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
Aug 2, 2015, 9:33 am
#2763
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Programs: Delta + United Airmiles
Posts: 703
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).
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).
Aug 3, 2015, 4:50 pm
#2764
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,857
Any thoughts on how MS-tolerant Barclays is? I've never really done any on any of their cards, but it looks like I may need to in order to hit the minimum spend on my Arrival.
Aug 3, 2015, 4:53 pm
#2765
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,857
I do the same.
The special credit card offers master thread [Subscription]
Depending on your point valuations, there are 20-25 cards that get you $400+ value for your hard pull.
The special credit card offers master thread [Subscription]
Depending on your point valuations, there are 20-25 cards that get you $400+ value for your hard pull.
Last edited by bobert24; Aug 3, 2015 at 10:04 pm
Aug 3, 2015, 6:24 pm
#2766
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 531
MS to meet minimum spend is a drop in the bucket, you got nothing to worry about. Make sure your cell is in your profile under "text messaging" so you can easily get and clear any FAs should they occur.
Aug 3, 2015, 7:33 pm
#2767
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
My parents have had this card for almost a year now and want to cancel the card. However, they still have ~45K points that they haven't used and obviously don't want to lose, but they don't have any travel purchases coming up in the next month. How long after the AF posts can the card be cancelled and AF refunded? For AMEX, I think it's 60 days, and for Citi, it's 37. How about Barclays?
Aug 3, 2015, 8:47 pm
#2768
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,112
My parents have had this card for almost a year now and want to cancel the card. However, they still have ~45K points that they haven't used and obviously don't want to lose, but they don't have any travel purchases coming up in the next month. How long after the AF posts can the card be cancelled and AF refunded? For AMEX, I think it's 60 days, and for Citi, it's 37. How about Barclays?
Aug 3, 2015, 9:10 pm
#2769
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
Downgrade... good idea. I'm not too familiar with Barclays. How long do I have to downgrade after AF posts?
Aug 3, 2015, 10:09 pm
#2770
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,857
That's what I was hoping, thanks. And good tip on the phone number - turns out they had my cell, but didn't have it listed for texts. Easy fix.
Aug 4, 2015, 12:53 am
#2771
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
So I cannot redeem points for Hong Kong Disneyland, or even the turbo ferries between Hong Kong and Macau either. Disney is obviously a theme park, and the 1-2 hour ferries are obviously travel. They did allow a cable car ride up to a Buddhist monastery of all things though.
Aug 4, 2015, 9:43 am
#2772
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Programs: Delta + United Airmiles
Posts: 703
Your parents can simply buy travel with A+ for a friend AFTER they give you the cash to buy it.
Last edited by uds0; Aug 4, 2015 at 9:49 am
Aug 4, 2015, 2:36 pm
#2773
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 108
I am not 100% sure since I haven't done it yet. But I think you can purchase gift cards from Delta, AA, or United for later use.
My parents have had this card for almost a year now and want to cancel the card. However, they still have ~45K points that they haven't used and obviously don't want to lose, but they don't have any travel purchases coming up in the next month. How long after the AF posts can the card be cancelled and AF refunded? For AMEX, I think it's 60 days, and for Citi, it's 37. How about Barclays?
Aug 4, 2015, 9:24 pm
#2774
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Programs: Delta + United Airmiles
Posts: 703
Confirmed via secure message:
"Please be informed that cardmembers since 10/1/2014 or later will have their changes go into effect 8/16/2016. For example, you apply for a card on 1/16/2016, the changes will still take effect on 8/16/2016."
"Please be informed that cardmembers since 10/1/2014 or later will have their changes go into effect 8/16/2016. For example, you apply for a card on 1/16/2016, the changes will still take effect on 8/16/2016."
Aug 4, 2015, 10:36 pm
#2775
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
Ha! Might as well cancel current card and reapply in a few weeks. I suspect this won't actually be the case, but one can always wonder.