Understanding the 2.22% of the Arrival+

[Dangjr213]

So....I actually don't have the BarclayArrival card, I know I know, but I do have the Capital One Venture and it seems that they both work pretty similarly when it comes to "writing off" or "erasing" expenses. There is a way with capital one to actually get 2% cb on ALL your purchases and not just on travel; I guess really it's a glitch. I wonder if it would work with the arrival card as well.

I think you are talking about the fact that capital one lets you redeem the same expense over and over, thus allowing you to use all your points, correct? If so you cannot do that with the arrival card as the charge dissapears from your list of eligible redemptions even if you've only reddened for partial credit.

 

[Marc]

As a matter of reference, I tried to use the card to be reimbursed for the NYC Airporter but was unable to do so.

 

[smittytabb]

I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem booking award tickets. I used chase ultimate rewards to book 5 flights on Southwest. I did this all together. I used my Arrival card to pay the fees. When I got my statement, instead of a $50 charge, each ticket fee of $10 posted individually. So far, I've been unsuccessful redeeming this charge, but I'm going to try again.

My understanding is that there is $25 minimum in order to redeem a travel charge. Since they charge individually, I am not sure how it would work to redeem.

 

[chrisflyer]

I've heard this talk of them being worth more than 2.22% but I don't immediately see it - I'm happy for someone to explain it but the way I see it:

Spend 100x $100 transactions (Tr) - Earn $200 (2%)

Then from your line items:

Tr1 $100-$100= 0 Earn $10 Balance $110
Tr2 $100-100= 0 Earn $10 Balance $20
Tr3 $100-20= 80 Earn $2 Balance $2
Tr4 $100-2 = 98 Earn $0.20 Balance 0.20
Tr5 $100- 20 cents... and then it becomes silly thereafter...

I can't see it being more than 2.22% - but maybe I am not the best at this, happy to be proven wrong.

I'm not a fan of milevalue, and I don't agree with his logic, but in this blog post he explains why he thinks they are worth 2.28%:
http://milevalue.com/barclaycard-arrival-world-mastercard-are-worth-1-14-cents-each-because-of-this-one-quirk/

 

[Matt]

I'm not a fan of milevalue, and I don't agree with his logic, but in this blog post he explains why he thinks they are worth 2.28%:
http://milevalue.com/barclaycard-arrival-world-mastercard-are-worth-1-14-cents-each-because-of-this-one-quirk/

Without reading it I think it's already covered- the whole, you earn on the booking vs a non earning redemption.

It's incorrect. The correct math is that all the supposed 2% cards are actually less than 2% but that all goes to hell in a hand basket when you factor in txf partners and variable pricing.

MV is one of the more talented pimps (I use the term fondly) out there, I don't read his stuff but when I click a link it's typically not too shabby- only thing I dislike is everything seems written to convert, rather than the love of the game.

 

[chrisflyer]

Without reading it I think it's already covered- the whole, you earn on the booking vs a non earning redemption.

It's incorrect. The correct math is that all the supposed 2% cards are actually less than 2% but that all goes to hell in a hand basket when you factor in txf partners and variable pricing.

MV is one of the more talented pimps (I use the term fondly) out there, I don't read his stuff but when I click a link it's typically not too shabby- only thing I dislike is everything seems written to convert, rather than the love of the game.

I agree. You still earn Barclays points on the purchase when you use rewards to pay for it. And if it is for an airline or hotel, then you'd earn airline/hotel points on top of that. With a miles earning card you earn airline miles but do not earn credit card points or additional airline miles on the redemption. This is definitely worth keeping in mind, but I agree with you that it doesn't make the points worth more than 2.22. Using Milevalue's logic, a hundred dollar bill is worth more than $100 because you'd earn miles/points if you buy $100 worth of travel with it.

 

[Trevor]

I was just redeeming some miles for my travel purchases and noticed something...It seems that you can only redeem even dollar amounts. For example, I have a purchase that totaled $27.10. If I wanted to cover the entire amount, I had to use 2,800 points. It should be 2710, so I would be wasting 90 miles. This isn't a huge deal, but still worth noting. In the example below, my redemption rate would be .967 cents per point (instead of 1 cent/point). I chose to redeem for a $25 statement credit instead.

 

[LowHassleMS]

Using Milevalue's logic, a hundred dollar bill is worth more than $100 because you'd earn miles/points if you buy $100 worth of travel with it.

I love the way you put it.

another fallacy people commit is when you get miles in a promotion. Let's say you value miles at 2 CPM and due to some promotion you get 25k miles for a $500 booking. Many bloggers like to say it's a 100% rebate but I like to think that as $1000 worth of flights for $500 out of pocket.

This extends to all miles and points. Miles and points haven't really reduced my cost of travel, they have enabled me to travel more for the same out of pocket as before.

 

[chrisflyer]

I was just redeeming some miles for my travel purchases and noticed something...It seems that you can only redeem even dollar amounts. For example, I have a purchase that totaled $27.10. If I wanted to cover the entire amount, I had to use 2,800 points. It should be 2710, so I would be wasting 90 miles. This isn't a huge deal, but still worth noting. In the example below, my redemption rate would be .967 cents per point (instead of 1 cent/point). I chose to redeem for a $25 statement credit instead.

View attachment 217

I've seen a lot of people complain about that on other forums, but the lost pennies don't really bother me. I just wonder why Barclays does it like that.

 

[TheBOSman]

I've seen a lot of people complain about that on other forums, but the lost pennies don't really bother me. I just wonder why Barclays does it like that.

I usually just redeem for the dollar amount. If it was, say, $106.72, I redeem for whatever the highest amount is that doesn't involve the pennies. Lost pennies usually don't bother me either, but for me I blow throw Arrival points like candy, and it is a pretty simple step to just redeem for the even amount. The amount is simply too small to complain much about though, that time complaining should be spent getting more Arrival points

 

[Skywardbd]

So....I actually don't have the BarclayArrival card, I know I know, but I do have the Capital One Venture and it seems that they both work pretty similarly when it comes to "writing off" or "erasing" expenses. There is a way with capital one to actually get 2% cb on ALL your purchases and not just on travel; I guess really it's a glitch. I wonder if it would work with the arrival card as well.

Could you elaborate on that, either on this forum or via DM? I have that Capital One card and don't know that trick! Thanks!

 

[zceuxbhjutf]

I don't have the card but I think it's a good one to consider applying for if your next trip is fast approaching and you don't have time to get air miles and hotel points into your account from say a new "normal" card/promo. Then when your trip is complete, you know exactly how many AGCs (or something) you should MS.

 

[Annie H.]

I need a strategy for Barclay. I have an "old" Barclay Arrival that wasn't upgraded. This was auto-converted this spring from a Virgin Air when Barclay's stopped doing Virgin's card. When that happened I called in an tried to get some miles but nothing was offered. (this was before I knew how hard Barclay's is). I have a $2500 charge I would like to put on the card (although it can go on my SOs Arrival +) and I'd like to call in again to try for bonus miles.
Do you think I have a chance? Should I call prior to the charge or right after?

2) SOs annual fee is coming up. To help in negotiations should he ask before or after the $2500 charge?? (we need to charge a total of $5K direct to the facility, no points, portals or anything allowed, and Barclay is the only thing I can figure to get us more than 1/1.)

We've never redeemed points against travel (mainly because we haven't traveled for a couple years). If I have 20,000 points before the statement cuts can I just pay down the bill to a balance of $200 and use the points?

 

[Matt]

I need a strategy for Barclay. I have an "old" Barclay Arrival that wasn't upgraded. This was auto-converted this spring from a Virgin Air when Barclay's stopped doing Virgin's card. When that happened I called in an tried to get some miles but nothing was offered. (this was before I knew how hard Barclay's is). I have a $2500 charge I would like to put on the card (although it can go on my SOs Arrival +) and I'd like to call in again to try for bonus miles.
Do you think I have a chance? Should I call prior to the charge or right after?

2) SOs annual fee is coming up. To help in negotiations should he ask before or after the $2500 charge?? (we need to charge a total of $5K direct to the facility, no points, portals or anything allowed, and Barclay is the only thing I can figure to get us more than 1/1.)

We've never redeemed points against travel (mainly because we haven't traveled for a couple years). If I have 20,000 points before the statement cuts can I just pay down the bill to a balance of $200 and use the points?

Not sure... but you will be more likely to get favorable treatment if you spend a lot with them, so after the charge sounds better.

 

[Weezl]

So many people rave about the Barclay Arrival card...

EDIT: I get it now, it's 2.22% CB



I recently received my Barclay Arrival card that I signed up for with a 40,000 "miles" bonus and "2x miles" for all purchases. Upon finishing my minimum spend, I sought out to use these "miles" and found that what you really get is either a credit towards travel spend (my 40,000 "miles" is good for a $400 credit statement towards any travel-related purchases I made in the past 90 days), or some payouts that equal half that ($200 worth to be exact). There is a 10% bonus added back to your "miles" balance when you choose the 1st option (travel spend credit), so effectively a $400 travel spend credit is like a net cost of 36,000 "miles" to get the $400 cash back (CB).

Based on the above, the most that you can expect from this card is not 2x "miles" (really its 2.2x "miles" given the 10% bonus), but rather you are really only getting 1% CB. And this CB is only for travel expenses (1.1% CB with the 10% bonus).

Apart from the initial 40,000 "miles" ($440 CB, really), and the ongoing 1.1% CB, what is the advantage of this card?

 

[PainCorp]

Why are you applying for cards who's rewards structure you aren't familiar with?

 

[Matt]

Threads merged from post #50

 

[Weezl]

Why are you applying for cards who's rewards structure you aren't familiar with?

I was familiar enough with the $400 credit up front, and really did this as a 2BM with the Barclay US Air card since I wanted to do this sooner than later. I see your concerns though some people are sheep...

I see where I went wrong in my calc's thanks to moving this post to the correct thread. The 2x is indeed 2.22%, my bad. I see now how that is an edge from a basic feature standpoint over other cards.

(BTW how could I have found this thread more easily? I searched barclaycard and the problem is that if there is no recent post [last one was >4 mos ago), it could well be buried on the search results page)

 

[PurpleSquirrel]

btw, you can pay the Annual fee of $89 using reward points. In reality, you need to MS at least $9K per year to break compared to the 1% rewards card.
Less than 9K /year, use the 1% Arrival.
More than 9K/year, use the Arrival+

 

[Matt]

(BTW how could I have found this thread more easily? I searched barclaycard and the problem is that if there is no recent post [last one was >4 mos ago), it could well be buried on the search results page)

When you created the thread did you get a 'suggested similar threads' popup appear

 

[Weezl]

No, I did not see that. I am running NoScript, maybe that is why?

 

[smittytabb]

Quite a discussion of the card here: http://saverocity.com/forum/threads/creative-uses-for-barclay-arrival-travel-redemptions.2467/page-2#post-48777

 

[Weezl]

btw, you can pay the Annual fee of $89 using reward points. In reality, you need to MS at least $9K per year to break compared to the 1% rewards card.
Less than 9K /year, use the 1% Arrival.
More than 9K/year, use the Arrival+

$9K in Arrival+ = $180 in travel spend CB (or $90 in regular CB), but that assumes I keep the card >1 year and have to pay the AF. For new sign-ups, the AF is waived. Based on what I've read, it is possible to churn these cards, so I am not sure that the $9K threshold is right for everyone...

 

[Maria Sangria]

Interesting... my local winery purchase showed up as eligible for travel credit. I'll take it.