would be a mistake to close the Citicard.
If you ever carry a balance forward, it would be a huge mistake to have only the Barclays card. It charges 5 to 6 percentage points more than Citi.
CloudCoder is offline  
Old Aug 11, 2017, 2:51 pm
  #1413  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: MSY; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
Programs: AA lifetime GLD; UA Silver; Marriott LTTE; IHG Plat,
Posts: 14,509
Originally Posted by fredc84
Well, if you rate the two cards the same, then keep which ever one you had the longest...for you credit history.
The Citi card can be product-changed to a no-fee card to keep the credit history of the account.
swag is offline  
Old Aug 11, 2017, 3:39 pm
  #1414  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 28
Originally Posted by rtkane
Anyone have any experience as to how long EQD's take to post to your account when you've crossed the $25k threshold? I know it says either 4-6 or 6-8 weeks (can't remember which), but didn't know if they're maybe a bit quicker than what their official terms say.
As an additional data point, my post above was from 8/4 when I hit the $25k spend. The EQD bonus was sent to AA on 8/8 and were in my account when I checked on 8/10 (I don't recall if I checked on 8/8 or 8/9 if they were there, but the history says they were in on 8/8).

My statement for the month does not close until 8/20 so mine wasn't tied to statement activity. Way faster than 6-8 week!
rtkane is offline  
Old Aug 11, 2017, 3:41 pm
  #1415  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 503
Originally Posted by fredc84
As far as features, they are basically the same. The big difference is the ability to upgrade red to silver on the Barclays...if that interests you. The big difference, as I said, is being able to get another Citi card while still having one open. You aren't supposed to be able to do that with Barclays. So, if you want to churn these cards at all but keep the card benefits, close the Barclays and wait 24 months to reapply. 24 months after you opened the Citi, reapply again.

AFAIK, there's no way to look up when the 24 months is over, you have to track that yourself (I keep a spreadsheet for all that info). If you have statements going back that far, you can at least get an idea by seeing when you put spend on it the first time.
I found my spreadsheet about the bonuses, so never mind. :-)

Last edited by stheller; Aug 11, 2017 at 3:43 pm Reason: overtaken by events
stheller is offline  
Old Aug 11, 2017, 4:52 pm
  #1416  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: New York
Programs: Navy A-4 Skyhawk, B727 FE/FO, S80 FO, B757/767 FO, B737 CA
Posts: 1,333
Originally Posted by swag
The Citi card can be product-changed to a no-fee card to keep the credit history of the account.
But he wants to keep one card open, partly for the 10% back, etc. I think Citi is better than Barclays in relation to churning abilities.
fredc84 is offline  
Old Aug 12, 2017, 5:52 am
  #1417  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New York
Programs: AA, CX, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 1,484
Originally Posted by rtkane
As an additional data point, my post above was from 8/4 when I hit the $25k spend. The EQD bonus was sent to AA on 8/8 and were in my account when I checked on 8/10 (I don't recall if I checked on 8/8 or 8/9 if they were there, but the history says they were in on 8/8).

My statement for the month does not close until 8/20 so mine wasn't tied to statement activity. Way faster than 6-8 week!
Quick question: do you have to call Barclay to ask them to send the info to AA? How would you know it was sent to AA after 4 days of meeting the requirement?
andersonCooper is offline  
Old Aug 12, 2017, 10:09 am
  #1418  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,927
Originally Posted by swag
The Citi card can be product-changed to a no-fee card to keep the credit history of the account.
But that still can reset the 24-month clock, just like a close.

The OP who asked said the history isn't their concern, and 24 months is.

Of course, this is not a thread about Citi.
sdsearch is offline  
Old Aug 12, 2017, 10:17 am
  #1419  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,927
Originally Posted by stheller
Thanks, but I guess I wasn't clear enough in my post. The question is whether I'm overlooking some feature of the Citicard or some drawback of the Aviator that means it would be a mistake to close the Citicard.

I have plenty of cards with long credit histories, so I don't think that will be a problem either way.

BTW, is there any way to check how close I am to the end of the 24 month period that prevents another bonus from Citibank? I think I'm pretty close but I'm not sure exactly when that is up.
The only thing I can think of is Citi Price Rewind, but (a) there are non-AA Citi cards that have that too, and (b) it doesn't help any if you don't use a Citi card for purchases (of significant enough amount to matter) where the purchase price might go down in the next 60 days.

