worldwidetraveler

Have both the Barclays and Citi Bank AA cards which incur an annual fee.
How can I avoid paying the annual fee? Or which one should I cancel?
Do both banks offer no annual fee cards which by using for purchases will allow me to retain my miles accumulated in the American Airline FF program?
Do the no fee cards, if any, add any miles to my FF account or just extend the expiration date of them?

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Citi will typically offer you a statement credit equal to the annual fee for making just a few purchases on the card. Just call Citi and ask.

sdsearch

That's called a "retention offer". Once you know that, it's easier to find info about it.

Recent report of success (and procedure) can be found at:And Barclay currently typically offers to waive the annual fee (if you didn't get waived last year) and may also throw in a nice bonus. Recent reports of success (and procedure) can be found at:

joannelj

I'm booking an Aadvantage points flight from CLT to LHR. I had originally planned to pay for the taxes with my Aviator Red credit card, so I could get the free baggage. But I have discovered that the free baggage is only for domestic. And it doesn't look like the Red card has very good insurance benefits, or any other compelling reason to use it.

So I was thinking maybe I should use my Chase Sapphire Preferred card?

Any opinions or reasons I should use one over the other?

envgeo

Isn't your first checked bag free on transatlantic flights? You get 1 free per ticketed passenger.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInform...ed-baggage.jsp

bchandler02

What features are you hoping to get out of the CC besides luggage? As you said, the cards provide for domestic allowance only. You get 1 bag in Y, and up to 3 in J/F as part of the ticket.

rove312

Are the 2 AA miles per dollar of much interest to you? The 2 Ultimate Rewards points on the CSP may be more useful. I guess you get the 10% rebate of miles as an AA cardholder regardless of method of payment.

joannelj

Thanks - it never occurred to me that they would actually NOT charge for baggage!!

Yeah, I think I'll use my Sapphire card. I prefer those points.


JoAnne

Walter Mitty

Hi,

Great credit, etc. Just reached max number of cards with Citi (biz and pers) and need a new mastercard/visa.

What should I be looking at that converts best to AA miles and isn't Amex or Citi? Thanks.

WM.

akcae

Your only option outside of Citi's cards (or Barclay's Aviator line if you got converted from the US cards) is SPG Amex. Nothing else converts to AA miles.

rdurlabhji

And that may change soon with the merger and Marriott's strong ties to United.

SpammersAreScum

You can convert Marriott points to AA miles, but the exchange rate isn't great. The 50k bonus points on a Chase Marriott card would convert to 15k AA miles. By contrast, the 30k bonus on SPG = 30k AA.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Do you specifically need AA miles, or do you just want miles that can be redeemed for award travel on AA? If the latter, what routes/class of service?

taxicabnumber

Actually more than 30k AA, because every 20k SPG points is 25k AA miles. So converting 30k SPG would give 35k AA, although it would be better to only convert exactly a multiple of 20k at a time.

sdsearch

Say what? Are you sure you reached the max number of cards with Citi? You do know that number varies from person to person, right? You do know that what's much more important is your total credit limit with Citi than your total number of cards with Citi, right? (And it's easy to get credit limit reduced on Citi cards, through Citi SM [Secure Messaging] while logged in online.)

Do you really need all 6 or 7 or 8 or however many Citi cards you have, and can't give up one of them to get an AA card?

The only cards that earn AA miles directly that you can get are from Citi.

The only cards that earn something you can transfer to AA miles are hotel cards.

With the exception of the SPG Amex (which is likely to go away, or at least morph into something unrecognizable, in another year or two), all hotel cards (in hotel programs that can transfer to AA miles) earn way less than 1 AA mile per dollar spent (when you factor earning rate + transfer ratio).

So it is even really worth getting a card that earns AA miles at an awful rate?

I would suggest you figure out how to trim your Citi portfolio to allow for an AA card, or else give up earning AA miles from credit cards right now.

FWIW: If it's miles to use on AA flights, rather than actual AA miles, that you want, and you'll use those for domestic flights in coach, you could get the Chase BA Avios card. But it has lousy redemptions if your flights has many connections and/or if it's not coach.