Looking for more ways to earn American Airlines miles?
Via View From the Wing, you can now apply for the Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red card! You’ll earn 40,000 American Airlines miles after your first purchase and payment of the $95 annual fee. And you’ll earn an extra 500 American Airlines miles if you apply in-flight!
This card was previously only available to folks who converted their old Barclaycard US Airways credit card during the US Airways – American Airlines merger.
We don’t earn a commission from these cards, but Emily and I will always point you to the best deals.
I’ll help you decide if you should apply!
Another Way to Earn American Airlines Miles!
Link: Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard
The Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red is now open to everyone! This card was previously unavailable to new applicants. And it’s an easy way to earn lots of American Airlines miles, because there is no minimum spending requirement!
This card comes with:
- 40,000 American Airlines miles after making your first purchase in the first 90 days of opening the account, and payment of the $95 annual fee
- 2X American Airlines miles per $1 for purchases with American Airlines
- 1X American Airlines miles per $1 for all other purchases
- $100 American Airlines flight discount when you spend $30,000+ on purchases in a card anniversary year
- Group 1 boarding for the primary cardholder and up to 4 passengers on the same reservation on domestic itineraries operated by American Airlines
- 10% rebate when you redeem American Airlines miles (maximum rebate of 10,000 miles per year).
- First checked bag free for you and 4 passengers on the same reservation (domestic flights only)
- NO foreign transaction fees
- 25% in-flight savings on food, drink, and headsets
- $95 annual fee, NOT waived the first year
You can apply for this card online, in the airport, or in-flight. And if you apply in-flight, you’ll earn an extra 500 American Airlines miles!
Note: Paying the annual fee does NOT count as your first purchase when earning the sign-up bonus.You can do a lot with 40,000 American Airlines miles! For example, you’ll have more than enough for a round-trip coach flight from the US to Aruba.
Or you can fly one-way in Business Class from the US to Hawaii!
Should You Apply?
The Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red comes with a very appealing sign-up bonus. American Airlines miles are valuable, because you can use them to fly just about anywhere on their airline partners! Plus, there is no minimum spending requirement.
1. Consider Chase Cards First
Chase offers even better travel rewards credit cards than the Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve. And their application rules are much stricter than Barclaycard. So if you’ve opened fewer than 5 cards from any bank in the past 24 months, it’s better to apply for Chase cards first!
2. Choose Your Barclaycard Applications Wisely
Barclaycard limits folks to 1 or 2 new credit cards per year. And they offer other great travel credit cards, like the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard and the Barclaycard JetBlue Plus. So apply for the cards that are most important to you first!
3. Good Alternative to Citi Cards
The benefits and annual fee of the Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red are very similar to the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®. So it’s probably not worth keeping both after the first year.
The biggest difference between the 2 cards is that it’s easier to spend your way to American Airlines elite status with the Barclaycard Aviator Red. But you’ll still need to be a big spender to earn it.
Citi restricts new sign-up bonuses to folks who have opened OR closed ANY Citi American Airlines card (other than the CitiBusiness AAdvantage card) in the past 24 months.So if you are NOT able to apply for Citi American Airlines cards for a while, the Barclaycard Aviator Red is a great alternative!
More Ways to Earn American Airlines Miles!
There are plenty of other ways to earn American Airlines miles. The easiest way is through credit card sign-up bonuses!
1. Citi American Airlines Cards
In addition to the Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red, you can earn American Airlines miles from:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® – Current sign-up bonus of 50,000 American Airlines miles after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening your account
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® – Current sign-up bonus of 50,000 American Airlines miles after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening your account
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® – Current sign-up bonus of 50,000 American Airlines miles after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening your account
2. AMEX Starwood Credit Cards
You can transfer Starwood points to American Airlines at a ratio of 1:1. And you’ll earn a bonus 5,000 American Airlines miles when you transfer your Starwood points in increments of 20,000!
- Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express – Current sign-up bonus of 25,000 Starwood points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening your account
- Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express – Current sign-up bonus of 25,000 Starwood points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening your account
Bottom Line
There are lots of ways to earn American Airlines miles. And now folks have another way!
The Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red card is now open to new applicants. With this card, you’ll earn 40,000 American Airlines miles after your first purchase within the first 90 days of opening your account (no minimum spending requirement!) and payment of the $95 annual fee.
Emily and I don’t earn a commission on this card, but we’ll always let you know about the best deals!