AAdvantage Aviator Red Review: Rich and Easy-to-Snag Sign-Up Bonus
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5.0
This card offers benefits frequent American Airlines flyers will appreciate. If you’re not loyal to a specific airline, you won’t get as much value.
Pros
New cardholder bonus offer
Intro APR period
No foreign transaction fees
Companion benefit
Early boarding
Free checked bag
Cons
Requires good/excellent credit
Has annual fee

Compare to Other Cards
Annual fee$595 | Annual fee$95 |
Regular APR21.49%-28.49% Variable APR | |
Intro APRN/A | Intro APRN/A |
Recommended Credit Score |
Recommended Credit Score |
Detailed review: AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
Qualifying for a five-figure sign-up bonus usually involves spending a four-figure sum in a short period of time (no pressure!). That’s not the case with the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, which offers an easy-to-snag sign-up bonus. Make one purchase and pay the annual fee within the first 90 days, and you’re done. Any purchase of any amount will do. That means buying a pack of gum can be the first step toward a deeply discounted vacation.
The AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, issued by Barclays, features perks that frequent American Airlines flyers would appreciate. But like many co-branded airline cards, the benefits are very much tied to American. If you’re not loyal to any specific airline, a general travel rewards credit card will likely be a better fit.
Note that Barclays also offers the AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®, a more high-end American Airlines card. It’s available if you request an upgrade from the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®.
Here’s how the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® and AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard® compare.
AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® | AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard® |
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Annual fee: $99. | Annual fee: $199. |
Sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days. | Sign-up bonus: N/A |
Ongoing rewards:
| Ongoing rewards:
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Additional benefits:
| Additional benefits:
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AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®: Basics
Card type: Airline.
Annual fee: $99.
APR: 0% intro APR for 15 months on balance transfers made within 45 days of account opening. After that, a variable APR will apply, 21.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99%.
Sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days.
Rewards:
2 AAdvantage miles per $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases.
1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Foreign transaction fee: None.
Other perks:
Free checked bag on domestic American Airlines flights for cardholders and up to four traveling companions on the same reservation.
Preferred boarding on all American Airlines-operated flights for cardholders and up to four traveling companions on the same reservation.
Annual companion certificate.
Discounts on in-flight purchases: Get up to $25 back per anniversary year as statement credits on in-flight Wi-Fi purchases, and save 25% on in-flight food and beverage purchases on American Airlines-operated flights (you’ll get the discount in the form of a statement credit).
Credit card purchases earn points toward AAdvantage loyalty status.
Benefits and perks
A generous sign-up bonus without a spending goal
Most of the time, if you want a travel rewards card's sign-up bonus, you have to spend a certain amount — sometimes $3,000 or more — in the first three to 12 months you have the card. Unless you typically spend enough or have a major purchase on the horizon, reaching the spending minimum can be tough on your budget. That’s why the sign-up bonus on the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® stands out: Earn 60,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days.
Annual companion certificate
If you spend $20,000 in an anniversary year and keep the card open for 45 days after your anniversary date (meaning the day you get charged the annual fee again), you’ll get a companion certificate that will allow you to bring another traveler along for $99 (plus taxes and fees).
Extras that make travel easier
You'll get one free checked bag and preferred boarding for you and up to four companions on the same American Airlines reservation. With the first checked bag costing $30 per flight for domestic travel, this perk could easily offset the $99 annual fee. You’ll also get a $25 statement credit per year for in-flight Wi-Fi purchases, plus 25% off in-flight food and beverage purchases (the discount will be in the form of a statement credit).
Earn status through credit card spending
Your spending on American Airlines co-branded credit cards, including the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, will earn points toward status on AAdvantage. Every mile you earn on the card equals one loyalty point. You can attain AAdvantage Gold status, the lowest tier, by accumulating 30,000 loyalty points. You can also earn loyalty points by flying on American Airlines, American Eagle and oneworld partner airlines, or by shopping or dining with partner merchants.
Can be combined with other American Airlines cards
American Airlines is unique in that it offers co-branded credit cards from two different issuers: Barclays and Citi. That means you can have multiple cards all feeding bonus miles directly into your AAdvantage account. And since the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® grants you its large sign-up bonus after just one purchase, you don’t have to worry about meeting two spending minimums at the same time.
Combine that card with, say, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® and earn even more AAdvantage miles via its similarly generous sign-up bonus. Plus, you'll earn richer rewards on everyday spending. Unlike the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, the Citi co-branded card earns double miles on more than just eligible American Airlines purchases. Restaurants and gas stations are bonus categories, too.
Turn pocket change into miles
The optional Flight Cents program allows you to round up purchases to the nearest dollar and use that extra cash to buy AAdvantage miles. You set a threshold of $1 to $500 (or opt out by keeping your threshold set to $0), and the “spare change” out of all purchases up to that threshold will be set aside until the day before your billing cycle ends. Whatever you’ve saved up will buy miles at a rate of 0.5 AAdvantage miles per penny. (Put another way, that's a cost of 2 cents per mile.)
Is that price per mile a good deal? The answer is a resounding “maybe” because you can buy miles at a lower rate during promotional periods, and the discount you’d get varies based on how many miles you buy. Either way, buying miles in a frequent flyer program (as opposed to earning them by taking flights or using a credit card) is usually not the smartest strategy, since the cash price per mile is typically much higher than the value you get when you redeem the miles.
Drawbacks and considerations
Ongoing rewards rates are limited
Earning 2 miles per $1 only on American Airlines purchases puts limits on this card’s long-term potential. That’s where a card like the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® comes out on top, since it earns not just 2 miles per $1 on American Airlines purchases, but also at gas stations and restaurants.
Benefits are American-centric
Free checked bags and in-flight discounts don’t mean much when you don’t fly American Airlines often — or ever. If you want the flexibility to book flights on any airline without blackout dates, consider the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. You’ll earn 2 miles per $1 on purchases and can redeem them in the form of a statement credit for recent travel purchases. The card also offers a credit toward the cost of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. It has a welcome bonus, too: Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel. The annual fee is $95.
If Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card doesn't quite fit the bill, you can also take a look at Nerdwallet's list of best credit cards.
Earn 2 miles per $1 on American Airlines purchases, and at restaurants and gas stations. Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.. The annual fee is $0 intro for the first year, then $99.
How to decide if it's right for you
If you frequently book travel on American Airlines, you’ll get value out of the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, especially if you couple it with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® to beef up your AAdvantage account. But if you typically fly a different airline, the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® won’t have much to offer you.