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.
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
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 2, 2015, 5:08 pm
#2477
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: Kettle Class
Posts: 798
Quite interesting.
I just got a letter from Barclays reminding me that my annual fee on the Arrival+ would be due July 31 and of the "great benefits of the card."
Nowhere do the benefits mention 10% back on redemptions, or the free TripIt Pro subscription. Instead they merely list out the "2X miles on all purchases," "chip technology," and "no foreign exchange fees on anything you buy."
I kept the Club Carlson visa for the Gold status and the occasional 2-for-1 EMEA redemption. For the Arrival+ I can't think of one good reason to not cancel.
I just got a letter from Barclays reminding me that my annual fee on the Arrival+ would be due July 31 and of the "great benefits of the card."
Nowhere do the benefits mention 10% back on redemptions, or the free TripIt Pro subscription. Instead they merely list out the "2X miles on all purchases," "chip technology," and "no foreign exchange fees on anything you buy."
I kept the Club Carlson visa for the Gold status and the occasional 2-for-1 EMEA redemption. For the Arrival+ I can't think of one good reason to not cancel.
Jul 2, 2015, 5:17 pm
#2478
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Michigan
Programs: AA, UA, DL, UR, IHG platnium, AirAsia
Posts: 323
Two words: Travel Community.
That's why I'll keep the card and pay the AF (maybe).
If the TC disappears, then A+ will get cut up.
That's why I'll keep the card and pay the AF (maybe).
If the TC disappears, then A+ will get cut up.
Jul 2, 2015, 5:34 pm
#2479
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,905
Now that the 10% back benefit is going away, I'd like to burn my points on a refundable full fare ticket. I assume that will work and then I'll refund the ticket later. Is that right?
(I normally wouldn't do something like this, but screw them and their enhancements.)
(I normally wouldn't do something like this, but screw them and their enhancements.)
Last edited by rrgg; Jul 2, 2015 at 5:43 pm
Jul 2, 2015, 6:20 pm
#2480
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Michigan
Programs: AA, UA, DL, UR, IHG platnium, AirAsia
Posts: 323
Actually the 10% to 5% sounds worse than it really is. It's really only .1% less. However, the real killer is the $100 minimum redemption limit. Losing the ability to redeem against smaller charges typically under $100, such as taxis, trains, theme parks, award flight taxes/fees and cheap LCC flights really stinks big time. That eliminates a ton of use for many people.
Jul 2, 2015, 6:41 pm
#2481
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,047
Actually the 10% to 5% sounds worse than it really is. It's really only .1% less. However, the real killer is the $100 minimum redemption limit. Losing the ability to redeem against smaller charges typically under $100, such as taxis, trains, theme parks, award flight taxes/fees and cheap LCC flights really stinks big time. That eliminates a ton of use for many people.
Jul 2, 2015, 7:03 pm
#2482
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: FL
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, IC Plat Amb, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,299
I want to close my CC but I dont have any expenses that qualify. I have $600 in rewards... Have you guys had success in any of the following:
AA gift card
Hyatt Gift Card
hotels.com Gift card (other than the one in the wiki)
Any other useful gift card or points
AA gift card
Hyatt Gift Card
hotels.com Gift card (other than the one in the wiki)
Any other useful gift card or points
Jul 2, 2015, 7:56 pm
#2483
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IAD/DCA
Programs: Bunch of mid-tiers
Posts: 1,034
Jul 3, 2015, 8:01 am
#2484
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 409
It's really quite unfortunate. I've only had this card for about 5 months and was just getting into the swing of things in terms of redeeming points and such. These changes, especially the $100 minimum redemption, pretty much ensure I will cancel.
Jul 3, 2015, 8:29 am
#2485
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Maine, USA
Programs: Delta PM Elite Plus, Aegean
Posts: 132
I could not agree more. I switched most of my recurring payments over to BC plus was using it for all my daily purchases. Since I travel a lot, it's been a godsend, much more so than my Sapphire or Venture (which I now rarely use). I may rethink, depending on how this all plays out. I basically gave up my Delta platinum status by discontinuing use of my Amex Reserve card, but then Delta status isn't worth anything anymore.
Jul 3, 2015, 8:34 am
#2486
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: STL
Posts: 1,546
I've seen a couple conflicting dates on when these changes go into effect. My annual fee will be due in January, will I see any changes in redemptions or rebates before then? I'll have a couple hotel stays in September I was planning on redeeming against - my current balance against the first stay, then my 10% rebate from that against the second.
If that's all changing before September, I'm going to book a refundable flight.
If that's all changing before September, I'm going to book a refundable flight.
Jul 3, 2015, 9:26 am
#2487
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 409
I look forward to official word from Barclaycard on this. According to the TPG article, someone like me that got the card earlier this year will keep existing benefits until August 2016 (if I read that correctly), which is still quite a bit of time. If that's true, I'll keep using it as I have until then. But again, look forward to reading something official from Barclaycard.
I've seen a couple conflicting dates on when these changes go into effect. My annual fee will be due in January, will I see any changes in redemptions or rebates before then? I'll have a couple hotel stays in September I was planning on redeeming against - my current balance against the first stay, then my 10% rebate from that against the second.
If that's all changing before September, I'm going to book a refundable flight.
If that's all changing before September, I'm going to book a refundable flight.
Jul 3, 2015, 9:38 am
#2488
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: BOS
Programs: Marriott, AAdvantage, United, Club Carlson
Posts: 1,687
How do I get TripIt pro? I cant find anywhere on my account online to get a code or anything.
Jul 3, 2015, 10:07 am
#2489
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 427
You would have to have a high points balance for the points rebate to be redeemable, but they shut people down for having a high points balance.
I wonder if they anticipate people will be dropping this card, and maybe will be more willing to waive the AF. Because that is the only way I will consider keeping this card.
I wonder if they anticipate people will be dropping this card, and maybe will be more willing to waive the AF. Because that is the only way I will consider keeping this card.
Jul 3, 2015, 11:50 am
#2490
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CLT
Programs: AA, UA, BA, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,074
Hmmm, it used to be on the right side in the online account view. I wonder if they're already removed the benefit for new Pro subscriptions even on existing cardholders. Shady if so.