Barclays has been running an interesting new cardmember offer for their AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard. That’s the one that they announce during American Airlines flights — Barclays markets on board and in airport (except within 100 feet of an American Airlines club) while Citibank markets their AAdvantage card through other channels. You can get both.

The offer for the card the past few months has been 50,000 AAdvantage miles and an introductory Companion Certificate after first purchase and paying the annual fee within the first 90 days of cardmembership. That’s been raised to 60,000 miles and a companion ticket.

I was on a flight yesterday where a flight attendant announced this offer would be pulled at the end of the month. I wasn’t sure whether this was just part of the particular flight attendant’s pitch or was fact (flight attendants have been known to get things wrong about the airline). I checked into it, and indeed the offer will end August 31 inflight. The 60,000 mile offer is already available online.

The companion ticket is valid for one additional passenger at a cost of $99 plus tax. It’s valid for a year from date of issue and may take 8-10 weeks to post and become available. It’s not valid against the lowest fares but works with L, M, N, Q, S, V, G or O fares — you may need to buy a more expensive ticket for the first passenger in order to use the companion ticket so the value you’ll get may vary. (If you’re buying an expensive ticket to begin with that’s less of an issue, but some peak holiday travel dates are blacked out from using the certificate.)

You have to book travel at least 14 days in advance. I’ve had to mail in companion vouchers before my itinerary actually gets ticketed (this can also be done at the airport) hence the need for time.

Update: the new 60,000 mile offer is live.