The Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard is one of my favorite credit cards, with its generous 2 miles per $1 earned on all spending and the 5 percent rebate on travel redemptions. To sweeten the deal, the sign-up bonus for this card has temporarily increased to 50,000 miles after $3,000 spent on purchases in the first 90 days. This sign-up bonus is good for $525 worth of travel credits. If you’re going to get this card, now is a good time, since the sign-up bonus is higher and Barclays hasn’t implemented any super strict rules about the number of credit cards you can have with them. The higher sign-up bonus is great and all, but here are some ways to stretch it even further:
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- Redeem Your Arrival Miles for Travel. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? You’d be surprised how many people redeem their Arrival miles wrong and then tell me, “I thought you said the bonus was worth $500, but when I redeem them I only got half of that.” That’s because Barclay allows cardholders to redeem their miles for cash — at half the redemption value. To ensure you’re getting the most value out of your Barclay Arrival Plus card’s sign-up bonus, make sure you redeem them for travel only. You can do this by logging into your account, clicking on “Rewards & Benefits Center” and opting for “Travel Statement Credits” rather than “Cash Back Statement Credits.”
Redeeming your sign-up bonus for travel not only results in a more favorable redemption rate, but you’ll also get an automatic 5 percent redemption bonus afterward. Plus, you’ll earn 2 miles per $1 on the travel charges. Assuming you’ve booked an eligible rate, you’ll also earn points and miles through hotel and airline rewards programs.
- Redeem for Points + Cash Awards. A great way to stretch the 50,000 points sign-up bonus on the Barclay Arrival card is to use it to book Points + Cash awards. The cash portion of these types of award rates range from $30 to $300 per night, which is often significantly less than the cost of a paid or award stay. So if you’re planning on using your Arrival miles to cover hotel bookings, a Points + Cash award can help you cover more nights with your sign-up bonus.
- Do the Math. Does redeeming Arrival Miles really present the best value? Whether it’s airfare or hotel bookings, sometimes you’re better off redeeming loyalty points than Arrival miles. Whether to redeem airline or hotel points vs. arrival miles depends entirely on the cost of paid vs. award travel. I’ve come up with a couple of charts to help you determine when it makes more sense to redeem Arrival Miles for airfare and hotel bookings. By comparing the cost of paid vs. award travel, you can make better booking decisions and stretch your Barclay Arrival credit card sign-up bonus further.
- Get Extra Miles Through Barclay Rewardsboost and Travel Community. There’s only so much you can do to stretch the sign-up bonus on the Barclay Arrival card further. A great way to increase your balance is to make your online purchases through the Barclay Rewardsboost portal. The portal offers competitive rates at popular online merchants, allowing you to add to your Arrival miles balance once the sign-up bonus on the Arrival Plus card is gone. By the same token, participating in the Barclay Travel community is a great way to earn a few bonus miles for sharing photos and stories from your travels.
So do some research, make sure you’re spending your miles wisely, and earn as many as you can via credit card spending and by utilizing the Barclay shopping portal and travel community. Do this and you’ll stretch your Barclay Arrival sign-up bonus further, allowing you to travel at minimal out-of-pocket cost.
What are some of the things you did to maximize the sign-up bonus on your Barclay Arrival card?
[Image via Getty]