Barclaycard has two travel-centered credit cards, the Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard® and Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®, both of which allow people to get something back from spending money on travel services. While the former has no annual fee, the latter costs $89 per year, though that fee is waived in the first year. With either of the two cards, users will be earning miles while using their card on a daily basis. The second, more premium options, comes with more bells and whistles, as well as a bigger sign-up bonus. Let’s delve into details, shall we?
- 20,000 / 40,000 miles sign-up bonus
- 2x miles on travel and dining purchases, 1x mile on everything else / 2x miles on every purchase
- 5% miles bonus each time you redeem
- 0% intro APR for balance transfers made within the first 45 days for 12 billing cycles; after that it’s 16.24%, 20.24%, or 24.24% variable. With the Plus “variant” APR won’t go beyond 20.24%.
- No annual fee / $89 (waived in the first year)
How It Works?
Earn miles: The “regular” Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard® offers 2x miles for each dollar spent on travel and dining purchases, and 1x mile on everything else; while the “Plus” version gets you 2x miles on every purchase. You can earn an unlimited number of miles and they do not expire.
Sign-up bonus: The Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard® comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 miles, worth $200 in travel purchases, after you spend $1,000 with the card within your first 90 days. On the other hand, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® gets your 40,000 miles, worth $400 in travel purchases, after you spend $3,000 within the first 90 days.
Redeem miles: Miles can be redeemed for a number of travel services such as airfare, hotels, timeshares, campgrounds, cruises, buses, and many others. Also, you can use your miles for other types of purchases, merchandise, and gift cards. There is a 5% redemption bonus each time you redeem.
Free FICO score: Which can come in handy for keeping track of your credit rating.
MasterCard® benefits: These would include an array of shopping and travel benefits which will make your travels and purchases that much better (and safer). With the “Plus” version, you also get MasterCard® World Elite perks, such as a premium concierge service, baggage delay insurance, and auto rental collision damage waiver.
APR: 0% introductory APR for balance transfers made within the first 45 days, for 12 billing cycles. After that, the APR is 16.24%, 20.24%, or 24.24% variable, based on your creditworthiness. Again, with the Barclaycard Arrival™ Plus World Elite MasterCard®, the APR won’t go beyond 20.24%.
Annual fee: $0 in case of the Barclaycard Arrival™ Plus World MasterCard®, and $89 (waived in the first year) with the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®.
Pros
- $200 or $400 in sign-up bonus points – those $200 are very cool for a card that does not include an annual fee (Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard®).
- 5% redemption bonus – which will get you a few extra miles to redeem the next time. For instance, when you redeem 10,000 miles toward travel purchases, you’ll get $100 as well as 500 miles.
- No foreign transaction fees – these cards are made for travel and using them while visiting other countries won’t cost you an extra 3 percent.
Cons
- Redeeming miles for other purchases doesn’t make much sense since you will be getting less for your money. For examples, $25 gift cards are available at 5,000 miles.
- Potentially high APR with the Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard® which can go up to 24.24%. With the “Plus” version, the APR can’t go beyond 24.24%.
Head to Head Comparison
Which Barclaycard Arrival Card Should You Get?
What makes both Barclaycard Arrival™ cards great is how easy they are to use. Instead of juggling with points and converting them from one kind to the other, with these cards you redeem miles for travel statement credit and use it towards your next travel-related purchase. Sure, you can also buy other stuff with those miles, but you won’t get the best deal — so don’t do that. If you travel often, go for the “Plus” version. However, we think that most users will be satisfied with the “regular” Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard®. It has no annual fee while offering benefits that are comparable to those the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® has. As long as you pay your balance in full and on time, you also won’t have to worry about potentially high APR, yet you’ll get a valuable sign-up bonus and… taking it from there. 😉