Barclay arrival card

[LoveTrains]

Does anyone have this credit card? I'm considering it. 

[cajunmom]

v does, I know. We're getting it.

[gt7301b]

I do, I got it last year when they were running a bonus where I got ~ $400 back. I love how easy it is to earn rewards and then redeem them.

[Deleted]

Yup, got it maybe two months ago. Have already redeemed $341 in hotel fees, and I'm about to redeem $200 more. I'm a big fan so far. Redeeming rewards is incredibly easy and I love the flexibility to book anywhere (at any price) and then get a refund for what I paid.

[lemon]

We have it. Haven't redeemed the signup bonus points yet, but it looks like it will be super easy.

I've liked their security so far. They sent me a new card without asking during the Target security breach debacle. And I booked a hotel online last night that required the full prepayment at the time of booking. Literally 5 seconds after hitting submit, I got an automated phone call from them to verify the charges since it was such a large amount and unusual for me.

[LoveTrains]

Right now I'm seeing a bonus of 40K points after $3,000 spend in the first 90 days. Is that about right? Whta did you all get for sign up bonuses?

[carolinagirl831]

Yes, my husband I got in January. It's super easy to redeem for points for past purchases and they give you back 10% of your purchases towards travel in points
I also have the capitol one venture and I actually like this one better
We got 40,000 points for the sign on bonus - from what I read, this is the best that they do

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2014 10:05:11 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Right now I'm seeing a bonus of 40K points after $3,000 spend in the first 90 days. Is that about right? Whta did you all get for sign up bonuses?

I got 30,000 after $1000 of spend.  Now I feel cheated!

[Susie]

What's the annual fee?

[Brie]

Mar 3, 2014 10:05:11 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Right now I'm seeing a bonus of 40K points after $3,000 spend in the first 90 days. Is that about right? Whta did you all get for sign up bonuses?

We just started using ours on Saturday.  Our bonus is 40K points after $1K spent in the first 90 days.

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2014 10:13:45 GMT -5 Susie said:

What's the annual fee?

No annual fee if you get the version where you get 1 point per dollar on all regular purchases (2 points per dollar on travel and dining).

If you go for the version with 2 points per dollar on all purchases, annual fee is $85 (waived the first year).  That's totally worth it to me, but depends on spending habits.

[LoveTrains]

Ok I just got the "arrival world" card and it it saying 2 points per dollar on all purchases. Fee is waived the first year but otherwise $89.

I wonder if they have changed the terms since you signed up v.

And the google link was saying 40K points after 1K spend in 90 days but the actual offer page was saying 3K spend in 90 days. Doesn't matter, I'll easily hit the 3K I think.

[WinterWine]

Mar 3, 2014 10:16:20 GMT -5 Brie said:

Mar 3, 2014 10:05:11 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Right now I'm seeing a bonus of 40K points after $3,000 spend in the first 90 days. Is that about right? Whta did you all get for sign up bonuses?

We just started using ours on Saturday.  Our bonus is 40K points after $1K spent in the first 90 days.

Did you find that deal on their website?

[LoveTrains]

Mar 3, 2014 10:43:32 GMT -5 WinterWine said:

Mar 3, 2014 10:16:20 GMT -5 Brie said:

We just started using ours on Saturday.  Our bonus is 40K points after $1K spent in the first 90 days.

Did you find that deal on their website?

www.barclaycardarrival.com/premium-travel/enjoy-rich-rewards/?campaignId=1729&od=bcarrival&cellNumber=44&REFERRERID=GGLPS0413NAT&adgroup=Sitelinks&pkw=barclay+arrival+card&pmt=b

[WinterWine]

I am also considering moving away from my Chase United (1mile /$1 spent to this card). I haven't figured out if this ends up being a better deal as United has Super saver tickets, and uses miles vs points. Does anyone have experience with both?

Maybe I just need to sit down with a calculator to figure it out...

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2014 10:42:16 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Ok I just got the "arrival world" card and it it saying 2 points per dollar on all purchases. Fee is waived the first year but otherwise $89.

