Barclays Arrival+ - What's the Ideal Plan if not Keeping?

K

knick1959

Level 2 Member
I was going to append to the existing Barclay's thread, but this is really a different topic.

I have read some misc stuff about how to approach this, and how Barclays shot themselves in the foot by reducing the rebate on used points from 10% to 5%. It was time to get this card again for myself and my wife's first, so now we have 2 cards and I'm trying to get the most out of it.

I propose that the best plan to maximize the bonus in order to then sock-drawer the card requires $3750 in spend. In that amount you need 6x$100 units of travel spend that can be reimbursed. Does anyone else figure this differently or have a different plan?

If I spend the $3k MSR to get 50k points, I should get an additional 6k points (2x spend). If in that $3k spend was a $500+ travel charge, I should be able to apply my points to that charge and get $500 credited. Right?

With applying 50k points to my bill I should get 2500 points as a rebate (5%). Add in the 6k points from the MSR and my balance is 8500 points. I can't leave $85 on the table and I need $15 in points to apply for another travel credit. I need to spend $750 more on the card to get the 1500 points required. Result is a $100 travel credit becoming available. Best if there is a $100 travel charge in that $750 spend OR still in the claim window from the original $3k spend. Spending $750 to get an additional $100 makes much sense to me.

This is my plan and how I hope it actually works!

Now, applying that $100 credit to my statement, the 5% rebate adds 500 points to my account. I can live with leaving $5 on the table.

Thoughts?
 
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Ian

Ian

Level 2 Member
that sounds fine, but keep in mind the original redemption doesnt HAVE TO be 50K. you can do a lesser amount. You could do 48.4K get 5% and then do 10K (min)
 
K

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Ian said:
that sounds fine, but keep in mind the original redemption doesnt HAVE TO be 50K. you can do a lesser amount. You could do 48.4K get 5% and then do 10K (min)
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Perfect! I needed you a month ago. Where were you?

That might actually be better (I'll have to think about it w/spreadsheet open, later), but the $3750 plan worked well enough. Your idea is certainly a great alternative.

The one caveat might be that, when redeeming points, Barclay's gives you a number of options to choose from. Would one of those include rebating $484 on a purchase greater than that? I don't remember what I was offered so I don't recall the pattern.
 
K

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Thinking about it more, I still think the $3750 plan is the best scheme to maximize. For the additional $750 in spend you get $100 in travel credits. Seems like a deal to me.

Using the minimal scheme @Ian just proposed, it is based on the least required spend, so spend $3k and get $500 in rebates. But spend $3750 and get $600.
 
dockers

dockers

Level 2 Member
italdesign

italdesign

Level 2 Member
Ian said:
I think it WAS 25 but changed to 100 a year or 2 back
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I meant when you have a $500 travel expense, IIRC it gives you reimbursement options in $25 increments. Don't have any expense to test right now but I believe the interval is $25, no?
 
Ian

Ian

Level 2 Member
dockers said:
Here's a Google Doc that lets you maximize your A+ exit strategy:


Direct link: https://docs.googleDOTcom/spreadsheets/d/13_fnTVgEBg6JChitojAea9bJYqch-swfiZ57O7lPj1o/edit?usp=sharing

If you want to edit the spreadsheet, copy the direct link, change the "DOT" to ".", and make a copy of the document to your Google Drive.

I can't take credit for it - found it somewhere in the ether of the internet. But it's been super useful to max out my A+ redemptions and not leave orphan points.
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that is awesome. thanks!
 
J

Josh F

Level 2 Member
Charity Forum Mod
italdesign said:
I meant when you have a $500 travel expense, IIRC it gives you reimbursement options in $25 increments. Don't have any expense to test right now but I believe the interval is $25, no?
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IIRC it used to be $25, but is now $100. This used to be a very popular card to keep long-term IMO, but isn't worth the annual fee anymore.
 
currid7

currid7

Level 2 Member
Josh F said:
IIRC it used to be $25, but is now $100. This used to be a very popular card to keep long-term IMO, but isn't worth the annual fee anymore.
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This is correct. A while back, they nerfed benefits, mainly the $25 redemption minimum bumped to $100. Those that had the $25 were grandfathered in I believe, but unfortunately it was never high up on my list. Now I have it and can confirm that to redeem, the charge must have been >$100. Which sucks, because what churner worth his weight is going to have a single travel charge greater than $100? Best use so far was a $200 fancy fancy dinner we had at Intercontinental Hong Kong I booked to the room, then paid with Arrival+. Hotel charge counted as travel.

