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
#2746
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 409
Duration does not matter to the number crunchers. They are a business who's goal is making money. If the card isn't making them [enough] money, they will change the terms.
https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/...orarrival.html
Today() - May 14, 2014 = number of days since then, and Arrival- was reportedly launched 1 year prior to that.
Quite a huge change for the A+ terms ($25 to $100 min redemption) in less than 1.5 years!
Today() - May 14, 2014 = number of days since then, and Arrival- was reportedly launched 1 year prior to that.
Quite a huge change for the A+ terms ($25 to $100 min redemption) in less than 1.5 years!
#2747
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,044
https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/...orarrival.html
Today() - May 14, 2014 = number of days since then, and Arrival- was reportedly launched 1 year prior to that.
Quite a huge change for the A+ terms ($25 to $100 min redemption) in less than 1.5 years!
Today() - May 14, 2014 = number of days since then, and Arrival- was reportedly launched 1 year prior to that.
Quite a huge change for the A+ terms ($25 to $100 min redemption) in less than 1.5 years!
#2748
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: Kettle Class
Posts: 798
To add a data point: my Arrival+ annual fee was to have posted today. I called to downgrade to the no-fee Arrival in light of the upcoming benefit changes, but was told that option was not available to me. I asked to cancel, no retention offer was made, and now I've closed my Arrival+ account even when I would have been perfectly happy to switch to the Arrival.
I'd spent about 10k on this card - all non-GC, non-MS charges.
I'd spent about 10k on this card - all non-GC, non-MS charges.
#2749
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
Well if you apply for the CapOne card they will do THREE hard pulls. I don't think ANY credit card is worth three hard pulls, but that's just me. You could get 3 cards from other banks for the "cost" of the single CapOne card.
#2750
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 441
It depends on the person. I only get hit with HP's basically on 2/3 CB's so it would really only be 2 HP's as far as I'm concerned. Others I know basically get almost all HP's on 1 CB so to them it is basically a mute point. C1 doesn't seem to like people with excellent credit and 100% on-time payments though...1st and only denial for me
#2752
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Programs: Delta + United Airmiles
Posts: 703
It depends on the person. I only get hit with HP's basically on 2/3 CB's so it would really only be 2 HP's as far as I'm concerned. Others I know basically get almost all HP's on 1 CB so to them it is basically a mute point. C1 doesn't seem to like people with excellent credit and 100% on-time payments though...1st and only denial for me
Yep, over 800 credit score, never a missed payment, instantly turned down by C1 for annual fee high points card despite having their no fee card for many years. And 3 HPs is just abusive. Didn't even support purchase pin (do they now?)
#2753
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 158
Successfully redeemed Barclay points as travel at a couples' resort called Serenity Springs in Indiana about an hour outside of Chicago. The place was great. Highly recommend.
http://serenity-springs.com/index.php
http://serenity-springs.com/index.php
#2754
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: SAN
Posts: 61
Data point, annual fee was to post today, called and was immediately offered a downgrade to the no annual fee card with a 1000 point bonus after first purchase, accepted the offer, the rep didn't attempt to talk me into keeping arrival+...I was glad we didn't waste each others time. I probably put around 35k spend on arrival plus
#2755
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 684
converting to Aviator card?
Has anybody converted Arrival+ into Aviator card? Thanks
#2756
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Programs: Delta + United Airmiles
Posts: 703
Data point, annual fee was to post today, called and was immediately offered a downgrade to the no annual fee card with a 1000 point bonus after first purchase, accepted the offer, the rep didn't attempt to talk me into keeping arrival+...I was glad we didn't waste each others time. I probably put around 35k spend on arrival plus
#2757
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: SAN
Posts: 61
I agree with this line of thinking but for me personally it didn't make sense. The arrival plus was the only barclays card I had so I wanted to downgrade rather than cancel. Also, I don't manufacture spend so I only have limited spend to put towards signup bonuses and currently I'm working on more lucrative cards bonuses with other banks. Basically, I don't ever envision signing up for the $200 bonus for the normal arrival card when there are so many better offers out there for other cards. Also, Mrs zsssd hasn't signed up for the arrival plus yet so there is also that option.
#2758
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Programs: Delta + United Airmiles
Posts: 703
I agree with this line of thinking but for me personally it didn't make sense. The arrival plus was the only barclays card I had so I wanted to downgrade rather than cancel. Also, I don't manufacture spend so I only have limited spend to put towards signup bonuses and currently I'm working on more lucrative cards bonuses with other banks. Basically, I don't ever envision signing up for the $200 bonus for the normal arrival card when there are so many better offers out there for other cards. Also, Mrs zsssd hasn't signed up for the arrival plus yet so there is also that option.
Not a lot of spend to get over $200 travel credit.
compared to:
A+: "Earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days."
"so many better offers out there" - please, a few specific examples?
#2759
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: SAN
Posts: 61
A-: "Earn 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days."
Not a lot of spend to get over $200 travel credit.
compared to:
A+: "Earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days."
"so many better offers out there" - please, a few specific examples?
Not a lot of spend to get over $200 travel credit.
compared to:
A+: "Earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days."
"so many better offers out there" - please, a few specific examples?
That statement was in reference to the $200 sign up bonus for the arrival-
To name a few, Citi Premier (50,000 points), Chase Sapphire Preferred (40,000 points + 5,000 points for authorized user), Marriott Card (70,000 or 80,000 points + free night), Amex Preferred Rewards Gold Card (if you can get 50,000 points), Amex Platinum (if you can get the 100,000 points), United card (was recently 50,000 miles), British Airways (50,000 avios with $2000 spend).
If you're looking just at $1000 spend offers, I believe currently the AA Platinum, United Explorer, and Delta Gold AmEx offer 30,000 miles with $1000 spend. The Hyatt card is 2 free nights and the IHG is 60,000 points with $1000 spend.
*I'm not trying to say there isn't good value in a $200 travel credit with $1,000 spend (I certainly see the value in that).
#2760
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 441
A-: "Earn 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days."
Not a lot of spend to get over $200 travel credit.
compared to:
A+: "Earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days."
"so many better offers out there" - please, a few specific examples?
Not a lot of spend to get over $200 travel credit.
compared to:
A+: "Earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days."
"so many better offers out there" - please, a few specific examples?