Me, I dumped all my Citi AA cards when I had to close one, to get my 24 months synchronized. I would have had to risk not getting retention on 2 cards 2 times to be able to keep them open 25 (to be safe) months. I like the Aviator card better for overseas because it has both offline and online PIN on the EMV chip.

Anyway, keep in mind that either closing or converting your Citi personal AA card will reset the 24-month personal AA card clock, so think carefully about when to do it (you want to do right after being approved for another Citi AA personal card or right at the same time as closing another Citi AA personal card).
sdsearch is offline  
Old Aug 12, 2017, 11:46 pm
  #1420  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
IHG Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,408
Originally Posted by swag
The Citi card can be product-changed to a no-fee card to keep the credit history of the account.
I had 3 PLT cards and cancelled them all after I transferred as much of my credit line I could to my citi executive card. Cancelling those cards did not effect my credit scores at all.
FlightNurse is offline  
Old Aug 13, 2017, 5:25 am
  #1421  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: New York
Programs: Navy A-4 Skyhawk, B727 FE/FO, S80 FO, B757/767 FO, B737 CA
Posts: 1,333
Originally Posted by FlightNurse
I had 3 PLT cards and cancelled them all after I transferred as much of my credit line I could to my citi executive card. Cancelling those cards did not effect my credit scores at all.
Cancelled credit cards stay on your report for 10 years, I believe.
fredc84 is offline  
Old Aug 13, 2017, 7:26 am
  #1422  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 28
Originally Posted by andersonCooper
Quick question: do you have to call Barclay to ask them to send the info to AA? How would you know it was sent to AA after 4 days of meeting the requirement?
No, they do it automatically. I know the day I hit the threshold because I happened to log in the day it was at something like $25,200 of spend. When I went into my AA profile showing "your activity", it says it was posted to AA on 8/8. I'd been checking pretty much daily to see if it was going to change my status and it didn't change to Platinum Pro until 8/10 (unless maybe I just missed checking on 8/9 and checked too early on 8/8).
rtkane is offline  
Old Aug 13, 2017, 9:30 am
  #1423  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
IHG Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,408
Originally Posted by fredc84
Cancelled credit cards stay on your report for 10 years, I believe.
They show closed on my reports. They can sit there all they want, but they are not active accounts.
FlightNurse is offline  
Old Aug 13, 2017, 9:59 am
  #1424  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: New York
Programs: Navy A-4 Skyhawk, B727 FE/FO, S80 FO, B757/767 FO, B737 CA
Posts: 1,333
Originally Posted by FlightNurse
They show closed on my reports. They can sit there all they want, but they are not active accounts.
Which is why I responded to your comment that the closed ones didn't affect your score...they are still there even though showing closed, they contribute to your score.

From Equifax: Accounts in good standing: Credit accounts that are closed but were paid as agreed, will normally remain on your credit report for up to 10 years from the date of last activity. Positive information on open accounts in good standing, however, can stay on your credit report forever.
fredc84 is offline  
Old Aug 13, 2017, 10:55 am
  #1425  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 503
Originally Posted by sdsearch
The only thing I can think of is Citi Price Rewind, but (a) there are non-AA Citi cards that have that too, and (b) it doesn't help any if you don't use a Citi card for purchases (of significant enough amount to matter) where the purchase price might go down in the next 60 days.

Me, I dumped all my Citi AA cards when I had to close one, to get my 24 months synchronized. I would have had to risk not getting retention on 2 cards 2 times to be able to keep them open 25 (to be safe) months. I like the Aviator card better for overseas because it has both offline and online PIN on the EMV chip.

Anyway, keep in mind that either closing or converting your Citi personal AA card will reset the 24-month personal AA card clock, so think carefully about when to do it (you want to do right after being approved for another Citi AA personal card or right at the same time as closing another Citi AA personal card).
Right. I found my spreadsheet where I had recorded the starting dates for my citicards, and I'll be eligible for another bonus (if they don't change the rules first) in December. When it looked like AA was making SAAver awards pretty much totally unavailable, I was going to ignore that and close them so as not to have to pay the annual fee, but now it appears that there is likely to be some availability on occasion.
stheller is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.