AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Business Mastercard Review 2024

Like many airline-branded credit cards, customers are lured toward the AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard with a large welcome bonus. This card offers up to 75,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles, 60,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and an additional 15,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 12 months

Simply holding the card (whether you spend on it or not) provides a first checked bag free and preferred boarding. These benefits could make holding this card worth-while, even for the occasional American Airlines flyer. Notably absent is airline lounge access.

Even if you’re receiving identical benefits through American Airlines elite status, the ability to double down and earn miles from credit card spending adds up. Cardholders earn 2 miles per dollar spent on American Airlines purchases, including flight tickets and incidentals. 2 miles are also offered for office supply, telecom and rental car purchases. All cardholders earn an additional 5% bonus on the miles they accumulated through the credit card at the end of each cardholder year.

There are two other benefits included with the card for big spenders. Cardholders that spend $30,000 or more in a year will receive a companion certificate that allows you to buy a domestic economy ticket for a companion at a flat $99 when you buy one for yourself at the standard price.

• Earn up to 75,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles, 60,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and an additional 15,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 12 months
• Earn 2 miles per dollar on American Airlines purchases, office supply, telecom and rental car purchases
• Earn 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases
• 5% annual bonus on miles earned with the card
• First checked bag free for you and up to four travel companions on the same itinerary (valid on domestic flights only)
• Preferred boarding for you and up to four travel companions
• Receive 25% savings as a statement credit on in-flight food and beverages
• Companion Certificate issued at $99 after your account anniversary if you spend $30,000 or more
• No foreign transaction fees
• Complimentary employee cards
• $95 annual fee, not waived in the first year

Earning Rewards

American Airlines isn’t a participating airline with any credit card program that earns flexible rewards which means you’ll need to hold a co-branded card to earn AA miles for credit card spending. The Barclay AAdvantage Aviator Business card earns 2 miles for every dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, 2 miles for every dollar spent at eligible office supply, telecom and car rental merchants and 1 mile for every dollar spent on all other purchases.

Unique to this card is a 5% annual bonus on all miles earned through spending. That makes your effective earnings rate 2.1 miles per dollar spent on bonus categories or 1.05 miles per dollar on other purchases. However, the bonus is only posted once per year, six to eight weeks after your cardholder anniversary. Because of this, you’ll need to keep the card open to receive your bonus miles (and pay another year’s annual fee).

In the first year of card membership, you’re also eligible for a welcome bonus. You can earn up to 75,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles, 60,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and an additional 15,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 12 months.

All miles earned, including those on employee cards, are deposited into the primary cardholder’s American Airlines account. Miles are automatically deposited on a monthly basis shortly after your billing statement closes but may take as long as eight to 10 weeks.

Redeeming Rewards

American Airlines no longer publishes an award chart, but award flights start at 7,500 miles one-way within the U.S. International and premium-cabin flights require substantially more miles.

Members can book many flights through American Airlines’ online booking engine, which includes flights operated by American Airlines and numerous partners including Alaska Airlines, Etihad Airways and Oneworld alliance airlines. Some partners or complicated travel plans aren’t available for online booking and must be booked by phone.

In addition to using miles for reward flights, members can also redeem miles for upgrades, vacation packages hotels or rental cars. However, your best value will almost always be found in award tickets.

Rewards Potential

As always, the potential rewards on this card depends heavily on your annual business spending.

To determine the rewards potential of the Barclay AAdvantage Aviator Business card, we calculated what a sole proprietor or small business might spend overall each year and in the bonus categories. Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies in order to determine both annual expenses and spending across various categories. Based on the data, we calculated the following rewards potential for a sample small business with income of $116,000 and $36,177 in expenses that can be charged to a credit card for the year.

If this business spent $2,443 annually on American Airlines flights, $2,535 on telecom expenses and $2,346 on office supply purchases, it would earn 14,648 miles from the card’s bonus categories. All other purchases earn 1 mile per dollar to net another 28,853 miles for a total of 43,051 American Airlines, in addition to the first-year welcome bonus.

