May 14, 2014, 1:15 pm
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 you’re actually earning cash back with the card since you can’t 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 you’re 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
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)
Current offer for Arrival Plus is 70K pts w/$5K spend & AF waived 1st year.
Barclays says that you earn “miles” but you’re actually earning cash back with the card since you can’t 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 you’re 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.
Very Old Wiki Info ---
Regarding official company representatives
Note that there is an official procedure for company representatives to register themselves with the FlyerTalk Community Director and verify their credentials. When that process is completed, the username will turn green in posts, rather than the standard blue.
Anyone who does not appear in green has not followed this procedure. Those posts should be considered the same as any other user's posts. It is important to remember that the moderation team does not generally monitor the veracity of any posts; it is up to you to judge a poster's content and history yourself.
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 Zürich
- 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)
Barclays Arrival Plus, now 70K w/$5k spend
Jul 31, 2014, 12:03 pm
#857
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 131
Southwest gift card?
Do you think buying a southwest gift card from southwest.com would work to cash out remaining points?
Jul 31, 2014, 1:35 pm
#858
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: BOS
Programs: Chase Ultimate Rewards
Posts: 624
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyer12345
I am planning upcoming trip on American Airlines.
I have the Barclaycard Arrival, give 2.2% back and my AA MasterCard
I plan on spending $1000 for the ticket. AA is telling me I will only get their benefits if I use the AA mastercard to make my purchase?
•Your first checked bag is free for you and up to 4 traveling companions†
• Group 1 Boarding3
The 2 benefits below I don't care about
•25% savings on eligible in-flight purchases4
•Double AAdvantage® miles on eligible American Airlines purchases7
So if I use the Barclayarrival card for the purchase, will I really lose the free checked bag and priority 1 boarding???
No.
Originally Posted by flyer12345
I am planning upcoming trip on American Airlines.
I have the Barclaycard Arrival, give 2.2% back and my AA MasterCard
I plan on spending $1000 for the ticket. AA is telling me I will only get their benefits if I use the AA mastercard to make my purchase?
•Your first checked bag is free for you and up to 4 traveling companions†
• Group 1 Boarding3
The 2 benefits below I don't care about
•25% savings on eligible in-flight purchases4
•Double AAdvantage® miles on eligible American Airlines purchases7
So if I use the Barclayarrival card for the purchase, will I really lose the free checked bag and priority 1 boarding???
No.
Aug 2, 2014, 9:28 am
#860
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 3,677
Pin Funtion is Useless in Europe
Just got back from a month in Europe. I had been excited to have the chip and PIN Barclays card. It was basically useless. It is too thick to fit in the ticket kiosks. I watched locals put in their cards, enter the pin, and get their tickets. I'd try the same thing, and the card simply would not fit in the cc slot. My ATM card, with it's pin, worked fine, as it was the proper thickness. But I wanted to use my cc, since the ATM card doesn't give me any miles/points. My Barclays pin was useless. 
Whenever there was a manned payment station, it would default to signature anyway. Was never able to use the pin function at all. And ended up paying cash at any unmanned kiosk.
Whenever there was a manned payment station, it would default to signature anyway. Was never able to use the pin function at all. And ended up paying cash at any unmanned kiosk.
Aug 2, 2014, 10:04 am
#861
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 3,945
Just got back from a month in Europe. I had been excited to have the chip and PIN Barclays card. It was basically useless. It is too thick to fit in the ticket kiosks. I watched locals put in their cards, enter the pin, and get their tickets. I'd try the same thing, and the card simply would not fit in the cc slot. My ATM card, with it's pin, worked fine, as it was the proper thickness. But I wanted to use my cc, since the ATM card doesn't give me any miles/points. My Barclays pin was useless.
Whenever there was a manned payment station, it would default to signature anyway. Was never able to use the pin function at all. And ended up paying cash at any unmanned kiosk.
Whenever there was a manned payment station, it would default to signature anyway. Was never able to use the pin function at all. And ended up paying cash at any unmanned kiosk.
Aug 2, 2014, 10:42 am
#862
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
It's thicker than regular cards?
Barclays is a UK bank and they issue a card that can't be used in Europe?
Barclays is a UK bank and they issue a card that can't be used in Europe?
Aug 2, 2014, 11:21 am
#864
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
It is also thicker than Citi Premium (chip), much thicker than Chase Freedom, FIA 2x, BofA 123 (I have the 0 forex version chip card) and about the same as AMEX SPG.
Chase CSP and Marriott of course are the thickest with the metal layer in the middle.
Aug 2, 2014, 11:25 am
#865
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
I've used my CSP in Europe, at least didn't have problems with attended POS terminals.
It goes in the slot but of course generates a receipt to be signed.
Not sure if I ever tried buying tickets from kiosks with it. I have with some of my cards, I think I entered 0000.
It goes in the slot but of course generates a receipt to be signed.
Not sure if I ever tried buying tickets from kiosks with it. I have with some of my cards, I think I entered 0000.
Aug 2, 2014, 11:28 am
#866
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
The Citi Premium worked in 2013 when we used the CA PIN at Trenitalia kiosk when prompted. This year the kiosk REJECTED the card promptly after it was insert, without ever brought up the PIN entry screen. Got "Transaction Negata" receipt on that.
Aug 2, 2014, 11:31 am
#867
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
At AMS, none of my EMV cards would work for buying train tickets to Centraal Station at the kiosks.
But once at Centraal Station, I was able to buy a 3-day transport pass at the kiosks there with the same cards.
But once at Centraal Station, I was able to buy a 3-day transport pass at the kiosks there with the same cards.
Aug 2, 2014, 11:47 am
#868
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
Did you use the 0000 trick?
We just went to the tourist office across the square and paid their CC surcharge.
Aug 2, 2014, 11:54 am
#869
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Signature. IIRC I was never offered the chance to enter a PIN. It aborted before then.
Had to go find change.
When I bought the multi-day pass at Centraal Station, I didn't have to sign. It was less than 20€ but so was the train ticket from AMS.
Had to go find change.
When I bought the multi-day pass at Centraal Station, I didn't have to sign. It was less than 20€ but so was the train ticket from AMS.
Aug 2, 2014, 12:04 pm
#870
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: RDU
Posts: 812
I had no problem using my Arrival+ chip+pin in ticket kiosks in Italy and Switzerland, which are indeed part of Europe.