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It’s been a while since we’ve seen an increased welcome bonus on an American Airlines co-branded credit card — but now there’s an all-time-high offer to consider.
The AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® is offering a limited-time bonus of 50,000 miles after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. Plus, earn 30,000 miles after spending a total of $6,000 on purchases within the first 12 months.
This is a small-business credit card, so you’ll need to have a business to qualify — but even part-time businesses, side gigs, or freelance work could make you eligible.
Even if you don’t fly American Airlines often, the AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® could still be worth considering. Here’s how the offer stacks up.
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
The new welcome offer on the AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® is tiered, and to unlock the full 80,000-mile bonus, you’ll need to spend a total of $6,000 on purchases in 12 months (an average of $500 per month).
American Airlines miles are worth, on average, 1.4 cents apiece based on Insider’s latest valuations — so you can expect to get around $1,120 in flights from this bonus — but the exact value you’ll get depends on how and when you redeem your rewards.
The card also earns:
There’s a $95 annual fee, but you could make up for the cost (and then some) if you take advantage of the card’s benefits.
Cardholders get a free first checked bag (worth $30 each way) for themselves and up to four companions on the same reservation on American Airlines domestic itineraries, so you could offset the annual fee after just a couple of trips. The card also offers preferred boarding on American Airlines flights (for the cardholder and up to four companions) and 25% savings on American Airlines inflight purchases.
Read more: How to earn, redeem, and maximize American Airlines miles
Big spenders can unlock a potentially lucrative perk: If you spend $30,000 or more in an account anniversary year, you’ll receive a companion certificate that allows you to add another person to your paid American Airlines economy round-trip itinerary for just $99 (plus taxes and fees). Travel must be within the US and there are other restrictions, but if you can use the certificate it could save you a lot of cash.
The card offers another benefit that can put extra miles into your account. Each year on your account anniversary date, you’ll receive a 5% AAdvantage mile bonus, based on the total number of miles earned using your card. If you’re chasing elite status, you can also get a boost — when you spend $25,000 on purchases in a calendar year, you’ll receive $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs).
If you don’t have a small business — or don’t want to be locked into a single frequent flyer program — there’s another elevated credit card welcome offer that could equate to 80,000 American Airlines miles.
The Citi Premier® Card is also offering a record-high bonus of 80,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Citi ThankYou points are extremely valuable because you can transfer them to over a dozen airline partners, including JetBlue, Air France-KLM, Singapore Airlines, and Cathay Pacific. American Airlines isn’t normally on this list, but for a limited time, Citi has added American Airlines as a transfer partner.
Read more: How to earn, redeem, and maximize Citi ThankYou points
When you have the Citi Premier® Card, you can transfer points to American Airlines at a 1:1 ratio — meaning you could turn the 80,000-point bonus into 80,000 American Airlines miles. Just be aware that transfers to American Airlines end on November 13, 2021, so you’d have to apply for the card and earn the bonus before that date to take advantage of this option.
The Citi Premier® Card is also more practical for everyday spending because it earns 3x points in popular categories — air travel, gas stations, restaurants, supermarkets, and hotels — and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. It doesn’t come with any airline benefits, but if you’re not a frequent American Airlines flyer, that might not be a factor for you.
Read our review of the Citi Premier card to learn more about its benefits — or if you’re looking for an airline-specific card, check out our guide to the best airline credit cards for more options.
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Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Personal Finance Insider team. We occasionally highlight financial products and services that can help you make smarter decisions with your money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. What you decide to do with your money is up to you. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we get a small share of the revenue from our commerce partners. This does not influence whether we feature a financial product or service. We operate independently from our advertising sales team.
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Personal Finance Insider team. We occasionally highlight financial products and services that can help you make smarter decisions with your money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we get a small share of the revenue from our commerce partners. This does not influence whether we feature a financial product or service. We operate independently from our advertising sales team.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
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