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Barclays Arrival Plus, now 70K w/$5k spend

Old May 14, 2014, 1:15 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: rrgg
This thread is a continuation of the discussion posted here from 12.08.2012 - 5.13.2014: Barclays Arrival/Arrival Cards (1.05%/2.1% travel credits)

Current offer for Arrival Plus is 70K pts w/$5K spend & AF waived 1st year.


Barclays says that you earn miles but youre actually earning cash back with the card since you cant transfer your Barclays miles to airlines. But you can redeem them for statement credits at 0.5 cents per mile (poor value) or 1.05 cent per mile if you redeem for travel.

You get 5% of your miles back if you redeem for travel, so 40,000 miles gets you $400 towards travel and 2,000 miles back (5% of your miles back). You must have at least 10K 'miles' in your acct if you wish to redeem as a travel credit. 2500 'miles' can be redeemed for a stmt credit though.

If you want, you can redeem miles to cover a portion of a travel charge instead of the full amount. For example, if you have 80k miles and a $740 airline charge, you can choose to redeem just 70k to cover $700 of the charge.

You earn 2X miles on all purchases, so youre effectively getting 2% cash back for each purchase. But since you get 5% of your miles back when you redeem for travel, this is effectively a 2.1% cash back card when miles are redeemed for travel.

This makes the Barclaycard Arrival PlusTM World Elite MasterCard (with 2.1% cash back for travel) better than the Capital One Venture card which offers only 2 miles per $1 or 2% cash back, only if you spend $30k+ per year after first year, because Arrival Plus AF is $30 more than Venture.

If you receive a call from 302-255-8000 after applying for this or any other Barclay's card, it is a legit number! You can also call them back directly at 866-951-1437.




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Let's crowd source things that have counted towards travel redemptions that are not so obvious

="3"%Successful
Don't forget travel purchase needs to be > $100 charge for 10K mile redemption
  • 9/11 Museum and Memorial - NYC
  • Accuracy Limo (via Square, Salt Lake City, UT limo service)
  • ACE Adventures (West Virginia White Water Rafting), had to call in to get it processed manually
  • agoda.com
  • AirAsia Flights (airasia.com)
  • airbnb bookings
  • airbnb GC purchased on United MPX site
  • Alaska Airlines checked baggage fee $25 charge
  • Amazing Bike Tours Thailand
  • AA Gift Card
  • American Airlines telephone booking (including booking fee)
  • Amtrak train ticket >$25 (ALB-NYP)
  • Amtrak train ticket >$25 (unknown destinations)
  • Arrival+ Annual Fee
  • Argosy Cruises (SEA, classified as RECREATION)
  • Autoeurope.com
  • BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) San Francisco
  • Balloons over Bagan
  • Bieber bus tickets
  • Boston MBTA Charlie Card reload & Commuter Rail passes & tickets
  • Burj Khalifa observation decks
  • Buying Lifemiles from Avianca
  • Capitaine Train Tickets (capitaine.com)
  • Carmel Limo (NYC car service)
  • carrentals.com
  • cheaptickets.com hotel
  • Chinese Visa Application Fees (had to call in. Credit showed up in account in 2 business days. See Post 912 and 921 for details)
  • City Taxi (Tampa)
  • CostcoTravel
  • Cotai Waterjet (Hong Kong)
  • CT Limo
  • Daily Getaways purchase of HHonors points
  • DB Bahn Trains Germany (bahn.de)
  • Disneyland Hong Kong (Manual redemption required)
  • DriveNow - all locations in EU/US
  • Dublin Bus Tours Hop on, Hop off (Green)
  • Eiffel Tower (manual redemption by phone allowed)
  • Empire State Building tickets
  • Enterprise rent-a-car, paid at the counter when returning the car (used Chase United Visa initially for primary coverage, but asked to pay with a different card when returning the car)
  • Eurostar Train Tickets (eurostar.com)
  • Europcar.com
  • Expedia.com
  • Hertz Rent-a-Car (booked on hertz.com)
  • Hong Kong Airport Express Pass
  • Hotel bookings through Rocketmiles (even refundable bookings or those tied to other promotions)
  • Hotels.com
  • Hotwire
  • ItaliaRail (online booking agency for TrenItalia)
  • LA Swamp Tours, Steamboat cruise, Haunted History Tours (New Orleans)
  • Lahaina-Maui Ferry Tickets - booked online at www.go-lanai.com
  • Las Vegas Show Booked through hotel
    Las Vegas show tickets booked online (Mandalay Bay Box office)
  • Limo Charges - Two limo charges that I made in March PRIOR the the recent changes to what qualifies as "Travel" showed up as eligible travel charges. I guess with the changes to what's covered, and for how long, these got pulled back in.
  • Lyft
  • M-Life advance reservation deposit
  • Montway Auto Transport (deposit)
  • New York City MTA Subway Cards
  • New York Waterways Ferry (between NJ and NYC)
  • Ngong Ping 360 (Hong Kong)
  • Norwegian Cruise Line purchase made from telephone order from vacationstogo.com
  • Norwegian Cruise Line (deposits and payments)
  • NS Hispeed Train Tickets (nshispeed.com)
  • NYC Taxi
  • Orbitz.com purchase
  • ORCA card for Seattle area tolls (considered the very typical GOVERNMENT SERVICES NOT ELSEWHERE CLASSIFIED)
  • Paris RATP Metro/VATP (buy 10-ticket pack for >$25 and save cost)
  • PeruRail (Machu Picchu train)
  • PMRF Beach Cottages (Kauai)
  • Priceline
  • Primetime Shuttle (Worked from LAX-SNA)
  • rail europe on Travelocity
  • rail JR Rail in Japan, load as tourist attraction, call in to get it credit (Post#938)
  • Safari Helicopter Tour (Kauai)
  • Sandals.com resort booking (unique vacations) was not redeemable last year. Is redeemable online now
  • SEASTREAK LLC - NYC (Commuter Ferri)
  • Singapore Cable Car
  • Southwest $100 gift card
  • Southwest Early Bird Check-in (billed separately from airfare charges)
  • Spirit of NY Dinner Cruises - www.spiritcruises.com, which have cruises in several other cities as well.
  • Starwood Vacation Ownership (SPG Timeshare) Westin Princeville Kauai (coded as Timeshare).
  • St Pauls Cathedral (manual redemption by phone allowed)
  • Super Shuttle (mixed, worked in SF when (billed SUPERSHUTTLE EXECUCARS), worked in Boston (SUPERSHUTTLE BOSTON), failed in LA (SUPERSHUTTLE), Worked in Cancun.
  • Taxi in Zrich
  • Top of the Rock tickets - NYC
  • Trenitalia Online
  • Trimet (Portland OR public transportation)
  • Trip Advisor Rental
  • TurboJET (Hong Kong)
  • Uber
  • Uber GC through MPX $100 (re-confirmed 11/1/2018, using Arrival Premier)
  • United Baggage Fee
  • Universal Studio Orlando tickets (had to call in)
  • Viator (sightseeing/tours)
  • Victoria Clipper (passenger ferry)
  • Wedding at the Stratosphere's Chapel in the Clouds (billed as stratosphere)
  • Windsor Castle (manual redemption by phone allowed)
  • Wine purchases from different wine tasting rooms
  • WMATA (Washington DC Metro) - [[COLOR="Red"]reconfirmed 10/5/15]
  • Zipcar

