Originally Posted by
flyBernoulli
Sure - unless you're spending on bonus categories on the Ink card, in which case the Ink is much better. The southwest cards aren't that great for putting spending on.
The WN card is on my list for an eventual AOR when the bonus for Premiere is 50k. I'll then keep it in the drawer for the AF which I'll swallow for the RR points.
Originally Posted by
romsdeals3
Yes, arrival card is better for non category bonus spending. The only card that compares is SPG AMEX. Would you rather have 1 SPG point or 2.2% travel cash. With SPG properties becoming more expensive, Barclays Arrival may seem like a better choice. I would argue it is better than SPG unless you hold SPG Platinum status.
If you only use it for non-category spending it's going to take a lot longer to get anything worthwhile that is redeemable. Especially if you have Ink, Freedom and CSP, you'd have almost all categories covered.
Everything I read values an UR point at $.02 (which seems very fair), so really you're only losing out on $.002 per dollar, that's not counting the 7% dividend at the end of the year or CSP which is guaranteed, if you don't redeem the Arrival points for travel, you don't get 10%. I'll happily give up that ~$.002 for having more points in a program I can redeem in more frequently for a very similar value.
That being said, this card is high on my list for my next AOR, if Barclays will let me have it.