nall

For those unaware, Barclays (issuer of the US Airways cards) cannot issue new cards after the Frequent Flier programs merge, however existing Barclays USAirways cards will become Barclays American Airlines cards.

Barclays will offer two versions of their "Advantage Aviator" cards:


The default Aviator Red card is basically identical to the Citi Platinum cards, however, the Aviator Silver is in a class of its own:

• $195 AF
• 3x miles on AA purchases
• 2x miles on hotels & car rentals
• EQM (similar to the Citi Exec card)
• 10% redeemed miles (similar to the Citi Platinum card)
• Domestic companion pass after $30k spend (similar to the Citi Business card)

Any thoughts on the likelihood that Citi will introduce its own version of this?

rgAAFT

Check this out
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...tercard-2.html

LHCVG

Currently have both the USAir MC (just got my email today about conversion to an AAdvantage Aviator Red in Q2) and a Citi AAdvantage Gold MC. USAir card was already pretty close to the Citi Platinum Select, for the $6 difference in AF. I was previously thinking of upgrading the Citi AA Gold to the PS just as a hedge in case Barclays got bored and devalued bennies on the legacy USAir cards. However, now that the Aviator Silver comes even closer to the PS benefits, what is my optimum strategy?

My guess is that it's best to stand pat with the Aviator Red at $89 and the Citi AA Gold at $50. Even with limited bennies on the Citi Gold, at least I get most of the goodies on the Aviator Red.

Thoughts on what to do with the AA Gold MC (will definitely keep the line open even if just to keep age of accounts up)?

satman40

US Air is doing a 1.5 miles till June 30, so grab the 10k perk..

It may have been targeted.

If it not of Value get rid of it.

LHCVG

Forgot to mention that I did get the invite and sign up for that. The 1.5x is definitely nice, since otherwise neither the US nor AA card is very good for everyday spend where I can get 2x on my UA MP Visa or Amazon card. But after June 30 is where the question comes up.

rgAAFT

All I have to say is ,Citi is very generous about awarding huge sums of AA miles on a regular basis,if you know how to "ask" nicely

LHCVG

Well I will file away that little tidbit and see if it plays!

rgAAFT

Any "hidden" Citi reps on here should start paying me $ for all the free referrals lol^

LWT3

The AA Gold is pretty useless. The annual fee is low at $50, but you don't get much for it. It offers 1 mile per dollar, but no other benefits that I'm aware of (no free checked bag for example). If your only reason for keeping it open is for age of account purposes, I would convert it to the Bronze, which has no annual fee. I believe the only difference between Gold and Bronze is that the Bronze gives you 1 mile for every 2 dollars of spend. That's bad, obviously, but if you want to accumulate miles via spending, put that spending on the Aviator, and just use the Bronze once or twice a year to keep the card active.

LHCVG

That's pretty much where I am, aside from AoA and having that credit available in a pinch if need be, the AA Gold per se if fairly useless for everyday spend. When I applied, I just couldn't stomach going for one of the 1/$2 cards as I consider that blatant highway robbery (as little as miles are worth, if I'm not even getting 1:1 fuhgetaboutit!).

Sounds like your answer is pretty much where it stands: given that the Aviators will provide all the bennies I might otherwise get by upgrading to a Platinum Select anyway, no real use in the Gold.

But still I'm not going to worry much for the $50 AF. I'm thinking I will just give them a call before my anniversary date in July and sweet talk them into something or a statement credit for the AF.

wxyankee1

I have the Executive and Platinum AA cards thru Citi and have a long credit history with Citi. The Executive Card has the high AF but had the 100K promotion last year, so I got it.

I also have the USAirways Card through Barclays which is going to be converted to the AA Aviator Card this year.

I am wondering if I need 3 AA cards, especially since the benefits of the Citi AA Platinum and the Barclays Aviator appear to have similar benefits at first glance.

I find Barclays Customer Service to be terrible while Citi is generally good in my experience. This is the only card I have with Barclays so if I close it, I have no other credit history with them.

Any thoughts on this is appreciated. I live in a USAirways hub.

Thanks.

indelible

im not sure about the plat and aviator, but I think you should churn that exec card

WheelsFirst

I'd keep the Citi Platinum, dump the Barclays card, and PC the Executive to the Prestige. You'd lose the full AC membership but you'd have AC access when on AA/US flights and you'd save $200 a year in annual fees. I would then apply for another Citi Platinum card assuming you are bonus eligible per the rules on another thread and pickup the 50K bonus miles.

TReckoner

From what I can piece together between CS messages and calls and website marketing, The aviator will be better in some regards than Citi AA platinum because Barclays has a storefront to boost earnings for online shopping and they run promotions for earning miles, which I don't know of Citi doing that for its plat AA cards. Apart from that, they will be the same for boarding benefits, in flight purchase discounts, redemption awards (including reduced mileage).

I would recommend keeping Barclays over the Citi plat, but the executive I would keep or churn at your own discretion apart from the Barclays.

I personally haven't had any real issues with Barclays CS, although I recognize they don't have a great reputation among most people.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LHCVG View Post
Currently have both the USAir MC (just got my email today about conversion to an AAdvantage Aviator Red in Q2) and a Citi AAdvantage Gold MC. USAir card was already pretty close to the Citi Platinum Select, for the $6 difference in AF. I was previously thinking of upgrading the Citi AA Gold to the PS just as a hedge in case Barclays got bored and devalued bennies on the legacy USAir cards. However, now that the Aviator Silver comes even closer to the PS benefits, what is my optimum strategy?

My guess is that it's best to stand pat with the Aviator Red at $89 and the Citi AA Gold at $50. Even with limited bennies on the Citi Gold, at least I get most of the goodies on the Aviator Red.

I wouldn't waste my time on gold either.

LHCVG

That's pretty much where I am -- not worth putting much effort into the AA Gold situation since I do get most of the PlatSelect benefits from the Aviator. If I decide the extra bits like rental cars and hotels become worthwhile, then maybe I spring for the Silver. But all else being equal, no sense in upgrading to the Platinum Select.