Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® review

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The Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® is easily one of the most flexible travel credit cards on the market today. It’s so flexible, in fact, that you can use your rewards for pretty much any travel expense you can imagine. And once you start earning miles with this card, you can cash them in for travel expenses at a rate of one cent per point.

Keep reading to learn about its rewards program, its cardholder benefits and why you should sign up.

Sign-up bonus

The Arrival Plus card comes out of the gate with an especially lucrative offer for new customers. Once you sign up, you’ll earn 70,000 miles after you spend $5,000 on your card within 90 days of account opening. This is much better than the 60,000 miles we’ve seen this card offer new customers in the past.

The bonus alone is worth $735 in travel after you factor in the 5 percent travel redemption bonus you receive. You’ll need to spend at least $1,667 every 30 days for the first 90 days you have the card, however, so make sure you can reach this threshold with regular spending and bills before you sign up.

Earning points

As we mentioned already, this card gives you a flat rate of rewards – specifically 2 miles for every dollar you spend. This earning rate is easy to keep track of since there are no rotating bonus categories, and your rewards rate will never change.

What are points worth?

Generally speaking, miles earned with this card can be redeemed for 1 cent each. However, they are actually worth more than that if you redeem your miles for travel. This is due to the 5 percent redemption bonus you get when you redeem miles for travel expenses. With that bonus factored in, you wind up earning 2.10 miles for each dollar you spend.

Check out the table below to see how some other travel credit cards perform. You may notice that some cards offer a higher rate of return overall, and this is usually because cards offer a better rewards “bonus” when you redeem points for travel. Higher rewards rates are also based on the fact some cards let you transfer points to airline and hotel partners that can give more bang for your buck.

Redeeming points

Redeeming miles earned with the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card for travel is a piece of cake. All you have to do is use your credit card for a qualified travel purchase then redeem your rewards to erase that purchase from your bill. Keep in mind, however, that the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card only allows travel redemptions in increments of $100 or more. As a result, you’ll need to have at least 10,000 miles in your account to redeem for travel.

Also keep in mind that you have other options when it comes to cashing in your points, including gift cards, cash back  and merchandise. These options are a lot less lucrative than redeeming for travel, as you’ll see in the chart below.

 Other benefits

The Barclaycard Arrival Plus card offers a slew of important benefits that can help you save money or get more value out of this card’s annual fee. Perks to be aware of include:

• No foreign transaction fees – You won’t have to pay a fee to use your credit card for purchases outside the United States.
• Introductory 0 percent APR –  Receive a 0 percent APR for 12 months on balance transfers made within 45 days of account opening, followed by a variable APR of 18.24 percent, 22.24 percent or 25.24 percent.
• Mastercard World Elite Concierge – Get 24/7 help with travel planning, dinner reservations and more.
• Cellphone insurance – Receive cellphone insurance when your phone is lost or damaged. This coverage is good for up to $800 per claim minus a $50 deductible. The annual cap is $1,000.
• Lyft credits – Get a $10 credit when you take five rides in a calendar month. The credit is applied to your next ride and you can only use one credit per month.
• Postmates discount – Get $5 off every Postmates order of $25 or more when you pay with your credit card.
• Boxed discount – Get 5 percent cash rewards on Boxed purchases, which you can use for future Boxed orders.
• Fandango rewards – Receive double Fandango VIP+ points for movie tickets when you use your credit card to pay.
• Identity theft protection – Enjoy special protection against fraud, including social security number tracking, personal information monitoring, dark web tracking and identity theft resolution services.

Approval odds

If you’re a consumer with “good credit,” or a FICO score between 670 to 739, you are more likely to qualify for this credit card than those who have lower scores. You may be in the best position to qualify if you have a score over 740, however, since scores in that range are deemed very good or excellent.

If your credit score isn’t quite that high, you may want to wait a while before you apply. Spend a few months improving your credit score, and you may be in a better position to get approved for this card.

If you’re looking for easy ways to boost your FICO score, start by making sure all your bills are paid early or on time, paying down your debts to lower your credit utilization and refraining from opening or closing too many accounts.

