Update 4/30/19: Today is the last day for this deal according to Traveling For Miles.
Update 1/28/19: Deal is available again.
The Offer
- Sign up for the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard and receive a signup bonus of 60,000 AAdvantage miles after you make your first purchase in the first 90 days and pay the $95 annual fee (60,000 points will post on the next statement after you pay the annual fee).
Card Details
- No foreign transaction fee
- Annual fee of $95 is not waived the first year
- First checked bag free, for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions on eligible bags when traveling on domestic itineraries operated by American Airlines
- Group 1 boarding, for the primary cardmember on domestic itineraries operated by American Airlines
- 10% of your redeemed miles back, up to 10,000 per calendar year
- 25% inflight savings on food, beverages, and headsets on American Airlines-operated flights1
- Earn 2x miles on all eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1x points on all other purchases
Our Verdict
Barclaycard just recently increased the sign up bonus from 40,000 miles to 50,000 miles. In the past it has been possible to get an additional 500 miles by using a flight attendants link & code, I suspect that will be updated to 60,000 + 500 miles but that hasn’t happened yet. This is probably the best offer on a card with no minimum spend (or that might go to the Avianca card with a 60,000 point bonus).
American Airline miles have been hard to use due to lack of saver award space but from what I’ve seen this has been improved somewhat, because of that and the fact that this is now 60,000 miles we’ll be adding it to our best credit card bonus list. Read through these things you should know about Barclaycard credit cards before asking any basic questions in the comments. For example it’s usually not possible to get matched to a higher sign up bonus, but you might have more success asking for a manager as front line representatives cannot complete these requests.
This deal is available again, no minimum spend.
Am 5/24, applied for the Aviator card. The application went to pending so I called the recon number. The analyst asked for SSN card, DL and Utility bill by mail. I know this is not out of the ordinary but I just don’t feel like sending the documents via mail (they declined fax/email). Does anyone know what will happen to my application if I don’t go forward with it?
HUCA worked! The second analyst was nice enough to verify my identity online. Yay!
Weird thing happened, I applied for a Red Aviator Business on April 25th, approved instantly; then applied for the Arrival Plus and got an error message from the site, so I changed the page and applied for the personal Red Aviator and got the same error, so I re applied and went through. Next day called recon and got approved for the Arrival Plus, however they said that my applications for the personal Red Aviator are not in the system. If I check the website status both applications are Pended. Any of you knows what is going on? Please I appreciate your DPs.
has anyone had success getting this bonus more than once? I opened & closed this account about 1 1/2 years ago. The terms and conditions say “You may not be eligible for this offer if you currently have or previously had an account with us in this program.”…. it says “may not” which isn’t the same thing as “will not”.
I’ve received it twice.
Did you try and get the bonus twice? I closed my card in 2019.
I applied back in February and was instantly approved. This was more than 2 years after I had closed the previous account. I also received the 60,000 bonus.
Didnt expect such a quick reply. Thanks for sharing your experience. I applied and approved. Thanks!
is it better to close it or to downgrade it if I want to churn it?
Called Barclay and they said unable to downgrade to the one w/o annual fee because of the AA Plat elite status…anyone knows about this???
it’s group 5 boarding for premium credit card holders, not group 1
Yeah, that’s the old boarding system number. Group One boarding now would be crazy good! Also, no more 10% rebate on award miles used.
SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT says…
A Data Point for Barclaycard and Barclays Bank credit card holders:
Effective immediately (February 2019), Barclays is no longer offering cardholders the opportunity to obtain a lower interest rate(s) upon request!
Up until January 2019, you were able to call Barclays and inquire if any offers were available, including an interest rate reduction. If an offer was available to reduce the interest rate, all one had to do is ask, and if the offer was available for your account, it was lowered – no soft/hard inquiry was required. You just had to wait one year between interest rate reductions, if available for your account.
No reason is given as to why/why interest rate reductions are no longer available.
You cannot request an interest rate reduction through a hard credit inquiry.
Last summer of 2018, Barclaycard had quietly stopped the option to increase the credit limit through a soft credit inquiry. Also at that time, no reason was give as to why/why not the option was discontinued.
As of this post, you can request a credit limit increase, but it will require a hard credit inquiry.
What’s happening at Barclaycard?…..BREXIT??
SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT
Applied Jan 30th / 60K app page. Got application review message.
Called CS. Rep said instant approval…what would you like for a CL?
So I guess software randomly selects review applications.
*Barclays pull TU – So I lifted freeze for 2 hrs on TU only.
My 1st cycle closed 2/15 – I paid the ann fee plus the one charge on card.
So I’ll wait and see when the miles post.
I might make the card my daily driver…
Let’s see how it goes.
Love the Doctor.
Applied, got pending review message and when I checked status online it was denied. Apparently denied because TU and EX were frozen and they didn’t just pull EQ automatically. Called recon, gave permission to pull EQ, and was approved over the phone for $10k despite being 6/24 (actually 7/24 but SPG Personal hasn’t posted yet). Hooray for an easy 60k AA.
Applied this a few minutes ago and got Pending status.
“Thank you for your recent application. We’re in the process of reviewing the information you provided for your AAdvantage® Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard® application.
Please keep in mind it may take up to 10 business days to process your application. There is no need to reapply. If you provided an email address, we will send you an email upon review of your application. Please feel free to check back as this page will display the most recent status updates.”
This is my first Barclays credit card. I’m at 4/24 with very good credit score.
Should I need to call their Recon number or wait for 10 days to see what happens?
Hello Doc,
Does authorised user count for opening aviator red card. I am hearing 6/24 is the limit. Is 4/24 main user and 3/24 authorised user (makes it 7/24) over the limit for applying Barclay Red.
Thanks.
Applied anyways by freezing Equifax and experian. My TU is almost clean. Got 10 days wait period message and then checked the online status, DECLINED. Called recon, they said 7/24 is not re-considerable thru them. I asked what is the limit one said ‘under 6/24’ and another said depends on case. But the reps were nice. Called 3 times, same answer.
I asked them about my current Fico score, 845 (but not a criteria).
My guess, if you spend tons of money every month on credit cards and pay off timely, chances of approval is high in spite of multiple credit cards. Everyone follows money.
Do I get a free credit report from transunion for this declined hardpull?
same. got the 6/24 denial so many times i gave up. i was like 14/24 or something like that. so i havent apped them for over a year now.
also, u can get free CR from so many places, just google it. doc even has a dedicated page on it.
I was approved despite being 6/24, all primary accounts, no AU. Rule seems softer for co-branded than for Arrival+.