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
Mar 28, 2017, 11:24 am
#3721
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,904
How long does it take for Barclay's to "decide" whether your claim is reasonable? I have a vacation rental that didn't code right and I called and they opened up a case file. They said 7-10 business days, which didn't seem very reasonable (the merchant is coded something like "vacation rental" -- do the phone agents have no discretion?), but if they "do the right thing" I guess I'll be happy enough.
If Plan A doesn't work, I'm inclined to go with this Plan B (on the theory if they don't want to treat me fairly, I'll return the favor). Do they not "claw back" the credit on cancelled travel reservations?
If Plan A doesn't work, I'm inclined to go with this Plan B (on the theory if they don't want to treat me fairly, I'll return the favor). Do they not "claw back" the credit on cancelled travel reservations?
Mar 28, 2017, 12:31 pm
#3722
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 322
Mar 28, 2017, 4:02 pm
#3723
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,425
They do claw back the points from the cancelled reservation, but the points used for the redemption does not seem to be a problem. Some charge something that lets them use ALL their points, including the ones added from the charge they're looking to cancel. Others do it so they're left with near 0 balance on their points. I opted for the latter because I'm a decent human being
Mar 28, 2017, 5:05 pm
#3724
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: All of them
Posts: 1,664
OK, thanks. I don't have that many over $100 travel expenses that don't fall into big bonus categories with my other credit cards, so this vacation rental is perfect for me to use my credit on. I hope I can play it straight, but I guess if they don't want to be fair, I have a back up plan.
I wouldn't feel bad about them. They created a rewards system which goes out of it's way to make it an ordeal to redeem points and force "breakage" so feel free to game it away. Bottom line, , it's pretty easy to never have leftover A+ points over $10-20 worth.
Apr 1, 2017, 10:51 am
#3725
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 42
Will refund cause a clawback on the welcome bonus?
Will my Barclay Arrival+ bonus be claw back due to a refund?
I met my Barclay Arrival+ minimum spending within 2 months of the 90 days and I already erased my travel with the bonus miles. One of the spend was a $300 Westin stay via a 3rd party vendor that I prepaid with the Barclay. But when I got to the hotel, I decided to see if I can use my newly acquired SPG card since it's a Westin. The hotel staff confirmed that it'll be no problem and charged me again. The 3rd party vendor tells me that it takes 6-8 weeks to reconcile any refund from my original card. Tomorrow will be my 90 day mark for Barclay.
Should I try to spend the $300 now to make up for the refund I will be getting later down the line? Even then it might be too late since we're already into the weekend the the charge probably won't post until after the weekend. Anybody know if refunds ever cause an issue with hitting minimum spend?
Thanks
I met my Barclay Arrival+ minimum spending within 2 months of the 90 days and I already erased my travel with the bonus miles. One of the spend was a $300 Westin stay via a 3rd party vendor that I prepaid with the Barclay. But when I got to the hotel, I decided to see if I can use my newly acquired SPG card since it's a Westin. The hotel staff confirmed that it'll be no problem and charged me again. The 3rd party vendor tells me that it takes 6-8 weeks to reconcile any refund from my original card. Tomorrow will be my 90 day mark for Barclay.
Should I try to spend the $300 now to make up for the refund I will be getting later down the line? Even then it might be too late since we're already into the weekend the the charge probably won't post until after the weekend. Anybody know if refunds ever cause an issue with hitting minimum spend?
Thanks
Apr 1, 2017, 3:43 pm
#3726
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Chicago
Programs: United 1k, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Plat
Posts: 231
Couldn't see this after having a look, but is there a maximum amount of points you can redeem against a single transaction? Also not sure if this logic works, but could you potentially book a flight with another card (e.g. Prestige 3x miles for a booking through Expedia), and then transfer over the balance to redeem against the 50,000 signup bonus?
Last edited by Lavezzi; Apr 1, 2017 at 3:49 pm
Apr 1, 2017, 5:20 pm
#3727
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Intermountain West
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 12,087
Will my Barclay Arrival+ bonus be claw back due to a refund?
