Keeping the Arrival+? (vs. Downgrade)

[El Turk]

With the Citi DC in the mix, the way I see it is figuring out whether you get enough out of the .2% to justify the AF. I do. First off, it's mostly irrelevant--to me--that Arrival points need to be redeemed for travel. I use Arrival points to pay for my monthly subway pass and cabs. So it's the same thing as cash back.

As for putting enough spend on the card to get the .2%? I put roughly 10K a month online MS on the card (which I can't use Amex for, and wouldn't normally get a bonus for) so I definitely come out ahead, there.

Finally, unlike Citi, Barclays gives you AU cards with different account numbers. So you can easily use it with multiple Serve accounts.

 

[knick1959]

I went looking for this thread specifically because I just got off the phone with Barclays. I had just started reusing this card (after somewhat reluctantly focusing on the United card bonus AND meeting spend on quite a few other cards). But then the fee showed up, and I realized this wasn't sitting well with me. Not with as little that I did use the card. So I paid off my full balance, less the $89 and waited for it to post.

Last night I sent a secure message asking if there was any chance that I could get the fee waived. I did pile on the praise for the card, noting my recent activity. The message was answered with a "I need to call in" message to "explore my options". So I did that just a short while ago.

The CSR was very nice and gave me a chance to downgrade to 2 other cards. These were my only options. Unfortunately (for them) gas, groceries and dining are already covered by other cards and the 1 point for all other spending was a non-starter. So, I apologized and told him I was going to have to reluctantly cancel.

Suddenly, he talked about my flawless payment history (for a year, and only 3-4 months of real activity!) and did a couple of more clicks on the computer. Success! He waived the fee. I had read that it was pretty impossible. Not so! I do believe my recent activity helped (about $1500 in the last 5-6 weeks). Certainly the praise and readiness to consider another card also helped, but ultimately it was my firmness about canceling, however "reluctantly". I would have, too.

I had also thought about canceling and later reapplying. Works with the US Air card (on my third in the last couple of years). However, I have other cards on my near-term plan, including one of these for my wife. Once she's in, I will probably cancel this one mid-year, then reschedule it for another try later. It's great to be able to play tag-team! In the meantime, I can still get 2.2% on otherwise unbonused spend. I've considered also doing some MS with this, we'll see. I have up to another year to see if it fits into my scheme long-term.

 

[Annie H.]

Thanks for this. I just posted a question about the Arrival+ fee for my SO--fee posted about 3 weeks ago- in another thread since I couldn't find this one, sigh. I thought I copied it before I deleted it but nope.
Spend ratio is about 30/70 for real/MS and he's also recently had a lot of use. In fact, I just paid down a $5K balance. Unfortunately, the Arrival+ is a performer for him and at the current time it's the main workhorse in his CC portfolio so a threat to cancel would be difficult to follow through on. What did you use as your reason to cancel--other cards better, don't want to pay fee?
We each have two Barclay cards--Arrival+ and US Air and I've always had a hard time w/Barclays. My Arrival+ was auto converted from a Virgin US card and when I appealed to Barclays for some miles so I wouldn't have to cancel and reapply to get bonus they essentially said, "go ahead." I didn't get the new Chip card, have called several times, they've promised to send it and I haven't received one. SO did get the new chip card. They've kept me on a tight leash w/CL despite an 800+ FICO and I had to move credit from Arrival+ to US Air to meet signup and now moved it back again. Guess I should move more before my US Air gets auto-converted!

I'm also curious if a request like this to Retention Dept. puts more eyes on the card w/regard to MS activities?

 

[knick1959]

What did you use as your reason to cancel--other cards better, don't want to pay fee?

I simply told them that I didn't want to pay the fee. It offset too much of the reward points to make it worth my while.

I've NEVER been able to get the fee waived on the US Air card. Last time, tho, I called to cancel AFTER my bonus 10k miles posted, and they never came back to take them ... but did credit the fee.

I'm also curious if a request like this to Retention Dept. puts more eyes on the card w/regard to MS activities?

I first did the secure message. They provided a number to call, but from the voice menu prompts, it didn't seem like it was a special number at all. In fact, none of the options was for what I needed (I hate that). So I pressed ZERO, which has only ever not worked once. This time it worked great!

It is a gamble. I really thought I was going to have to cancel, and that's what got the fee waived.

 

[Annie H.]

It is a gamble. I really thought I was going to have to cancel, and that's what got the fee waived.

I'm going to *think* he has to cancel and maybe his fee will get waived also . Mood he's in right now, almost worth $89 to not have to talk to him about it. He's back to hating MS. I suppose if they don't offer to waive it he could say he had to talk to the "little" woman.

 

[gmenrule]

I just let my Arrival + and US air cards go since my SO has them ( also Cap one!).
We really don't need 2...I'll try the 6 month wait...

 

[glocklt4]

Anyone know if it's possible to downgrade to Arrival+ to Arrival anymore? Wife called about annual fee last month and was told downgrade was not an option. I'm not sure how much she pushed them though.

 

[currid7]

S

Anyone know if it's possible to downgrade to Arrival+ to Arrival anymore? Wife called about annual fee last month and was told downgrade was not an option. I'm not sure how much she pushed them though.

Should be possible, DPs all over Reddit on it. Actually, lots of them about PCing to another card, WITH a $100 spend bonus, I forget which. If you want to churn it, don't downgrade, the non-Plus version counts as Plus and you can't get a 2nd Arrival+. Might as well PC to something different (no fee) then you can churn if you like.

 

[glocklt4]

Thanks!

 

[kurt9769]

I downgraded my Arrival+ card to an Arrival card a few years ago, and was curious to see if I could then product change it to anything a bit more useful. I called Barclays and tried to see if they would let me change it into a Sallie Mae card, but they told me it wasn't possible. I asked if there was anything else I could change it to, but no luck.

My thinking was that since the Sallie Mae card offers a 25% bonus on using points to pay any student loans, it would be an excellent way to redeem vs. the 5% travel redemption bonus on the Arrival+. If you had a significant amount of Arrival points and wanted to downgrade to avoid the fee, and you could PC to the Sallie Mae card, AND you could keep your points, it would be a way to make the card more valuable. If I had a Arrival+ to convert I'd definitely try, and I'd love to see some data points as to whether it's possible.

 

[mec]

I know a lot of people are down on this card because it doesn't make sense over the long term and it is a straight forward redemption that you can't really pull any extra value out of. I think this card (and others like it) do have a window of potential because of the sign up bonus and because they are so much more flexible than points cards are generally. I look at a card like the Arrival and think "If I MS 25k on this card at a cost of ~$285 I'll be able to redeem it for $1,000 towards a room on the high or low end that can't be had through points because Chase or Navy or whoever doesn't show the availability... and then have another $50 credit to throw at something else. If you can manage to do that and redeem before the fee comes due you're getting a 73% discount on your redemptions, and if you do take it into the first fee you are still getting a 64% discount. That kind of flexibility can really open up some options that might improve your trip pretty dramatically.

Beyond that kind of approach, I don't see how the card makes sense in the age of the Alliant 2.5% card or other free 2% cards.