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News: Barclays Stopped Issuing American Airlines Credit Cards - Credit-Land.com

The Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®* credit card is no longer accepting new applications, and the Barclays AAdvantage Aviator credit card portfolio will eventually be transitioned to Citi in 2026. This means that American Airlines will have just one U.S. bank issuing AAdvantage credit cards in 2026.

Barclays used to have several AAdvantage Aviator credit cards. However, they gradually pulled applications for their Aviator credit cards over recent years. And starting October 2025, applications for the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard, Barclays' last American Airlines credit card, have been closed.

For now, existing AAdvantage Aviator cardmembers can continue using their cards. There's no information yet on whether the Aviator cards will be transitioned to any Citi cards. However, more details should be shared with AAdvantage Aviator cardmembers in the coming months.

The fact that American Airlines had cards issued by two banks is quite rare, and it was the result of the merger between American and US Airways. American Airlines had historically partnered with Citi, while US Airways had historically partnered with Barclays. American decided to keep both banks. Now, American are fully switching to Citi as their exclusive issuer of the AAdvantage co-branded credit card portfolio in the U.S. beginning in 2026.

American Airlines co-branded credit cards from Barclays are officially no longer open to new applicants. This means there are now fewer AAdvantage cards with big sign-up bonuses to apply for. However, with Citi being an exclusive issuer, we can expect some other benefits. One benefit is already available: AAdvantage has been added as a Citi ThankYou transfer partner.

*The information for the following product(s) has been collected independently by Credit-Land.com: AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. Product details may vary. Please see issuer website for current information. Credit-Land.com does not receive commission for this product.

tags : Credit Card Issuers Airlines Travel Credit Cards

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