In a way, I'm more grateful to Barclays than to the CITI. They waived the fee on the Aviator Red which put me in a great position when dealing with CITI. With no other AA card my decision would have been far more difficult. And, think about it: if I were truly willing to pay a fee, wouldn't I give it to the bank that gives me a 10K anniversary bonus anyway? CITI will retain more customers when they offer an anniversary bonus like Barclays or CHASE (Marriott, SW, Hyatt, IHG, etc.).