The 2 Different Flavors of Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Credit Cards

Editor’s Note: This is a recurring article, regularly updated with new information and offers.

American Airlines is one of the few airlines that offers co-branded credit cards through two different banks. Citi offers a line of AAdvantage credit cards, but American also offers a few cards with Barclays under the AAdvantage Aviator name.

Barclays issued a total of five Aviator credit cards: one business card and four personal cards. However, only two of these cards are still open for applications: the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard and the AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard.

Today we’re going to take a look at both of these cards and see if 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 a single purchase within 90 days and paying its $99 annual fee.

THE POINTS GUY

Related: Earn 60,000 American Airlines Miles With One Purchase: AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard Review

The card comes with a few valuable benefits that may justify its annual fee:

• Birthday Accompanying Certificate — Each year, you can earn a Companion Certificate ($99 plus taxes and fees) after you spend at least $20,000 on your Card and keep it open for 45 days after your Card Membership anniversary.
• In-flight Wi-Fi credits — You’ll receive up to $25 in statement credits per year for in-flight Wi-Fi purchases.
• In-flight savings — You can enjoy a 25% discount on in-flight food and beverage purchases as a statement credit.
• First checked bag free — You and up to four companions traveling on the same reservation will receive your first checked bag free on American Airlines routes.
• Preferential boarding — You and up to four travel companions on the same reservation will enjoy preferred boarding on flights operated by American Airlines.
• Travel Protections — You’ll get travel accident insurance, collision damage waiver for rental cars, baggage delay insurance, and trip cancellation and interruption coverage.

You’ll also earn 2 miles per dollar on all purchases made with American Airlines.

For more details, check out our full AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard review.

Red World Elite Mastercard information has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card information on this page has not been verified or provided by the card issuer.

Related: Choosing the Best American Airlines Traveler Credit Card

AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Business Mastercard

The AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Business Mastercard is Barclays’ AAdvantage Business offering and another solid card for frequent flyers from AA. It has a similar annual fee of $95 and currently doesn’t offer a welcome bonus.

ERIC HELGAS/THE GUY WITH THE POINTS

Again, you will enjoy several valuable benefits as a cardholder:

• Birthday Accompanying Certificate: Receive a companion certificate on each account anniversary, valid for one guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees), after you spend $30,000 on purchases during that year and keep your account open for 45 days after your account anniversary date.
• Free checked baggage: You and up to four companions traveling on the same reservation will receive your first checked bag free on American Airlines routes.
• Preferred boarding: You and up to four travel companions on the same reservation will enjoy preferred boarding on flights operated by American Airlines.
• In-flight savings: Enjoy 25% off in-flight food and beverage credit when you use your card on American Airlines operated flights.
• 5% AAdvantage Miles Bonus: Each year when you renew your account, you’ll receive a 5% bonus on all miles earned from eligible purchases made 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 AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Business Mastercard review.

The information for the AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been verified or provided by the card issuer.

In conclusion

The Aviator Red and Aviator Business cards are both competitive entry-level products. And once you have an Aviator Red card, you can potentially upgrade to the Aviator Silver, which is a great deal for AA frequent flyers.

However, there are plenty of other top credit cards for airline purchases, so be sure to think carefully about which one will work best for your wallet.

Further reading:

• Choosing the Best American Airlines Traveler Credit Card
• The Best Credit Cards for Buying Airline Tickets
• Credit Cards That Can Help You Get Airline Elite Status