Is there something wrong with the Barclays AA card?

[red259]

I was looking at the Barclays AA card. It rarely gets mentioned by the bloggers and I am not sure why, unless they do not mention cards that will not pay them referrals or something. Right now the current offer seems to be 50k after your first purchase, so 50k miles juust from making a simple purchase seems pretty good. They don't waive the $95 AF but again there does not seem to be a spend requirement and you get all the same benefits as the citi AA card. It seems like a decent option if you are stocking up on AA miles and are in a bonus cooldown with citi. Other than the AF are there any other downsides to the barclay card?

[Anonymous]

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@red259 wrote:

I was looking at the Barclays AA card. It rarely gets mentioned by the bloggers and I am not sure why, unless they do not mention cards that will not pay them referrals or something. Right now the current offer seems to be 50k after your first purchase, so 50k miles juust from making a simple purchase seems pretty good. They don't waive the $95 AF but again there does not seem to be a spend requirement and you get all the same benefits as the citi AA card. It seems like a decent option if you are stocking up on AA miles and are in a bonus cooldown with citi. Other than the AF are there any other downsides to the barclay card?

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I was just approved for the CITI AA Card which is 65000 points with 4k spend in 4 months.  (If the card ever gets here).  Soon as I hit 6 months since my Barclay Arrrival + account opening I am going to get the Barclay AA card and get the 50k points.  The combined cards should net me two round trip tickets to Europe at a cost of 95 dollars.  

I am guessing the lower points combined with the 95 dollar fee keeps people going to Citi first.  Also I have read Barclay isn''t crazy about multiple cards.   If you want the American Airlines Trifecta you can the Amex SPG card that has a 35000 point sign up  Transfer them to AA and they give you a 5000 point bonus for each 20k points .  So if you spend 5k on the card and transfer you will have 50k more points.   For a total of 169k points.  Nice way to give your AA account a little head start.

[red259]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@red259 wrote:

I was looking at the Barclays AA card. It rarely gets mentioned by the bloggers and I am not sure why, unless they do not mention cards that will not pay them referrals or something. Right now the current offer seems to be 50k after your first purchase, so 50k miles juust from making a simple purchase seems pretty good. They don't waive the $95 AF but again there does not seem to be a spend requirement and you get all the same benefits as the citi AA card. It seems like a decent option if you are stocking up on AA miles and are in a bonus cooldown with citi. Other than the AF are there any other downsides to the barclay card?

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I was just approved for the CITI AA Card which is 65000 points with 4k spend in 4 months.  (If the card ever gets here).  Soon as I hit 6 months since my Barclay Arrrival + account opening I am going to get the Barclay AA card and get the 50k points.  The combined cards should net me two round trip tickets to Europe at a cost of 95 dollars.  

I am guessing the lower points combined with the 95 dollar fee keeps people going to Citi first.  Also I have read Barclay isn''t crazy about multiple cards.   If you want the American Airlines Trifecta you can the Amex SPG card that has a 35000 point sign up  Transfer them to AA and they give you a 5000 point bonus for each 20k points .  So if you spend 5k on the card and transfer you will have 50k more points.   For a total of 169k points.  Nice way to give your AA account a little head start.

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That sounds like a nice pull. I'm content with the 60k for 3k spend. Don't feel like spending the extra 1k. The amex spg card is great but I picked those cards up already. I won't send spg points to AA normally. I used some of my spg points for SPG stays and dumped the rest of them into alaska airlines, which helped top off my account giving my a first class seat on JAL for NYC to Tokyo- then on to Hanoi and a return trip first hong kong to NY first class on CX (also a premium economy seat for bangkok to hong kong). Unfortunatly its not that easy to build up alaska airline miles, but the SPG points came in handy.  60+ 50k woudl give me 110k and I already have 70k in my account, so would be sitting on around 180k

[AverageJoesCredit]

Yeah ,its Barclays

[red259]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Yeah ,its Barclays

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I don't expect much from barclays. If they give me the miles that would be enough. 

[zerofire]

The thing that is wrong is right there in the name. Barclaycard is run by Barclays who is the worlds most uptight banker. Try to get any card before them and you probably will get denied. Try to spree with them as one of the cards and you probably will get your new account limit decreased or closed, usually decreased.  They do not like to share you with anyone else if they have a say in it.

[red259]

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@zerofire wrote:

The thing that is wrong is right there in the name. Barclaycard is run by Barclays who is the worlds most uptight banker. Try to get any card before them and you probably will get denied. Try to spree with them as one of the cards and you probably will get your new account limit decreased or closed, usually decreased.  They do not like to share you with anyone else if they have a say in it.

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Ive had one of their cards for a couple of years and never had any problem even though I picked up many cards since then. 

[csryang]

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@red259 wrote:

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@zerofire wrote:

The thing that is wrong is right there in the name. Barclaycard is run by Barclays who is the worlds most uptight banker. Try to get any card before them and you probably will get denied. Try to spree with them as one of the cards and you probably will get your new account limit decreased or closed, usually decreased.  They do not like to share you with anyone else if they have a say in it.

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Ive had one of their cards for a couple of years and never had any problem even though I picked up many cards since then. 

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I just applied and approved for my 4th card with them, their AA card - it's my 3rd active card with them since I previously closed one of their cards. It's an easy 50k bonus with payment of annual fee without too high of a spend amount. I like how their cards with no foreign transaction fee and pin capacity. Also, there are ways to deal with CLD if it happens.

Never have I had an issue with CLD or AA "yet." I typically apply 3-4 cards every 6 months. I have 20+ cards total and never carried balances, maybe that helped. If you are not outright denied for the card, it's possible to move limit around if you are close to their exposure limit. It's typically hard to be approved for two of their cards within the 6 month period, so I typically space my application with them at least every 6 months.

[MASTERNC]

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@zerofire wrote:

The thing that is wrong is right there in the name. Barclaycard is run by Barclays who is the worlds most uptight banker. Try to get any card before them and you probably will get denied. Try to spree with them as one of the cards and you probably will get your new account limit decreased or closed, usually decreased.  They do not like to share you with anyone else if they have a say in it.

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Back in 2014, I got two Barclays cards in as many months (the old Sallie Mae, followed by USAirways/AA).  The second app was pulled for review but I was approved upon calling and explaining why I had opened two cards (I even offered to move credit from SM to open AA).

I've opened plenty of cards since and not a peep from Barclays (even when opening a third card from them, Apple).

[Anonymous]

I just signed up for his card yesterday. We'll see. I'm giving up my Citi AAdvantage card, because it's just not worth it any more. With the Citi card the annual fee is $400 and the only perk you get unless you're the primary card holder is the Admiral's Club. And the Admiral's Club isn't at all airports. At $400 a year, those are pretty expensive drinks! Example: my spouse is the primary card holder on the Citi card. When I traveled a few days ago, they charged me $25 to check a bag, and my "priority" boarding was group six! I'm sorry, but to me the card isn't worth the yearly fee. I'm switching to the Barclays card and I'll go to the airport bar for drinks!