The bonus points are easy. The timing is what made me take a second look.
Last year, Barclays sent me a spending offer for my Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard: earn an additional 10 points per dollar on up to $250 in purchases, for a maximum of 2,500 bonus points.
At the time, I passed. As I wrote in my post about skipping the offer, I wasn’t sure whether I would keep the card when the annual fee came due.
Of course, I eventually decided to keep the Hawaiian Airlines credit card, which meant I probably should have taken the easy bonus points while they were available.
Well, guess what Barclays sent me again this year?
Almost The Same Offer, Almost The Same Time
This year’s offer is almost identical: activate the promotion to earn an additional 10 points per $1 spent on all purchases, up to $250 in spending. That works out to another possible 2,500 bonus points.
It’s an easy enough offer to complete. There are no bonus categories to remember and no big spending requirement. I could put $250 of regular purchases on the card and be done.
However, there’s one part of the offer that caught my attention this time around.
Those Points Won’t Post Right Away
My Hawaiian Airlines card renews in May. This promotion runs through June 30, 2026, and the terms say:
All points earned from this promotion will appear on your statement 6-8 weeks after the end of the promotion.
That means the bonus points may not appear until August, long after the time when I’d be deciding whether to keep the card for another year.
Now, this could simply be unfortunate timing on my end. Credit card spending promotions often have delayed posting terms, and my renewal date falls in the middle of this offer period.
Still, it’s hard not to notice how well this works out for Barclays. A card I might be thinking about canceling suddenly has 2,500 bonus points pending, and I would need to keep it open long enough to make sure those points actually show up.
Final Thought
Since I ended up keeping the card last year, I regretted passing on the bonus. This time, assuming I keep the card again, I’ll probably take the easy 2,500 points.
But I’m also paying closer attention to the timing. Whether intentional or just a coincidence, offering bonus points right around renewal time and posting them weeks later is a pretty effective way to keep a card in my wallet a little longer.
Pretty sneaky, Barclays. Pretty sneaky.
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