Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Programs > Credit Card Programs
Reload this Page >

Barclays Arrival Plus, now 70K w/$5k spend

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Old May 14, 2014, 1:15 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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.




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)

Print Wikipost

Barclays Arrival Plus, now 70K w/$5k spend

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Mar 24, 2017, 10:25 am
  #3706  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Omaha Nebraska
Programs: United, delta, AA, Alaskan, Frontier, Hilton Gold, Hyatt, Chase Sapphire
Posts: 318
How to know tour will code as travel/ Barclay arrival +

Is there anyway of checking if a tour or hotel will code as traveling for using Barclay Arrival + points. I've read the Wiki list. For me snorkeling in Belize counted but a whale watch in Maui didn't. Called Barclay and they couldn't help. Do you call the tour company? Thanks for any insights.
shanna135 is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2017, 10:52 am
  #3707  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
Originally Posted by shanna135
Is there anyway to know if charges on my arrival plus card will code as travel so I can use points to pay? I've read the list in the Wiki but it seems to be a crap shoot. Snorleling in Belize coded as travel but not whale watching in Maui. Thanks for any help.
Nope, no way to know. It's based on how the merchant classifies their business.
Superorb is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2017, 11:14 am
  #3708  
mia
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Originally Posted by shanna135
... Do you call the tour company? .
Originally Posted by Superorb
It's based on how the merchant classifies their business.
It's actually based on how the merchant's acquirer has classified their business, and the person who answers the phone likely will not understand the question or know where to find the information.

You may be able to find out here. The MCC determines the bonus:

https://www.visa.com/supplierlocator/search/index.jsp
mia is online now  
Old Mar 24, 2017, 11:17 am
  #3709  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: GE, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,507
Originally Posted by mia
It's actually based on how the merchant's acquirer has classified their business, and the person who answers the phone likely will not understand the question or know where to find the information.

You may be able to find out here. The MCC determines the bonus:

https://www.visa.com/supplierlocator/search/index.jsp
Also, it's very possible that a merchant will have different MCCs depending on the card network. Unfortunately I don't recall how to look up the MC/AmEx ones at the moment.
tmiw is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2017, 12:13 pm
  #3710  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,904
It's possible to ask Barclay's to allow a purchase to count as travel if it doesn't code right, if it's reasonable. I've only done that once.
rrgg is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2017, 5:42 pm
  #3711  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,605
Originally Posted by shanna135
Is there anyway to know if charges on my arrival plus card will code as travel so I can use points to pay? I've read the list in the Wiki but it seems to be a crap shoot. Snorleling in Belize coded as travel but not whale watching in Maui. Thanks for any help.


A lot of times you can buy tours, etc through your hotel. Those should always code as travel and be on your bill at checkout
flyer4512 is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2017, 6:31 pm
  #3712  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: All of them
Posts: 1,664
Originally Posted by shanna135
Is there anyway of checking if a tour or hotel will code as traveling for using Barclay Arrival + points. I've read the Wiki list. For me snorkeling in Belize counted but a whale watch in Maui didn't. Called Barclay and they couldn't help. Do you call the tour company? Thanks for any insights.
You could always book a $100+ hotel somewhere and then oh so conveniently cancel your plans and get it refunded.
littlewinglet is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2017, 12:54 pm
  #3713  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: SPG, Hyatt Diamond Member, Club Calrson Silver, AA, Hilton Gold, BA
Posts: 476
This may be a very dumb question so I apologize in advance. I don't see it on the wiki but if I purchase a flight on Alaska air or Hawaiian air, can I redeem my 50k towards those purchases? Or is it only on the wiki?
livestrongforever is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2017, 1:07 pm
  #3714  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,904
Originally Posted by livestrongforever
This may be a very dumb question so I apologize in advance. I don't see it on the wiki but if I purchase a flight on Alaska air or Hawaiian air, can I redeem my 50k towards those purchases? Or is it only on the wiki?
That will work. If for some reason a clearly qualifying purchase like that does not work you can have it done manually by phone.
rrgg is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2017, 8:42 pm
  #3715  
 
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.
madbrain is offline  
Old Mar 27, 2017, 12:29 pm
  #3716  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 728
how long did it take for your card to arrive? getting ready to leave next week for a trip and it has been 10 days already.
g8trgr8t is offline  
Old Mar 27, 2017, 2:18 pm
  #3717  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: MDT
Programs: DL, AA
Posts: 390
I applied for mine on March 16th and it came on either March 22nd or 23rd. Seems like yours should come this week. Might want to give them a call and make sure it's been mailed.
mh1361 is offline  
Old Mar 27, 2017, 4:11 pm
  #3718  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 728
Originally Posted by mh1361
I applied for mine on March 16th and it came on either March 22nd or 23rd. Seems like yours should come this week. Might want to give them a call and make sure it's been mailed.
thanks
g8trgr8t is offline  
Old Mar 27, 2017, 7:30 pm
  #3719  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: Hyatt Glb, MR Plat
Posts: 2,577
Do the points transfer over if downgrading to the no fee Arrival card? And does the redemption rate stay the same for travel credit 1:1? TIA
frudd38 is offline  
Old Mar 28, 2017, 11:04 am
  #3720  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,421
Originally Posted by rrgg
It's possible to ask Barclay's to allow a purchase to count as travel if it doesn't code right, if it's reasonable. I've only done that once.
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.


Originally Posted by littlewinglet
You could always book a $100+ hotel somewhere and then oh so conveniently cancel your plans and get it refunded.
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?
iahphx is online now  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.