Citi is ending a set of grandfathered perks for people whose Barclays Aviator cards were moved to Citi, with the changes starting October 25, 2026. The Anniversary Wi-Fi credit goes away on both converted cards, and the Barclays American Airlines Companion Certificate benefit is being removed after one last chance to earn it.
The notices arrived on cardholders’ statements, according to Frequent Miler. Purchases made on or after October 25 will no longer count toward the affected benefits.
Which cards and which perks are affected
The Barclays Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard became the Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard on April 24, 2026, and the Aviator Silver became the Citi/AAdvantage Globe Mastercard, according to Upgraded Points. The same outlet reports that Aviator Blue and Aviator Business cards were not named in the notices it covered.
Platinum Select holders lose the Anniversary $25 Wi-Fi Credit. Citi’s notice, as quoted by Doctor of Credit, says the Anniversary $25 Wi-Fi Credit benefit “will end” starting October 25, 2026.
Globe holders lose more. Their list covers 2X AAdvantage miles on car rentals, 2X miles on hotels, the $25 Daily Food and Beverage Credit and the Anniversary $50 Wi-Fi Credit. Both card types lose the companion certificate benefit. Anyone holding one of these cards should first check which of the two it became, because the list of lost perks differs, and then find the card anniversary date, because that date sets the last chance at a certificate.
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What happens to companion certificates already earned
Citi says certificates already earned are safe. Per the notice, they stay in the cardholder’s American Airlines AAdvantage account and remain valid through their original expiration dates.
The notice also gives cardholders a last turn at the benefit. It says they are “still eligible to earn the benefit one more time” through the next cardmembership anniversary. After that earn, the benefit is removed from the card.
The timing of that last earn depends on the card anniversary, which is different for every account. Frequent Miler’s Stephen Pepper notes that many people opened these cards in October for a welcome offer a few years ago, so their final earn may fall right at the upcoming renewal.
The spending needed for the certificate has to be finished by that anniversary, and the notice coverage does not publish the spend threshold or the certificate’s value. Anyone who cannot find the anniversary date on a statement can ask the card issuer.
What the cards keep after October 25
Globe holders keep earning one AAdvantage base mile for every $1 spent on eligible purchases, including on car rentals and hotels, the notice says. A purchase that used to earn two miles now earns one.
One more Globe perk runs longer. The up-to-15,000 additional Loyalty Points benefit can still be earned through the AAdvantage status qualification period that ends February 28, 2027, according to Miles to Memories. After that period the benefit is removed too.
No replacement perks were announced. Inside Flyer reports that the discontinued perks come with no substitutes, and none of the outlets covering the notice list the annual fees of the two Citi cards.
Weighing whether the card is still worth keeping
The perks that disappear were attached to a fee-bearing card, so the test is what the card now returns in miles against what it costs each year. A Platinum Select holder who valued the $25 Wi-Fi credit has lost a fixed amount a year. A Globe holder loses the $50 Wi-Fi credit and the $25 daily food and beverage credit, so the loss grows with how often the card was used on travel days.
Frequent Miler writes that for some people the ongoing benefits will still make the Platinum Select worthwhile. For others, a card that now earns one mile per dollar on most spending may no longer justify a fee. The annual fee for each account is printed on the statement and the card agreement.
Closing a card is not free of side effects. It can shorten the average age of accounts and remove available credit, and a balance carried on the card remains owed after the account closes. Cardholders deciding to cancel usually clear or move the balance first.
Do the final earn first, then decide
The order that protects the most value is to finish the companion certificate earn before the next anniversary, redeem or schedule any certificates already in the AAdvantage account before their expiration dates, and only then decide about the card. Certificates already earned keep their original dates, so nothing forces a decision on October 25 itself.
The October 25 date changes what new spending earns. It does not change what the account already holds, and a certificate sitting in the AAdvantage account keeps its original expiration date.
Globe holders working toward an AAdvantage status level have until the February 28, 2027 end of the qualification period to collect the extra Loyalty Points, which gives that perk a longer runway than the others. Every other lost Globe perk stops earning on October 25, so spending planned for hotels and rental cars before that date is the last that counts toward them.
Paying down the card that just lost its perks?
A card that stops paying for itself is hardest to leave when it carries a balance. Interest keeps running while the perks that justified the fee are gone, and a rushed payoff plan can leave a due date missed on a different account.
That is the turn from the perks story to the debt itself. The Bank Account & Debt Protection Kit includes a debt inventory, call log and deadline tracker for keeping every balance, rate and due date in one place, plus the debt-validation steps for any collector contact that follows a missed payment.
Get the debt inventory and deadline tracker for sorting out a card balance →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
