American Airways saying goodbye to Barclay: Citi to be unique card accomplice

American Airways has confirmed that as a part of its newly unique cope with Citi, functions for the AAdvantage® Aviator® Purple World Elite Mastercard® have been eliminated and the Barclays Aviator portfolio will finally be transitioned to Citi in 2026.
“We’re proud to construct on our 38-year card partnership with Citi by naming them as our unique issuer for our AAdvantage® cobranded bank card portfolio within the U.S. starting in 2026,” a spokesperson for American Airways informed TPG in a written assertion.
The airline will totally transition the American Airways bank card program to Citi in 2026 and is now not accepting functions for brand new Barclays AAdvantage Aviator playing cards.
The data for the AAdvantage Aviator Purple World Elite Mastercard has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
Barclays used to have a number of playing cards beneath its AAdvantage Aviator portfolio. Nonetheless, just one was not too long ago accessible to new candidates: the AAdvantage Aviator Purple. That’s no extra.
We do not but know what playing cards within the Citi portfolio the varied Aviator playing cards will transition to, however we’re informed that extra particulars on the transition to Citi can be shared with AAdvantage Aviator cardmembers within the coming months.
Backside line
The Aviator card portfolio is now not accessible for brand new functions and can be transitioned to Citi subsequent 12 months as American Airways phases out its relationship with Barclays.
I am feeling a bit bittersweet concerning the information.
This portfolio of playing cards has been key to my elite standing technique with American Airways and its Loyalty Factors system throughout the American Airways AAdvantage program. I’ve lengthy held the no-longer-available AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Silver Mastercard®.
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It has a favourite function: a shortcut to standing. You possibly can earn as much as 15,000 Loyalty Factors after qualifying spending every standing qualification interval. You get 5,000 Loyalty Factors for spending $20,000 on the cardboard, one other 5,000 Loyalty Factors for spending $40,000 and yet one more 5,000 Loyalty Factors when you hit $50,000 in spending annually on the cardboard.
That can assist me earn top-tier AAdvantage Government Platinum standing this 12 months however it might now not be an possibility starting in 2026. I can be desperate to study if there are different methods to get shortcuts because the portfolio strikes to Citi.
The data for the AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Silver Mastercard has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
For a have a look at among the present greatest presents for Citi’s giant portfolio of American Airways bank cards, take a look at this story.
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