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3. AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® review: Easy-to-earn sign-up bonus

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Rating: out of 5.

Annual Fee: $99

This content is curated by Intuit Credit Karma’s Editorial team using data from members who were approved for this card or similar cards, or who self-matched this card or similar cards. Intuit Credit Karma receives compensation from third-party advertisers, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions. Our third-party advertisers don’t review, approve or endorse this content. Information about financial products not offered on Credit Karma is collected independently. Our content is accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted.

Here’s the average credit limit of members who matched their AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® or similar cards.

% of members by credit limit range

The average credit limit for members who have matched with this card or similar cards is $10,559, with $20,000 being the most common.

Here’s the average credit score of members who matched their AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® or similar cards.

% of members by credit score range

The average credit score for members who have matched with this card or similar cards is 701, with 819 being the most common. Note this is just one of the deciding factors when it comes to getting approved.

Member stats

Updated daily

26.5%

Average credit utilization (or what percent of the card’s credit limit is being used) of members who matched with this card or similar cards.

51 years

Average age of members who matched this card or similar cards.

$101,193

Average annual income of members who matched this card or similar cards. Note: Income may be estimated for some members by Credit Karma and may differ from members’ actual incomes.

Pros and cons

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Strong sign-up bonus

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Lots of travel perks

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Intro balance transfer offer

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Annual fee

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Limited reward redemption options

The major benefits and drawbacks of the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®

This airline rewards card is a good fit for people who fly American Airlines frequently. It’ll cost you an annual fee of $99, but the sign-up bonus and travel perks can help offset that cost.

Here are some other things to know if you’re considering this card.

Solid sign-up bonus

You can quickly earn 60,000 AAdvantage bonus miles by making a single purchase and paying your $99 annual fee in full within 90 days of opening your account. Bonuses of this size often require spending thousands of dollars, so this one purchase requirement makes this card unique.

Intro APR on balance transfers

This card has a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers for 15 billing cycles from account opening. After the intro period is over, the variable balance transfer APR goes up to 18.24%, 22.24% or 27.24%. Note that you’ll need to complete any balance transfers within the first 45 days of account opening to take advantage of the offer, and there’s a balance transfer fee of 5% (minimum $5).

You don’t often find 0% balance transfer offers on travel credit cards — another differentiator for this card. But if paying off debt is your goal, it might make more sense to look for another balance transfer card that has an equal or even better intro offer without a costly annual fee.

Lots of travel perks

With this card, you’ll get quite a few useful and cost-saving travel perks, including the following:

• Free checked bag — You can check one free bag on both American Airlines and American Eagle flights. And if you have traveling companions on your reservation, they’ll get one free checked bag, too — this applies for up to four people on your reservation.
• Preferred boarding — With this card, you’ll get to board ahead of economy boarding right after priority boarding passengers, and so will your traveling companions.
• Annual in-flight Wi-Fi credit — When you fly on American Airlines operated flights, you can get statement credits on up to $25 of in-flight Wi-Fi purchases per cardholder anniversary year.
• Other travel benefits — As a cardholder you can also get travel accident insurance, trip cancellation and interruption coverage, baggage delay insurance and auto rental collision damage waivers when you follow the terms of each benefit. Plus, you’ll get access to upgrades and other premium travel services.

Earn an anniversary companion certificate

Another great perk of the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® is that you can earn a companion certificate on your anniversary date.

As long as you spend $20,000 or more on the card during the year and keep your account open at least 45 days after your anniversary date, you’ll qualify. The companion certificate will cost you $99 plus taxes and fees, and you can use it for domestic economy fare flight.

Ability to earn rewards on flights and purchases

With this card, earning rewards is straightforward — but there’s only one bonus category, and the rewards rates aren’t that high.

You’ll get two miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. And all other purchases will only earn you one mile per $1 spent.

What else you need to know about the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®

Here’s a few other things you may want to know if you’re considering applying for the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®.

• Earn points toward status — With every purchase on the card, you’ll earn points toward American Airline’s status program. Learn more about the benefits of AAdvantage®.
• No foreign transaction fees — This card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees.
• In-flight savings — Get 25% back in statement credits on in-flight food and beverage purchases when using your card.

Understanding your points and redemption

While you’ll generally get the best value by redeeming miles for flights on American Airlines or on oneworld® airlines and partner airlines, you can also redeem your miles for other things like …

• Upgrades on American Airlines, British Airways, and Iberia flights
• Rental cars
• Hotels
• Vacation activities
• Admirals Club membership
• Luxury experiences
• Newspapers
• Donations

Who this card is good for

This card may be a good fit for people who fly American Airlines regularly and will be pretty satisfied by benefits like a free first checked bag, annual Wi-Fi credits and miles earned on spending.

The sign-up bonus alone may make this an attractive card in the first year, but frequent fliers may get more out of longer-term perks like preferred boarding and travel coverage.

If you don’t regularly fly American, a more general purpose travel rewards credit card might be a better fit.

Not sure this is the card for you? Consider these alternatives.

If the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® doesn’t seem like the best fit for you, consider our picks for the best American Airlines credit cards — or these other cards.

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: If you don’t want to be tied down to one airline, this travel card with flexible redemption options may work for you.
• Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card: Travel perks, a sign-up bonus and above-average rewards for everyday spending make this a card worth looking into.