Barclay Aadvantage Aviator Red Retention analysis

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Barclay Aadvantage Aviator Red Retention analysis

I’ve now held a Barclay Aadvantage Aviator Red card for two years. I initially signed up for two of these cards when they were US Airways branded cards and received 100k points after meeting the terms: one purchase and paying the annual fee of $89 each. Seeing as though I didn’t need two of these cards I cancelled one at the end of year 1 and kept the other. The one I kept I was able to negotiate a waived annual fee. My favorite perk of the card is the 10% refund on points up to 10,000 points. My second favorite perk is qualifying for reduced mileage awards. My annual fee is due in September and this year I actually put $25,000 on the card. I was expecting to get my annual fee waived for another great Aviator Red Retention bonus, but NAYYYYYYYYYYYY was the answer!!! NAYYYYYYYYY.

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My Aviator Red Retention call went something like this

Me: Yes, I was calling to see if there were any retention offers avail ( super happy cause I’d actually put a fair amount of spend on the card)

Rep: Well, let’s see here

long pause, tons of clicking

Me: Hello?

Rep: Just looking here, ya there isn’t anything on your account that I can offer

Me: Oh…Um, ok. Who would I speak to about canceling the account then?

Rep: That’d be me or any other card specialist.

Me: I see. Well I put a fair amount of spend on the card last year ( roughly $25k) and really I’m just looking for the annual fee to be waived. Is that something you could handle for me?

Rep: I’m sorry, sir. But as I said there aren’t any offers for you

Me: Oh…I guess I misunderstood. I figured you meant there weren’t any mega point bonuses or something. So you really can’t waive the fee? I really love the card and Citi is offering no fee for the first year…

Rep: I’m sorry sir, your account doesn’t qualify.

Me: ok cool. So how long after you charge me my annual fee do I have to cancel and get it refunded?

Rep: 30 days from the day it’s billed.

Me: Coolio, well thank you for your time.

Rep: Thank you.

Click.

My Conclusion….ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

This makes very little sense to me. Not that I think I’m entitled to a waived annual fee, per se, but this year I spent over 4 times  more than I did last year when they DID waive the fee. Now, that spend was funding a Citi Gold checking account, but I’m not really sure that makes a difference. Spend is spend. So the consistency isn’t quite there…

Now, I know what you’re thinking, in 2015 Barclay was making a big push to retain the old US Airways cardholders. Totally get that, I do. But, here’s the thing. Barclay is going to offer sign up bonuses on the card starting in January of 2017. YES, they will go from having only grandfathered cardholders to welcoming new ones.

So why would I keep this card now? Come Jan 2017 – I can get a new Barclay Aviator WITH a bonus.

Now, let’s consider a few different situations:

  1. Barclay will want to incentivize as many people as possible to sign up for the card. I’d say there is even a good possibility that current Aviator Red cardholders will be able to get a 2nd. I mean, this happened to me before in 2014/15 when I got 2 of the same card, so why would things change for the initial push this time around?
  2. Barclay won’t allow duplicate cards: I dump the one I have now only to reapply for the same card and get a sign up bonus.
  3. Barclay has restrictions on sign ups for similar cards.
    • Circa Citi 18/24 month rule between open and closures. Would have to look at a different card product
    • Chase 24 month rule – i’m good cause it’s been more than 24 months since I received the bonus.
    • Even if they say I don’t qualify for an Aviator Red because I’ve had one recently, I could still sign up for a Silver or a business card. I’ve had neither of those cards and would more than likely be approved quickly.
  4. They implement restrictions likes the new Citi rules: ( 1 sign up bonus for each family of cards)…I’m screwed on personal cards
    • Even in this situation I would have leeway because I could get a business card. BAZINGA

Why do I even want an Aviator?

Plain and simple = 10% back on redeem points. This year alone I’ve redeemed 140k points on AA. I got 10,000 of those back.

  • I value 10000 points more than the $89 annual fee.

With Citi clamping down on sign ups I’ll have to be more strategic on Citi AA cards

  • I’ll probably have to wait until the 2 year mark on my citi business card or maybe they will make it easier on the Executive. We will just have to see.

What am I really risking by canceling?

  • I’ve exhausted my max mileage refund already this year…So nothing lost
  • 25% off in flight purchases…not a biggie
  • reduced mileage awards – I could book a few tickets now at the reduced rate and change prior to canceling my card. If I end up not using them I’ll just redeposit them without fee after I’m Executive Platinum.
    • I almost always use them to Indiana or Ohio.

The interim Aviator Red retention policy makes no sense to me

Wouldn’t they want to retain me as a current cardholder that spent a lot of money last year, paid all his bills on time, and keeps a high credit score? If they know that they will be offering large sign up bonuses in a few months wouldn’t it make sense to just extend some sort of retention bonus to me now?  If they would have offered 10k or 15k for a couple grand spend I would have done it. They could have retained my business at a discount to attracting my future business. Now, I’ll most likely cancel and reapply for some version of the new Aviator in a few months. Fingers crossed for a mega 75k-100k Aviator Silver.

 

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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8 Comments

  • Miles August 13, 2016

    thanks AAFlyerNY! – great info!!

  • AAflyerNY August 13, 2016

    Had the Barclays card for at least four years (now it is the Aviator Red). Never charged anything on the card (except to get the sign up bonus). Every year I call and have never paid the annual fee. Last couple of times (maybe three times?) I just told them I had a Citibank AA card (which was true), and didn’t need both. Always had AF credited. Then told Citi same thing – and they usually had some sort of promotion like charge $89 and get an $89 credit (so they can claim that they didn’t waive the fee I guess). This year Citi said no, but I have the Barclays card for free again. I can just sign up for the Citi AA card next year if necessary with the first year AF waived (and just alternate banks each year).

  • J August 13, 2016

    HUCA.

    • Miles August 13, 2016

      ya defos will…but it actually spawned this whole train of thought and now I’m not sure I even want it! lol

  • Boraxo August 13, 2016

    Umm it makes a lot of sense because most everyone pays the AF without complaint so why should hey make an exception for you? Many people charge 25k on a card.

    As you note there are many ways that the card pays for itself (as a no status person I like the baggage fee waivers) so no reason to waive AF.

    The bloggers need to face up to reality that easy AF waivers and churning is going bye bye because the banks don’t need your biz unless you want to pay the freight

    • Miles August 13, 2016

      you’re totally right that most do pay the fee without a fuss, but then again most people I advise to ask about a retention offer, score something. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In fact, a few months ago I had thought about whether I’d keep it if they wouldn’t waive the fee. I had resigned to paying it because I knew I couldn’t get the card again: bennies are great and as I said it pays for itself. But now that they are opening it up to new sign ups – why would anyone keep the card if they can reapply in a few months for more points? Even if they don’t award a sign up bonus…the annual fee will more than likely be waived to compete with Citi. I happily pay the fee on many cards I have, but negotiate on all of them. To each their own.

  • Tom August 13, 2016

    I’m sorry, but I had to bust out laughing reading “Not that I think I’m entitled to a waived annual fee”. Of course your do! That’s the whole point of this post. DYKWIA!!

    Thanks for giving me a laugh.

    • Miles August 13, 2016

      hahahaha – that’s why i added the “per se” 😉

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