Barclaycard Arrival Plus Worth Getting ?

What a great question to considered, so many of us love to travel but it can come at a high price luckily there are ways you can travel for a lot less.  Getting Credit cards that offer travel benefits and points is a must.

But it can feel intimidating applying for credit cards and knowing which one will work best for you and your family. If you are new to travel points and miles I share a post Are Travel Credit Cards Worth It? which you can read more to help you decide if this is something for you.

70,000 bonus points is pretty high and the highest I seen for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus, that being said will this card fit in to my traveling needs.  Not all credit cards are a must since only you know what are your travel goals for that reason lets go over what this card offer and how you can use the travel points.

Rewards

  • Limited Time Offer: Enjoy 70,000 bonus miles – after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days – that’s enough to redeem for a $700 travel statement credit toward a qualifying travel purchase
  • Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase
  • Find and purchase the best travel deal – Book travel your way—no airline, seat or hotel restrictions—and redeem your miles for travel statement credits
  • Redeem your miles – for travel or cash back statement credits, gift cards and merchandise. Redeeming miles for travel statement credits offers the best value
  • Get 5% miles back – to use toward your next redemption every time you redeem
  • Miles don’t expire – as long as your account is open, active and in good standing

 

This card has many perks which I think are worth considering for example getting 70,000 points is equivalent to $700 travel deductions on your statement.

Another great perk this card offers is all purchases comes with 2x the points, that makes it quicker to earn points for future statement travel credits. The last perk I want to share is 5% redemption bonus, so you will earn more points as you redeem them, for example if you redeem 70,000 miles you will earn 3,500 miles which will be added to your account.

Some things to consider is the annual fee for this card, $95 will be the total so far but luckily it gets waived on your first year – not bad at all.  Another thing to keep in mind about this card your points are not transferable like most cards are.

You can use the miles earned by making purchases using the card and getting statement deductions with your points but for travel transaction only.

Best Travel Use for this Credit Card

One way you can save on your travel plans is pretty much anything allowed as a statement credit.  For example we have used this card to pay for the following

  • Train Tickets
  • Car Rental
  • Airline Tickets
  • Hotel Stays
  • Cruise Line
  • Campgrounds
  • Timeshares

The reason we love this card is simply to save on our Cruise Line Tickets, those can get very pricey and not many other credit card can offer a great deal using points/miles.  The Barclaycard Arrival Plus, had saved us so much in the past which is a good card to get if planning to book similar travel trips that other cards wont cover.

Do I recommend this credit card?

It all depend on your travel needs, if you are planning to book more expenses that other credit card wont be able to cover or you probably wont have enough points then this could be a great card to get.  We have used this card for a few cruises and booking a cruise way in advance gives us more time to accumulate more points helping us pay less out of pocket.

In addition we have been able to pay with points for a train that went from Barcelona to Madrid Spain we saved a few hundred dollars paying with points. Another travel expense we usually get is a car rental, booking it early has saved us some money but paying it with points the day of travel has been on a few trips almost free.

To recap, depending on your travel needs and which other credit card you may have might help you decide if this card can help you save on your next trip.  For us, is one we enjoyed and usually recommend.

Will I reapply for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus?

At the moment, reading the fine print and an alert brought by another blogger, I wont reapply for this card.  It does state the bonus will be given only to first time cardholders, for that reason I will pass since both my husband and myself have the card.   In the near future we are consider having my kids apply for it since we are planning on a future cruise.

 

Excited4journey