If you’re loyal to American Airlines, then this is a great time for you! Here are three outstanding welcome offers that allow you to book AA flights in three different ways.

Barclays Aviator Red

What’s unusual about this card is the minimum spend requirement: there is none. While most credit cards require you to spend X number of dollars in Y number of months, the only requirement here is that you make one purchase and pay the $99 annual fee. You could buy a pack of gum and then put this card in your sock drawer, never to be swiped again.

Right now, you can earn 50,000 American Airlines miles as a welcome offer for this card. Rumor has it that this card will be discontinued at the end of September, so don’t delay. Using these miles is fairly straightforward; as these are AA miles, the easiest and most logical way to use them is on AA flights. (Although you can get great value using them to book partner flights, like JAL to Japan!)

Atmos Rewards Ascent

The artist formerly known as the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card, this brand-new card offers an outstanding welcome bonus of 80,000 Atmos bonus points (aka, Alaska miles) after $4,000 in spend with a $95 annual fee. This is an outstanding value and a refreshing change given all the other fee hikes we’ve seen in 2025. There’s also a business version of this card, which is helpful for those of us without a 5/24 slot to spare.

Alaska miles (now Atmos points) can be an excellent way to book American Airlines flights; I’ve booked domestic short-haul AA flights for as little as 4,500 points in economy and 9,000 points in business. You can find business class flights to Europe from the east coast for as little as 45,000 points.

As an added bonus, you can actually generate a referral for this card even if you don’t hold it–you just have to have an Alaska frequent flyer number. You’ll earn 10,000 points for each person you refer. Use this link, with an interface straight out of 1997, to do it. (h/t to Frequent Miler for this find!)

Barclays Hawaiian Airlines 

In spite of the merger with Alaska Airlines, the Barclays Hawaiian cards appear to be here to stay. Right now you can earn a mouth-watering 80,000 HawaiianMiles after spending just $2,500 with a $99 annual fee. These miles will become Atmos bonus points when the Alaska-Hawaiian merger is completed on September 30th.

Which means–you will also be able to use these miles to book AA partner flights through Alaska. Although it’s no longer possible to transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Hawaiian, it’s nice to know we’ll still have these cards as a way to keep earning these valuable miles.

Final Thoughts

These fantastic welcome offers, along with the news that Citi has added American as a transfer partner, mean that it’s easier than ever to fly American on points. Note that all three of these cards are personal cards, so they will count toward your Chase 5/24 status. Two members of my family have already signed up for the Aviator Red card. Which of these cards will you be opening? Let me know in the comments!