FlightNurse

Could you imaging how crowded the FL would be if this was true!!

aztimm

If you call and ask would you please post what you hear back?

My annual fee will also be posting soon, and I'm not sure I want to keep the card either.

Tintin

I will. I am waiting for my billing cycle to end. I will give them a call as soon as my December statement is posted, which could be any day now. I have a zero balance with $50,000+ spend in 2018. If they don't offer anything I may open Arrival+ account online (70,000 bonus points offer) and transfer some of the credit line from Silver and close the Silver account.

Tintin

I am sure Barclay will increase the AF to $500 if they offer FL access. They can make the Silver card exclusive for PLT and above to control the traffic.

Tintin

Possible.

ralphs

For me, EQD was the real reason to get an Aviator Silver. If we can only get the 3k EQD, might as well get a Citi AA Exec and pay ~$200/year of Admirals Club membership.
edit: aw man, just realized the Citi AA Exec doesn't provide EQD. Argh!

Tintin

I spoke with a rep today. I was offered a downgrade to No AF AA World Elite MC (1 point/$ for AA/partner purchase, 0.5 point/$ for all other purchase). No other offer at this moment. She was extremely nice and understood/aware of our EQD concern. She advised to wait until January before taking any action. AF will post on January 31 and we will have 60 days after posting of the AF to make changes.

I asked about the upcoming new benefits. She said executives at higher-up are negotiating with AA. Nothing has been announced/settled. But new benefits will be announced in January. So waiting is the best option.

It seems they are receiving many calls to cancel Silver card (obviously).

That is all I have today. I am not sure if Barclay's no AF AA card is a World Elite MC. But that's what she said.

autdi

Retention reps will imply anything to keep you from canceling with them. They can hint at anything without committing that it would happen, aka sweet nothings.

Tintin

Yes. I know. I was very firm that I have decided to cancel Silver card. She was willing to do the downgrade right away. No debate. The account number etc. would stay the same. No-AF. She said the new card will be a World Elite MC (I was surprised -- I thought the no-AF card was a plain MC). She also said they have received many similar requests and unfortunately she couldn't help most callers. I sensed, if you have spend $50,000+ in 2018 and received both 10,000 EQM + 6,000 EQD without paying any interest to Barclays then they are happily willing (and eager) to cancel your Silver card and offer you another product. I felt they bleed tons of $ to AA on this product last year (perhaps EQD was very expensive?). If you haven't used those benefits then, perhaps, they will be willing to keep your Silver AC open and offer a reduction in AF. When I called, she was eager to convert my card. My FICO score is around 800.

There is something very strange going on between Barclays and AA. Clearly AA is now favoring Citi (Miles-up card, no increase in AF for the Executive card, no reduction in the Admirals club benefit for the Executive card, etc.) and Barclay's high-end Silver card became a very expansive product. Barclay's stopped offering the product (stopped upgrading Red to Silver) few months ago. Probably they will grandfather the card.

Please call and post your experience. Thanks.

MorganB

Just to add a data point: My Silver Aviator $50K EQD milestone earned on Nov 10th posted on December 11 with a backdate of Nov 10th . Not sure why it didnt post on the 10th as they have in the past. Maybe because the 10th fell on a Monday?

taxatty56

1 point/$ for AA/partner purchases, 0.5 point/$ for all other purchases is pretty crappy. Why bother, except perhaps to keep your FICO score up if it works for that purpose?

Biggie Fries

Not to be argumentative, but here was my thinking two years back when I decided not to hold onto my Silver card:

Yeah, the white no AF card is borderline ridiculous, but (a) my Silver card was a transition from the old Barclays USAirways card, which is to say that it was old -- my oldest card in fact -- so why not keep it?; and (b) given that they don't seem to allow us to signup for Silver cards, if I ever needed a Silver card, best to have something to upgrade; and (c) same as (b), except for Red, with thinking here in addition that it would help in staying under 5/24 in Chase world.

None of these very momentous, buy, hey, why not?

Tintin

4 reasons to keep the card open until the AF has been posted:

(1) 3 AA miles per $ spend for AA tickets (and other AA) purchase.
(2) AF has already been paid for this year, so use it to buy next year's tickets.
(3) Bank issued un-crippled online/offline Chip-and-PIN card issued in the US. If you have to travel overseas in near future then this is the card you will need. (*)
(4) We don't have any clue about the upcoming new benefits which will be announced in January.

(*) More details here: Citi AA Executive Card: Is Chip-and-PIN Authentication Possible?

I am thinking to apply for the Arrival+ card (70,000 bonus points offer). May cancel the Silver card when the AF has been posted.

jvel

Does anyone know if the application given out in flight allows you to open multiple Aviator Red's and still get the mileage bonus?

zzpitt

I just completed an online marketing survey with Barclays pertaining to a "new and exciting" benefit in the works (received email to participate in the survey). In hindsight, I wish I would have taken screen shots, but the main point is that you can opt in to a feature which "rounds up" all of your purchases (up to a limit per month you set in your profile) and they basically sell you miles at $0.02/mile for the round up. The example they kept using was buy a coffee for $3.10, automatically round up to $4.00, and you'd get 3 miles for the initial purchase, plus 50% miles on the round up (90 cents round up times 0.5 = 45 extra miles) for a total of 48 miles on the purchase. Again, basically buying miles at $0.02 a piece. The marketing banners and ads they were testing were pretty slick, along the lines of "Imagine how much farther you can go by earning 48 miles on just your daily coffee!", I could see how an un-savvy consumer would think they were actually getting a deal. I made sure to put in the comments that the purchase rate on the points was not attractive and I wouldn't be likely to opt into the feature - it's still a better rate than purchasing them outright from AA, but I still don't see the value in purchasing them at 2 cents per mile.

I'm hoping this isn't one of the big new features they are rolling out to replace the EQD benefit...