I met my Barclay Arrival+ minimum spending within 2 months of the 90 days and I already erased my travel with the bonus miles. One of the spend was a $300 Westin stay via a 3rd party vendor that I prepaid with the Barclay. But when I got to the hotel, I decided to see if I can use my newly acquired SPG card since it's a Westin. The hotel staff confirmed that it'll be no problem and charged me again. The 3rd party vendor tells me that it takes 6-8 weeks to reconcile any refund from my original card. Tomorrow will be my 90 day mark for Barclay.
Should I try to spend the $300 now to make up for the refund I will be getting later down the line? Even then it might be too late since we're already into the weekend the the charge probably won't post until after the weekend. Anybody know if refunds ever cause an issue with hitting minimum spend?
Thanks
I met my Barclay Arrival+ minimum spending within 2 months of the 90 days and I already erased my travel with the bonus miles. One of the spend was a $300 Westin stay via a 3rd party vendor that I prepaid with the Barclay. But when I got to the hotel, I decided to see if I can use my newly acquired SPG card since it's a Westin. The hotel staff confirmed that it'll be no problem and charged me again. The 3rd party vendor tells me that it takes 6-8 weeks to reconcile any refund from my original card. Tomorrow will be my 90 day mark for Barclay.
Should I try to spend the $300 now to make up for the refund I will be getting later down the line? Even then it might be too late since we're already into the weekend the the charge probably won't post until after the weekend. Anybody know if refunds ever cause an issue with hitting minimum spend?
Thanks
Apr 1, 2017, 8:15 pm
#3728
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 292
Has anyone tried purchasing an airline gift card or credit with the Arrival + and found if it can be reimbursed with miles ? I should have over 10,000 points next week which would be good for a $100 travel credit. But don't have a flight/hotel booking charge coming up in the near future. So I'm thinking of adding to my TravelBank on United for a future flight.
Apr 2, 2017, 9:35 pm
#3729
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: AA
Posts: 14
Question - I have AAdvantage Aviator Red card. Will it negatively affect on opening Arrival + and getting 50k bonus?
Apr 2, 2017, 9:43 pm
#3730
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 292
January. And now a Hawaiian card last month.
However, I'm on Barclay's shitlist since 2008, and I always get an automatic decline without them even checking my credit report. After calling recon, I always get them to check my credit and get approved. They always ask why I use my cards so little, and why I open so many other accounts with other institutions - I just tell them that I'm chasing signup bonuses/rewards. And they just approve me. They did ask to reallocate credit lines between the cards, though, since I'm not using them much. I had a $20k CL on my A+. Then split it $10k/$10K when I got the Aviator. When I got the Hawaiian, they only wanted to give me $5K on it. I told them to reshuffle them $9K/$9K/$7K. If you are not on their shitlist you probably don't have anything to worry about
Apr 2, 2017, 11:05 pm
#3731
Apr 4, 2017, 10:56 am
#3733
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 69
Sorry if it's in the thread somewhere and I missed it...but I had a question about downgrading the Arrival+ to the fee free Arrival...
I'm planning on getting an Arrival+ in a month or so (timed with a big bill coming in to meet the minimum spend easily) to use toward hotel costs on an upcoming vacation. However the vacation won't be until Fall of 2018. I planned on downgrading to the regular Arrival to keep my miles fee free until I need them.
However, it seems like the Arrival (no fee) isn't available on the Barclaycard website. Can anyone confirm if it's still available as a downgrade from the Arrival+ here in 2017?
I'm planning on getting an Arrival+ in a month or so (timed with a big bill coming in to meet the minimum spend easily) to use toward hotel costs on an upcoming vacation. However the vacation won't be until Fall of 2018. I planned on downgrading to the regular Arrival to keep my miles fee free until I need them.
However, it seems like the Arrival (no fee) isn't available on the Barclaycard website. Can anyone confirm if it's still available as a downgrade from the Arrival+ here in 2017?
Apr 4, 2017, 11:48 am
#3734
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,904
It's available as a downgrade but not as a new card. Also I thought if you downgrade you can't take the points to the new card and should use them up first.
Apr 4, 2017, 12:25 pm
#3735
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 69
I *thought* I read that the points would transfer....but maybe the article was old or something...