    ="3"%Unsuccessful (please mention the amount redeemed - important as anything under $25 $100 cannot be reimbursed)
    Partial redemptions are possible - however you cannot redeem against that charge again. So if you have a $500 charge and you spend 40K points against it, you cannot redeem 10K points for the remaining $100 of that charge.
  • www.b-europe.com (SNCB rail)
  • Amtrak (possibly due <$25 charge)
  • Blue Water Rafting. Merchant category "Recreation Services -- Not elsewhere classified"
  • Brazil airline GOL booked online codes as DIRECT MARKETING/DIRECT MARKETERS--NOT ELESWH ..
  • Broadmoor Hotel Food and Beverage (Colorado Spring, CO)
  • budgetair.co.uk (charged >$200)
  • Car2go
  • De Palm Tours, Aruba (classified as Recreation. Called Barclay twice.)
  • Description: ZERVE *CA WHALES Merchant Category: THEATRICAL PRODUCERS (EXCEPT MOTION PICTURES), TICKET AGENCIES...Tickets to whale watching tour purchased over the phone.
  • Evan Evans Sightseeing tours (UK based)- http://www.evanevanstours.co.uk
  • Fastrak tag autoload for San Francisco bridge tolls ($25)
  • Global Entry
  • Gotobus.com Long Distance Buses, ~$100
  • Homeaway.com, posts as real estate. Barclays said they'd make a one-time exception but future purchases won't count as travel.
  • Hostelbookers.com deposit (maybe the charge which is >$25 will count?)
  • Hotels.com Gift Card
  • IHG points and cash hotel redemption
  • Malaysian Overnight Train KUL-SIN (ktmb.com.my)
  • Monterey Aquarium
  • Parking at DCA - $136 (7/9/19)
  • Parking at HSV ($96 in parking at Huntsville International Airport)
  • Parking at IAH (Houston Intercontinental - on airport) -$76 (PARKING LOTS AND GARAGES)
  • Parking at LAS
  • Parking at LGA $204
  • Parking at Port Imperial, Weehawken, NJ
  • Parking at SNA (John Wayne Airport)
  • San Francisco Clipper Card public transit (autoload from website)
  • Skyjump at Stratosphere Hotel LV $150 (01/14) - not charged by hotel.
  • Space Needle and Chihuly Garden Tickets
  • Starwood points purchase (BUSINESS SERVICES NOT ELSEWHERE CLASSIFIED)
  • Taxi Magic /Curb- Taxi service
  • Thello train (France-Italy night train, codes as rail-freight)
  • Trenitalia (both online and in stations, posts as rail-freight)
  • UBER eGift Card (bought through the UBER app) for $100 - Not coded as "travel," so couldn't redeem online and they wouldn't do it over the phone, either.



Airlines that post purchases of multiple tickets as one amount or split them:

One Amount
BA (USD based award ticket)

Multiple Transactions
UA (award)
DL (award)

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Barclays Arrival Plus, now 70K w/$5k spend

Old Jul 22, 2014, 6:55 am
  #811  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 286
Does anyone know if I can shift credit lines around with Barclays? Or if I close a card can I shift that credit line to my Arrivial+?
daw4888 is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2014, 11:04 am
  #812  
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
So has anyone been able to use this card on kiosks which only take Chip and PIN?

Like Italian autostrada booths or unattended gas stations in Europe?
wco81 is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2014, 11:15 am
  #813  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 3,945
Originally Posted by dukerau
It only runs as Chip+PIN when needed, such as an unattended train ticketing machine. I'm not sure why it doesn't just use Chip+PIN all the time, but it doesn't.
That's strange. I thought the point of chip and pin is to avoid signature transactions. I guess I was wrong.
TAHKUCT is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2014, 11:18 am
  #814  
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,762
Originally Posted by dukerau
It only runs as Chip+PIN when needed, such as an unattended train ticketing machine. I'm not sure why it doesn't just use Chip+PIN all the time, but it doesn't.
Go to the thread on emv cards available in the US today and wade through the 380 pages and you'll see why. The USA networks have apparently made the decision that the USA is going to be chip and signature preferred and chip and signature is number 1 on the cvm's of almost every American issued credit card today. (UNFCU seems to be the only exception). That means if you use a pos terminal that accepts chip and signature, it never gets to #2 priority which I think on the Barclay USA card is on line pin. The card would probably work, although I haven't seen any reports pro or con, in unpersonneled kiosks. Just be aware, you cannot tell the card to ignore priority 1. There are merchants out there, right now not all that many but they exist who when they get a chip and signature card where a sale is approved by the pos say No way Jose or something to that effect, void the transaction and say only cards with pins under the mistaken impression their liability increases if a pin isn't used. This is the direction Barclay and every other USA card with an emv chip has chosen to go.
JEFFJAGUAR is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2014, 11:27 am
  #815  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CLT
Programs: AA, UA, BA, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,074
Originally Posted by JEFFJAGUAR
Go to the thread on emv cards available in the US today and wade through the 380 pages and you'll see why. The USA networks have apparently made the decision that the USA is going to be chip and signature preferred and chip and signature is number 1 on the cvm's of almost every American issued credit card today. (UNFCU seems to be the only exception). That means if you use a pos terminal that accepts chip and signature, it never gets to #2 priority which I think on the Barclay USA card is on line pin. The card would probably work, although I haven't seen any reports pro or con, in unpersonneled kiosks. Just be aware, you cannot tell the card to ignore priority 1. There are merchants out there, right now not all that many but they exist who when they get a chip and signature card where a sale is approved by the pos say No way Jose or something to that effect, void the transaction and say only cards with pins under the mistaken impression their liability increases if a pin isn't used. This is the direction Barclay and every other USA card with an emv chip has chosen to go.
Originally Posted by wco81
So has anyone been able to use this card on kiosks which only take Chip and PIN?

