My Personal Arrival Plus World Elite Card
I’ve been using the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite card for a few months now, and I’m ready to report my personal experiences. After doing a quick Google search for other reviews on this card, I noticed that no information was being given that you couldn’t simply get directly from the card application page here.
So, I thought it might be more helpful to review all the benefits and details from the perspective of what you’d see as a card holder.
*The no annual fee version of this card is called the Arrival World MasterCard, and it differs in the bonus miles (20,000) and in how it earns miles (2X miles on Travel & Dining and 1X miles on all other purchases). See this card here.
The Arrival Plus World Elite Card Through My Eyes…
You can see an outline of the card features straight from Barclaycard here. You’ll see why this card has been voted as the best travel credit card over and over, including the sign-up bonus that you can earn worth $440 in travel redemption. However, I’ll explain all the nitty gritty details you need to know before applying below.
The 40,000 Bonus Miles…
First, by the time you’ve made the minimum spending requirements for your bonus miles, you will have racked up extra miles from those necessary purchases to total well over the 40,000 incentive. Pretty awesome seeing all those miles in your account within the first few months!
Maximize Your Miles…
Next, let’s talk about the best way to make full use of your miles. If you’re not using this card to redeem for your travel related expenses, well, you’re pretty much wasting your time. ONLY with travel redemptions are you going to receive $100 in redemption per 10,000 miles. PLUS, when you do use your miles to redeem for travel, they’ll give you 10% back in bonus miles. What that really means is that your 10,000 miles are actually worth $110 when you redeem for travel.
Here are all the categories that fall within qualifying travel redemptions: Airlines, Hotels, Motels, Timeshares, Campgrounds, Car Rental Agencies, Cruise Lines, Travel Agencies, Tourist Attractions, Discount Travel Sites, Trains, Buses, Taxis, Limousines, Ferries, and your Barclaycard Arrival Annual Fee (if applicable).
I would say that’s a pretty extensive list!
Travel statement credit redemptions start at 2,500 miles for $25 toward any travel purchase within the last 120 days.
How You Shouldn’t Use Your Miles…
Alright, you do have other options to use your accrued miles, including cash back credits, merchandise, and gift cards.
The problem is, with all of these other redemption options, your miles will be worth A LOT less.
For example, when you redeem for gift cards, a $25 gift card will cost you 5,000 miles (that’s twice the miles needed compared to travel redemptions). If you really want to go this route though, I’ve gathered all the gift cards that were available at the time of this article to give you an idea.
Dining: Chili’s, Outback Steakhouse, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Darden Restaurant, Panera Bread
Retail: Barnes & Noble, Bath & Body Works, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, iTunes, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Gap/Old Navy/Banana/Athleta, T.J. Maxx/Marshalls/HomeGoods,Zappos.com
Travel: Avis, Budget, Hertz, Apple Vacations, Carnival, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt, Royal Caribbean, Sandals Vacation
You can also redeem for cash statements, which also will cost you twice the miles when compared to travel redemption.
Lastly, you definitely want to refrain from redeeming your miles for Merchandise, such as electronics. When I last looked, the New iPad Air 16GB Wifi version required 131,600 miles! This same iPad direct from Apple is listed at only $499. Totally not a good deal!
It’s Now A Chip Card…
If you apply for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite card now, you’re going to receive a Chip card. This basically means it’ll have greater acceptance worldwide. There are a few things to keep in mind when traveling abroad with this card. Most of your spending will be handled through person to person transactions, so you’ll just sign for those. However, when you make purchases at unattended kiosks and such, you might be required to enter a PIN. One convenience is you can update your PIN online once you log into your account. Your PIN can also be used to access cash worldwide.
IMPORTANT: When you travel abroad, please note that you must sign for your first transaction at a location with a cashier or attendant. After your first transaction has gone through, your pin will be activated and you’ll be able to use the card at unattended terminals where a PIN is required.
Let’s Talk About All The Cool Tools…
Next, I’ll discuss all the tools available to you in your online account.
Spend analyzer. This online tool shows you your spending habits in different categories over time.
Purchase Planner. This doohickey estimates how long it may take to pay off your next big purchase. You can even include your current card balance in this estimate.
FICO Score. My favorite tool! Your FICO Score is the score used most by lenders to evaluate your credit worthiness. If you’ve ever tried to obtain your FICO Score elsewhere, you know that most other options require that you purchase your score.
My Travel. This tool is so that you can notify Barclaycard about your travel plans. It’s most important when you’re traveling abroad, so those foreign transactions aren’t a surprise to the fraud department. If you travel more than 45 days, call Customer Service.
Another benefit you get with the Arrival Plus World Elite card is a free year of TripIt Pro, which is an estimated $49 value. I personally don’t see the need for it, but it organizes travel-detailed daily itineraries for every trip. It also gives real-time flight alerts and notifications, and lets you book seats, find flights, and track points.
Boost Your Miles…
Here’s a cool feature that you might miss if you don’t go digging in your online account like I did. Basically, you’ll get constantly changing special offers to shop online through this RewardsBoost portal, and earn EXTRA miles (you normally earn 2 miles per $1 spent on all your purchases).
You choose from the hundreds of online stores, complete the purchase at the store’s web site, and you’ll earn rewards on qualifying purchases. I saw plenty of good offers for 4-5miles/dollar, and some so-so ones for up to 25 miles/dollar.
Examples Of RewardsBoost Deals
The Travel Community…
This is an online travel community where you can share your travel stories and tips. If just the shear joy of sharing your ideas with other random folks isn’t enough for your troubles, you actually earn miles for your community participation! Any miles you earn from your community activity will automatically be added to your Barclaycard Arrival Plus World MasterCard!
500 Miles Just For Completing My Profile!
Members will earn Miles for the following activities:
Members will earn 150 miles for each travel story that is posted on the Site. The description must contain at least 50 words and at least 1 unique photo related to the story.
Up to five (5) travel stories can be posted for an individual City, State, Country
Each detail added to a travel story using the map will earn 10 miles per detail
Every time the story that is authored by a member is kudoed by another member, the member will receive 10 miles
Completing a profile will earn each Member 500 miles; a profile is considered complete when the following information is added: 1) the City and State in which the member lives 2) At least one travel interest is selected 3) at least one travel companion is selected 4) at least 1 travel style is selected 5) at least 5 cities are added to the “My travels” map
Barclaycard, at its sole discretion, may also provide members miles for other activities
Barclaycard, at its sole discretion, can change or remove these miles values and activities at any time, without warning
Barclaycard, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to pull down travel stories that do not adhere to the community guidelines or are not good faith efforts to provide quality content for Users of the Site.
Apply Or Compare…
I definitely think the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard has one of the best packages of features and bonus miles around, and it’s a great card to add to the list of a credit card churn. If you’d rather compare it to other popular travel credit cards first, here’s a great place to start → Travel Credit Cards.
Up To $400 Travel Bonus Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard
Voted by several different sources as the best Travel Rewards Credit Card, it's hard to find a feature the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard doesn't have. Highlights include the up to 40,000 bonus miles worth $400 in travel, 2X miles on all purchases (equivalent to getting 2% back when redeeming for travel), and NO foreign transaction fee. Plus, the annual fee is waived the first year.
*This card also comes in a No Annual Fee version with 20,000 bonus miles → Arrival World MasterCard (No Annual Fee)