119luke

Expecting a new member to our family which will come with north of 10k in expenses ranging from booking flight tickets for the family to travel from overseas to medical expenses to baby equipment expenses etc. So I thought this would be the best time to sign up for a new card to get bonus offers. But I haven't been in the travel rewards scene since 2018 and I know a lot will change quickly in this domain. So once again, I am reaching out to this community that helped me last time. So, what is the best card for getting bonus miles for AA right now? Any tips to earn more miles would be appreciated. I think I used and canceled Citi Platinum and Citi Business cards 4 years back. I have also used Barclays Aviator card (not sure if I will be eligible for rewards again).

I currently have around 200k miles in my AA account and 90,000 in my wife's account. My plan is to get it up to 450,000 miles combined by end of 2023 so 5 can travel on reward miles to visit family (It costs 90k miles per person).

Thanks in advance!

guv1976

Does your wife have -- or has she had -- any AA credit cards in her own name (not just as an authorized user)? If she is creditworthy, she could get cards -- and their bonuses -- in her own name, and add you as an authorized user, if desired.

When did you last have a Barclays AA card?

This Barclays offer is the best one out there right now:

https://www.applyaviator.com/

Citi has a 60,000-mile SUB after $3,000 in spend, or 50,000-mile SUB after $2,500 in spend.

Depending on your location and where your relatives would be traveling from, you might find that getting cards that earn Amex or Chase Ultimate Rewards points might be better than getting more AAdvantage miles. And for domestic nonstop travel on AA, BA Avios can be a reasonable alternative to AAdvantage miles.

119luke

Thanks guv1976 for the response! I closed the aviator card in September 2019. Will I be able to apply for it again and get the bonus miles?

Does Citi have a time limit before which we can apply for the same card again to get bonus? I had the following with Citi. personal card Elite closed Feb 2020, Executive card closed Aug 2017
Business card closed Jan 2019

My relatives will be traveling from India.

Thanks for the suggestions on Amex and Chase ultimate rewards. Can I convert chase ultimate reward points to AA miles?

Drwaz99

You should be good for the Aviator card. Most data points suggest 2 yrs or so is plenty good. Citi has a 48 month rule for receiving a bonus for AA cards - so keep that in mind.

Another option is for both you and your wife to apply for cards and split the costs between the cards. 10k easily covers a couple of SUBS and what's better than one SUB? TWO.

guv1976

There have been reports on FT of people bring able to get a second Barclays bonus. I would think that you would be eligible since you closed your Barclays card more than two years ago.

Re: Citi AA card. Here's the offer language I see:

"Offer availabilityAmerican Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® account in the past 48 months."

(Note that it is 48 months from when you last received a bonus, not from when you opened or closed a card.)

Neither Amex nor Chase points can be transferred to an AAdvantage account. They can be transferred to AA partners and redeemed for travel on AA, but under the redemption rates, fees, and terms of the partner program. Those can vary widely from program to program. For example, I would not redeem BA Avios for travel between India and the U.S.

VegasGambler

You can convert Chase points AA at a 5:2 rate by going through Hyatt. It's a terrible deal; I don't recommend it.

Your can also convert Amex to AA by going through Marriott. The rate is 12:5 if you go in multiples of 60k pts (60k pts gives your 25k AA miles) This is also a terrible deal.

Funnily enough, even though it's so terrible, you still earn miles faster by using the Amex Plat and getting to Marriott and then to AA than you do by using an AA CC. At 5 MR pts per dollar, $12k spend will get you 60k MR pts, which gets you 60k Marriott, which gets you 25k AA. You need to spend $12.5k on AA flights to earn 25k AA miles.

The point here really is, don't buy AA flights on your AA CC, because 2 miles per dollar is crap. (The point is NOT to transfer your Amex pts to AA through Marriott; that's just setting value on fire)

envgeo

I just signed up for the Barclays card (closed my last one 3 years ago), Citi business and Citi personal cards. Barclays card you earn points after first spend so no need to go crazy using it. the other two are $4500 and $2500, respectively, i think - ymmv. That is about 180,000 points between the three cards + what i spend on it.

Once i get the bonus points, i will likely do the same with my wife.

cova

If you can qualify for Barclay Silver - you get 3x miles per $ spend on AA tickets. So 25K miles for $8.3K spend on AA tickets.

I don't think those points transferred from Marriott give you LP elite qualifying (only RDM). The Barclay gives you LP qualifying for 1x and the extra 2x will just be RDM.

VegasGambler

Yeah of course I'm talking about pure RDM earning. The addition of LP adds value to the AA CCs for sure (which is part of the point)

SeattleDavid

The big value in Chase Points (and maybe other credit card points too) is that you can use them to buy tickets (at a rate of up to 1.5 cents per point) – which means you are not restricted by award availability and you get tickets that you earn AA miles on and that you can upgrade. This is generally a much better deal than collecting airline miles for award flights.

VegasGambler

The claim that this is a "generally a much better deal" seems dubious.

>1.5c redemptions are commonplace, especially if you don't restrict yourself to domestic flights and you don't like flying economy. The ability to redeem your UR pts for 1.5c does not make this "generally" a much better deal. Perhaps it's a better deal for people with very specific travel patterns (ie, people who never fly long-haul, or who don't mind flying coach on a long haul flight)

And of course now, with the LP program, AA CC spend earns status as well as miles. Putting otherwise unbonused spend on an AA card seems like a pretty good deal (at least until you've achieved your target status). 1LP and 1RDM combined are probably worth more than 1 MR or UR point. It's a more difficult argument for spend that gets large bonuses on certain cards (I still put my restaurant spend on my CSR and my airline spend on my Amex Plat, for example. But I just paid my pool guy with the AA CC)

EncFlyer

Thinking of getting this card but just a quick question if you don't mind. I don't see any kind of spend requirement to get the 60k bonus miles and am reading it as 1 transaction only. Is that correct? Thanks in advance!

Drwaz99

One purchase, could be a pack of gum, and paying the annual fee and that's it.

guv1976

The first year's annual fee is waived under the current Barclays offer.

Drwaz99

Derp, thanks. I missed that offer even though it's posted in this thread. According to the offer I see here, it's not and that's what I went by. So don't do what I did. 😬

https://cards.barclaycardus.com/bank...te-mastercard/