Like Italian autostrada booths or unattended gas stations in Europe?
Oh, I can give a confirmation that it works in unattended terminals. I used it several times recently at metro/train ticket sales machines in Spain, the UK, and Germany. Barclays does say that you have to use the card once internationally at an attended terminal before it works as Chip+PIN, but I don't think I did (I had used it at an attended terminal as Chip+Sig domestically and set PIN online).
dukerau is offline  
Old Jul 22, 2014, 11:43 am
  #816  
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Hmm, just got an application under review.

So are they typically rejecting if you're signing up for too many cards for the promos?
wco81 is offline  
Old Jul 23, 2014, 10:00 am
  #817  
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Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 817
Originally Posted by wco81
Hmm, just got an application under review.

So are they typically rejecting if you're signing up for too many cards for the promos?
I applied and ended up getting the Arrival (not the arrival+) a few months ago with ~770 credit score, but I had 7 inquiries on my record. I cancelled it when they wouldn't budge and plan to apply once the inquiries from my last flurry or sign ups drop off my credit report.
greggarious is offline  
Old Jul 23, 2014, 11:51 am
  #818  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 166
If you get approved for the no AF Arrival and keep it for the bonus, can you cancel and then re-apply for the Arrival+ at a later date and get that bonus?
adschnei is offline  
Old Jul 23, 2014, 8:03 pm
  #819  
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Location: ORD
Programs: AA, UA, AS, DL, BA, F9, IHG Plat, HH Gold, CC Gold, SPG Gold, MR Silver
Posts: 1,786
Originally Posted by wco81
Hmm, just got an application under review.

So are they typically rejecting if you're signing up for too many cards for the promos?
this is Barclays
skibum7732 is offline  
Old Jul 23, 2014, 10:07 pm
  #820  
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Meaning?
wco81 is offline  
Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:57 am
  #821  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3
Just got back from a long vacation around Europe using only my arrival+ card.

Transactions that showed up redeemable:
-All Trains/Underground/Metros in London, Paris, Germany, Switzerland, Italy
-Ticket to summit of Mt. Titlis in Switzerland (shows as 'ENGELBERG ZB'), purchased at ticket office in Engelberg

Transactions that were not redeemable automatically:
-St Pauls Cathedral
-Eiffel Tower
-Windsor Castle

Calling up Barclay they seemed to have no problem manually using points for those 3 purchases.

Other than those 3 transactions, I had zero problems using the card through Europe. Chip+PIN worked as expected when needed
tranqfx is offline  
Old Jul 24, 2014, 2:55 pm
  #822  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 116
Originally Posted by daw4888
Does anyone know if I can shift credit lines around with Barclays? Or if I close a card can I shift that credit line to my Arrivial+?
I just called yesterday and moved a total of 15k credit line from my NFL Extra Points and USAir cards to my Arrival. Did a SOFT credit pull so nothing to worry about there.
michael160 is offline  
Old Jul 24, 2014, 5:58 pm
  #823  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 427
I applied for Arrival+ and was instantly approved for World Elite.

My wife applied for Barclays Sallie Mae MasterCard and was instantly declined (waiting on the letter for the reasoning).
bigugly is offline  
Old Jul 24, 2014, 9:52 pm
  #824  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Midwest
Programs: Southwest CP, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 69
Maybe a silly question...

If I charge a rental car to my card and pay it off with cash can I get the charge reimbursed with points later on (within the 120 day timeframe, of course)?
WhoGoesThere is offline  
Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:27 pm
  #825  
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Programs: AA, UA, AS, DL, BA, F9, IHG Plat, HH Gold, CC Gold, SPG Gold, MR Silver
Posts: 1,786
Originally Posted by WhoGoesThere
Maybe a silly question...

If I charge a rental car to my card and pay it off with cash can I get the charge reimbursed with points later on (within the 120 day timeframe, of course)?
if you are paying cash, then there will not be a charge on your cc....so no
skibum7732 is offline  

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