Throughout this pandemic when many card issuers have been bringing temporary benefits or bonuses to keep their existing cardmembers, Barclays has been quiet, until now. 

​In the last couple of days, many Barclays cardmembers received a promotional email titled "Double Bonus Opportunity – Earn up to 60,000 miles!" or "...60,000 points!" or "...$600 Uber Cash!"  This appears to be a widely targeted offer to all Barclays cards such as Arrivals cards, AAdvantage Aviator cards, JetBlue cards, Hawaiian Airlines cards, Wyndham cards, Uber card: between 11/10/2020 and 1/31/2021, you will earn up to 60,000 miles/points or $600 cash, depending on which card you have (e.g. 10x additional points on everything, up to 10,000 points earned, and additional 50,000 points when you spend a total of $3,000 within this period).  This must be the best bonus ever for existing cardmembers since I started writing about credit cards in 2011; usually you need to open a new account and meet the minimum spending requirement to receive a bonus like this; mostly likely the existing cardmembers did receive a similar bonus when they opened the card, and now it is like receiving a second bonus to keep the card.

Sine June, Citi has been sending out emails to customers regarding the huge protection benefit change kicking in as of September 22, 2019.  Curiously I personally haven't received any email from Citi regarding this topic for any of my Citi cards - Prestige, DoubleCash, and ThankYou Preferred.  Maybe it was a glitch (for quite a few of us).  For whoever that haven't received email notifications, when you log into your Citi online account and go to the "Card Benefits" page, you will receive a pop up window with the exact same message as what is supposed to be in the email.  However, after you have viewed the message once, you won't see it again if you log back in.  Talking about being sneaky!

For example, on my Citi Prestige, I received the following message: "Effective September 22, 2019, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Delay Protection, Baggage Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection, Medical Evacuation, Citi® Price Rewind, 90 Day Return Protection, and Missed Event Ticket Protection will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date. Coverage for purchases made before that date will continue to be available, and you may continue to file for benefits in accordance with the current benefit terms. Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service and Travel & Emergency Assistance will be discontinued and will not be available on or after September 22, 2019.  We are making these changes so that we can continue providing the key benefits that our customers use and value most at no additional cost. This change requires no action on your part. See FAQs under Card Benefits for answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding these changes."

​This is absolutely the worst devaluation of benefit/protection we have seen in the history of not only Citi cards but all credit cards.  Different card products may show different messages.  It appears that after the devaluation, only a few protection benefits are left:

• Purchase Protection, Extended Warranty, FICO Score, Identity Theft Solution for Citi Prestige, Citi Premier, Citi ThankYou Preferred, Citi AA Executive, Citi AA Platinum, Citi AA Gold, Citi AA MileUp, etc.
• FICO score and Identify Theft Solution for Citi DoubleCash, Citi Costco, Citi Diamond Preferred, etc.
• Cellphone Protection will be available on World MasterCards and World Elite MasterCards.

We used to praise Citi cards for the extraordinary protection benefits, especially on the premium products.  Citi Prestige and Citi AA Executive are tied as #1 card for protection, and Citi Premier and Citi AA Platinum are tied as #4.  This surely will change after September 22, 2019.  In fact, ironically, Citi is going from the very top to the very bottom with regards to protection!  Stay tuned for the new Top 10 lists.

What can you do now?  If you think about cancelling your Citi card(s), I won't blame you.  As always, I will recommend keeping the card if it is one of your oldest cards to preserve your credit history.  It will also be good to keep non-fee cards such as Double Cash or Citi Costco Visa, if you enjoy their rewards.  If you have some purchases to make in the near future anyway, you probably want to make the purchases before September 22, 2019 to at least enjoy the protection such as Price Rewind, Return Protection, Extended Warranty, etc.  If you have a premium card you are paying annual fees on, you really need to sit down and reevaluate your situation.

There are some recent updates as the following and we are also working on updating several other card reviews.

• Barclays AA Aviator Business MasterCard now offers a historical high bonus - 75,000 AA miles, with an $95 annual fee. 
• Barclays AA Aviator Red MaterCard (personal) loses the 10% redeemed miles rebate (up to 10,000 miles per year) and $100 flight discount with $30K spending, and gains an annual $99 companion certificate with $20K spending.  Also it offers a fairly decent signup bonus now - 50,000 AA miles + an introductory $99 companion certificate.
• Citi AA Platinum Select MasterCard (personal) also loses the 10% redeemed miles rebate, and only gains an additional $25 flight discount (increased from $100 to $125) with $20K annual spending.
• Barclays Hawaiian Business MasterCard nows offers a historical high bonus - 70,000 Hawaiian miles plus a one-time 50% companion discount, with a $99 annual fee.  The personal version has a slightly less bonus (60K miles + one 50% companion discount), but is still a historical high.
• Citi Premier has increased the signup bonus from 50,000 points to 60,000 points; however, the $95 is no longer waived for the first year.

