Barclays’ co-branded American AAdvantage business credit card has a huge new welcome bonus, which is the best I ever recall seeing on the card.
AAdvantage Aviator Business offering 80K miles & $95
The AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard is offering a huge new welcome bonus, which you can unlock after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 90 days. Specifically, you can earn:
- 80,000 American AAdvantage miles
- A $95 statement credit
The card has a $95 annual fee that isn’t waived the first year, so the statement credit can essentially cover that. This is a limited time offer, though an end date has yet to be published. That’s a lot of miles, and there are many great ways to redeem AAdvantage miles, especially for travel on partner airlines.
As far as eligibility for the card goes, the terms state that the following:
This one-time offer is valid for new accounts only. Existing accounts and previous cardmembers with accounts closed in the past 24 months may not be eligible for this offer.
There’s often a bit of a disconnect between Barclays’ published rules and how things work in practice, so maybe some readers will have data points about that.
AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard perks
This AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard comes with some great perks that could make it worth holding onto, including:
- A $99 companion certificate on your account anniversary, when you spend $30,000 or more on eligible purchases during the year
- 2x miles on eligible American Airlines purchases, as well as office supply, telecom, and car rental purchases
- Annual 5% AAdvantage mileage bonus, earned on your account anniversary date every year and based on the total number of miles earned
- First checked bag free for you and up to four companions when traveling on domestic itineraries operated by American
- Preferred boarding for you and up to four companions when traveling on American
- 25% savings on inflight purchases of food & beverages
- No foreign transaction fees
Also keep in mind that nowadays spending on American Airlines credit cards counts toward elite status, with American’s new Loyalty Points system.
One advantage of applying for business cards is that the applications generally shouldn’t count as new cards for the purposes of the 5/24 rule. So you can potentially apply for this card and not have it show as a new card on your personal credit report.
American has co-branded credit cards issued by both Barclays and Citi, so keep in mind there are several other good bonuses as well. See this post for the best credit cards for earning American miles. In particular, consider the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® (review), which offers some awesome perks.
Best for casual AA flyers
Earn 2x AA miles at restaurants and gas stations and on all American Airlines purchases
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
Best for AA road warriors
Get an Admirals Club membership and access the clubs every time you fly American
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
Best for business expenses
Earn 2x AA miles on car rentals, gas stations, and cable and satellite providers
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
Best no fee annual AA card
Earn 2x AA miles on American Airlines purchases and at grocery stores
American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card
Bottom line
The AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard has a huge new bonus of 80,000 AAdvantage miles plus a $95 statement credit after the minimum spending. That’s the best bonus I recall seeing on the card. While the card won’t be worth it to everyone in the long run, the bonus sure is good.
(Tip of the hat to Miles Earn and Burn via View from the Wing)