Review: Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard
The Barclaycard Arrival Plus is not what some might think of as a traditional Miles and Points earning credit card.
It does not earn airline specific miles.
It does not earn hotel specific points.
And it does not earn transferable points, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards points, that can be earned and then transferred to partner airline and hotel loyalty programs.
What it does do, however, is earn what are in effect cash-back “miles” that can be redeemed as credit card statement credits toward travel purchases made with the Arrival Plus credit card.
Arrival Plus miles can be used to offset travel purchases for which you might not be able to use airline miles or hotel points.
Or, these miles can be used if you want a more simple way to lessen your travel expenses without the hassle of juggling airline and hotel loyalty programs and miles/points.
The return won’t be as lucrative as can be achieved with Miles and Points, but the savings are still savings, and that’s the bottom line for those of us who enjoy the Miles and Points hobby.
The Barclaycard Arrival Plus
Arrival Plus Sign-Up Bonus
The Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard is currently offering its highest sign-up bonus ever.
You will receive 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 from account opening.
The 50,000 miles equates to $500 that can be redeemed for statement credits on any travel-related purchases.
Annual Fee
The annual fee is $89, but is waived the first year.
Ongoing Benefits
The Arrival Plus card earns 2 miles for every dollar spent. The multi-point per dollar earnings will help with building your redeemable balance.
Every time you redeem miles, you’ll earn 5% of those miles back. The amount will be re-deposited into your miles account for future use.
As long as your account is open, active and in good standing, the miles do not expire.
There are no foreign transaction fees on purchases made in other countries.
The card is chip-enabled with PIN capability, which can be useful when using the card in other countries. Unlike the chip and signature option that is mainstream in the U.S., most countries around the world only accept chip and PIN for automated transactions, making the Arrival Plus a helpful addition to your credit card arsenal.
And card membership comes with complimentary access to your FICO score online at the Barclaycard site.
My Take
The Arrival Plus is a great option for offsetting travel expenses, especially those for which Miles and Points are not easily, or economically, used.
The $500 earned as a result of the sign-up bonus – technically it would be $560, considering the $3,000 spend (times 2 miles per dollar) needed to get the bonus – can go a long way toward covering expenses that airline miles and/or hotel points won’t.
Barclaycard’s definition of travel, and thus categories for which you can redeem for statement credits, is fairly broad.
It includes: airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, purchase and travel agencies, discount travel sites, trains, buses, taxis, limousines and ferries.
The official determination of whether something is considered travel, or not, is made as a result of the merchant code used by the specific service provider. Which can cause problems when something you may consider to be travel is not coded as such.
This Barclays Arrival Plus thread on the FlyerTalk website provides a variety of information on the credit card, most importantly, personal experiences on what not-so-obvious travel purchases have successfully qualified for redemption.
Once a purchase is made, and it is coded as a travel expense, you can log in to your Arrival Plus account and redeem available miles to offset that purchase.
And, get 5% of the redeemed miles re-deposited back into your available miles balance.
One caveat about redemptions, the minimum redemption amount is 10,000 miles toward a $100 purchase. Which means, if you have an $80 taxi ride on your statement, you will not be able to offset that purchase with miles; it must be $100 or more to be eligible for a redemption.
You can redeem Arrival Plus miles for non-travel related purchases, however, the redemption rate is 5,000 miles for $25. Obviously not the best way to use Arrival Plus miles.
Dining out is often a sizable expense when traveling. My wife and I took a trip where we used hotel points to cover the cost of the nights spent at the hotel. In an effort to help cover some of the other expenses associated with the hotel stay, including some of our dining costs, we used the Arrival Plus to pay our final hotel bill. The parking and dining charges, while not typically considered “travel,” were covered because we billed them to our room which, on the credit card statement, showed as a hotel charge.
Free hotel stay thanks to points, and no parking/dining expenses thanks to the Arrival Plus travel credits. Can’t beat that.
Wrap Up
Using Arrival Plus travel credits is an easy way to lower your travel expenses.
I would definitely recommend getting the card for the sign-up bonus, especially now that it’s at 50,000 miles, the highest it’s ever been.
However, I’m reluctant to recommend the card for everyday spend, and as a long-term keeper.
You really have to look at your typical credit card spend and consider it would take $25,000 of purchases on your Arrival Plus card to get another $500 of travel expenses offset.
Airline miles and hotel points, earned via other credit cards, can provide a much better return.
But, if you have an upcoming trip planned, and want to put a $560 dent in your associated travel expenses, Arrival Plus miles is the way to make that happen.
