If you look to apply for the Barclays Arrival Plus card, here’s the page you’ll end up at.
Fortunately, we applied for the card while it was still open to new applicants and earned a 70,000 point sign-up bonus. Since then, I’ve been able to use up my points and I’ve been contemplating closing the account.
The Arrival+ is essentially a 2% cashback card but I can only redeem the rewards for travel expenses. On top of that, the card costs $89 per year.
Since getting this card, we now have the Fidelity Rewards card which earns 2% cashback, has no annual fee, and deposits my rewards right into my checking account.
I was seriously considering ditching this card, but Barclays did what they used to do right near a card’s renewal date. Put out an offer that’s too good to refuse. 
A 5x back offer is tempting, but I’m also in the middle of a 5x points offer from my World of Hyatt card. I also have the offer on my Southwest, Marriott and IHG cards. I’ll be able to earn more than 1 cent per dollar on each of them, if I use the points at the right time. Barclays then upped the ante.
Oh, Barclays, you had me at addition.
So on top of the 2% I already earn on purchases, I’ll earn an additional 5 points for purchases up to $2,000 per month for the duration of the promotion. I’m adding our water bill to the card when I’m done writing this post. Our electric utility charges 2% to use a credit card but I’ll still get 5% back on that bill.
We’ll have a decent amount of expenses at gas stations since we’re taking a road trip to North Florida to stay at an Airbnb on top of the expense to drive a car around Iceland. Will those gas station charges count? I’m not sure but nothing in the offer says the charges have to be from within the US and the Arrival+ doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees.
The Arrival+ also features true Chip+PIN technology so we have that going for us if we need it.
I can earn up to 10,000 extra points a month. That’s $2,000 of spending a month at qualifying categories. There are plenty of things I can buy at home improvement stores, including gift cards. If we haven’t met the cap for the month, apparently Barclays hasn’t seen how much Sharon and I can spend during a single trip to Buc-ee’s (Note from Sharon: A spending spree at Buc-ee’s??? I’m in!)
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
1 comment
Amazing? Amazing abuse. Banks force small businesses to pay much higher fees including 100% of the cash back and rewards. Merchants can do nothing unless they don’t take credit cards.
Easy for banks to give away other people’s money.