As for the plan, my plan is at the 6 month mark, PC to Barclay Reward (hopefully the 10k pt offer is still there), apply for another A+, rinse repeat. I'll be doing the same thing with the 40k Venture offer hopefully (greater flexibility makes up for less points in my mind). Most of our non-point expenses are $40-60, so the Venture wins.
 
K

knick1959

Level 2 Member
currid7 said:
This is correct. A while back, they nerfed benefits, mainly the $25 redemption minimum bumped to $100. Those that had the $25 were grandfathered in I believe, but unfortunately it was never high up on my list. Now I have it and can confirm that to redeem, the charge must have been >$100. Which sucks, because what churner worth his weight is going to have a single travel charge greater than $100? Best use so far was a $200 fancy fancy dinner we had at Intercontinental Hong Kong I booked to the room, then paid with Arrival+. Hotel charge counted as travel.

As for the plan, my plan is at the 6 month mark, PC to Barclay Reward (hopefully the 10k pt offer is still there), apply for another A+, rinse repeat. I'll be doing the same thing with the 40k Venture offer hopefully (greater flexibility makes up for less points in my mind). Most of our non-point expenses are $40-60, so the Venture wins.
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Really? You don't regularly spend more that $100 on travel here and there? I do as much as I can "for free", but still. Just got back from Utah and 3 National Parks - Moab and Torrey as base cities. Moab had an overpriced Holiday Inn (and no other chains), but we paid for the Inka Inn ... exquisite reviews on TripAdvisor. A paid stay. Torrey, UT had way fewer options; no chain hotels - paid for 3 nights in another small but excellent non-chain place. For us it's common to need to stay in a place that has no point options.

This happens with flights, too. We go to South Africa(+) in September, flying in J with points back and forth. But while a couple of our flights between points in Africa (Cape Town to JNB, JNB to Zambia(LVI), LVI back to JNB) did have awards available they were excessively priced. From memory 30k United miles or $220 (think the award was in J, but the flight was so short). We opted to pay. In fact, most of our Barclay's rebates were applied to flights and hotels in Africa.

I'm not arguing that it sucks that Barclay's changed the rules. I do think that it isn't all that hard for travel hackers to find $100 charges for rebate. I will always have more to learn about this miles/points stuff, but at this time I still have times where it pays to pay cash :). I'm still playing the game if that cash outlay is paid back to me.

My Barclay Arrival+ plan has been executed and I'm waiting for the next fee to cancel. I have $5 in points that will be wasted and I somehow managed to get my wife's card up to $12 in points. We'll waste those, too. We'll shoot for our third set sometime in the future, once Barclays forgets about us. You applied for a new card shortly after PC'ing? That's an interesting idea.
 
currid7

currid7

Level 2 Member
knick1959 said:
Really? You don't regularly spend more that $100 on travel here and there? I do as much as I can "for free", but still. Just got back from Utah and 3 National Parks - Moab and Torrey as base cities. Moab had an overpriced Holiday Inn (and no other chains), but we paid for the Inka Inn ... exquisite reviews on TripAdvisor. A paid stay. Torrey, UT had way fewer options; no chain hotels - paid for 3 nights in another small but excellent non-chain place. For us it's common to need to stay in a place that has no point options.

This happens with flights, too. We go to South Africa(+) in September, flying in J with points back and forth. But while a couple of our flights between points in Africa (Cape Town to JNB, JNB to Zambia(LVI), LVI back to JNB) did have awards available they were excessively priced. From memory 30k United miles or $220 (think the award was in J, but the flight was so short). We opted to pay. In fact, most of our Barclay's rebates were applied to flights and hotels in Africa.

