The Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® currently at least three different welcome bonuses through different channels. You can earn more miles, or choose to earn fewer miles and get a $0 introductory annual fee.
Here are the currently available bonuses on this card:
- A friend referral offer gives you 60,000 miles after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee, plus an additional 10,000 miles after adding an authorized user within 90 days.
- The applyaviator.com welcome offer gives you only 50,000 miles after making your first purchase, but the annual fee in the first year is $0. (Annual fee is $99 in subsequent years.)
- The direct Barclays offer, which is what you’ll see on the Barclays website, gives you only 50,000 miles after making your first purchase and paying the annual fee within 90 days.
Here’s what you need to know about the current new cardmember welcome bonuses on the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®.
Friend referral offer: Up to 70k American miles
Our friends over at Frequent Miler tipped us off posted this offer, which is better than the current offer on Barclays website. As long as this link is live, we’ll publish the better links. A member of their community will receive points if you use this link. Here are the details:
AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® offer: Earn 50,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles. (Annual fee: $99)
Earn 60,000 miles after making your first purchase and paying the annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days. Plus add an authorized user, make a purchase on the authorized user card within the first 90 days and earn an additional 10,000 miles. Get this welcome bonus.
This is the easiest American Airlines welcome bonus to earn since you only have to make one purchase.
First checked bag free, earn Loyalty Points, anniversary companion certificate.
This is a referral link. All information about the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
ApplyAviator.com bonus: 50k points after first purchase, $0 first-year annual fee (then $99)
If you prefer to earn fewer miles, but get out of paying the annual fee in the first year, check out the offer from applyaviator.com. With the current offer, you can get 50,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles after making your first purchase within 90 days. This offer gives you a $0 introductory fee for the first year, then $99/year.
Barclays direct offer: 50k points after first purchase, $99 annual fee
The direct bank offer on the Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® that you’ll find on the Barclays website offers 10,000 fewer points after your first purchase than the referral offer and doesn’t waive the first year annual fee. Don’t apply for this offer—either of the offers mentioned above is better.
My take on the Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® welcome bonus
Whether you apply for the friend referral offer or the applyaviator.com offer, the Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® offers one of the best credit card welcome bonuses available. Why is it among the best? Because it’s easy to earn. With either offer, you earn 50,000 or more miles after one purchase. Most other cards require you to spend several thousand dollars to earn the bonus.
Personally, I I find American Airlines miles highly usable. American has one of the few domestic mileage programs that still offers excellent value when you use your miles for partners. But I also find uses for my miles domestically—on routes where American has pricing power but doesn’t expect to sell out flights, you can often get tickets for a few thousand miles when American is selling the same flights for several hundred dollars.
My verdict: If you’re interested in earning American Airlines Advantage miles, this bonus is definitely worth doing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the annual fee on the Aviator Red Mastercard waived for the first year?
Barclays waives the annual fee on the Aviator Red Mastercard only through some channels. As of publication, you could get the annual fee waived if you applied for the card through applyaviator.com.
What credit score do you need for the Barclays Aviator card?
Barclays doesn’t publish guidance on what kind of credit score you need for its cards, so there isn’t a specific number that you can reference. Like most premium credit cards, you’ll usually need good-to-excellent credit to get approved.
Does the Aviator Red have a companion certificate?
With the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, you can earn a companion certificate if you spend $20,000 on purchases in a year. Your account also must remain open for 45 days after your account anniversary date.