Citi has further increased signup bonuses on its AAdvantage Platinum Select credit cards:

• Personal AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard has two different offers: (1) 65,000 miles after spending $4,000 within 4 months of new account opening. (2) 40,000 miles after spending $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening plus up to $250 statement credits towards American Airlines purchases within 12 months of new account opening.  The $99 annual fee is waived for the first year for both offers.  Either bonus won't be available if you have opened or closed any Citi / AAdvantage personal credit card in the past 24 months.  Note that the 65K offer is the second highest signup offer in history of this product.  If you value AA miles as we do at 1.6 cents per point, the 65K offer is worth $1,040.
• Business AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard also has two different offers: (1) 75,000 miles after spending $5,000 within 5 months of new account opening.  (2) 40,000 miles after you spend $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and $250 statement credits when you make an American Airlines purchase within 12 months of new account opening.  The $99 annual fee is waived for the first year for both offers.  The bonus won't be available if you have opened or closed any CitiBusiness / AAdvantage credit card in the past 24 months.  The 75K offer is the highest signup offer in history of this product.  Our valuation of the 75K offer is $1,200, currently ranked as #1 on our best credit card signup offer list.

Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red WEMC has increased the signup bonus from 50K miles to 60K miles (the best ever offer), still just after your make the first purchase (which is very rare these days).  Our review has been updated too to reflect the post- Amex SPG discussions (see below).

The Facts

• Annual Fee: $95
• Signup Bonus: 60,000 miles after your first purchase within 3 months of new account opening.  Historical best bonus of this card: 60,000 miles for limited time in 2017 and 2018.
• Application Landing Page
• Rewards: 2x American Airlines, 1x everywhere else.  
• Best Use of AAdvantage miles:  AAdvantage is the frequent flyer program of American Airlines, a member of oneworld.  AAdvantage miles are generally valuable when redeemed on American or partner flights.
• Travel Benefits: (1) Receive 10% of your redeemed miles back, up to 10,000 miles per year.  (2) Earn $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars after spending $25,000 each calendar year.  (3) First checked bag free for you plus four passengers on your reservation.  (4) Priority boarding (Group 1, after first or business class passengers and elite members) on American flights.  (5) 25% discount for onboard purchases. (6) Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.
• Standard World Elite MasterCard Benefits: including World Elite Luxury Hotels & Resorts (free breakfasts, upgrades, early check-in, late check-out, and hotel specific amenities), World Elite Air Program (upgrades, savings, or companion tickets, mostly on full fare tickets), World Elite Cruise Program (up to $500 savings), World Elite Tours and Vacations (up to $250 or 5% savings), World Elite Car Rental (savings and elite status with Avis, National, and Sixt), World Elite Chauffeured Car Service (savings and benefits), World Elite Private Jet Program (savings and benefits), MasterCard Airport Concierge (15% savings), and so on.
• Other Facts:  This product was introduced in early 2015 as a replacement for US Airways MasterCard, with the merger of American Airlines AAdvantage and US Airways Dividend Miles.  After the merger until 2017, Citi was the sole issuer of the post-merger American Airlines' credit card products, and Barclays could only convert existing US Airways MasterCard to the new Aviator Cards.  However, starting 2017, Barclays began to issue new Aviator Red cards to new applicants and increased the annual fees from $89 to $95 while upgrading it from World MasterCard to World Elite MasterCard and adding the EQD earning feature.

The Math
In the past we used to not recommend this card for general spending, as the old Amex SPG (before August 2018) returned 25% more AA miles than any AA cobranded cards.  Effective August 2018, AA cobranded credit cards have become the best way of earning AA miles via credit card general spending.

AAdvantage Aviator Red vs. AAdvantage Aviator Silver: Aviator Silver is $100/year more expensive than Aviator Red, and it comes with three premium features: (1) a 3-2-1 earning structure vs. 2-1 on Red (one additional mile on American, hotels, and car rentals), (2) EQM earning potential with $25K-50K spending, and (3) annual $99 companion certificate with $30K spending.  Even if you don't use the last two, you just need to spend $6,250 a year on American airlines, hotels and car rentals to come ahead of the $100 difference in annual fees if you happen to value an AA mile at 1.6 cents a piece like we do, as $6,250 x 1 mile/$ x 1.6 cent/mile = $100.  Of course, if your value is different, you can do your own math.  The bottom line is that if you are a frequent American flyer, you will most likely find upgrading to Silver Aviator a great deal.

