American AAdvantage has two banks issuing credit cards to members in the U.S.: Citibank and Barclays. Citibank advertises online, through direct mail, and in American’s club lounges. Barclays advertises in the airport (but not within 100 feet of a club) and on flights.
The useful thing is that both banks issue personal and business cards, you can get all four. Barclays only just introduced the small bueiness American AAdvantage card in the fall and at the time with offering 40,000 miles after first purchase.
It also comes with:
- Double miles on American spend plus office supply stores, telecommunications, and car rentals
- $99 companion certificate on your account anniversary provided you spend $30,000 on the card during the year
- 5% bonus on your total miles earned with the card for the year. So base earning is like 1.05 miles per dollar and bonus earning is 2.1 miles per dollar.
- First checked bag free, preferred boarding on domestic flights, and both apply to up to 4 companions on the same PNR
- 3000 elite qualifying dollars after $25,000 spend during a calendar year
Now via Upon Arriving Barclays has boosted the initial bonus to 50,000 miles which they’re calling a limited-time offer. The card has a $95 annual fee, but no minimum spend requirement to earn the points.
It’s a still-new card and hasn’t ever offered 50,000 miles before though I imagine after this offer ends we’ll eventually see it back.
I applied a few days ago. Still pending but they did pull my credit, which I hoping they wouldn’t do.
@ Gary — I applied and was rejected for this card a few day ago. The witch from the reconsideration line seemed to thoroughly enjoy reciting all of the Barclay cards I’ve had over the years. Apparently, I received/closed the AA Aviator card in 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2015/still open. I guess that getting approved for a Hawaiian card five days earlier was the icing on the cake. Time for me to take another break from churning, I guess. 🙂
@Gene. That’s a record to be proud of! It was smart to take advantage while it was still possible. Don’t worry, Barclay’s / AA will be disappointed with sign ups and loosen up again at some point. They don’t have a choice, Chase and Amex are brutal competitors.
So you get 50K miles just for paying the $95?
How should I think about the EQDs for the Business card when also holding the Personal card? Is it either/or; max 6K EQD; or can you ‘pool’ for a maximum of 9K EQD?
@Rob
They do have a choice. They don’t have to give credit to any non-paying low lives like yourself. And you know nothing about “brutal competitors”, dummy. They are an oligopoly. Look that up in the dictionary…..you’ll learn something.
@Gene, You should have argued based on the facts: The AA Aviator was intro’d in 2015 or early 2016. And it was a painful intro with a lot of Barclays/AA/Citibank mistakes on consolidating Frequent Flyer Accounts. I don’t know who to blame because I never got a response on my missing miles. I gave up.
I never call the reconsideration line, but if you do, let us know how they respond to the facts. USAir is not the same as AA, and I would hope that Barclay’s isn’t stuck in the past on this.
?Gary: Does the free baggage apply to Basic Economy? Despite using a Delta Card for Basic Economy, I was charged for a check bag, which turned my basic economy experience into, quite literally, an insult. I think, after luggage, I am paying more for BE than for Main Cabinet or whatever its called.
@LARRY FRABITORE Correct — the welcome page says you must make one purchase (and pay the AF).
Also looking for confirmation that the 5,000 EQD is stackable with the 10,000 EQD with the Silver.
Does Barclays normally make a hard pull on personal credit for business cards as @Michael had happen? Just don’t want to mess up my 5/24 plans.
Last Barclay approval was in November 17. Denied for two (red biz and aviator red personal 2 ) in Jan. 4 business and 1 personal approval from other banks since then. 800 fico, 2 legit biz with EIN numbers 140k income but Barclay doesn’t seem to like me. Not much spend on Barclay card since I met min spend on Jet Blue acquired in November.
Feedback on odds of getting approved for biz now??
cash value ~ $350 for $95. Ho hum
@ Tom E — NOT stackable.
@Rob_LoweBoy Your unprovoked insults are quite funny with the knowledge of who I am. That aside, you are the dummy that doesn’t know what an oligopoly is. There are 5,200 banks that issue credit cards and Chase and Amex only have 25% combined market share Under what drunk person’s definition of oligopoly does that qualify? But there is an easier way to tell this isn’t an oligopoly…the incentives. Oligopolists have pricing power…these banks don’t.
+1 for Rob
ho hum? I see people do a lot more for a $10 amazon gc
Make a purchase pay $95 and get 50,000 AA miles . It’s just too easy !
@Rob_LoweBoy: Wow! One thing I like about this site is that people tend to be polite and respectful, even when they disagree. Please go somewhere else if you’re going to spoil the environment.