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
Jan 28, 2015, 1:04 pm
#1726
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: UES/MWC
Programs: Braniff, TWA, Eastern, Midwest, AA Exec, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 270
I pulled the trigger on this today, and got the dreaded "under review - you may have to wait 10 business days" message.
I have excellent credit and one TU pull, zero(!) on EQ and EX.
*shrug*
I have excellent credit and one TU pull, zero(!) on EQ and EX.
*shrug*
Jan 28, 2015, 1:07 pm
#1727
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 96
No worries, I also have great credit and got the same thing. Eventually (5 days later) they approved it with a high credit limit. I'm not sure what triggers that.
Jan 28, 2015, 3:38 pm
#1728
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: UES/MWC
Programs: Braniff, TWA, Eastern, Midwest, AA Exec, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 270
They pulled TU for me, so I now have a whopping *two* HPs on TU for the last two years, and still none on EX or EQ...but not for long!
Jan 29, 2015, 1:50 am
#1729
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: Hilton - Diamond, IHG - Spire Amb
Posts: 901
It's name was "Dole Plantation"
Last edited by MDtR-Chicago; Jan 30, 2015 at 7:12 am Reason: merge consecutive posts
Jan 29, 2015, 11:09 am
#1731
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 96
Jan 29, 2015, 1:11 pm
#1732
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: TX
Posts: 756
I apologize if this has been covered before, but didn't see anything in the last few pages. Trying to plan my AOR and I already have 2 Arrival+ CCs. I will probably downgrade the one w/the annual fee since I haven't had any luck with getting it waived. Can I get a 3rd Arrival+ and corresponding 40k bonus? I recall that this card is churnable and I don't need to cancel any cards.
Jan 29, 2015, 1:55 pm
#1733
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: ORD
Programs: AAdvantage, UA, Avios
Posts: 637
I apologize if this has been covered before, but didn't see anything in the last few pages. Trying to plan my AOR and I already have 2 Arrival+ CCs. I will probably downgrade the one w/the annual fee since I haven't had any luck with getting it waived. Can I get a 3rd Arrival+ and corresponding 40k bonus? I recall that this card is churnable and I don't need to cancel any cards.
Jan 29, 2015, 2:11 pm
#1734
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Programs: Milege+, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,685
It all depends on your spending categories. My Amex BCP gives me 6% back on groceries. Last year we received $360 back from grocery spending minus the $75 AF which came to recouping $285 for $6000 spend, a return of 4.75%.
Jan 29, 2015, 7:22 pm
#1735
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 96
Definitely the key thing here - what does your spending look like and what does your redemption look like? I am a newish entrant to this field, having spent years with a very large personal spend and effectively no rewards. I'm still learning, but I know that I spend on premium cabin airfare, so rewards that transfer to airline miles are worth well upwards of 5c/mile for me. That's one reason my travel spend occurs on the CSP for now. A+ is good for "no thinking necessary" purchases. 2.2% isn't anything to regret/complain about.
Jan 29, 2015, 10:59 pm
#1736
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 34
Fraud Alert Pain: Used my arrival + and got the fraud alert. They are not resolving the alert through phone call and want me to go to any bank and ask for cash advance, in the process teller have to call Barclays to verify my identity. Are there people in this thread who faced similar situation? Any tips will be highly appreciated.
Jan 30, 2015, 9:10 am
#1737
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Programs: Delta + United Airmiles
Posts: 703
Fraud Alert Pain: Used my arrival + and got the fraud alert. They are not resolving the alert through phone call and want me to go to any bank and ask for cash advance, in the process teller have to call Barclays to verify my identity. Are there people in this thread who faced similar situation? Any tips will be highly appreciated.
Jan 30, 2015, 11:01 pm
#1738
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 4
Does anyone have any experience with Seine River Dinner Cruises in Paris and if they would be redeemable?
I went on one in Chattanooga, TN about six months ago that allowed me to redeem points but don't want to drop $300 for my Paris trip and then find out later I can't use my points.
I went on one in Chattanooga, TN about six months ago that allowed me to redeem points but don't want to drop $300 for my Paris trip and then find out later I can't use my points.
Jan 31, 2015, 11:40 am
#1739
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Programs: Delta + United Airmiles
Posts: 703
Arrival+ annual fee NOT waived (unless account is closed soon)
Just had the annual fee post to my Arrival+ card. Discussion to waive it got no traction with the reconsideration rep, despite recently getting the no fee Arrival non-plus card too. The rep did offer a no sign up bonus no fee card that earned 2% on groceries, gas, and utilities, but these offers seem like a bad idea if any potential sign up bonus is lost (none on this "everyday" one and this card has a 3% FTF).
https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/...&cellNumber=4&
Since my spend is low enough that it should be directed to large sign up bonus card offers, and since having a open account delays any chance of getting another sign up bonus on the same card, I conclude that closing the Arrival+ account is my best option (after moving the available credit to my Arrival no annual fee card - no chip but still no FTF and 2% on travel and dining only).
Hopefully in a year or so I'll be able to reopen the account and get some sort of significant sign up bonus. Too bad that most issuers won't simply provide an incentive (say 1/2 the sign-up bonus?) not to close accounts every year or two.
Am I missing something here?
https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/...&cellNumber=4&
Since my spend is low enough that it should be directed to large sign up bonus card offers, and since having a open account delays any chance of getting another sign up bonus on the same card, I conclude that closing the Arrival+ account is my best option (after moving the available credit to my Arrival no annual fee card - no chip but still no FTF and 2% on travel and dining only).
Hopefully in a year or so I'll be able to reopen the account and get some sort of significant sign up bonus. Too bad that most issuers won't simply provide an incentive (say 1/2 the sign-up bonus?) not to close accounts every year or two.
Am I missing something here?
Jan 31, 2015, 12:43 pm
#1740
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Programs: Milege+, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,685
I conclude that closing the Arrival+ account is my best option (after moving the available credit to my Arrival no annual fee card - no chip but still no FTF and 2% on travel and dining only). Hopefully in a year or so I'll be able to reopen the account and get some sort of significant sign up bonus. Too bad that most issuers won't simply provide an incentive (say 1/2 the sign-up bonus?) not to close accounts every year or two.