AAdvantage Aviator Red vs. Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select:  These two cards are direct competitors - they share many features.  Their differences are: (1) Citi's version has a $99 annual fee ($4 more than Barclays') but waives it for the first year; (2) Citi's version offers 2x dining and gas; (3) Citi's version offers Reduced Mileage Awards (saving 7,500 miles on select routes); (4) Citi's version offers $100 flight discount after $20K annual spending; (5) Barclays's version offers 3K Elite Qualifying Dollars after $25K annual spending.

The Conclusion
Barclays designs the replacement of US Airways MasterCard to align with Citi's counterpart.  However, if you frequent American or just have big hotels/rental cars spending, you will find upgrading from Aviator Red to Aviator Silver very rewarding.

Citi has brought back the 75K-miles signup bonus for American Airlines AAdvantage Executive WEMC, which carries a $450 annual fee but offers full Admirals Club membership for the primary cardholder and access to 40+ domestic/international AA lounges for the authorized users plus two guests.  Our value for the signup bonus after considering the first year annual fee is $750.  For details see our review.

The new benefits of Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard (what a long name) kick in today for existing cardmembers: gas & dining as 2x bonus categories and an annual $100 flight discount after $20K spending; the annual fee is increased from $95 to $99, still waived for the first year.  The expanded bonus categories give this card a boost in scores which enables the card to land on our Top 10 Best Credit Card list as #8 and bumps Chase United Airlines Club Visa Signature off the list.  BTW, the Top 10 List will be going through major changes in the coming month considering the revamp of SPG and Marriott affiliated credit card products and the reduction of Citi's travel and consumer protection.  Stay tuned.

The card offers either a 60K-mile bonus or a 50K-mile +$200 credit bonus.  The 10% rebate for awards bookings, up to 10K miles per year, along with other travel perks such as free first bags, priority boarding, 25% onboard discount, have made the card a keeper after the first year.  Now with the newly added 2x bonus categories and Amex SPG's reduced points earning starting August, this card becomes a must-have if collecting American miles is your primary goal concerning credit cards.  For details see our updated review.

We have been continuing making updates throughout the site, and here are some highlights:

• Barclays has further increased the signup bonus on its Barclays AA RedAmerican Airlines Aviator Red Card.  Now at 60,000 miles (~$960 in our book), the best signup bonus we have seen on this product, and you only need to make one purchase to receive the bonus!
• Chase has brought back 60,000 points offer (~$840) for all three Southwest cards: Southwest RR Premier Visa, Southwest RR Premier Business Visa, and Southwest RR Plus Visa.  This is the highest signup bonus on these cards.  Please see our review for details and the signup links.  When you sign up two of these cards, you will receive 120,000 points which more than gets you the very lucrative Southwest Companion Pass status.  After you receive the signup bonuses, you will be upgraded to Companion Pass status for the rest of 2017 all the way to February 2019.
• We also added the "5/24 rule" language to all Chase cards that are affected.  What is Chase's infamous 5/24 rule?  Based on anecdotal reports, you won't be approved for certain Chase cards if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards; authorized users are also counted towards 5/24 by computer, but calling in and explaining it is an authorized user account may get them to remove it from 5/24 counting.  Currently, you can bypass the 5/24 rule when you are targeted (pre-approvals in branch; "selected for you" when you are logged in your account; targeted offers in the mail).
• Citi ThankYou has added Turkish Airlines, a Star Alliance member, to its transfer partners.  The transfer ratio is 1:1.  Also note that through September 6, 2017, there is a 20% bonus promotion for transferring ThankYou points to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1.2 instead of 1:1).

We have been making updates throughout the site in the past couple of weeks.  Here are some highlights:

• Citi AAdvantage Executive WEMC has been offering a signup bonus of 75,000 miles.  The card carries a $450 annual fee but provides full American Airlines Admirals Club membership for the primary cardholder and the complimentary access to the Admirals Club for each authorized user who can be added without a fee.
• Synchrony Bank has increased signup bonus of Cathay Pacific Visa from 25,000 miles to 50,000 miles.  The $95 annual fee is not waived.
• CNB Crystal Visa Infinite has a in-branch only signup bonus of 50,000 points.
• BofA Virgin Atlantic WEMC has an increased signup bonus of 75,000 miles (advertised as 90K as usual).