Customer experience

Barclays rates fairly low in customer service with its customers, coming in ninth place in the recent J.D. Power Credit Card Customer Satisfaction survey. Barclays features 24/7 customer service and a popular mobile app. The mobile app makes it easy to monitor your bills and spending, check your account balance and notice fraudulent purchases right away.

How does the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card compare to other travel credit cards?

With the same 2x points on every purchase, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card is a great card for earning simple, straightforward rewards, but there are more rewarding options if you’re willing to do a little extra work monitoring bonus categories:

Chase Sapphire Reserve®	Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card*	Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Rewards rate Earn 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠. Earn 5x total points on flights through Chase Travel℠. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining. Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.	Rewards rate 3 points per dollar on dining, travel and transit, gas station purchases and select streaming services 1 point per dollar on other purchases	Rewards rate 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day
Sign-up bonus Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.	Sign-up bonus 20,000 points if you spend $1,000 in first 3 months	Sign-up bonus 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
Annual fee $550	Annual fee $0	Annual fee $95
Other things to know 50% bonus on points redeemed through Chase Travel℠ portal 1:1 point transfer to Chase’s airline partners $300 travel credit that applies to most travel purchases Priority Pass lounge access	Other things to know Up to $600 in cellphone insurance per year	Other things to know Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® Transfer miles to over 15+ Capital One travel partners

Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is another flexible travel credit card that lets you redeem points in more than one way. Not only can you cash in your points for gift cards, statement credits and merchandise, but you get 50 percent more travel when you redeem points through the Chase Travel℠ portal. Also, you have the option to transfer your points 1:1 to popular airline and hotel partners like United MileagePlus, Southwest, Hyatt and Marriott Bonvoy.

Once you sign up, you’ll earn 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 within three months of account opening. You also get 10 points per $1 spent on hotels and car rentals when you purchase through Chase Travel℠, 5 points per $1 spent on air travel through Chase Travel℠ and 3 points per $1 spent on other travel purchases (earn elevated rewards on travel purchases after earning the $300 annual travel credit). Plus, earn 3 points per $1 spent on dining and 1 point per $1 spent on other purchases. There’s a $550 annual fee, but you get Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership, a Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit, a $300 annual travel credit and other perks.

Wells Fargo Propel American Express card

This card comes with no annual fee, yet it gives you 3 points per dollar on dining, travel and transit, gas station purchases and select streaming services and 1 point per dollar on other purchases. You also earn 20,000 points worth $200 after you spend $1,000 on your card within three months of account opening.

You can cash in your points for travel, cash back, merchandise, gift cards and more.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture card is another card that gives a flat 2 miles for each dollar you spend, except you also get the added benefit of up to $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. You also receive 75,000 miles if you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.

When it comes time to redeem your miles, you can opt for travel statement credits, cash back, gift cards and more. This card also gives you the option of transferring your miles to a handful of popular airline partners.

Who should apply for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card?

• Anyone who wants to earn a flat rate of rewards on all their spending.
• Consumers who want to earn a big sign-up bonus when they sign up for a travel credit card.
• People who prefer to redeem points for travel over other options.
• Anyone who doesn’t want to deal with complicated hotel or airline loyalty program rules.

How to use the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card

• Sign up and spend $5,000 on your card within 90 days to earn 70,000 bonus points.
• Use your card for all your regular purchases to earn 2x miles for each dollar you spend.
• Make sure to rack up at least 10,000 miles before you attempt to redeem points for travel.
• Use your card for at least five Lyft rides each month to qualify for statement credits.
• Pay your cellphone bill with this card in order to qualify for the free cellphone coverage benefit.

Is the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card worth it?

The Barclaycard Arrival Plus card is absolutely worth it if you spend money on travel each year. Not only does this card give you a big sign-up bonus, but you can redeem your miles for any purchase that codes as travel. You also earn 2 miles for each dollar you spend, which is more than you’ll get with a standard cash back credit card.

Before you sign up, however, it’s always worth checking out other travel credit cards to see how they stack up. You may find a different rewards card will leave you better off, or you may decide to pair the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card with a second card that offers different benefits.

*All information about Wells Fargo Propel American Express card has been collected independently by CreditCards.com and has not been reviewed by the issuer. The Wells Fargo Propel American Express card is no longer available.

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