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- Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard® Bonus
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The Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard® is a new luxury travel card offering for 2018.
| Quick Facts | |
| Bonus | No initial sign-up bonus. 25,000 loyalty bonus miles after spending $25,000 on purchases (available yearly). |
| Ongoing Rewards | Unlimited 2X miles on every purchase – essentially 2% back minimum on all spending with this card. |
| Annual Fee | $150 |
| Redemption Options | Travel (*best value) or cash back statement credits, gift cards, merchandise. Travel purchases eligible for redemptions are defined as airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries and your account annual fee (“Travel Purchases”). |
| Foreign Transaction Fees | No |
| Travel Credit(s) | $100 automatic statement credit for the cost of one Global Entry application fee every five years |
Unlike the previously available Barclays Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard®, this new card from Barclays doesn’t offer a much ssought after one-time sign-up bonus that is commonplace with all the top rewards cards. Rather, this product rewards loyal, long-term cardholders that are high spenders. Cardholders that spend at least $25,000 a year on purchases will earn a loyalty bonus of 25,000 miles (worth $250) each and every year. This is a bonus, so is in addition to the standard miles you’ve earned throughout the year. At 2 miles per $1 on all purchases, spending $25k a year will earn you the base 50,000 miles along with 25,000 bonus miles. That’s $750 worth of miles that can be earned every year.
This new approach from Barclays is getting some pushback from typical rewards seekers, who do their due diligence learning from all the popular travel blogs and forums on accumulating points efficiently. As it turns out, Barclays isn’t necessarily targeting these consumers with the Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard®. With consumer research knowledge in their hands, Barclays has found there is a large group of consumers who are mindful of the rewards benefits of using credit cards often, yet prefer not to spend much of their time taking consideration for every category of spending or switching cards yearly for the best bonus offers. These cardholders are high spenders that want a straightforward rewards structure, along with a card where they won’t feel as if they’re missing out in the long term with the same card for years moving forward.
Forming a strategy to close old card accounts and open new ones for bonuses will net you more bonus rewards year after year, but the entire process takes time to track and plan. This is especially true with many big issuers, like American Express and Chase, who place restrictions on how often you can earn a bonus for the same card product. For many, such as myself (I write about obtaining bonuses obviously), the time spent is well worth it. In reality, many cardholders who are spending in excess of $25,000 a year on card purchases may rather focus on the many other facets of their lives.
Another thing to point out is, many high spenders either don’t take advantage of all the perks of a premium credit card (i.e. American Express Platinum, Citi Prestige, Chase Sapphire Reserve®) or simply don’t feel the benefits are worth the $450 to $550 annual fee. With an annual fee of $150, the Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard® may fill that void for these individuals.
Let’s review the bonus structure.
How To Earn 75,000 Or More Each Year
Earn bonus miles every year
Spend at least $25,000 on purchases during the year and you’ll earn at least 75,000 miles. Redeem these miles towards eligible travel spending and 75,000 miles will be worth $750. Here’s the breakdown of miles earned:
$25k spent during the year will net 75,000 miles as follows:
- You’ll earn 50,000 base miles from the ongoing rewards rate of 2 miles per $1 spent
- You’ll earn up to 25,000 loyalty bonus miles each year as follows:
- Spend $15,000 on purchases and get the first 15,000 miles
- Spend an additional $10,000 on purchases and get the additional 10,000 miles
Again, there is no initial sign-up bonus with the Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard®, but the trade off is the ability to earn 25,000 bonus miles every year for those interested in a long-term use credit card.
What’s The Competition?
If you believe the premium travel benefits are worth the $450 to $550 annual fee, consider reviewing these premium cards: Chase Sapphire Reserve®, The Platinum Card® from Amex and the Citi Prestige® card.
Prefer a card with a sign-up bonus and lower annual fee? The Chase Sapphire Preferred® credit card is one of the most popular cards for rewards on travel and dining.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
| The Chase Sapphire ReserveSM card is no longer offering 100,000 bonus points (worth $1,500 toward travel), but you can still earn 50,000 bonus points (worth $750 toward travel). You'll need to spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening to qualify for the bonus.This is a premium travel card with a premium annual fee of $450. But, you'll receive premium benefits such as a $300 Annual Travel Credit, access to 1,000+ airport lounges with Priority Pass Select, 3X points on travel and dining, and 50% more in travel redemption. MoneysMyLife picks this as the best premium travel credit card. Full Review |
The Platinum Card®
| The Platinum Card® from American Express has a special offer for 75,000 Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months. The best options for redeeming these points would be by booking travel through American Express or by redeeming for gift cards. Using these options, the 75,000 bonus will be worth $750. You must go directly to the American Express website to find this offer. Typically, the bonus offer reverts back to a 60,000 or 40,000 points promo, so it's all about timing here. The biggest drawback to this card is the $550 annual fee, which puts it in the premium class of credit cards. The card has a market because it offers premium travel benefits, such as 5X points for flights and eligible hotels, access to 1,000+ airport lounges, $200 in Uber credits yearly, and a $200 airline fee credit annually. For frequent travelers, the added benefits make sense in terms of value and added luxury. Full Review |
Citi Prestige®
| The Citi Prestige® Card is no longer offers a sign-up bonus (previously there were offers for 40,000 to 75,000 in bonus points). For the most value out of your points, redeem for flights through Citi, where your bonus will be worth 1.33 cents per point. This is another card that competes in the premium travel category, and the annual fee will signify that at $450. In effect, this card is only a good option for frequent travelers who can take advantage of the premium benefits : 3X points on air travel & hotels, 2X points on dining & entertainment, $250 Air Travel Credit annually, and free access to 1,000+ airport lounges with Priority Pass Select. For those in this niche market, this card will provide high perceived value. Full Review |
Chase Sapphire Preferred®
| The Chase Sapphire Preferred® credit card currently has an offer for 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus earn an additional 30,000 bonus points after you spend $30,000 on purchases within your first year of account opening. Redeeming the total 80,000 bonus points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® program, which is praised by users, will get you $1,000 in value towards travel. The 80K bonus points are worth $1000 because you get 25% more value whenever you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Ongoing rewards with this card include earning 2 points per $1 on Travel and Dining at restaurants. The annual fee is $95, but it is waived for the first year. Full Review |
Bottom Line
If you’re after a quick miles grab via a sign-up bonus offer, the Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard® is obviously out of the running. Need all the best premium travel perks? Nope, you won’t get it here either.
How about the best choice for $5,000 to $10,000 spent on travel annually? A card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card will offer more value per point,at a lower annual fee, when redeemed through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal.
Now, if you’re a high spender in excess of $25,000 yearly who’s looking for a simple, straight-forward rewards structure, then the Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard® may fit your needs. This is especially the case if your spending is evenly distributed throughout merchant categories. If you’re in this target consumer group, you’ll earn up to $250 worth of bonus miles yearly without much thought.
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*These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.