AAdmiral

Now that Barclays US Airways Mastercard has transitioned to the Barclays AAdvantage Aviators card, has anyone had success in upgrading from the Red card to the Silver card?

liw5215

Does Barclays allow product change? such as converting Arrival+ into AA Aviator card? Thanks

ninjaFred

DoC Post

nall

I wonder if anything has changed now that they're showing as Aviators in the system. I called Barclays about upgrading/downgrading a couple cards, and they said no.

Scsweet

I pushed on this issue yesterday and spoke to a manager. She told me that they didn't anticipate being able to offer upgrades until May at the earliest. Having said that, there seems to be wide variability in the information provided by the CSRs. The first person I asked about an upgrade told me to "call the airline because they manage the rewards program"

AAdmiral

I received my Barclays Aviator Red World MasterCard yesterday and was able to set the pin while unblocking the card. This product is a true EMV Chip + Pin card. The card number and CVV code remained the exact same as my US Airways card which it replaced. Interesting is on the back of the card I noticed the date the plastic was made was 10/14 so Barclays has had these for quite sometime just waiting for AA to merge the US Airways program together with AAdvantage.

While I was online with customer service, I inquired about upgrading my Aviators Red Card to the Aviators Silver Card. After a brief hold the CS representative came back and stated that at this time they could not upgrade me. After further inquiring as to the qualifications, I was told that my CL was high enough (Credit Line on my account $25K), my account was in good standing as well. The only thing she could see was that I had not spent over $30k in one year. When I mentioned that I have spent about $15k since I opened the card in November of 2014 she said to try back again once I passed the $30k spend threshold. I would be curious if anyone with over $30k spend that has a Red card is able to convert it to Silver.

seawolf

Are the only differences between the cards the higher annual fee, 1 extra mile for AA/US purchase, 1 extra mile for hotel/car rental spend, the EQM, and companion certificate?

TReckoner

That is interesting since I asked about this while I was asking about getting my new aviator expedited and I spoke with a "specialist" who said they were planning to get offers out soon, but she simply didn't see any offers available on my account. I do expect that the offers are put on the account after the 30k threshold which qualifies you for world elite on red or silver.

chrisremo

That's a little frustrating since the whole reason I want the Silver card in the first place is so I can START putting that kind of spend on it in order to get the EQM bonus. Right now I'm working towards $40k on my Citi Exec card for that card's 10k EQM, but unless they are going to retroactively apply all that Red spend to Silver bonuses I don't think I'd want to take the chance that I wouldn't end up being upgraded ultimately.

AAdmiral

I sent an email via Barclays customer service on their website requesting an upgrade from the Red Aviator to the Silver Aviator. I explained the reasoning behind my request mentioning specific points and benefits that the Silver card has over the Red card. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but honestly don't expect a positive result since they seem to still be in transition. Hopefully they see all the times I have requested the upgrade to Silver and hope that "the squeaky wheel get the oil"!

TReckoner

Seems there's a lot of mixed messages coming out of CS. I just got my Aviator Red and called into make sure I can use it since I got a fraud alert on a big purchase yesterday and there was some confusion around activating my new card. I talked to a couple reps today and they said no changes can be made to Aviators until July, neither world elite upgrades or silver upgrade or the like. But they did say I would get the option to upgrade to silver in July, when they plan put offers on accounts, but that I can't do it until then. I guess I'll hold them to that in July.

AAdmiral

I just got this response from CS;

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for contacting us regarding your AAdvantage Aviator Red World MasterCard. We can certainly address your inquiry regarding the upgrade on your account.

We are pleased to know that you are interested with upgrading your account to the Aadvantage Aviator Silver World Elite MasterCard product. At this time, we do not have a specific date as to when the product will be available for your account. Rest assured, it will happen when the merger with American Airlines will be complete. Barclaycard and US Airways are committed to keeping our customers informed if there are any changes in the future. For the most updated information on our proposed merger please visit www.usairways.com/arriving.

Nonetheless, we are now looking forward to our continuing partnership with the New American. While we do not have details of the new benefits that will added towards your account upon the merger, we would like to set your expectation that new benefits will be available once the frequent flyer programs merge this year. The benefits that have been established as of the moment are as follows:

- 10% of miles back when you redeem your miles for award travel
- 25% off in flight purchases on food, beverages and headsets. Savings will appear as statement credits.
- $100 flight discount (after $30,000 in spend)
- Additional redemption flexibility for one-way travel and first class upgrades
- Priority Group 1 Boarding on American Airlines operated flights

We hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions and concerns, please reply to this message.

Sincerely,

Customer Care

TReckoner

Yeah, The CS people I spoke to mentioned end of June, starting July as when the merger is scheduled to be complete. All that falls in line with what they told me.

Scsweet

Here is my exchange with CS:

Me:
I continue to be frustrated about the lack of and/or inconsistent information regarding upgrades from the Red to the Silver Card. I would appreciate clear answers to the following questions:
1) will spending on the Red card count toward the EQM bonus if the card is upgraded prior to the end of the year?
2) will the Silver card become available to everyone at some point or will there be credit limit, spend history or other criteria?
3) will it be possible to defer annual fee renewal charges until a decision on Silver upgrade has been made (I am reluctant to pay an annual fee if I won't be able to upgrade)?
Thank you.

Reply:
... We can certainly address your request regarding the upgrade on your account.

At this time, our current policy prevents us from upgrading or replacing your account. New federal regulations place certain restrictions on product changes and we are currently working hard towards meeting these requirements. If an offer becomes available, we will notify you directly. We also apologize for any inconvenience this may cause...

"Federal Regulations"?

TReckoner

as far as spending towards EQM, a CS told me when I asked about that earlier that the spend does carry over.

That line about federal regulations seems to be along the lines of :
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Cred...s/td-p/1192727

But he might mean more generally that because of concern for this type of thing, the policy at Barclays is to disallow changes until the merger is complete and all cards have been transitioned, to avoid any missteps in the regulations from the CARD act.