New Bonus for Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Card Includes a Companion Certificate
Barclays is offering a new bonus for its AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite credit card. You get less miles, but you also get a Companion Certificate. Let’s see if it’s worth it.
The Offer
- Earn 50,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after making your first purchase in the first 90 days and paying the $99 annual fee.
- Earn an introductory Companion Certificate good for 1 guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees) after making your first purchase in the first 90 days and paying the $99 annual fee.
$99 Annual Fee
Companion Certificate Details
This introductory Companion Certificate is part of the signup bonus, and is the same as the one you earn separately for spending $20,000 annually. These are some of the limitations:
- Allow 8-10 weeks for the certificate to post after meeting the requirements, but it could be sooner than that.
- Certificate is valid for one year after it’s issued, travel must also be completed within this time frame.
- The companion certificate is good for a round trip domestic economy fare (L, M, N, Q, S, V, G or O
- Blackout dates:
- 2019: Jan 1-3; Feb 15-19; Mar 8-11; Mar 15-18; Mar 22-25; May 24-28; Jun 28-30; Jul 1-7; Nov 27-30; Dec 1-2; Dec 14-23; Dec 27-31
- 2020: Jan 1-3; Feb 14-18; Mar 6-9; Mar 13-16; Mar 20-23; May 22-26; Jun 30; Jul 1-6; Nov 25-30; Dec 12-23; Dec 27-31
Card Benefits
- First checked bag free for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions
- Earn 2X miles for every one dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X miles on all other purchases
- Earn $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars (“EQDs”) after spending $25,000 in Net Purchases
- $100 American Airlines Flight Discount (the “Flight Discount”) after you spend $30,000 or more in Purchases on your Account during your cardmembership year
- Receive 25% inflight savings on food and beverages
- 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.
- No foreign transaction fees
Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years of age. This offer is available only to applicants who are residents of the United States, with the exception of Puerto Rico and the US territories.
Existing cardmembers, existing accounts, and previous cardmember with accounts closed in the past 24 months may not be eligible for this offer.
Conclusion
This new offer gets you 50,000 miles and the Companion Certificate that costs $99. So the difference from the previous bonus of 60,000 miles, is 10,000 less miles and the Companion Certificate. It depends on how much value you can get out of that Companion Certificate beyond the $99 (plus taxes and fees), to decide if it’s better that the 60K offer.
Let us know in the comments which one you think is a better deal.
HT: Doctor of Credit
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I take it that this is just a 1 time companion ticket unlike the Alaska card which is an annual companion ticket, or is it an annual thing ?