I'm not arguing that it sucks that Barclay's changed the rules. I do think that it isn't all that hard for travel hackers to find $100 charges for rebate. I will always have more to learn about this miles/points stuff, but at this time I still have times where it pays to pay cash :). I'm still playing the game if that cash outlay is paid back to me.

My Barclay Arrival+ plan has been executed and I'm waiting for the next fee to cancel. I have $5 in points that will be wasted and I somehow managed to get my wife's card up to $12 in points. We'll waste those, too. We'll shoot for our third set sometime in the future, once Barclays forgets about us. You applied for a new card shortly after PC'ing? That's an interesting idea.
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We have some random charges, but they never work out to individually >$100. We had to get small positioning flights with United, $73 each. We had booking fees on AS redemption, $80 each. We're doing Machu Picchu for Labor Day and staying in random hotels.com bookings, but each one is 1 night each, $40-50. Even in Tokyo, our shinkansen tickets ended up as 2 separate transactions!!! Whenever we need to rent a car, it always ends up around $90. I actually had one for $99.60!

We'll use the points, don't get me wrong haha. Also, for flights I'm getting better value with the Wells Fargo GoFar points and the 1.5x redemption on flights.
 
K

knick1959

Level 2 Member
currid7 said:
We have some random charges, but they never work out to individually >$100. We had to get small positioning flights with United, $73 each. We had booking fees on AS redemption, $80 each. We're doing Machu Picchu for Labor Day and staying in random hotels.com bookings, but each one is 1 night each, $40-50. Even in Tokyo, our shinkansen tickets ended up as 2 separate transactions!!! Whenever we need to rent a car, it always ends up around $90. I actually had one for $99.60!

We'll use the points, don't get me wrong haha. Also, for flights I'm getting better value with the Wells Fargo GoFar points and the 1.5x redemption on flights.
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Interesting. Yes, sometimes the total doesn't go over $100. I don't seem to have that problem often. I wish I did! I should get you to book for me :).

Where are you staying at MP? Somewhere in Aguas Callientes? We stayed at a noisy place there a couple of years back (May 2015) but for 2 nights; not sure what I paid but my trip report would have it (checking, it was $190 for 2 nights at the Hatun Samay). MP is such a hit or miss place with the clouds ... hope you get the full picture on your day!

One of the reasons we applied for the A+ cards when we did was because I knew we'd have some rebate-able cash outlays. And it worked out.

I'll ask again, as the last one was lost in my ton of text. You have successfully PC'd an A+ down to a different card and reapplied soon after, with success? Thanks.
 
currid7

currid7

Level 2 Member
We have a packed itinerary for sure! We land early Thurs AM (5:30) and are getting all the way to AC, spending the night there, then doing MP the next day. In the afternoon, we'll head to Cusco and spend 1 night there. Half a day in Cusco, then to Lima for a night. Sunday we'll head to Huacachina to see the oasis, back to Lima to crash, then fly out early Monday AM. In AC, we're in Marco Wasi. We'll basically be backpacking and just crashing. Thanks for the well wishes!

This is my first round on the Arrival+ so I have not down the downgrade churn. I'm hoping to do it in July. I read lots of positive DPs on Reddit though.
 
Suzie

Suzie

Level 2 Member
currid7 said:
We have some random charges, but they never work out to individually >$100. We had to get small positioning flights with United, $73 each. We had booking fees on AS redemption, $80 each. We're doing Machu Picchu for Labor Day and staying in random hotels.com bookings, but each one is 1 night each, $40-50. Even in Tokyo, our shinkansen tickets ended up as 2 separate transactions!!! Whenever we need to rent a car, it always ends up around $90. I actually had one for $99.60!

We'll use the points, don't get me wrong haha. Also, for flights I'm getting better value with the Wells Fargo GoFar points and the 1.5x redemption on flights.
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If you paid for the $73 each as one charge - I believe that will count as $146 and able to use A+ points. When we pay taxes/fees on flights they come through as one transaction.
 
currid7

currid7

Level 2 Member
Suzie said:
If you paid for the $73 each as one charge - I believe that will count as $146 and able to use A+ points. When we pay taxes/fees on flights they come through as one transaction.
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No, United charged me twice (2 separate $73 tickets). Barclay could not make an exception. Can't redeem against them.
 
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