• Complimentary checked bags: When traveling in the U.S., you and up to four travel companions on the same reservation can each check one bag free.
• Priority boarding: Board earlier for earlier access to your seats and overhead storage.
• Food and beverage discounts: Pay for in-flight food or drinks with your AAdvantage Aviator Business card and receive a 25% discount as a statement credit.
• Companion certificate: When you spend $30,000 in a cardholder year, receive a companion certificate valid for a ticket priced at $99 plus taxes and fees.
• Complimentary employee cards: Add employee cards at no extra cost.

Interest Rates

• APR: 21.24% or 29.99% variable

Fees

• Annual fee: $95
• Foreign transaction fee: None
• Balance transfer fees: Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
• Cash advance fee: Either $10 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.

AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®* vs. CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®*

The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* is a direct competitor of the Barclays card and features many similar benefits. The airline benefits including checked bags, food and beverage discounts, priority boarding and a companion pass, are present on the Citi version of the card.

Both cards offer 2 AAdvantage miles per dollar spent on American Airlines purchases, telecom and car rentals. However, the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®* adds in 2 miles per dollar spent at gas stations (and removes the 2 miles that Barclays offers at office supply stores). There’s not a clear winner here, since it depends where your business spends the most money.

The CitiBusiness version of the card holds a few disadvantages, though. Its welcome bonus has a similar spending requirement and tops out at 65,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening. It doesn’t offer an extra tier for adding an employee card. It also doesn’t offer a 5% annual bonus on miles earned.

AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®* vs. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

For the same $95 annual fee, small businesses might prefer the Chase Ink Business Preferred. This card is a better fit if you’re not loyal to a single airline. That’s because this card earns Ultimate Rewards points which are not only useful for travel but also transferable to your choice of participating airline and hotel partners rather than locking you into a specific program. However, American Airlines is not a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner.

The Ink Business Preferred offers 3 Ultimate Rewards per dollar spent on travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone and online advertising services. 3 points per dollar is capped at your first $150,000 in purchases each year. All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar. Cardholders will earn more points thanks to the increased earnings rate and more extensive set of bonus categories. The welcome bonus— 100,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

The biggest downside to the Ink Business Preferred is that it doesn’t come with any airline benefits. You won’t get perks like free checked bags while traveling. They make up for this somewhat by offering trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance as well as primary rental car collision and damage waiver insurance.

AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®* vs. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

Small businesses that don’t spend enough to earn a companion pass might prefer a different card. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express offers a straightforward 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners up to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, then 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.  Simplicity is another perk here since you don’t need to keep bonus categories straight and there’s no annual fee (Terms apply. See rates & fees).

The ability to earn two points per dollar on the first $50,000 in purchases each year may be beneficial for businesses that don’t charge large amounts each year and want a consistent earning rate. Points can be redeemed for statement credits or transferred to any American Express travel partner through the Membership Rewards program (there are nearly two dozen participating airlines, but American Airlines is not one of them). In addition, American Express occasionally offers limited-time transfer bonuses which can allow you to get even more value out of your points.

This card doesn’t focus on travel, though. You won’t receive any airline benefits or general travel perks. Instead, you may benefit from lucrative Amex Offers for statement credits with promotional merchants.

Read more: Best Business Credit Cards of 2024

Overall, the Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard offers a solid welcome bonus but only average ongoing earnings rates. The card’s list of benefits feels never ending, but with closer inspection, most cardholders will only use a fraction of them due to redundancy or inability to meet spending thresholds. If you also hold a personal American Airlines credit card or have elite status with American, the overlap is even more apparent.

Travelers that fly with American Airlines a few times a year, but not often enough to hold elite status, will enjoy the suite of airline benefits. On the other end of the spectrum, high spenders will get great value from a companion pass. However, this card misses the mark for customers who fall in the middle.

To view rates and fees for The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express please visit this page.