I wonder if they have changed the terms since you signed up v.

And the google link was saying 40K points after 1K spend in 90 days but the actual offer page was saying 3K spend in 90 days. Doesn't matter, I'll easily hit the 3K I think.

Signup bonuses change constantly, so no surprise there.

If you mean by changed terms that the annual fee is $89 rather than $85 -- it didn't change.  I was wrong about the $85.

[illgetthere]

Their website has two offers.
$89 annual fe carde waived first year has 40k points with 3k spend

No annual fee card has 20k points with 1k spend

annual fee card has 2x points vs 1x

[WinterWine]

I saw that deal LoveTrains. Was trying to find the40k bonus, $1k in the first 90 days Brie mentioned.

[Deleted]

Someone on flyertalk said posted this last week, btw:

"Just an FYI for anyone about to apply: I read on another forum that people have been able to call in and get the old signup requirements (i.e. $1000 instead of $3000)."

[Susie]

Thanks, I want to do a comparison of this card w/ Chase Sapphire Preferred and see which looks like a better deal. I don't want to keep two with an annual fee, but since the first year is free with the Arrival card I don't mind overlapping w/in the first year. If the Arrival card stacks up favorably, we'd like to go to Hawaii in Nov or Jan, and the bonus points would be welcome.

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2014 10:58:37 GMT -5 nuggetbrain said:

Are the points only valid for cash back/travel rewards or can you redeem them for gift cards/transfer to other partners?

You can redeem them for travel, cash back, gift cards, etc.

BUUUUUT --

The redemption value for travel is WAY better than the redemption value for anything else, so it isn't worth redeeming for other stuff.  Like, for 10,000 points you can get:

- $100 towards travel (and then 1000 of those points will be deposited back into your account, so it was really 9000 points);
- $50 cash back; or
- $50 in gift cards

The latter two aren't a terrible redemption considering that you earned 2 points per dollar spent (so you're getting 1% back, essentially), but the value is way better on travel.

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2014 10:59:40 GMT -5 Susie said:

Thanks, I want to do a comparison of this card w/ Chase Sapphire Preferred and see which looks like a better deal. I don't want to keep two with an annual fee, but since the first year is free with the Arrival card I don't mind overlapping w/in the first year. If the Arrival card stacks up favorably, we'd like to go to Hawaii in Nov or Jan, and the bonus points would be welcome.

There are a bunch of sites that compare them, fyi:

www.noobtraveler.com/chase-sapphire-preferred-or-barclays-arrival-card-offers/

www.welltraveledmile.com/barclays-arrival-mastercard-review-why-its-the-best-all-around-travel-rewards-credit-card/

creditcardforum.com/blog/barclaycard-arrival-world-mastercard-review/

travel-summary.com/after-the-devaluations-choosing-between-the-sapphire-preferred-and-barclays-arrival-cards/

[dbsk8dance]

We have it as well. We did have a small problem getting a item covered. Even though they say tours and such, they didn't want to cover a whale watch tour that we took.

We did find that if you charge everything to your room, the hotel bill will be covered. We did this with drinks at on site restaurants and the spa too.

[gt7301b]

Susie if you use nerdwallet.com and creditcardtuneup.com they will help you figure out which card has better rewards for you. I didn't see the Chase Sapphire Preferred card at creditcardtuneup.

[lemon]

Mar 3, 2014 10:59:40 GMT -5 Susie said:

Thanks, I want to do a comparison of this card w/ Chase Sapphire Preferred and see which looks like a better deal. I don't want to keep two with an annual fee, but since the first year is free with the Arrival card I don't mind overlapping w/in the first year. If the Arrival card stacks up favorably, we'd like to go to Hawaii in Nov or Jan, and the bonus points would be welcome.

