Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Credit Card Review (2022.12 Update: 60k+First Year AF Waived Offer)

physixfan 2022-12-05 2022-12-05

2022.12 Update: The new offer is 60k+first year annual fee waived.

2022.9 Update: The new offer is 50k+first year annual fee waived.

2022.6 Update: The new offer is 60k.

Application Link

Benefits

60k offer: earn 60,000 AAdvantage Miles after the first purchase within the first 90 days. This is the recent best offer.
We value AA Miles at 1.6 cents/point (Airline Miles Value), so the 60k highest sign-up bonus worth about $960! See A Beginner’s Guide to AA Miles to check for details about AA Miles.
Earn 2 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, 1 AAdvantage mile per $1 on other purchases.
New: Get up to $25 back as statement credits on inflight Wi-Fi purchases every anniversary year on American Airlines operated flights.
New: Each anniversary year, earn a Companion Certificate (good for 1 guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees)) after spending $20,000 on purchases and your account remains open for 45 days after your anniversary date.
First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines flights for you and up to four companions.
Priority boarding on American Airlines flights.
25% savings on eligible in–flight purchases using card.
Earn $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars when you spend $25,000 on purchases each calendar year.
No foreign transaction fee.

Disadvantages

$99 annual fee, waived for the first year. ($95 annual fee before 2019.5)

Recommended Application Time

You may not be eligible for this offer if you currently have or previously had an account with us in this program. [Update] Despite what the term says, actual data points show that you can still churn this card if you close the previous one.
Barclays value the number of recent hard pulls a lot, we recommend you apply when you have less than 6 hard pulls in the past 6 months.
[6/24 rule] Similar to Chase 5/24 rule, Barclays will reject your application if you have 6 or more new accounts in the past 24 months. Note that this is a soft rule for Barclays.
We recommend you apply for this card after you have a credit history of at least one year.
Existing cardmembers, existing accounts, and previous cardmember with accounts closed in the past 24 months may not be eligible for this offer.

Summary

The 60k sign-up bonus is very generous, especially you can get the bonus by simply making just one purchase! It is quite decent offer if you want to accumulate AA miles.

Benefits Before 2019.5

60k offer: earn 60,000 AAdvantage Miles after the first purchase within the first 90 days.
10% of your redeemed miles back. 10,000 miles maximum per calendar year.
We value AA Miles at 1.6 cents/point (Airline Miles Value), but you will earn 10% of your redeemed AAdvantage miles back, which makes 1 mile worth about 1.78 cent for this card. So the 60k highest sign-up bonus worth about $1068! See A Beginner’s Guide to AA Miles to check for details about AA Miles.
Earn 2 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, 1 AAdvantage mile per $1 on other purchases.
First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines flights for you and up to four companions.
Priority boarding on American Airlines flights.
25% savings on eligible in–flight purchases using card.
Earn $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars when you spend $25,000 on purchases each calendar year.
No foreign transaction fee.
$95 annual fee.

The following negative changes are made on 2019.5.1:

There will no longer be a 10% of your redeemed AAdvantage miles back. This benefit is also removed on Citi AA card.
The annual fee is increased from $95 to $99 (the same as Citi AA card).
New benefit: Get up to $25 back as statement credits on inflight Wi-Fi purchases every anniversary year on American Airlines operated flights.
New benefit: Each anniversary year, earn a Companion Certificate, good for 1 guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees) after spending $20,000 on purchases and your account remains open for 45 days after your anniversary date.

Related Credit Cards

Recommended Downgrade Options

Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator (no annual fee version)

It’s not always allowed to downgrade a Barclays credit card. It is targeted.

After Applying

Click here to check Barclays application status.
Barclays reconsideration backdoor number: 866-408-4064. Barclays tends to ask various questions and you must know all the answers about personal information and credit report. Besides, you may get HP again, but will be informed in advance. Therefore, think carefully before calling.