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AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®
Intro offer
80,000 bonus Miles and a $95 statement credit after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening
Rewards
Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent at eligible office supply, telecom and car rental merchants. Earn 1X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on all other purchases.
AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®
Intro offer
80,000 bonus miles and a $95 statement credit after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening
Rewards
Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent at eligible office supply, telecom and car rental merchants. Earn 1X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on all other purchases.
This card is a great choice for small-business owners who fly American Airlines and can take advantage of benefits like a free checked bag and preferred boarding on AA flights. It’s also ideal for big spenders because you’ll earn a valuable Companion Certificate after spending $30,000 or more in a year.
Card Details
Rewards
Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent at eligible office supply, telecom and car rental merchants. Earn 1X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on all other purchases.
Intro offer
80,000 bonus miles and a $95 statement credit after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening
Recommended Credit
Excellent
Regular APR
18.99% or 27.99% based on your creditworthiness
Pros & Cons
Highlights
The AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®
is one of the most rewarding American Airlines credit cards for small-business owners thanks to its large welcome bonus offer, 5% bonus on all miles earned annually, and the potential to earn a companion certificate each year.
Review: Is the AAdvantage Aviator Business Card the best credit card for you?
There is an overwhelming number of co-branded American Airlines credit cards — nine, to be exact — all with slightly different bonus categories, ongoing benefits, annual fees, and sign-up bonuses.
One of the most well-rounded of these cards is the AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®. It offers the standard American Airlines perks, such as:
- First checked bag free on American Airlines domestic itineraries
- Preferred boarding on American Airlines flights
- 25% discount on inflight food and beverage
But it’s also got some more unique benefits, such as a 5% annual bonus on all the points you’ve accrued via spending and a domestic companion certificate after meeting yearly spending requirements. It’s also got a whopper of a welcome bonus offer right now: 80,000 bonus miles and a $95 statement credit after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening.
Even if you never fly American Airlines, you can still book award flights on American’s partner airlines such as Qatar Airways, Etihad, and Alaska Airlines to reach just about anywhere.
Who should consider the AAdvantage Aviator Business card?
Frequent American Airlines flyers can get a lot of benefits and potentially save money with the AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®, particularly if they check bags. Big spenders can also get significant value if they earn the companion certificate by spending $30,000 or more in a year.
This card is also worth considering if you want to earn American Airlines miles on your everyday spending, or are working toward earning AAdvantage elite status, which is now based on Loyalty Points. You’ll earn 1 Loyalty Point for every dollar you spend on the card, so it can be a great help if you need a boost toward the next status tier.
Who shouldn’t consider the AAdvantage Aviator Business card?
This is a small-business card, so you must have a business to qualify. This doesn’t mean you need a multi-million dollar enterprise — things like babysitting, tutoring, freelance writing, and DoorDash delivery can qualify you for a small-business credit card.
If you’re not a small-business owner but want to earn American Airlines miles, check out personal AA cards like the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® or AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard®
, which have similar annual fees and benefits.
If you don’t think you’ll fly American Airlines with enough regularity to warrant paying this card’s $95 annual fee, you should consider a card that earns flexible points, instead. Cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, American Express® Gold Card
, and Citi Premier® Card all accrue points that you can use to simply “purchase” airfare at a fixed rate through each card issuer’s proprietary travel portals — or, you can transfer them to dozens of different airlines if you decide to book award flights.
Insider’s Featured Small Business Credit Cards
Earn 3% cash back on eligible purchases at gas stations and EV charging stations, office supply stores, cell phone service providers and restaurants. 1% cash back on all other eligible net purchases. Earn 5% cash back on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Travel Rewards Center.
$500 cash back after spending $4,500 on purchases on the account holder’s card in the first 150 days of opening your account
Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year. Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.
$750 bonus cash back after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business.
$750 bonus cash back after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
How to earn miles from the AA Aviator Business Card
The AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® offers significantly more opportunities to earn bonus miles than its personal card counterpart, the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard®. You’ll earn:
- 2 miles per dollar on eligible American Airlines purchases (made directly through American Airlines channels, including aa.com, American Airlines reservations, American Airlines Vacations reservations, Airpass, Google Flights, and American Airlines airport and city ticket counters)
- 2 miles per dollar on eligible office supply, telecom, and car rental merchants
- 1 mile per dollar on all other eligible purchases
Depending on the nature of your business, this could be a nice way to rack up American Airlines miles quickly.
How to use American Airlines miles
American Airlines doesn’t use an award chart to price its flights. Instead, it uses “dynamic pricing,” a mysterious formula based on travel season, flight times, cash price, and other factors.
Dynamic pricing essentially means American Airlines can charge you whatever they want whenever they want. A route may cost 6,000 miles one day and 21,000 miles the next day. In short, if you’re flexible with your travel, you can book some incredible deals with American Airlines miles. If your travel dates and destinations are more rigid, you may end up paying a small fortune for your airfare.
Read Insider’s guide to earning and redeeming American Airlines miles to find out the best ways to maximize the AAdvantage program.