I signed up for the Barclay card last year (November I think?) and just signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred last night.  My thought process is that I will probably keep the Barclay long term so won't mind paying the annual fee each year to get the rewards, but close the Chase once the year is up.  The Chase Preferred that I signed up for last night was also waiving the annual fee the first year, and is 45,000 bonus points (the 5K extra points is for adding an authorized user).  They also offer a slightly better cash in rate if you book through their travel site (40K points will get you about $500 towards travel), which reviews said it easy to use and no more expensive than any other site out there so no price gouging to worry about.

I decided to just go ahead and do both since we are planning a trip to Jamaica in Nov.  The approximately $900 in free money via sign up bonuses is certainly worth it to me.

[winnied]

I have it and I love it! We got the 40k with spending $1,000 deal.

[Susie]

Mar 3, 2014 11:15:38 GMT -5 nuggetbrain said:

IMO the Sapphire Preferred really starts to be worth it when you also have a Freedom since you can take advantage of the 5% categories and combine points.

I have never taken advantage of this, but I probably should look into it.  You earn points on the Freedom card, and transfer them to the Sapphire account?  (We only use the Freedom card in the 5% categories - I was getting ready to ditch it because of the PITA it is, but maybe it's still worth it.)

Would it be a problem if one card is in my name as the primary and the other is in Calvin's? 

[Susie]

Mar 3, 2014 11:14:34 GMT -5 lemon said:

Mar 3, 2014 10:59:40 GMT -5 Susie said:

Thanks, I want to do a comparison of this card w/ Chase Sapphire Preferred and see which looks like a better deal. I don't want to keep two with an annual fee, but since the first year is free with the Arrival card I don't mind overlapping w/in the first year. If the Arrival card stacks up favorably, we'd like to go to Hawaii in Nov or Jan, and the bonus points would be welcome.

I signed up for the Barclay card last year (November I think?) and just signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred last night.  My thought process is that I will probably keep the Barclay long term so won't mind paying the annual fee each year to get the rewards, but close the Chase once the year is up.  The Chase Preferred that I signed up for last night was also waiving the annual fee the first year, and is 45,000 bonus points (the 5K extra points is for adding an authorized user).  They also offer a slightly better cash in rate if you book through their travel site (40K points will get you about $500 towards travel), which reviews said it easy to use and no more expensive than any other site out there so no price gouging to worry about.

I already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred (so the sign up bonus doesn't help me!) but I agree with those reviews.  I've booked several reward tickets through their travel site, both tickets that are fully paid by points and some that are part points/part charged to the card.  The fares are pretty comparable.  Close enough to the lowest I could find online (if not equal) that the break from using their site more than covered any difference.

I am pretty sure you also get an extra 2% if you book travel through their site rather than elsewhere which is nice when you're not redeeming.

[lemon]

Mar 3, 2014 11:28:44 GMT -5 Susie said:

Mar 3, 2014 11:14:34 GMT -5 lemon said:

I signed up for the Barclay card last year (November I think?) and just signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred last night.  My thought process is that I will probably keep the Barclay long term so won't mind paying the annual fee each year to get the rewards, but close the Chase once the year is up.  The Chase Preferred that I signed up for last night was also waiving the annual fee the first year, and is 45,000 bonus points (the 5K extra points is for adding an authorized user).  They also offer a slightly better cash in rate if you book through their travel site (40K points will get you about $500 towards travel), which reviews said it easy to use and no more expensive than any other site out there so no price gouging to worry about.

I already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred (so the sign up bonus doesn't help me!) but I agree with those reviews.  I've booked several reward tickets through their travel site, both tickets that are fully paid by points and some that are part points/part charged to the card.  The fares are pretty comparable.  Close enough to the lowest I could find online (if not equal) that the break from using their site more than covered any difference.

I am pretty sure you also get an extra 2% if you book travel through their site rather than elsewhere which is nice when you're not redeeming.

Ah, I didn't realize you already had the Chase Sapphire Preferred and thought you were trying to decide between the two.

Good to hear that you've had good experiences with their travel site.  I was wondering if I could use part points/part card to pay for tickets so that's good to know as well!

[CloudBee]

Is MasterCard accepted many places internationally?