The appeal of the Barclays Arrival card?

b_c

New Member
I understand that I'm in the extreme minority but I still don't get the appeal of the Barclays Arrival card. Essentially isn't it just a 2.2% cash back card? I get the flexibility of the card and how it can pay for unconventional travel fees that points don't cover but I still prefer earning miles/points for aspirational travel. And also, after the first year, you would need to spend over $4k just to break even on the cards AF.

Am I looking at this all wrong?
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
It's a yes, and thing. What I mean by this is why not do both? Earn miles and points for aspirational travel and also charge incidental spend on Barclays and deduct it from the bill. I do both and choose which card to use accordingly.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
It's a yes, and thing. What I mean by this is why not do both? Earn miles and points for aspirational travel and also charge incidental spend on Barclays and deduct it from the bill. I do both and choose which card to use accordingly.
Agreed - one cannot live on aspirational travel alone :)

I last used my Arrival card to pay a $600 fee that came with booking an infant into IB J.
 

essenn

Level 2 Member
I understand that I'm in the extreme minority but I still don't get the appeal of the Barclays Arrival card. Essentially isn't it just a 2.2% cash back card? I get the flexibility of the card and how it can pay for unconventional travel fees that points don't cover but I still prefer earning miles/points for aspirational travel. And also, after the first year, you would need to spend over $4k just to break even on the cards AF.

Am I looking at this all wrong?
It is part of the "diversification" process. There are numerous side-by comparisons of different cards in almost every blog. I find some are a bit deceiving because they manipulate the numbers to compare the CB value of this "breed" of card to any affinity card. Yes, an airline or hotel card may get you more than 2.2% value based on the price of the product, but try to convert any of those points (miles) to cash. Not going to happen, right? Yes, the break even after the first year is a spend of $4500 (rounding here), but the earn is still $2 for every $1 plus 10% on the redemption (within the travel categories listed). Until something better comes along that meets my needs, this card is staying with me. And, there-in lies the key. What works for you? This game is personal. One size does not fit all. Hope this helps.
 

bayguy

Level 2 Member
I am adding Barclay points for a Safari to South Africa for next year. Total cost is 4000$ and I paid 30% deposit already. In these situations, Arrival is the go-to card.
 

InstinctX

Level 2 Member
My Barclaycard paid for all my hotel expenses for a recent trip to Italy, as well as cab rides to / from the airport. Now I need to replenish these miles...For my Italy trip, I used UA miles to book the trip. All that I needed to pay out of pocket was for dining out.
 

FlyinFirst

New Member
It's definitely worthy of a sign up for the $440 in travel credit and waiver of the annual fee for the first year. I use it for purchases that don't qualify for category bonuses on other cards. Also heard Barclays regularly waives this AF.
 

ftomasze

New Member
It really is a great card (IMO). Utilizing flexible travel points such as Arrival and/or Venture you set yourself up for extremely cheap travel.

For the Arrival, I always use this card when checking into a hotel. I don't use the hotels co-branded credit card. I charge incidentals back to the room (restaurant, drinks, spa, etc.) and use the travel credit to cover these expenses. This comes in handy in both Las Vegas and Disney World. I also use these points to book flights from time to time (I have WN CP -- if I don't want to burn my points and the flight is cheap I'll book with Arrival also US Air companion tix)

For the Venture I put charges that wouldn't be eligible for reimbursement on the Arrival (charges less than $25) such as WN booking fees, etc.

Each tool is important ;)
 

jjangoo

Level 2 Member
I use UberX a lot, and the Arrival card cuts down on my costs significantly.

Most of my Uber rides were under $25 so charging the ride straight to the card didn't do me any good. But after a little experimenting I learned that Uber gift certificate purchases posted as qualifying transactions, meaning I could redeem Arrival miles for them. So every three weeks or so I buy a $100 Uber gift certificate with my Arrival card. With all my MS costs factored in I get an effective 78.76% discount on my Uber rides.

Are you looking at it all wrong? Maybe, cause I used to think the exact same way too. But once I brought MS into the picture it became way too invaluable to let go.
 

b_c

New Member
I guess that brings up a great point. Are people using this card as an everyday card AND also for MSing?
 

jleey98

Level 2 Member
Used it to complete Hyatt Diamond challenge and for domestic flights. Was very appealing when they were offering 4x on Amex GCs.
For aspirational travel, an interesting play would be to buy Lifemiles with this card when they have 100% bonus for buying points. Unlike other miles purchases, these are not processed by points.com so you can redeem your Lifemiles purchases with Arrival points and essentially earn 1.4 Lifemiles per dollar assuming a cost of 1.6 cents per Lifemile when they have the promotion (more if they start offering Amex GCs through the portal). You could redeem these for Star Alliance travel.
 

jjangoo

Level 2 Member
For aspirational travel, an interesting play would be to buy Lifemiles with this card when they have 100% bonus for buying points.
Can confirm this works. Racking up 90,000 miles for the redemption took a while though. ;)
 

jjangoo

Level 2 Member
You pay for uber rides...? i've used uber and lyft dozens of time and never spent a cent.
I racked up a modest amount of credits from referrals through friends and Google AdWords. I mean sure, those are nice, but that lasted me a month and a half, tops. Maybe if I started a blog and spammed my referral link every month I could make it 100% free. :D

Or hey, maybe you know something I don't know.
 

Mountain Trader

Level 2 Member
Agreed - one cannot live on aspirational travel alone :)

I last used my Arrival card to pay a $600 fee that came with booking an infant into IB J.
Matt-

What's your go-to resource for reliable IB availabilty? Also, anywhere to read their rules on one ways, etc., or find a mileage chart? I poked around for quite a while a few days ago and didn't find much.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Matt-

What's your go-to resource for reliable IB availabilty? Also, anywhere to read their rules on one ways, etc., or find a mileage chart? I poked around for quite a while a few days ago and didn't find much.
Mileage chart for IB metal is the same as BA- distance based.



