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
Apr 21, 2019, 9:52 pm
#4231
Join Date: May 2011
Programs: AA, SPG, HERTZ, BA, UA, CO, JB
Posts: 289
I've had the card for a month and so far, I'm not all that impressed with their customer service.
- Attempted to add my card to Google Pay right after activating it. I was required to call in (which is a bit annoying, but fine). After a fair bit of time on hold I finally got a live person that asked me security questions from public records...who then got someone else on the line to ask me a different set of security questions. Fortunately, the first person was then able to activate the virtual card after that. Total time on the phone: 22 minutes.
- A large purchase at Home Depot resulted in a "please call us" message on their online banking. I spent 30 minutes on hold before getting someone who was able to clear the fraud flag on my account. Fraud is one of those things you'd think would have a low wait time (if nothing else, to reduce their fraud losses due to delays).
- Tried to use Google Pay at my work's cafeteria yesterday and it declined. Later, when I called Barclaycard to ask if my account has any issues, they couldn't see any transactions from that morning and claimed that it declined "on the merchant's end". This despite the Google Pay app actually showing the transaction with the word "declined" next to it and the Barclaycard mobile app sending me a declined transaction push notification later that day.
Agreed. Between the crazy wait time whenever I need to ask a question and the $100 min requirement for redemptions. This card is gone.
Apr 26, 2019, 4:17 am
#4232
Join Date: May 2011
Programs: AA, SPG, HERTZ, BA, UA, CO, JB
Posts: 289
Legoland California codes as restaurant
So my original Legoland passes shows up as theme parks so it's no go for redemption.
I just got my remaining hotel bill at
Legoland California posted as restaurant even though there was resort fee that was part of it.
Legoland Hotel
Eating Places, Restaurants
I hate these guessing games.
I just got my remaining hotel bill at
Legoland California posted as restaurant even though there was resort fee that was part of it.
Legoland Hotel
Eating Places, Restaurants
I hate these guessing games.
Apr 30, 2019, 10:22 am
#4233
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 89
I don't know if this is the right place to ask, but I have a question about barclay arrival plus and airbnb. I need to book an airbnb stay for about $1000. I will have 100k barclay miles. I heard that some airbnb transactions don't count as "travel" for barclay, is this true or is it just a rumor? I really wouldn't be spending the $1000 myself, so I don't want to book it and then have barclay fall through. If it helps, my airbnb stay will be in Russia.
May 2, 2019, 5:32 pm
#4234
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,605
I have had several Arrival cards over the past few years and I always seem to mess up at the end and not get maximum value.
I have ~ 32,000 ($320) Arrival points, we are going to Vegas this month and I also have a WN flight that goes on sale 5/29 where my Luv vouchers won't cover the entire price of the flight plus we have to fees to Dominican and I want EBCI.
Is it best to charge say $200 for our Vegas trip on the Arrival and then have the 5% rebate leave me with over 12,500 ( $125) Arrival points left to use towards the WN flight ?
I seem to remember if you had a charge for say $250 and less than $125 worth of Arrival points that you could only redeem $100 towards the $250 charge but if I had $125 in Arrival points I could redeem $125 towards the $250
Any help would be great, thanks
I have ~ 32,000 ($320) Arrival points, we are going to Vegas this month and I also have a WN flight that goes on sale 5/29 where my Luv vouchers won't cover the entire price of the flight plus we have to fees to Dominican and I want EBCI.
Is it best to charge say $200 for our Vegas trip on the Arrival and then have the 5% rebate leave me with over 12,500 ( $125) Arrival points left to use towards the WN flight ?
I seem to remember if you had a charge for say $250 and less than $125 worth of Arrival points that you could only redeem $100 towards the $250 charge but if I had $125 in Arrival points I could redeem $125 towards the $250
Any help would be great, thanks
Last edited by flyer4512; May 2, 2019 at 5:38 pm
May 8, 2019, 1:47 pm
#4235
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Boulder
Programs: AA Plat, CX Silver
Posts: 2,361
Just got the pending-but-instant-decline on this one. Probably for being over 6/24.
May 10, 2019, 11:53 am
#4236
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,784
Does Barclays have a 6/24 rule now? Nothing in the wiki about that. I haven't been paying attention to any Barclays threads for awhile, but am tempted by the current Radisson cc offer. But forget about 6/24, I'm typically at least 6/6. No point in getting another HP if it's an auto-decline.
May 10, 2019, 2:20 pm
#4237
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Boulder
Programs: AA Plat, CX Silver
Posts: 2,361
Does Barclays have a 6/24 rule now? Nothing in the wiki about that. I haven't been paying attention to any Barclays threads for awhile, but am tempted by the current Radisson cc offer. But forget about 6/24, I'm typically at least 6/6. No point in getting another HP if it's an auto-decline.
May 12, 2019, 2:55 pm
#4238
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,784
Thanks. It really doesn't matter if it's 5/24, or 6/24, since with my Citi apps I'm almost always at 6/6, aka 24/24. I've been an instant approval with all of my Barclays apps, (6 or so), but the last one was a couple of years back. Sounds like I can just ignore Barclays apps at this point. A bit too bad, since I'd like to get a Radisson card, and the new Hawaiian card. But absolutely not enough to stop applying for the next 24 months, which is a decision I'd already made re Chase.
May 12, 2019, 3:44 pm
#4239
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 2,028
My wife and I were both approved for our 2nd and 3rd A+ cards a couple of months ago and we are both roughly 25/24. Not sure what to make of it but clearly there is not a hard 6/24 rule for Barclays like Chase.
May 12, 2019, 6:21 pm
#4240
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,257
could it be bc you dont have many new cards in recent months? (ie most of your cards were procured more than 1 yr or 1.5 yrs ago)
May 12, 2019, 6:34 pm
#4241
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 2,028
May 12, 2019, 7:49 pm
#4243
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 2,028
May 13, 2019, 3:01 pm
#4244
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,784
I guess I'll give them a try then. Worst thing that can happen is my HP record goes from 6/6 to 7/6.
As we used to say in Junior High "Anything that's worth a try, is worth a try".
May 15, 2019, 11:14 am
#4245
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 3
Data point -- Airbnb gift card via MPX
I just created this account and so can't edit the wiki. I'd appreciate if someone else added the info, as it isn't available anywhere I can find online.
5/13/19 Purchased $100 gift card for Airbnb via MPX app on my phone, charged to my Arrival+.
It showed up a few days later as merchant category: "LODGING HOTELS, MOTELS AND RESORTS"
Just redeemed 10K miles as a travel credit.
I received 200 United miles for using MPX for this purchase.
This is a big deal for me, because I'm not planning on travelling this year, but Airbnb gift card credit does not expire. The only downside is that you can't use gift card credit on Airbnb for reservations longer than 28 days.
5/13/19 Purchased $100 gift card for Airbnb via MPX app on my phone, charged to my Arrival+.
It showed up a few days later as merchant category: "LODGING HOTELS, MOTELS AND RESORTS"
Just redeemed 10K miles as a travel credit.
I received 200 United miles for using MPX for this purchase.
This is a big deal for me, because I'm not planning on travelling this year, but Airbnb gift card credit does not expire. The only downside is that you can't use gift card credit on Airbnb for reservations longer than 28 days.