I Fell For The Barclays Survey Email About Their Arrival+ Card

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If there’s a bank that’s giving Citi a run for its money about not knowing where they want to take their credit card business, it’s Barclays. While they have co-brand credit cards with many airlines, including American, JetBlue, Hawaiian and Frontier, their proprietary card line has been inconsistent. It was just in June 2018 when they launched the Arrival Premier with points that could be transferred to airlines. However the lack of partners that customers in the U.S. were familiar with and a confusing transfer ratio system caused the card to be closed to new applicants in October, just three months after its launch.

The Barclays Arrival+ (plus) card has been around since 2014 and has gone through several refreshes. New applications were closed for a while in 2018 when the Arrival Premier was launched but applications were opened up again, with a 70,000 point sign up bonus, when the Premier fizzled out.

So what were we to think when Barclays, again, closed new applications for the Arrival+ in June of 2019?

I’ve learned that when banks send out surveys to cardmembers about their products, it’s often because they’re considering (another) refresh of the product. So when I saw this email, I got a little excited:

We are working to improve our customers’ experiences with Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite Mastercard. We have created an online research panel for valued cardmembers like you to provide ongoing feedback on new ideas for products, benefits and marketing materials.

You bet, I clicked on the link for the survey.

Of course, I expected the questions to see if they wanted me to be part of the panel.

Then they started asking questions about how many and what type of credit cards I have.

Even if it would risk my chances, I answered honestly. I received the answer I wanted!

Of course, I want to join. I just answered all of your questions.

Surely, that needs to be all the questions. Right?

Wait, all of this was just to get the right to be targeted for surveys?

BTW, If you ever want to hear a funny story ask me about the time Sharon and I ran into Michael Jordan at the Atlantis in The Bahamas (Note from Sharon: Ohgawd, not that story…please, whatever you do, DON’T ASK HIM!).

I guess Barclays knows they might want to ask people about their cards, just not right now. Better to have a list of interested people ahead of time instead of having to search them out when you need them.

If I receive anything interesting from Barclays about the Arrival+ or other products, I’ll be sure to let you know.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary