Interesting, given that several people on the cc thread have reported already receiving and activating new Barclays cards. They'll be really happy when they show up at the airport and find out their benefits haven't yet begun. Also makes me wonder what HA is planning to roll out to those of us who have had cards for years. Will be another real loyalty-enhancer if old customers don't get comparable benefits to new customers, especially when they seem to be working pretty hard to block applications for the new card from holders of the existing card.

Me, I try pretty hard not to use the free bag benefit I already have. Last time I had to check one, it was 50 minutes from when we parked at the gate until the first bags came off. Apparently this was the fault of scheduling gremlins, who had inexplicably scheduled several widebody arrivals around the same time but not allowed HA to provide sufficient staff to unload them. That was unusually bad, but even the usual bad isn't good.