Deciding What to Do With an Arrival Plus Card One Year In

I opened a Barclaycard Arrival Plus Card a little over a year ago, which meant that I was recently faced with the decision everyone should consider a year into holding a card that charges an annual fee: Is is worth keeping another year?

Leaving annual fee cards open year on end without considering if they're worth it is a mistake that will suck all the value out of your rewards fast. Don't let that happen to you.

Arrival+ 50k Bonus Ending Tomorrow Morning

UPDATE 9/18: The 50k Arrival mile bonus is changing tomorrow morning at some point (posting this update Monday evening, September 18). I just applied myself and after speaking to the reconsideration department at Barclays, learned that I have to send in three forms of ID to verify myself--not surprising as I set a fraud alert on my credit report last week thanks to the Equifax data breach.

Ryanair Flash Sale: $11+ One-Ways Across Europe this Fall

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account. I tweet from @MileValueAlerts only a few times a month because it is designed to be used only for the best and most limited-time deals–like mistake fares–so that you aren’t bombarded by text messages.

Ryanair is offering dirt cheap one way fares starting at just £9 / €9 (under $13 USD) between various European cities. The majority of available travel dates are in October and November of this year.

$313+ Roundtrips East Coast to Iceland in Late Summer/Fall

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account.

5 Lovely Boutique Hotels in South America

For a limited time, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus is offering with 50,000 bonus Arrival miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. Arrival miles are perfect for covering cheap economy flights when miles aren’t worth spending, award taxes/fees, Airbnb’s, hotels, etc.

You’ll earn 56,000 Arrival miles after meeting the minimum spending requirement of $3,000 in three months for the sign up bonus (50K), as every dollar spent earns two Arrival miles.

I’ve Had My Arrival Plus For Almost a Year. Now What?

I already knew the answer to that question before I called Barclaycard last week. But I decided to call anyways for the sake of curiosity, and to possibly help out someone else that may be in the same position with their Barclaycard Arrival Plus that is actually considering keeping it open.

I want to be able to get the sign up bonus on the Arrival Plus again, and the general consensus is that you can, but your previous card must be closed for at least six months before applying again.

Three Cards That Offer Rebates On Award Redemptions

Several cards not only give you points when you meet their sign up bonuses and spend on them, but also rebate points back to you when you redeem your rewards.

This post covers the Business Platinum Amex, the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard, and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus, which are all offering temporarily elevated, lucrative sign up bonuses at the moment and offer rebates on redemptions.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

Enhanced Business Platinum by

Earn Credit Towards Travel Through the Barclaycard Travel Community

In case you aren't familiar with Arrival miles, they are a type of reward earned by the Barclaycard Arrival

Arrival Plus Increases Bonus to 50,000 Miles

 

For a limited time, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus comes with 50,000 bonus Arrival miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. The old bonus was 40,000 points.

The card earns 2 miles per dollar on all purchases. You can redeem the miles to offset any travel expense greater than $100 inside your Barclaycard account within 120 days of the purchase.