Citibank and American Airlines AAdvantage® have been partners and have been offering AAdvantage co-branded credit cards for a long time. However, AAdvantage has never been a part of Citi’s ThankYou® Rewards program. Things changed this July, at least temporarily. A long-desired partnership has finally happened. Now and through November 13, 2021, cardholders of qualifying Citi credit cards can convert ThankYou points to American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
If you want to hit the road in 2018 and make it your best travel year so far, we have some great suggestions for you. These are our favorite tips on how to maximize your credit card benefits and loyalty program perks while also earning and saving miles and points.
Hurricane Harvey has done unimaginable damage to Houston and the surrounding areas. It’s the wettest tropical storm ever recorded in the contiguous United States, dumping more than 40 inches of rain in just four days. Storm damages are estimated in the tens of billions of dollars.
It’s not always good news for Delta flyers, especially since SkyMiles is known for constant devaluations with little notice. This time, there’s something to celebrate, at least for its top-level elite members. Plus, don’t miss the award discounts being offered by American and Flying Blue.
Earning points and miles through flying on planes, staying in hotels, and credit card spend are all ways to
Starwood Preferred Guest is an excellent reward program because of its incredible flexibility. It has more airline transfer partners than any other program, including American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou. On top of that, some of those airlines partner only with SPG. In this post, we’ll look at why you should consider transferring your valuable Starpoints to two of those exclusive airline partners: American Airlines and Japan Airlines (JAL).
The wait is over! Barclaycard has released the online application page for the Aviator Red Mastercard.
Barclaycard was the issuer of the US Airways co-branded cards before US Airways merged with American Airlines. When the merger occurred, existing cardholders were given the option to convert their cards to a variety of new Aviator cards in the lineup. Unfortunately, those cards were not available for new applicants at that time.
The AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® is Barclays’ midrange American Airlines co-branded card. If you often fly on American, this card comes with some nice perks, including an annual companion certificate, free checked bags, priority boarding, in-flight discounts and access to Reduced Mileage Awards.
The Aviator cards were originally only offered to US Airways cardholders after the merger with American. New customers had to get their AAdvantage credit cards from Citibank, American’s long-time partner.
That changed thanks to a July 2016 agreement that gave Barclaycard the ability to sign up new AAdvantage Aviator cardholders at airports and on American Airlines flights. Citi retained the rights to get new customers online, through the mail and at airport lounges, making American the first carrier to offer co-branded cards from two different issuers.
The AAdvantage Aviator Red is very similar to the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®. The most notable difference is that the Aviator Red comes with an Anniversary Companion Certificate after spending $20,000 on purchases in a year. The Platinum Select, on the other hand, has a $125 American Airlines Flight Discount for spending $20,000 or more in purchases, that is not available with the Aviator Red card.
This Aviator Red card comes with a rather generous sign-up bonus: you can earn 60,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days.
In addition to the welcome bonus offer, the card also allows its cardmembers to earn a Companion Certificate for 1 guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees). To qualify for the certificate, you will need to spend at least $20,000 on purchases and account should remain open for 45 days after your anniversary date. The certificate can be earned each anniversary year.
The AAdvantage program once offered four different award levels: MileSAAver Off Peak, MileSAAver, AAnytime Level 1 and AANytime Level 2. However, Saver and Anytime awards were eliminated and replaced with a new pricing chart for American Airlines flights in 2023.
American Airlines now has a new award chart that presents pricing as “starting from”. This form shows the minimum pricing and does not show the exact price to expect, which is not a surprise as most American awards were already dynamically-priced. Now you can find awards for domestic flights for as low as 7,500 miles each way.
The Aviator Red card comes with a few benefits that will help you earn AAdvantage miles faster.
With the new AAdvantage program you will earn Loyalty Points for one eligible AAdvantage mile. Now you can earn Loyalty Points when you fly and when you buy (AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, SimplyMiles and more). And once you have AAdvantage status, you’ll earn more miles and Loyalty Points when you travel with American and their partners.
Earned miles can be redeemed for flights, as well as hotel stays, rental cars, vacation packages and other retail products.
You’ll get 10 percent of the miles you’ve redeemed back. That means you’ll save 2,500 miles on a 25,000-mile redemption, which is the cost of a domestic roundtrip. The net cost of the flight after the discount is only 22,500 miles. You can save up to 10,000 miles a year with this perk.
Cardholders also get access to American’s Reduced Mileage Awards. These awards are available for different routes at different times of the year. If you book a qualifying flight, you can save up to 7,500 miles.
The Citi / AAdvantage Gold World Elite MasterCard(no longer available) has the smallest annual fee and least benefits of all the co-branded American Airlines cards offered by Citi. However, if you’re primarily interested in
The South Pacific encompasses much more than Australia and New Zealand. It includes exotic islands like Fiji, Tahiti, Vanuatu and Palau. You can take your pick of these bucket list destination at any time by booking an award ticket on the airlines you have miles with including American, United and Alaska. Unlike Europe or South America though, what is classified as the South Pacific can vary by airline. Here are some tips to avoid confusion.
Many travelers who
Flying in a premium class seat to Asia might be one of the best ways to redeem your miles. Being able to enjoy a comfortable seat that turns into a bed can make a world of difference. Of course, airlines know that people are willing to pay more to avoid being miserable on such a long flight and price their premium class flights accordingly. Still, good values are to be had if you know where to look for them.
Choosing the best airline program to fly in business or first to Africa isn’t easy. Awards are expensive, there are not as many options as there are to Europe or Asia, and some business class cabins are simply better than others. Having said that, no matter how much you’ve dreamed of visiting Africa, your plans probably don’t include arriving exhausted after a very long journey in a cramped economy seat. Let’s see how much style and comfort our miles can afford to travel to the cradle of humankind.
You may have overlooked the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® in favor of the personal AAdvantage Platinum Select. While similar, there are some notable differences between these cards. If you’re a small business owner or independent contractor, you should consider getting this card instead.
If you hold the Citi Prestige card, you’re about to lose an important benefit. Starting July 23, 2017, American Airlines Admirals Club access will no longer be a feature of the card. Of course, there is still Priority Pass membership as a benefit, which provides access to hundreds of lounges, but there are not as many in the U.S. For the $450 annual fee, this is a big loss for domestic travelers that fly American frequently.
Have you ever wanted to transfer
American Airlines recently announced more changes to the way flyers will earn miles and elite status, and it’s getting more complicated than ever to figure out what a trip will yield when it comes to mileage rewards.
American Airlines recently introduced significant changes to their award charts that drastically raise prices in many cases, as well as creating two separate charts for travel on American Airlines vs. partner airlines. However, this doesn’t mean you won’t still find some good opportunities to use those miles for incredible vacations.
Etihad is an American Airlines partner that still features old AAdvantage award levels. At some point in the future, they will update their chart, but for now you can book American Airlines awards the old way.
Unfortunately, there is no way to book partners on the Etihad website. You have to search for an award on AA.com and then call Etihad to book it.
If you feel nostalgic about the old American Airlines’ award chart, you’re not alone. AAdvantage used to be the most valuable frequent flyer program bar none, but since March 22nd it’s more on par with other legacy programs like United and Delta that have undergone severe business and first class award devaluations.
