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
Oct 21, 2014, 9:41 am
#1291
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
Capital One does 3 hard credit checks when you apply for any of their cards. NO credit card is worth 3 inquiries. None of them.
Oct 21, 2014, 9:50 am
#1292
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: SF
Programs: UA, VX, QF, EY, VA
Posts: 756
Oct 21, 2014, 1:09 pm
#1293
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 136
That's it, just the 10% redemption. CapOne Venture isn't pushed since Barclay gives a very nice referral kickback to the blogs.
I've never had to pay the annual fee for the CapOne card and have had it since 2009. That said, I use the Arrival for the 10% bonus, the overseas EMV C&P capability, and since I prefer Mastercard.
I've never had to pay the annual fee for the CapOne card and have had it since 2009. That said, I use the Arrival for the 10% bonus, the overseas EMV C&P capability, and since I prefer Mastercard.
I am leaving for overseas travel end of next month. I am torn b/w AP and Cap1 because some of the travel overseas are <$25 denominations. Cap1 makes sense here, but with no EMV/CP capability it might be hard.
Also, I applied for Barclays US air card 3 months ago. Not sure if I can get approved again.
What are your thoughts?
Oct 21, 2014, 2:37 pm
#1294
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 3,537
It's not quite as bad as you make it sound. It's one inquiry on each bureau. Given that almost everyone pulls Experian, it's really not much worse than just an Experian pull...
Oct 21, 2014, 10:19 pm
#1295
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Oct 22, 2014, 10:02 am
#1296
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
I doubt we'll ever see an offer like that again. And it was a few months before I got into the game so I missed out.
Oct 22, 2014, 10:17 am
#1297
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Three inquiries is three inquiries. So unless the CapOne card is worth as much as 3 credit card signups it matters a lot.
Let me hop into my time machine I doubt we'll ever see an offer like that again. And it was a few months before I got into the game so I missed out.
Let me hop into my time machine
I doubt we'll ever see an offer like that again. And it was a few months before I got into the game so I missed out.Eventually the cards turn into the Quick Silver automatically. QS is not a bad card with 1.5x everything. It helps to take off a bit of the load on the A+ and FIA
Also CapOne has been very reasonable in settling rental car claims on foreign rentals based on friend's experiences. That is another thing to keep in mind if one does a lot of foreign rentals.
Our experiences with MC Rental on a domestic rental is much less than stella, fwiw. They lied to the rental car company that we had not filed claim while claim was filed almost 45 days before when the rental car's insurance dept contacted MC Rental.
So there are other features one needs to look into too, when getting a card that one means to use, not just the sign up bonus.
Oct 22, 2014, 10:54 am
#1298
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
So what ended up happening with your claim?
Oct 22, 2014, 11:14 am
#1299
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Paid in full on the damage part (hail damages on the body at West Gate outside Yellow Stone NP), about $2300.
Denied the "Loss of Usage" and the Admin Fee. Card used was Citi's Premium.
Incident happened in Late Sept. Claim filed immediately over the phone, got instruction on the doc required (including a Police Report which the Jackson Hole Police Dept did it as "Citizen Service". We were not able to submit documents until mid November because by the time we got all doc in place, our area was hit by Hurricane Wilmar and the 3 counties in South Florida lost power supply for 3 weeks.
Rental car company was Thrifty. Location was a franchisee whose financing handling office was in Las Vegas. We got a call from the Las Vegas office right when we stepped in our home returning from a 10 day cruise on X'mas Eve... Agent told us she tried multiple times to get in touch with us the whole week when MC told her we did not file claim. She was about to hand this over to collection agency but decided to make one more call... Imagine my shock! (phone answering machine proved she did call and left messages but we were on a cruise...)
Once we gave Thrifty the MC Claim number, the Adjuster's name and email address, things started to move. Claim was settled in 3rd week of January. I requested MC Rental to send the check directly to Thrifty and provided us a proof. The proof letter was INACCURATE on the amount and such. Had to request it again.
Overall, this experience means we would NOT use any MC for rental car. We used the AMEX Plat in our France trip instead of the A+ despite the Plat only earns 1x.
We ended up having a lot of scratches on the rear right side alloy wheel because at a right turn husband scraped the very high granite curb. It was a rental with Hertz. AMEX settled the claim within a week after filing claim online with doc attached. Small amount in 110 euro so that also explains the speediness. However you get prompt response from AMEX versus it took weeks and weeks before you knew the Adjuster assigned to your claim with MC.
