Increased AA Bonuses: 60k Aviator Red & 65k CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum

19

If you’re in the market for AAdvantage miles, there are increased signup bonuses on a couple of American Airlines credit cards. One of them can be earned after your first purchase and payment of the annual fee, while the other requires $10,000 of spend in order to earn the entire bonus.

AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard 60,000 mile signup bonus

Offer 1

Card Offer
50k miles after 1st purchase and paying the annual fee within 90 days
$99 Annual Fee
Recent better offer: Up to 75K: 60K miles after first purchase and 15K after adding an authorized user and making one purchase on that card [Expired 2/24/24]

Key Card Details

Card Name w Details & Review (no offer)

$99 Annual Fee
Earning rate: 2X AA ✦ 1X everywhere else
Base: 1X (1.3%)
Brand: 2X (2.6%)
Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Barclays. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees.
Big spend bonus: Earn $99 + tax domestic companion certificate with $20K membership year spend.
Noteworthy perks: First checked bag free ✦ Preferred boarding for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions traveling on the same reservation ✦ 25% off in-flight purchases ✦ $25 wifi credit per membership year ✦ Flight cents: round up purchases to earn more miles

CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard 65,000 miles

Offer 2

Card Offer
65K after $4K spend in first 4 months
$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99
Alternate Offer: There is an alternative offer of 30K + $400 credit that can be found when doing a dummy booking on aa.com.
Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.

Key Card Details

Card Name w Details & Review (no offer)
FM Mini Review: This card usually has a great welcome bonus, but if you're looking for a card to keep long term, you'll find better options.

$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99
Earning rate: ✦ 2X AA ✦ 2X certain telecommunications merchants ✦ 2X car rental merchants ✦ 2X gas
Base: 1X (1.3%)
Travel: 2X (2.6%)
Gas: 2X (2.6%)
Phone: 2X (2.6%)
Brand: 2X (2.6%)
Card Info: Mastercard World issued by Citi. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees.
Big spend bonus: Earn $99 plus taxes domestic companion certificate after $30K spend
Noteworthy perks: ✦ First checked bag free ✦ Priority Boarding ✦ Save 25% on inflight purchases

Quick Thoughts

The Aviator Red card has the easiest bonus to earn of these two cards. That’s because it offers a signup bonus of 60,000 miles which is earned after making only one purchase of any amount and paying the $95 annual fee.

That’s the highest bonus we’ve seen on this card, although in the past it’s been possible to earn an additional 500 miles by using an application form obtained on an American Airlines flight. Let us know in the comments below if you see forms for this offer in the wild this time around.

The CitiBusiness AAdvantage card has more stringent spend requirements with a couple of tiered bonuses. You’ll earn 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 within the first three months, then an additional 15,000 miles when spending a total of $10,000 in your first year of membership. This therefore requires far more spend than the Aviator Red credit card, although the annual fee is waived on the CitiBusiness AAdvantage card.

These two cards have some similar benefits – they both offer your first checked bag free, access to reduced mileage awards, 25% off in-flight purchases and more. There are a few key differences though.

For starters, the Aviator Red card offers a 10% rebate on award flights, up to 10,000 miles back every year. That alone can be worth paying the annual fee if you know you’ll be making redemptions.

The CitiBusiness AA card doesn’t include that benefit, but it does come with the opportunity to earn a $99 domestic companion certificate after spending $30,000 on the card. If you can put that spend on the card without it affecting your ability to earn other signup bonuses, that might provide good value in some circumstances.

Be aware that in order to be eligible for the CitiBusiness AAdvantage bonus, you must not have opened or closed this card within the past 24 months.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

19 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments