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Back in September we wrote the article down below… Today, it’s been confirmed that Citi will become the sole issuer of American Airlines in 2026 ( a 10 year deal ) and will transition the Barclay credit cards into Citi cards starting in 2026 as well. If you want to get a Barclay Aviator Red I’d recommend doing so now. Full presser
The Barclay Aviator Red ( 60k offer now ) is still active after a single purchase and paying your annual fee. Who knows how this will be the case
Is Citi Thank You going to get AA again? They were transfer partner for a few months back in 2021, but haven’t been since. This seems to point to that coming back around.
- In addition, the agreement creates an innovative alignment between the Citi ThankYou and AAdvantage® card programs and is designed to drive incremental value for both companies and produce a significantly expanded loyalty and rewards offering for AAdvantage® members and Citi-branded cardmembers. As exclusive issuer, Citi will take on all American Airlines acquisition channels, including inflight and at airports
I was really hoping that Barclay could hang in there and continue to have a deal ( more options is always better ), but the Barclay Aviator Red is saying goodbye.
According to CNBC, Citi and American Airlines are in talks to potentially strike an exclusive credit card deal. If you’re unfamiliar with how two banks ended up with American Airlines deals it dates back to when US Airways had Barclays issued cards, and then AA bought US Airways. This is quite similar, though we are unsure how it will play out, with the Alaska and Hawaiian deal ( why I’ve been adamant about picking up Hawaiian cards while they still exist ). Who knows how this will ultimately pan out, but Barclay is offering an all time high offer of 70k AA miles after a single purchase + paying the annual fee. That’s a great deal and a good hedge against Barclay losing out on the ability to issue cards in the future.
Via CNBC…
“American has been working with banks and card networks on a new long-term deal for months with the aim of consolidating its business with a single issuer to boost the revenue haul from its loyalty program, according to the people.”
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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