If you’re a US Airways Dividend Miles Mastercard holder, you’ll be pleased to know that the Barclay AAdvantage Aviator Red MasterCard is “on its way.” Don’t get too excited because “on it’s way” could mean it will arrive within 1-4 months. Barclays estimates that cardholders will receive their newly converted cards between April 1 – July 15, 2015. To tide you over until then, Barclays is offering cardholders a 50% bonus on all spending. This 50% bonus applies to purchases made through June 30, 2015. Cardholders can earn up to 10,000 bonus miles this way. However, the miles won’t be deposited into your account until 6-8 weeks after the promotion end date.
To register for the 50% spend bonus, check your email for a registration link. I would provide it here but I’m not entirely sure it works. After clicking on the registration link, I was taken to the Barclays homepage and instructed to log into my account. I did, but I was simply directed to my account page – displaying my Barclay Arrival Plus Mastercard information.
There was no indication that I had actually been registered for the promotion. I also didn’t receive an email confirmation. So I guess calling Barclays is inevitable. I recommend you do the same to avoid putting your bonus spend on this card and not getting the bonus miles credited. I don’t know about you, but I sure as heck am not going to remember to follow up on this promotion in July. So calling (866-419-0881) seems like the safest option.
Keep in mind that Barclays will not be accepting applications for the AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard once the merger is complete. The only way to get a hold of this card is to have the Barclays US Airways Dividend Miles Mastercard. Which will then be converted to the Aviator Red card.
I’ve compared the Barclay AAdvantage Aviator Red card with the Citi Platinum AAdvantage card, coming to the conclusion that the Aviator Red card is superior. That’s mainly because you’ll be able to use the card for American Express gift card purchases without incurring cash advance fees. Not to mention Barclays frequently offers bonus miles for certain merchant categories, which isn’t something Citi offers. Plus, I’ve had one too many identity theft instances with Citi. While I do think there is value in having both versions of the AAdvantage card, I’ve closed my Citi card and probably won’t reopen it for long-term use.
My promotion says “50% more miles on every purchase you make” – no categories. I think you are mistaking their examples for being the eligible purchases.
Yep, you’re right. Very confusing with the “qualifying purchases” disclaimer followed by the table.
To accept this offer there is a link once you log in into the barclayscard website. To the right of the screen where it says Barclaycard Extras you should see the offer there.
I see it. Thanks for the tip! Saved me a phone call.
Thoughts on putting $20k of Redcard spend on this card versus SPG?
I like the bonus, even tho I’m afraid at any point Redcard will stop, plus that leaves me with more spend for the $30k SPG level.
You’ll get the same number of miles (30k), but putting the spend on Amex could trigger an annual review. I’m always more careful with ms’ing with an Amex card, so I’d definitely go with USAir on this one.
I put regular spend on the SPG anyway and was planning to hit $30k after July, so Gold would rollover to 2017 but I understand the fear.
http://www.barclaycardus.com