Friend had tire slashed at the inside wall by vandalism at Avignon, France. He had to pay $400+ for a replacement tire upfront after finally got National Spain to help in arranging the repair (rented in Spain, the National France refused to help). He filed claim with CapOne upon return. CapOne asked for required docs. Once he sent it, CapOne sent a check to cover the full cost in 2 weeks. Time took in total was slightly less than a month.
Therefore, there are other factors one needs to consider when getting a card also for spend, not just for the sign up bonus. Some cards are better in some usages.
Denied the "Loss of Usage" and the Admin Fee. Card used was Citi's Premium.
Incident happened in Late Sept. Claim filed immediately over the phone, got instruction on the doc required (including a Police Report which the Jackson Hole Police Dept did it as "Citizen Service". We were not able to submit documents until mid November because by the time we got all doc in place, our area was hit by Hurricane Wilmar and the 3 counties in South Florida lost power supply for 3 weeks.
Rental car company was Thrifty. Location was a franchisee whose financing handling office was in Las Vegas. We got a call from the Las Vegas office right when we stepped in our home returning from a 10 day cruise on X'mas Eve... Agent told us she tried multiple times to get in touch with us the whole week when MC told her we did not file claim. She was about to hand this over to collection agency but decided to make one more call... Imagine my shock! (phone answering machine proved she did call and left messages but we were on a cruise...)
Once we gave Thrifty the MC Claim number, the Adjuster's name and email address, things started to move. Claim was settled in 3rd week of January. I requested MC Rental to send the check directly to Thrifty and provided us a proof. The proof letter was INACCURATE on the amount and such. Had to request it again.
Overall, this experience means we would NOT use any MC for rental car. We used the AMEX Plat in our France trip instead of the A+ despite the Plat only earns 1x.
We ended up having a lot of scratches on the rear right side alloy wheel because at a right turn husband scraped the very high granite curb. It was a rental with Hertz. AMEX settled the claim within a week after filing claim online with doc attached. Small amount in 110 euro so that also explains the speediness. However you get prompt response from AMEX versus it took weeks and weeks before you knew the Adjuster assigned to your claim with MC.
Friend had tire slashed at the inside wall by vandalism at Avignon, France. He had to pay $400+ for a replacement tire upfront after finally got National Spain to help in arranging the repair (rented in Spain, the National France refused to help). He filed claim with CapOne upon return. CapOne asked for required docs. Once he sent it, CapOne sent a check to cover the full cost in 2 weeks. Time took in total was slightly less than a month.
Therefore, there are other factors one needs to consider when getting a card also for spend, not just for the sign up bonus. Some cards are better in some usages.
Last edited by Happy; Oct 23, 2014 at 4:18 pm
Oct 22, 2014, 8:42 pm
#1300
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 70
Any other barclaycards worth doing an MBM when applying for the arrival+? Will they just do a single pull?
Oct 23, 2014, 7:17 am
#1301
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 2,135
Guys - I'm confused about how to best apply travel credits. I have 45,916 miles to use. I have two transactions so far - $118 and $122. What's the best way of applying the miles to these?
Thx
Thx
Oct 23, 2014, 8:46 am
#1302
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: ORD
Programs: AAdvantage, UA, Avios
Posts: 637
Oct 23, 2014, 9:33 am
#1303
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 3,537
No, here's why. Almost no one pulls Transunion so the Transunion pull is minimal and almost irrelevant. Equifax is pulled far less than Experian. Thus, Capital One is really basically just another Experian pull because those are the only ones that really matter for getting other cards.
Oct 23, 2014, 10:20 am
#1304
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 3,677
I don't think you have to do rounded off amounts. Just go to the rewards page, choose each of those charges, and pay them completely off, $118 and $122. Once you do a partial credit for a charge, you can't do a credit for that same charge again, so pay them fully off.
Oct 23, 2014, 10:26 am
#1305
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 2,135
got it. My conversation with the barclays agent also led to similar conclusion. if you have enough miles to pay the charge in full, there is no increments of 2500 miles and you can use any quantity of miles
Another side question - if i cancel a hotel after I have applied the miles to the charge and get a refund from the hotel, do I stand to lose anything?
Thx
Another side question - if i cancel a hotel after I have applied the miles to the charge and get a refund from the hotel, do I stand to lose anything?
Thx