Though fees are lower - which is the edge here. For space, I tend to go directly to Iberia.com I pretty much would only use IB Avios for IB metal. Am flying them to MAD in Dec, (outbound from an old AA stopover J)returning in Avios J for 40K - they have 2 class service, and J is pretty nice.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
I guess that brings up a great point. Are people using this card as an everyday card AND also for MSing?
We used it as our everyday card when a) there is no minumim spend we're currently working on and b) no other card offers a better bonus. At this time, this is the default card until I get a new minimum spend to meet.

Oh, and this is my second year with the card. I called to cancel, they offered me some unacceptable alternative cards to switch to, and when I said I was still going to have to reluctantly cancel, they waived the fee. I'll have to try this again next year, but no fee this year makes me a happy camper.

I used these miles to pay for a unique hotel in Bath, UK plus some cheaper short-haul AerLingus flights that were too cheap to apply other miles to. They were still "free" without wasting airline miles.

Waiting for some payments to show on our credit reports so I can get one for my wife (activity + hard pulls are a little high for us right now).
 
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bmrisko

New Member
I am planning on signing up for an Arrival card to cover travel expenses that may be localized or not covered by any of the major programs. One thing that comes to mind is the airfare between Tahiti and Bora Bora, which I will redeem the $400 in sign-up credits for next year.

As far as daily use, once I get it into the rotation, I'll evaluate if it is worth using for specific purchases in order to meet a travel goal.
 

jjangoo

Level 2 Member
I use my Boa Travel Rewards for 2.6% back on everything. Isn't Arrival 2.2%?
You're failing to mention that you need to enroll in Preferred Rewards and maintain a balance over 100k. No thanks, I'm happy with 2.2%.

EDIT: Saw your post on free Uber rides. Very interesting. I suggest everyone go read it.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
You're failing to mention that you need to enroll in Preferred Rewards and maintain a balance over 100k. No thanks, I'm happy with 2.2%..
Agreed.

I use my Boa Travel Rewards for 2.6% back on everything. Isn't Arrival 2.2%?
$100,000 in assets to get that rate= at least $1000 per year in lost interest. You'd have to be spending over $250K per year on the BOA card to make that up.
 

zeitgeist

Level 2 Member
That 100k in assets could be a roth ira, brokerage account, anything... which is great since you can get free trades with MerrilEdge.
 

Scotty342

Level 2 Member
I received this email on my Barclay Arrival today and I can't figure out what has changed besides the chip and pin technology. All of the other "upgrades" were items I thought were already included in the card. Am I missing something here?

Scott, you've been selected for an upgrade!¹
You'll soon receive your new card — the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard.® It comes with all the great benefits you get today, and then some. In addition to earning 2X miles for every dollar spent on purchases, and 10% miles back to use toward your next redemption every time you redeem for travel statement credits, you'll also enjoy:
• Chip-card technology, for greater acceptance when you travel abroad
• Exciting benefits as a result of your card upgrade to World Elite status
• Expanded redemption options for travel statement credits including buses, timeshares and more
• 120 days to redeem miles for travel statement credits - that's 30 more days than you previously had!
Your account number won't change, but you will receive a new expiration date. Your new card will come at no additional cost to you.
You'll be delighted with these additional benefits:²
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
You are missing:

• Exciting benefits as a result of your card upgrade to World Elite status
• Expanded redemption options for travel statement credits including buses, timeshares and more
• 120 days to redeem miles for travel statement credits - that's 30 more days than you previously had!
:)
 

Scotty342

Level 2 Member
Nice. I swore the card already had 120 days of redemption expenses and was a World Elite Mastercard (example eligible for the National Car Rental status) but maybe I am crazy.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Nice. I swore the card already had 120 days of redemption expenses and was a World Elite Mastercard (example eligible for the National Car Rental status) but maybe I am crazy.
I'm pretty sure these both came about in the past few months, I'm pretty sure I cringed at a few posts pimping the card afresh with its new super features.
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
Nice. I swore the card already had 120 days of redemption expenses and was a World Elite Mastercard (example eligible for the National Car Rental status) but maybe I am crazy.
I got the same email. Take a look at your card. Mine does not say "elite" even though it is chipped. It also has the MC logo in red and yellow while SO-- an Elite--has a silver logo. Please report back if you are crazy;)
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
That 100k in assets could be a roth ira, brokerage account, anything... which is great since you can get free trades with MerrilEdge.
I'm about to try to trade my Merrill Accolade (annual fee waived for life, useless 1% card) for TA card. Is this possible, any caveats?
 

zeitgeist

Level 2 Member
I'm about to try to trade my Merrill Accolade (annual fee waived for life, useless 1% card) for TA card. Is this possible, any caveats?
I haven't had any and points transferred fine. I PC'd from a Boa PP Cash Rewards.

I've been trying to get my lines from Fidelity/FIA Visa, MC, and Amex moved over but have been unable to.
 

MarkD

Level 2 Member
I need some feedback.

I've been denied for the Barclay's Arrival Plus card in the past due to too many inquiries (March '14). I've been holding off on applying again for any new cards to let some of my inquiries drop off before taking the plunge again with Barclays. My inquiries are down to 6 now from 8 or 9 in the spring. I closed one US Airways card in April '14. (10K CL). I've also been putting some MS and regular spend on another US Airways card I have since late August (anywhere from $200 to $1000 per month). FAKO score is around 750-770.

What do you think my chances of approval are? Apply now? Wait longer?
 
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