And remember — even if you never fly AA, American Airlines miles can be extremely useful for achieving your travel goals. American Airlines is partnered with airlines such as:
- Air Tahiti Nui
- Alaska Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Etihad
- Finnair
- Iberia
- Japan Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Air Maroc
- Royal Jordanian Airlines
- S7 Airlines (temporarily suspended)
- SriLankan Airlines
You can use American Airlines to fly on any of these airlines. So even if you’d like to go somewhere that American Airlines doesn’t serve (such as French Polynesia, The Maldives, Morocco, etc.), a stash of AA miles can still get you there.
You can also redeem American Airlines miles for things like hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, seat upgrades, Admirals Club airport lounge memberships, gift cards, merchandise, and more — but these offer an infamously poor value per point.
American Airlines miles are worth, on average, 1.4 cents apiece based on Insider’s latest points and miles valuations, but the exact value you’ll get will depend on how and when you redeem your rewards.
AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard benefits and features
Free checked bag
As the primary cardholder of the AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®, you and up to four companions on your reservation can receive a free first checked bag on American Airlines domestic itineraries (US mainland, Hawaii, Canada, US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico). American Airlines charges $30 for the first checked bag, so you could easily offset the card’s $95 annual fee by checking bags with a travel buddy for just a single round-trip flight each year.
Preferred boarding
Cardholders will also receive preferred boarding on American Airlines flights — as will up to four companions on the same reservation. Preferred boarding is Group 5 (out of 9) meaning you’re guaranteed plenty of overhead bin space.
25% savings on inflight American Airlines purchases
You’ll save 25% on American Airlines inflight food and drink when you use this card. If you don’t often pay for food in the sky, this benefit won’t move the needle much. Other purchases, such as Wi-Fi, aren’t discounted.
The savings come in the form of a statement credit toward eligible inflight purchases made with the card. It should appear on your card statement within four weeks of the purchase.
Domestic companion certificate
By spending at least $30,000 in a calendar year, you’ll qualify for a companion certificate to anywhere in the lower 48 US states. It allows a companion to fly with you on a round-trip coach fare for a flat fee of $99, plus taxes (no more than $43.20). One small quirk is that your account must remain open for 45 days after your card member anniversary to receive this certificate.
Once the certificate is deposited into your account, you’ll have one year to use it. Also note that you can’t use this perk for flights on an American Airlines partner, like Alaska Airlines. If you live in Alaska or Hawaii, you can use this certificate for travel to the continental US.
Annual 5% miles bonus
After you renew your AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® (and keep it open for 45 days), you’ll receive a 5% bonus on all the miles you’ve earned during your cardmember year. You will not earn a 5% bonus for the welcome offer, however.
AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®
Intro offer
80,000 bonus miles and a $95 statement credit after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening
Rewards
Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent at eligible office supply, telecom and car rental merchants. Earn 1X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on all other purchases.
AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®
Intro offer
80,000 bonus miles and a $95 statement credit after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening
Rewards
Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent at eligible office supply, telecom and car rental merchants. Earn 1X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on all other purchases.
This card is a great choice for small-business owners who fly American Airlines and can take advantage of benefits like a free checked bag and preferred boarding on AA flights. It’s also ideal for big spenders because you’ll earn a valuable Companion Certificate after spending $30,000 or more in a year.
Card Details
Rewards
Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Earn 2X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent at eligible office supply, telecom and car rental merchants. Earn 1X AAdvantage® miles for every one dollar spent on all other purchases.
Intro offer
80,000 bonus miles and a $95 statement credit after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening
Recommended Credit
Excellent
Regular APR
18.99% or 27.99% based on your creditworthiness
Pros & Cons
Highlights
Aviator Business card fees and costs
The AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® comes with a $95 annual fee. And like other credit cards, it will charge for cash advances, returned and late payments, and balance transfers.
The card waives foreign transaction fees, so it’s a good companion when spending overseas.
Comparison: AAdvantage Aviator Business Card vs other American Airlines credit cards
AAdvantage Aviator Business Card vs other small-business airline credit cards
*When you use your card to pay for your ticket, or the taxes and fees on an award ticket
***$100 United credit after making seven or more United flight purchases of $100 or more each card anniversary year
****Up to 1,000 PQP in a calendar year
AAdvantage Aviator Business Card frequently asked questions (FAQ)
The AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® is a small-business credit card. That means you qualify only if you have a business. Examples of this can be an Etsy shop, reselling items on eBay, petsitting, freelance writing, or Uber/DoorDash driving. All of these activities can be considered a small business.
The card offers much more value than its $95 annual fee — but only for those who fly American Airlines at least a couple of times per year.
Remember, if you check a bag regularly, you’ll save $60 per round trip. If you and a friend each check a bag during a single vacation, you’ll save $120, completely negating the annual fee. And if you can manage to spend $30,000 in a calendar year, you’ll receive a companion certificate that can save you and a travel buddy many hundreds of dollars.
No. The card usually offers a generous bonus, but the current offer is notably high. Based on Insider’s valuations, it’s worth $1,120 in flights.
You can check the status of your Barclays credit card applications by clicking here and entering details such as your last name, the last four digits of your Social Security Number, your mother’s maiden name, and your email address.
