Barclay Choice Privileges Visa Signature card review

Barclay Choice Privileges Visa Signature card review

Updated: November 23, 2020
Updated: November 23, 2020
Ratings Policy
Balance Transfer Rating:
3.2 rating
3.2 rating
3.2 / 5
Introductory Offer:3.0
Net Value:3.0
Features:3.0
Issuer Customer Experience3.5

In a Nutshell:

The Barclay Choice Privileges card is the rare hotel card to offer an introductory period for balance transfers, and it’s a good deal if you’re looking for a long period to pay off your balance transfer as well as a rewards card that’s worth keeping in the long run.

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0% Introductory Period
15 months

Very Good

Transfer Fee
$5 or 3% (whichever is higher)

Excellent

Introductory Purchase APR
None

Poor

Regular APR
16.74-26.49% (variable)

Fair

Annual Fee
$0

Excellent

Barclays Customer Service Ratings

  • J.D. Power 2020 customer satisfaction rating: 796 (80% of issuers in this category ranked higher)
  • 24/7 customer service?: Yes
  • Online chat available?: Yes
  • Google Play Store mobile app rating: 4.1/5
  • Apple Store mobile app rating: 4.1/5
Excellent

Other Notable Features: Automatic upgrade to gold status, 10 percent bonus on eligible hotel stays, dedicated reservations line, VIP event access, concierge service, purchase security, travel and emergency assistance, luxury hotel discounts and special offers, fraud protection

 

Ratings Policy
Rewards Rating:
3.2 rating
3.2 rating
3.2 / 5
Rewards Value:3.4
Annual Percentage Rate:0.7
Rewards Flexibility:3.3
Features:3.0
Issuer Customer Experience3.5

In a Nutshell:

A good choice for cardholders who want an easy way to earn free travel, but don’t want to pay an annual fee, the Choice Privileges Visa Signature card offers a large enough sign-up bonus to fund several nights at a budget-friendly Choice hotel, such as Comfort Inn, and an above average rewards rate on regular purchases.

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Rewards Rate

  • 5:1 on Choice Privilege hotel stays, points and gift card purchases
  • 2:1 general spending
Average

Sign-up Bonus
50,000 points if you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days

Very Good

Annual Bonus
8,000 points if you spend $10,000 by your card’s anniversary

Excellent

Annual Fee
$0

Excellent

Average Yearly Rewards Value ($1,325 monthly spend)
$396

Excellent

APR
16.74-26.49% (variable)

Poor

Rewards Redemption
Pros:

  • Points don’t expire as long as you use your card once every 18 months
  • No limit on the number of points you can earn
  • No blackout dates
  • Redeem points for hotel stays, airfare, other travel rewards, gift cards, AARP membership, magazine subscriptions, charity
  • Can use partial points to help pay for a hotel room

Cons:

  • Must go through card issuer to book travel rewards
  • Transfer rate for 11 airline partners is poor (around 3:1 or greater)
Very Good

Barclays Customer Service Ratings

  • J.D. Power 2020 customer satisfaction rating: 796 (80% of issuers in this category ranked higher)
  • 24/7 customer service?: Yes
  • Online chat available?: Yes
  • Google Play Store mobile app rating: 4.1/5
  • Apple Store mobile app rating: 4.1/5
Excellent

Other Notable Features: Automatic upgrade to gold status, 10 percent bonus on eligible hotel stays, dedicated reservations line, VIP event access, concierge service, purchase security, travel and emergency assistance, luxury hotel discounts and special offers

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For a card with no annual fee, the Choice Privileges Visa Signature card offers an impressive amount of value. The Choice card offers a generous number of bonus points on hotel stays that can add up quickly if you’re a heavy traveler and an unusually large rewards rate for regular purchases.

Cardholders won’t lack for places to cash in points for hotel stays. Choice Hotels International also has one of the largest hotel networks in the world, including budget hotel favorites Comfort Inn, Quality Inn and Sleep Inn to upscale brands Ascend and Cambria.

Good rewards rate

With the Choice Privileges Visa Signature card you can earn up to five bonus points for every dollar you spend on Choice hotel stays and two points per dollar spent on everyday purchases. Combine it with the hotel group’s separate Choice Privileges rewards program to earn up to 15 points for every dollar spent.

Generous sign-up bonus

Choice offers a substantial sign-up bonus for new cardholders and a decent annual bonus for moderate-to-heavy spenders. New cardholders receive 50,000 bonus points if they spend $1,000 in the card’s first 90 days. That’s enough to purchase several hotel nights, depending on where you stay.

Choice cardholders who spend at least $10,000 a year will earn 8,000 bonus points – enough to purchase one free night at more than 1,500 hotels.

Below average points value

Choice points aren’t always worth as much as the average card reward point, so be strategic with how you spend them. Depending on how you choose to redeem your points, they may be worth less than a penny each. Most card rewards points are worth a penny or more.

To get the most value out of your points, redeem them for higher value hotel stays, such as an overnight trip in New York City or Vancouver.

Flexible redemption options

Choice offers a points-plus-cash option that lets you put 6,000 points toward the cost of a hotel stay (typically 8,000 or more points) and pay for the rest with cash or plastic. Points aren’t very expensive – 1,000 extra points costs $7.50 – $0.0075 per point. Choice also lets you redeem points for nonhotel options, such as gift cards and activities, but you’ll likely get the most value if you redeem your points for travel.

Rare hotel card balance transfer offer

Along with its ongoing rewards, the Choice Privileges card is one of the few hotel credit cards that offers a an introductory APR on balance transfers: You’ll get a 0% introductory APR for the first 15 billing cycles following each balance transfer that posts to your account within 45 days of account opening. After the first 15 billing cycles and for transfers that post to your account after 45 days of account opening, you’ll be charged a variable APR of 16.74%-26.49%. A balance transfer fee of $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer (whichever is greater) also applies.

Large, worldwide network

Choice Hotels International operates 5,500 hotels in 35 countries around the world

Why get the Choice Privileges card?

  • You frequently stay at Choice hotels.
  • You want a hotel card with an extensive hotel network.
  • You want maximum value, but don’t want to pay an annual fee.
  • You plan to spend at least $10,000 a year.
  • You are looking for a balance transfer card that you can also use for hotel rewards

How to use the Choice Privileges card:

  • Use your card for all your Choice hotel purchases and any regular purchases that don’t earn spending bonuses on other cards.
  • Spend at least $1,000 in the card’s first three months to earn the 32,000-point sign-up bonus.
  • To get the most value out of the card, try to spend at least  $10,000 a year to get one more free night’s stay each year.

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