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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Regarding official company representatives
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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 16, 2014, 12:13 pm
#946
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
Thanks for the tip re Visa vs MC.
I'm actually a kiwi so have rented in NZ a lot. I'm surprised you prefer the big international chains -- conventional wisdom in NZ is that they're the ones who'll keep your excess over a teeny scratch. The smaller outfits are more realistic about the difference between damage and wear and tear.
I'm actually a kiwi so have rented in NZ a lot. I'm surprised you prefer the big international chains -- conventional wisdom in NZ is that they're the ones who'll keep your excess over a teeny scratch. The smaller outfits are more realistic about the difference between damage and wear and tear.
We generally rent from Avis once Maui's prices become not competitive any mre. A friend rented from Hertz last year and he could not be any happier for their services and the fact they shaved one day from the duration because of the return before crossing at Wellington and then pick up a new rental at Piton.
Renting cars less than 5 years old from the locals only give no more than 10 to 15% price break from renting from the international names. To us, that little saving is totally UNWORTH it.
Personally we do not want to have 5 to 10 years old cars from the locals - they are not reliable and God Forbid if you need road side assistance and a replacement car. I know everyone relies on the NZ AA for the road side assistance but the International names have much newer cars so 1) the break down chances are much smaller. 2) they are much more responsive should you need assistance.
Aug 16, 2014, 1:05 pm
#947
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 817
So back in May, I applied for the old version of what is now the Arrival+, and was only approved for the equivalent of the Arrival. Their website didn't say anything during sign up - I applied for the plus, was told I got the normal. I called and cancelled immediately.
I have a good credit score (756) but currently have about 7 inquiries...
Is this the issue? If so, how long should I wait to apply - what's a good number? I'll be cancelling my CSP soon when the AF hits, so I was hoping to replace it with the A+ then.
I have a good credit score (756) but currently have about 7 inquiries...
Is this the issue? If so, how long should I wait to apply - what's a good number? I'll be cancelling my CSP soon when the AF hits, so I was hoping to replace it with the A+ then.
Last edited by greggarious; Aug 16, 2014 at 1:57 pm
Aug 16, 2014, 6:29 pm
#948
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, IHG Spire, Marriott Silver, Hyatt Platinum, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 308
Can we add the churning rules to the wiki?
One year from previous app, is that it?
One year from previous app, is that it?
Aug 17, 2014, 9:04 am
#949
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,762
Okay. The Arrivals+ has now been out for 3 or so months. How muchg longer will we peasants, too cheap to pay the annual fee, have to wait to get the regular arrivals card with an emv chip. Obviously they have mastered the technology so now they should offer the regular Arrivals card with an emv chip.
Aug 17, 2014, 9:13 am
#950
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Is anyone planning to keep this after the first year?
They say the break-even point for getting back what you pay for the annual fee is a real high amount.
But when Chase Sapphire Preferred stops giving the 7% dividend the Arrival Plus may be more competitive?
They say the break-even point for getting back what you pay for the annual fee is a real high amount.
But when Chase Sapphire Preferred stops giving the 7% dividend the Arrival Plus may be more competitive?
Aug 17, 2014, 10:27 am
#951
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 225
Did you get approved?
I just applied and didn't get instant approval.
I have 5 HPs in the last 24 months, 1 from Barclay in Nov. 2012. My last HP was from Chase in May, '14.
The only Barcaly card I currently carry is an old NFL Extra Points card. I closed my US Airways card last year when I wasn't given the 10k anniversary bonus ("I don't see it on the account") or an AF waiver.
I just applied and didn't get instant approval.
I have 5 HPs in the last 24 months, 1 from Barclay in Nov. 2012. My last HP was from Chase in May, '14.
The only Barcaly card I currently carry is an old NFL Extra Points card. I closed my US Airways card last year when I wasn't given the 10k anniversary bonus ("I don't see it on the account") or an AF waiver.
Did you call? Or are you going to wait until decision is made?
Aug 17, 2014, 10:35 am
#952
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BAY AREA
Posts: 1,125
I am planning to keep it after a year. I like earning 2 points for everything and I like the fact that points posts right away after charge posts. I am using this card over CSP
Aug 17, 2014, 11:20 am
#953
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: PVD/BOS
Posts: 879
I can easily re-coup this annual fee in less than 1 transaction so I'm not that worried about it. It may be a bigger pain for some.
Aug 17, 2014, 11:25 am
#954
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ *G; HH Diamond;
Posts: 1,644
I can easily re-coup this annual fee in less than 1 transaction so I'm not that worried about it. It may be a bigger pain for some.
Aug 17, 2014, 4:26 pm
#955
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Fid Amex has forex fees?
And less acceptance overseas than MC?
And less acceptance overseas than MC?
Aug 17, 2014, 7:45 pm
#956
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ *G; HH Diamond;
Posts: 1,644
Aug 17, 2014, 9:12 pm
#957
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Midwest
Programs: Southwest CP, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 69
Data points:
I have been able to successfully get credited as travel expenses the following:
Admission to the Denver Zoo.
Tickets to tour the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO.
I will be contacting customer service next week to get the Pikes Peak toll-road fee reimbursed as well. I will try to remember to provide an update when one is available.
I have been able to successfully get credited as travel expenses the following:
Admission to the Denver Zoo.
Tickets to tour the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO.
I will be contacting customer service next week to get the Pikes Peak toll-road fee reimbursed as well. I will try to remember to provide an update when one is available.
Aug 17, 2014, 10:04 pm
#958
Join Date: Feb 2006
Programs: HH Gold (again), US/UA/DL non-elite, ZE Presidents Circle, WN reluctant no fee convert.
Posts: 1,449
It's been fun but now I just find myself nickel-dimeing it for points to cover my last two travel expenses.
Aug 17, 2014, 11:07 pm
#959
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,767
For the FIA 2x the same $4045 spend would have already earned you $80.90, versus with the A+ you just fill the hole of the AF and then start earning your FIRST $.
While the FIA is 1% forex fee, you would need to spend $9090 in outside US spend (including buying tickets from international providers) to have paid the equivalent of $89 AF A+ charges in 2nd year.
For me, unless there is reasonable retention offer to bring the AF down, I dont intend to keep the card after its first free year, especially the redemption in some cases is a PITA.
A good strategy is, if you have a partner, only get one card among the 2 of you. Then you would have 2 years free of AF.
Aug 18, 2014, 4:13 am
#960
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 3,537