Yesterday we reported on the four new Barclaycard American Airlines Aviator cards. We still had a few unanswered questions about these cards, so we reached out to the media team to get them answered (we also asked for your questions on Twitter, make sure you follow us so you can get yours answered in the future as well).
[Read:Â All Of The American Airlines Credit Cards Compared]
Annual Fees
Question:Â What will the annual fee be on each card?
Answer:
- Aviator Silver: $195
- Aviator Red: $89
- Aviator Blue: $49
- Aviator: No Annual Fee
Versions
Question: In the past it was suggested that all cardholders would get the red card at minimum and some would be invited to Silver. What about the other two products? Is red now invitational only as well? Have all the invites for Silver been sent out or are people still receiving these invitations?
Answer:
Not all cardmembers will get the Aviator Red MasterCard. Existing US Airways Dividend Miles cardmembers will transition into one of the four Aviator products. Cardmembers have been notified as to what card they are going to receive. Some cardmembers will receive the Blue and some the Aviator, no fee, product. This is based on what product and fee they currently have with their US Airways card. That said, customers do have the ability to call us after they receive their new card if they want a different product – including Silver. As for invitations for Silver, invitations are not being sent out at this time. However, customers can call us (after they receive their new card) to inquiry about upgrading to Silver if they did not receive an invitation.
Anniversary Bonus
Question:Â How will the anniversary bonus work on each of the four cards? In the past I was told that current cardholders that have this benefit would receive it on the red card, but not on the silver. Is this still the case? What about the blue and aviator cards?
Answer (emphasis mine):
Cardmembers are encouraged to review their cardmember agreement which was sent earlier this year. Please keep in mind that cardmembers who opt to trade into a different product will lose the anniversary bonus all together.
Chip + PIN
Question: Will these cards have the same PIN settings as the Arrival+ product?
Answer:
Yes. All cards are chip-enabled for global acceptance.
JetBlue
Question:Â Also do you have any comment on the JetBlue partnership?
Answer:
No comment
Our Thoughts
The annual fees are what I was expecting them to be (we already knew what Silver & Red were and the Aviator product didn’t mention an annual fee). I wish it was clearer how anniversary bonuses were/weren’t going to work, but at least we know that you shouldn’t request a different card type than the one your offered if you want to keep that bonus.
It’s also good news that you can request a Silver card, obviously there is no guarantee they’ll give you it but I imagine Barclaycard will be very accommodating in this respect. I wasn’t expecting other than a no comment re: the jetBlue partnership, but it never hurts to ask.
Thanks again to Nicole from Barclaycard for getting me these responses to promptly. Barclaycard are always a pleasure to deal with in this respect and it’s very much appreciated.
Are there any questions you wish I asked? If so what were they? Let me know in the comments below.
i have an aviator red. will barclays allow me to open a second one?
if i decide a few months later than i no longer want a second one, will they pro-rate the fee back to me?
I noticed that my 10k miles anniversary bonus has been changed to “Earn a $100 American Airlines Flight Discount each year of cardmembership in which you spend $30,000 or more in purchases and remain a cardmember” without any notice. There are too many negative changes with Barclay. I will close my A+ and aviator all together.
Hey man, new reader, but love the information on your blog very informative. Wanted to give you a heads up for a data point. I recently applied and got approved for the US Airways card and with my welcome package I was told that I will get the Aviator Red with $89 fee when the change happens in second quarter of 2015
So that means even if I have the $89 fee US Airways card, I won’t be given the aviator red card? Also does any of these cards provide access to the admiral’s club?
You might be targeted for that or one of the other cards, as they said you can call in and request something else but that may affect your anniversary bonus if you have one.
Any indication or idea if those who will have to request an upgrade to Silver from Red will still have their total previous spend from the card when it was US Airways count toward total spend on the Silver product for EQMs? I just got the US Air card in late Jan and received notification I will be transitioned into Red. AA is my preferred airline and I’m interested in the EQMs.
I can’t imagine that resetting, but I would double check when you ask for the upgrade. I’ll ask next time I speak to Barclaycard.
The question I’ve had for a while that I don’t think anyone knows yet – but I suspect has an unfortunate answer at the end of it – is what happens with the 10% miles giveback on awards when you have both the Red Aviator and Citi AA Plat card… Can you get 10,000 miles back per year or 20,000 total?
Not sure, but I’ll ask. I imagine you can get 20,000 total, but you only get 10% back at a time (e.g they don’t stack). As you can get the EQMs on both cards without issue.
Thank you, Doctor of Credit for the great info as always.
Question about this: “Cardmembers have been notified as to what card they are going to receive.”
How were card members notified? I haven’t received news about this…
You should have received an e-mail from Barclaycard yesterday, I think it’s staggered so maybe not all of the e-mails have gone out yet. I’m sure you’ll be able to give them a call and ask what card you will receive.
Haven’t received an e-mail from Barclaycard as of today 3/4 so they were certainly jumping the gun with “Cardmembers have been notified…”.
I received an email 3/2. I got a large glossy mailer 3/4 explaining the changes as well. Even included this cool demo holographic promotional “card” that changes from a US Airways Card to an Aviator Red based on how you hold it.
I already paid an $89 annual fee for 2015 and I received an email to receive the Red card. If I try to upgrade to Silver, will I have to pay an additional $106 this year? If not, would it be smart to upgrade, snag the reimbursement for global entry, EQMs, and companion certificate, then cancel before the annual fee hits as I was planning on doing with the US Airways card anyway?
That’s an interesting question and one I don’t know the answer to. I’m not sure what they would do in a situation like that, you could call to ask (but definitely leave out your plans to get the GE, EQMS and companion cert). Let us know what you find out if you do give it a try.