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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 (waived first year) |
| 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 Barclaycard Arrival® Plus World Elite Mastercard®, this new card from Barclays doesn’t offer a much sought 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. The Platinum Card® from American Express, 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
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.
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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