American Airlines is among the few carriers that offer cobranded credit cards through two different banks. Citi has a line of AAdvantage credit cards, but American also offers a few cards with Barclays under the AAdvantage Aviator name.
Barclays used to issue a total of five Aviator credit cards — one business and four personal cards. However, only two of those cards are still open for applications: the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard and the AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard.
Today, we’ll look at those two cards and see whether they might be right for you.
The flavors of Aviator
AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard
The Aviator Red card is the personal version of the two Barclays/Aviator cards currently offered to new applicants. You can earn 60,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after making just a single purchase within 90 days and paying its $99 annual fee.
The card comes with a few valuable perks that can justify its annual fee:
- Anniversary companion certificate — Each year, you can earn a companion certificate ($99 fare plus taxes and fees) after you spend at least $20,000 on your card and keep it open for 45 days after your cardmember anniversary.
- Inflight Wi-Fi credits — You’ll get up to $25 in statement credits annually for inflight Wi-Fi purchases.
- Inflight savings — You can receive a 25% discount for inflight food and beverage purchases as a statement credit.
- First checked bag free — You and up to four companions traveling on the same reservation will get your first checked bags free on American Airlines itineraries.
- Preferred boarding — You and up to four traveling companions on the same reservation will be granted preferred boarding on American Airlines-operated flights.
- Travel protections — You’ll receive travel accident insurance, an auto rental collision damage waiver, baggage delay insurance and trip cancellation and interruption coverage.
You’ll also earn a decent 2 miles per dollar on all American Airlines purchases.
For additional details, check out our full review of the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard.
Daily Newsletter
Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts
The information for the Red World Elite Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related: Choosing the best credit card for American Airlines flyers
AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Business Mastercard
The AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Business Mastercard is the business AAdvantage offering from Barclays and another solid for frequent AA flyers. It has a similar annual fee of $95 and does not currently offer a welcome bonus.
Once again, you’ll get several valuable benefits as a cardholder:
- Anniversary companion certificate: Receive a companion certificate each account anniversary year, good for one guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees), after spending $30,000 on purchases in that year and keeping your account open for 45 days after your anniversary date.
- Free checked bag: You and up to four companions traveling on the same reservation will get your first checked bags free on American Airlines itineraries.
- Preferred boarding: You and up to four traveling companions on the same reservation will be granted preferred boarding on American Airlines-operated flights.
- Inflight savings: Receive 25% inflight savings as a statement credit on food and beverages when you use your card on American Airlines-operated flights.
- 5% AAdvantage mileage bonus: Every year upon account renewal, you’ll receive a 5% bonus on all miles earned from qualifying purchases on your card (not including your welcome bonus).
You’ll also earn 2 miles per dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, plus 2 miles per dollar spent at eligible office supply merchants, telecommunications merchants and car rental merchants and 1 mile per dollar on everything else.
For more details, check out our full review of the AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Business Mastercard.
The information for the AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bottom line
Both the the Aviator Red and Aviator Business cards are competitive entry-level products. And once you have an Aviator Red card, you can potentially upgrade it to the Aviator Silver, which is an exceptional offer for frequent AA flyers.
However, there are many other top credit cards out there for airfare purchases, so be sure to carefully consider which would be the best fit for your wallet.
Additional reading:
