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Barclaycard Arrival ® Plus World Elite Mastercard ® — Full Review [2024]

Brian Graham

Former Content Contributor

10 Published Articles

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Director of Operations & Compliance

6 Published Articles 1181 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 10 U.S. States Visited: 20

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Barclaycard Arrival ® Plus World Elite Mastercard ®

70,000 miles

$89 (waived first year)

18.24%, 22.24% or 25.24% variable based on your creditworthiness

With steady accumulation of points, a rewards rebate every time you redeem, and luxury travel benefits, this card will be a traveler’s dream.

You’re new to the points world, and you want a great card that makes it easy to understand and earn points while you untangle all the other “hacks.” Perhaps you want to travel the world for cheap while writing your blog and gaining new experiences.

This is the perfect starter card, and is among the most popular rewards credit cards.

Card Snapshot

Welcome bonus & info.

• Enjoy 70,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days
• Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase
• New – Control Your Card – Instantly secure your accounts by locking your cards with Barclays SecurHold™, plus set transaction limits and block certain purchase categories for you or your authorized users. Available only on the Barclays mobile app.
• Book travel your way-no airline, seat or hotel restrictions-and redeem your miles for travel statement credits
• Get 5% miles back to use toward your next redemption, every time you redeem
• No foreign transaction fees
• International Chip and PIN for use at self-service chip terminals around the world
• Miles don’t expire as long as your account is open, active and in good standing

Rewards Center

Redeem miles as statement credit in your account page

Customer Service Number

1-877-408-8866 (Available 24/7)

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Our seasoned and experienced team brings years of expertise in the credit card and travel sectors. Committed to integrity, we offer data-driven guides to help you find the card(s) that best fit your requirements. See details on our intensive editorial policies and card rating methodologies .

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Great Card If

• Traveling is your main goal and you’re going to do it often (including internationally)
• You like simple rewards and earning options and don’t want to manage a bunch of cards
• You love to shop around for deals and have no specific airline, hotel or other travel company loyalty
• You want to take advantage of the vast array of Luxury Travel Benefits available to card holders

Don’t Get If

• You’re not much of a traveler
• You intend to redeem for many smaller purchases rather than a few bigger ones ($100 minimum redemption option)
• You want to use this card for business (Barclays restricts earning for business expenses)

Welcome Bonus and Earning Rate

Beginning with a welcome bonus after your standard purchase amount within the required months (see above), you’ll be well on your way with travel credit ready to be redeemed.

The rewards rate on this card is a solid 2 points per $1 spent, with no limits and no restricted categories.

Other cards cap out the rewards at a certain dollar amount per category, or restrict the categories in which you can earn the higher rewards rate. But here, you get a nice 2x deal everywhere!

Bottom Line:   The Arrival Plus card earns 2x points for all purchases and costs $89 per year.

Card Benefits and Value

This is a travel rewards card , meaning you’ll earn the points as account credit you can apply towards travel related purchases.

Once you have enough, simply go into your account and apply the credit to your statement.

This card also gives you a 5% rebate for all redeemed points, making the value of the rewards rate equal out to 2.1 points per dollar.

Unlike some other cards, it allows you to earn miles while making your travel purchase and then apply those earned miles right back to your statement, while additionally earning a 5% rebate.

Value Compared to Other Cards

Contrast this to an airline or hotel card which deposits earned miles into the appropriate loyalty program account: when redeeming, you are taking points out but none are going back in.

Here, your redemptions are worth $0.01 per mile when redeeming for travel. This is a very standard evaluation that isn’t the worst you will find, but it also isn’t the best.

Great for Flexible Travelers

A world traveler likes flexibility, and you’ll get that with this card.

First, it has no foreign transaction fees and includes chip technology. So no matter where you are, your card will likely be accepted and continue to bring home points.

If you’re in Hong Kong and you want to travel to Thailand on a budget, you can look around for the best deals and book them all through your Arrival Plus card.

Then, redeem the miles back as statement credit, collect your rebate points, and keep going.

You won’t have to deal directly with specific airlines or hotels, but if you’re going to book through a third party it may be worth a call to confirm this will count as reimbursable.

Travel Reimbursement for Hotels, Airlines, and More … With a Caveat

Your redemption options don’t stop at airfare or hotels, either. There is a long list of items you can use your rewards for, including timeshares, cruises, discount travel sites, and most public transportation options.

Be warned though: you have to redeem for a minimum of $100 and can only apply against a purchase once , so we recommend applying your credit toward larger purchases. As always, planning is the key.

If you just aren’t traveling or using the card anymore, you do have the option to redeem for other statement credit or gift cards, but doing so cuts the value of the points in half (5000 points for $25), so we don’t recommend doing this.

Other Card Benefits

If you need a balance transfer, you can transfer to this card and enjoy 12 months of interest-free balance after the fee.

You won’t earn any points for this, so it’s not highly recommended unless you know you’ll be able to pay it off after the 12 months. Other low-interest credit cards also offer 0% APR on purchases, but no such luck with the Arrival Plus card.

Next, let’s talk about the Luxury Travel Benefits. These are actually MasterCard benefits made available to certain cardmembers.

They offer basic benefits , “World” benefits , and finally this card’s “World Elite” benefits . It basically includes all the other travel benefits in addition to some extras.

These include:

• Free business class upgrades on participating airlines with purchase of a full-price economy ticket
• Hotel room upgrades with SPG and other hotel partners
• Airline discounts up to 30%
• A complimentary companion ticket with a full-fare business class purchase
• Cruise discounts up to $500
• And many more!

Still Collect Your Loyalty Points From Your Travel Partners

It’s worth explicitly noting that you can still be a member of all the different loyalty programs and try to focus your travel on specific partners to further maximize your travel benefits.

You’ll continually be paying for everything with this card and earning card miles, but points earned through the loyalty programs still accrue into those accounts to be used later as well.

This can be an even more powerful strategy if you want to move past the beginner stage!

Best Ways To Earn Arrival Plus Rewards

Earning miles is fairly straightforward with this rewards card: buy everything on the card. Anything you could possibly pay for, try to purchase with your card as long as there are no additional fees!

You’ll get 2x points for everything plus the 5% redemption bonus back, equating to 2.1x.

Below are examples of things you could put on your card:

• Utilities and bills
• Restaurants, drinks, and entertainment
• Doctors visits
• Supplements
• Business expenses (if you don’t have a higher-earning card)
• Memberships (gym, etc.)

When earning points, plan ahead to make sure you get to a minimum 10,000 points: this is the absolute minimum value ($100) you can redeem at once. You can always redeem anything above this amount, however.

Another way you could rack up more points is to get additional cards if you have a child or spouse who spends separately. You essentially just expand your ability to earn points but get no additional benefits.

* Note : Depending on your living situation, you may be able to pay rent on a credit card without incurring extra fees. If this is the case, absolutely use your credit card to pay for your rent! If you do have a fee, then it may or may not be worth it. Typical fees range from 2% to 3%. Let’s look at the math:

Say you pay $1,200 per month in rent. If you take a 3% fee for using a credit card, but get to accrue all those points, then you would pay $1,236 for rent and get 2.1x points for it. This is assuming the fee isn’t somehow charged separately and just rolls into your rent (fees don’t earn points, and there are many other restrictions as well). That’s worth 31,147 points (at 2.1x) total! For that amount, you can redeem a $311 travel credit.

But wait! How much did you pay in fees? Well, at this rate, $36 for 12 months is equal to $432. So you’re actually losing value by using your credit card.

At a lower fee, you could potentially break even, and it turns out that sweet spot is 2.14% for this rent amount. But will you make enough for it to be worth the hassle? With $2,000 rent and 2% fee, you would come out ahead $34. Any higher of a fee, and it’s not worth it, but if you increase rent you will make a bit more. Anyone who is able to get less than a 2% fee will likely see benefit, but make sure to do your own math for your situation.

Final Note : This only applies if the fee gets charged as rent and whole thing gets counted as a retail purchase. We have not tested this, and the scenario is all in theory!

Best Way To Redeem Arrival Plus Rewards

To redeem points earned with this card, simply go into your account, navigate to Manage Rewards, and choose to redeem points for travel purchases.

We suggest planning to do this immediately after you make your travel purchase, but it must be within 120 days (so plan accordingly!).

Also, since you can only redeem for a minimum of $100, you’ll likely get one or two good redemptions per year out of your points earned.

We’d suggest saving up to pay for one larger purchase all at once, just so you don’t have to worry about the minimum spend every time.

Know that you’ll only get your 5% points back when you redeem, so you’ll have to keep on earning and redeeming to make this card worth it.

You can use your card to redeem for gift cards and other merchandise through the Barclays portal, but doing so cuts the value of your points in half ($0.005), so we don’t recommend it!

Best Way To Maximize Arrival Plus Rewards

There are no direct partnerships with this card like you would see with other cards. However, the beauty of this arrangement is the flexibility of choosing whatever travel partner you want.

Again, you can  still be a member of any loyalty program you want . This card doesn’t add to those loyalty accounts, but that shouldn’t stop you from accruing any extra rewards there as well – it’s all free!

Instead, this card offers users the Luxury Travel network from MasterCard, which includes a multitude of partners.

The only trouble is finding out who the partners really are, so you’ll likely just have to call their customer service and talk about the benefits with them.

Authorized Categories for Redeeming Miles

With regards to travel, only certain categories count as travel for the redemptions. Here is the list of approved travel categories to make redemptions against ($100 min):

Airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries

Your annual fee also counts as redeemable, but we do NOT recommend doing this.

Because this amount is less than $100 and the minimum mile redemption is 10,000, you would have to spend that many points and waste the value of some of your points!

Alternatives to the Arrival Plus Card

The Discover it Miles Card  is very similar. It also earns travel rewards that are accrued on the card just like cash-back.

But which one is better? For your first year, the Discover it Miles card is better since it earns the equivalent of 3x points which can be applied to your travel purchases.

After this first year, though, the Arrival Plus card is much more valuable, because it earns at an equivalent rate of 2.1x at all times.

That earning rate is better than other cash-back cards like the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card or the Citi Double Cash Card . The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card only earns 1.5% cash-back, while the Citi Double Cash Card earns 2% (1% at purchase with another 1% when you pay your bill).

However, this Barclays card comes with an $89 annual fee (waived the first year), so there is a minimum amount you would have to spend in order to make up for this difference in cost.

Bottom Line:   The Arrival Plus card has the best earning rate of similar travel rewards and cash-back cards, but it has an $89 annual fee (waived the first year). This value must be accounted for when determining its worth.

The information regarding the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Barclaycard Arrival ® Plus World Elite Mastercard ® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Discover It ® Miles Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Citi Double Cash ®  Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the card worth it.

This will depend on your situation, but it is a solid card for the type of person who wants a card that’s easy to use and has good rewards.

You’ll earn 2x points for all purchases, meaning you don’t have to worry about what category you’re spending in.

The card is free the first year, then costs $89/yr. So if you are spending enough to make up for this, then the card could be considered “worth it.”

One of the great benefits of this card is that for every redemption you make, you’ll get 5% of the miles spent back. This essentially means the card earns 2.1x points as long as you keep redeeming.

Additionally, you can make your travel purchases with the card to earn more points and then use those earned points to pay it off.

Other benefits include a free FICO score, access to the World Elite Concierge and Luxury Travel, as well as an array of travel and other insurances.

If these things are valuable to you, then the card is most definitely worth it.

What is the Arrival Plus card travel insurance?

Barclays travel insurance covers a few different items. First, you get rental car collision insurance. Decline the agency policy and you will be covered for the value of the car if you use your card to make the purchase.

Next, you have Travel Assistance Services. This is a concierge-type service that helps you out during travel issues. While the main service is free, any third party service must be paid for.

Finally, you also get travel accident insurance. If paying on the card, you’ll get up to $250,000 in case of accidents, baggage delays, and trip cancellation.

If your baggage is delayed, you can get $100 per day for up to three days while waiting for it, but this only covers essential items. Trip cancellation covers up to $1,500 of cancelled or interrupted trips.

What is the Arrival Plus card login?

The sign in can be found here at the typical Barclays banking login page.

What are the Arrival Plus card benefits?

First, you earn points at 2x per dollar spent on all categories. Combined with the 5% rebate earned when you redeem those points, you essentially earn 2.1x per dollar.

You have to redeem a minimum of $100 at a time, and this can only be applied against a purchase  one time .

Next, you get a complimentary FICO score, World Elite Concierge, Luxury Travel benefits, price protection, purchase security, return protection, and extended warranty protection.

Finally, you get car rental and travel insurance including travel accidents, baggage delays, and trip cancellation.

What is the difference in the Barclays Arrival World Elite MasterCard (expired) vs. Arrival Plus card?

Mainly, the difference is that the Arrival Plus card has a yearly fee and earns 2x points everywhere.

The Barclays Arrival World Elite MasterCard (expired) has no annual fee and only earns 2x points on travel and dining purchases, with 1x everywhere else.

You’ll also get World Elite benefits such as the concierge and Luxury Travel program with the Barclays.

Note that the Barclays Arrival World Elite MasterCard (expired) is no longer available for new applications.

Does the Arrival Plus card have rental car insurance?

Yes, the car rental insurance covers the value of the car when using the card to book the reservation.

What is the difference in the Arrival Plus card vs Chase Sapphire Preferred Card?

Both cards earn 2x points in travel and dining, but the Arrival Plus card also earns 2x points everywhere else.

Both cards have an ongoing annual fee after the first year, but the Barclays fee is $6 cheaper than the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

You’ll see a bigger difference in how the rewards are earned.

Arrival Plus rewards are like cash-back that accumulates in your Barclays account and can only be used to give you statement credit toward travel purchases (in $100 minimum redemptions).

When you redeem, you get 5% of those dollars back.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card earns points that go into Chase Ultimate Rewards and can be used on a variety of things, from travel to shopping to transferring into partnered loyalty accounts.

In most cases, Chase points are redeemable for a higher value than Barclays miles.

Chase’s portal also offers 20% off on flights and travel when using points, whereas the Arrival Plus card only offers the 5% rebate. Both cards offer a variety of insurances.

What is the Arrival Plus card interest rate? Is there a 0% APR?

The card typically offers an introductory APR. However, its normal purchase APR is higher once the period ends (see card summary table above).

Does the Arrival Plus card have foreign transaction fees?

There are no foreign transaction fees on the card, allowing you to use it overseas without incurring any extra costs.

About Brian Graham

Brian’s first ever airplane ride was in a private turbo-prop jet. He was merely an intern boy trying to make a good impression, but it turns out the plane made an impression on him.

It wasn’t until Brian relocated to Dallas, TX, and moved in with an American Airlines employee that he truly discovered how incredible travel could be.

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UP's Bonus Valuation

This bonus value is an estimated valuation  calculated by UP after analyzing redemption options, transfer partners, award availability and how much UP would pay to buy these points.

10 ways to maximize Barclays Arrival miles

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here .

Airline miles, hotel points and transferrable points can unlock genuinely incredible experiences. Unfortunately, you can't book every travel experience these currencies. Sometimes, you need to pull out your credit card to pay for a specific travel experience or fee.

Luckily, several credit card currencies can cover out-of-pocket travel expenses. You could collect cash-back rewards with one of the best cash-back cards for a vacation fund. You could also redeem credit card rewards at a fixed rate to offset travel expenses. For example, you can redeem Capital One miles at one cent each . But, today, I'll consider a lesser-known currency that can also be redeemed at a fixed-value to offset travel expenses: Barclays Arrival miles.

Barclays Arrival miles are less well-known since none of the cards that earn these miles are currently open for applications. But, you may have Arrival miles through an existing Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard , Barclays Arrival Premier World Elite Mastercard or Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard. So, today I'll describe how to maximize Barclays Arrival miles.

Get the latest points, miles and travel news by signing up for TPG's free daily newsletter .

How to use Arrival miles

Log in to your account on barclaycardus.com and click on the "Rewards & Benefits" tab from your account homepage. There you'll see options, instructions and information for redeeming your miles. Note that the redemption options and specifics vary across the Arrival cards. But, for the remainder of this guide, we'll assume you have the Arrival Plus .

You can redeem Arrival miles for travel statement credits, cash-back statement credits, gift cards and merchandise. You'll get the best value from travel statement credits and account annual fee redemptions. After all, these choices value your miles at 1 cent each.

You generally won't want to redeem your miles for cash back statement credits or gift cards since these redemptions only value your miles at 0.5 cents each. However, through Jan. 31, 2021, you can offset qualifying gas, grocery and restaurant purchases via travel statement credits at a rate of 1 cent each per mile.

Travel statement credit redemptions for the Arrival Plus card generally start at 10,000 miles for $100. You can typically only redeem toward a qualifying travel purchase of $100 or more made within the last 120 days. And, account annual fee redemptions within the travel statement credit category have a minimum redemption of 2,500 miles for $25.

But, Barclays recently announced that Arrival Plus travel statement credit redemptions now start at 5,000 miles for $50 toward a travel charge of $100 or more. And, through Jan. 31, 2021, you can offset qualifying gas, grocery and restaurant purchases.

If you decide to use your miles for a travel statement credit, you'll see a list of all qualifying travel purchases. These purchases will fall under the travel merchant category code Barclaycard assigns merchants. Whether a merchant is included in the travel category will vary depending on the specific vendor. But, in general, these categories include:

• Travel agencies and tour operators (including online travel agencies such as Expedia and Priceline)
• Hotels, motels and resorts
• Cruise lines
• Passenger railways
• Car rental agencies

You can select "Redeem Now" next to any eligible purchase. Then you must choose how many miles you want to redeem and hit confirm on the next page. Once you do so, you'll see a confirmation page that lists your remaining miles balance and the amount of your 5% travel redemption bonus. Your redemption will usually appear in your online account within one or two business days.

Now that you know how to make a redemption, let's consider what kinds of travel redemptions you can make using your Barclays Arrival miles.

Related: How I use cash back — not just points and miles — to hit my travel goals

Award ticket taxes and fees

Let's say you redeem airline miles for an award ticket. You might still have to pay a ticketing fee, taxes and fuel surcharges on that ticket, which can all run you in the hundreds of dollars.

If the award ticket taxes and fees are less than $100, use an airline credit card that offers additional earnings for purchases made on the airline or a credit card that provides trip protections when you pay only the taxes and fees with the card. But, if the award taxes and fees are $100 or more and you can offset the purchase using your Arrival miles, using your Arrival card can reduce your out-of-pocket costs.

Related: How to decide whether to use cash or miles for airline tickets

Incidental hotel charges

Just like with airline travel, hotel charges can include a lot more than your room rate. For example, you may need to pay taxes, resort fees , room service , restaurant bills, spa tabs and more. If you use hotel points for your stay, you'll get your award nights for free. But, you may still be on the hook for other charges. And if you use your hotel points for a cash and points award , you'll still need to pay a cash copay that may be more than $100 for high-end properties or multi-night stays.

Remember, you'll only be able to offset purchases of $100 or more. So, you'll want to start a tab for room charges at check-in instead of paying for each on-site expense as a separate transaction. But, some hotel credit cards offer category spending bonuses when you use them at their hotels. For example, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card earns 14 Hilton Honors points per dollar spent at participating Hilton properties. So, do the math for yourself and see if it makes more sense to use your Arrival Plus card to offset the purchase using your Arrival miles.

The information for the Hilton Aspire Amex card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Related: The best hotel credit cards that come with an annual free night

Online travel agencies

One drawback to most airline miles and hotel points is that redeeming them depends on award availability . But with Arrival miles, you can redeem for any seat or room that's available. After all, you'll pay for the seat or room and then use your Arrival miles to offset the purchase.

You can also use your Arrival miles for car rentals and pretty much anything you can buy through online travel agencies . After all, Barclays usually classifies online travel agencies in the travel merchant category. So, if you use an online travel agency like Expedia or Priceline, you'll be able to use your Arrival miles to offset purchases of $100 or more.

Related: Ranking the best online travel agency rewards programs

Regular travel agencies

Although most of us seem to be using online travel sites and booking directly with airlines and hotels these days, some folks still use traditional travel agents. One of the great things about Arrival miles is that when purchasing travel through a travel agent that codes in the travel merchant category, you can redeem your miles to offset expenses of $100 or more.

Related: 4 scenarios when you should use a travel agent

Most cobranded cruise line credit cards don't provide great value unless you frequently sail on one particular cruise line. So, another great way to put your Arrival miles to use is redeeming them for cruise expenses.

In particular, you could offset your cruise package and/or expenses on board like bar or restaurant tabs, spa treatments, onshore excursions and so on. Just be sure to charge all of your onboard expenses to one bill so the total will at least $100 and hence eligible to be offset with your Arrival miles.

Related: Which cruise brand is best for you? A guide to the most popular lines

Bed and breakfast, vacation rental and non-chain hotel stays

It doesn't always make sense to stay with one of the major hotel loyalty programs . And, especially during the coronavirus pandemic , vacation rentals can be appealing. While you often can't redeem your hotel points for these stays, you can use your Arrival miles as long as the lodging is classified in the travel merchant category and your stay costs $100 or more. So, this is a great way to put your miles to use while getting to experience something new and different lodging-wise.

Related: 13 mistakes to avoid on your next vacation home rental

Car rentals

Although most car rental agencies have loyalty programs where you can earn free rental days, it can take a long time to acquire these free rental days. And it's often difficult to use these free days when traveling abroad.

So, you may need to find a cheap rental using AutoSlash and simply pay for your car rental. That's where fixed-value currencies like Arrival miles can be useful since the charge should be listed as a travel expense on your statement. This means you can offset the expense using your miles as long as the rental cost is at least $100.

Related: 46 rental car promotions that will save you money this fall

Train tickets

Although it's possible to transfer hotel points from various brands to Amtrak , this generally won't provide good value. And it won't help if you're looking to book train travel outside the U.S.

You may want to use a card that provides travel protections when purchasing your train tickets, especially when your purchase is less than $100. But for purchases of $100 or more — which is common for cross-country Amtrak tickets and long-distance European trains in premium cabins or during peak travel periods — you may want to use your Arrival miles to offset your train travel purchases.

Related: 11 mistakes people make when taking a cross-country Amtrak

Want to take a tour of Tuscany's farmers markets or a wine-tasting trip in Bordeaux? You usually can't use your points and miles to book these experiences. But, if the tour operator is categorized under "Travel" with Barclay's code system and the adventure costs at least $100, you can redeem your miles toward the cost of your tour package. Doing so could let you save some of your cash for more wine.

Related: 9 destinations you can only visit on a tour

Theme parks

Your actual ticket to Disneyland or Universal Studios might not code in the travel category. However, if you buy a Disney package that includes flights and/or hotel, this may code as travel. Likewise, if you are staying at the Universal Studios resort in Florida and your tickets were billed to your hotel room, this charge would likely be classified as travel. Offsetting your theme park tickets with Arrival miles may allow you to spend more on souvenirs and family fun during your trip.

Related: How to use points to buy Disney tickets

Bottom line

As long as you're redeeming your Arrival miles for 1 cent each, you're maximizing your miles. However, it's worth considering what types of purchases you should put on your Arrival card.

For example, you can offset qualifying gas, grocery and restaurant purchases through Jan. 31, 2021 at a rate of 1 cent per mile. However, it might be better to earn more rewards on these purchases with the best cards for gas or the best cards for groceries . After all, you can always use your Arrival miles to offset travel purchases that would earn fewer bonus rewards on your other cards.

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New Trip Delay Insurance with Barclaycard Arrival Plus

AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers .

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New Trip Delay Insurance with these Barclaycard-issued cards.

Trip delays can be a pain, not only regarding lost time and inconvenience, but also due to the additional costs incurred by having to stay in hotels, dining, and other incidentals. Luckily, many

Luckily, many credit cards offer trip delay insurance , and Barclaycard has just announced that it has added trip delay insurance to its array of World Elite MasterCard products. These include cards like the AAdvantage ® Aviator ® Red World Elite Mastercard ®  and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus ® World Elite Mastercard ® . So, what exactly constitutes a trip delay?

For the purpose of the insurance, a trip delay is considered a delay of 6 hours or more for any of the following reasons:

• Airline equipment malfunctions
• Bad weather
• Stolen or misplaced travel documents, including your passport.

Other delays due to war, acts of aggression, and hostilities between nations are not covered by the trip delay insurance. If your trip is delayed for a valid reason, you will be compensated for your expenses up to a value of $300.

Who is Eligible for Coverage?

Barclaycard is making the changes to their terms and conditions effective April 1, 2017. To find out if the new benefits have been extended to your card, you will have to check the updated terms and conditions of your Barclaycard.

To be eligible for the coverage, you must have made the booking using your Barclaycard; if the booking is an award booking, you must have paid the cash portion (taxes and fees) of the ticket using your Barclaycard.

The insurance will cover you for any expenses incurred during your delay; however, if you have been issued vouchers or certificates by the airline, you will only be compensated for the portion of expenses not covered by the vouchers or certificate.

Should you use these cards for airfare?

Before you rush out to book your next flight with your Barclaycard, check that you don’t have better options. One of the best cards for trip delay cover is the Chase Sapphire Preferred ® Card . If you have no other card that offers trip delay insurance, then this new benefit from Barclaycard is great news, and can only help smooth over your travel experience.

Source: Million Mile Secrets

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Trip delay insurance sounds like a really good benefit to have, all though I can’t remember the last time I had a delay of 6 hours.

Very useful info to know. Many times we need to dig into the detail and file a claim ourselves, thats easily couple hundreds of dollars saving over there.

One reason I justify the Chase Reserve is the travel insurance. Problem is I usually end up using the JetBlue Card to get the extra points and free bags.

I use the Chase Sapphire for the travel insurance too. I think that one is hard to beat

I am a big fan of buying trip insurance for vacations. It is not very expensive. And they seem to be very comprehensive, including cancellation, medical, emergency evacuation, etc.. I use insuremytrip.com. I’ve never made a claim though.

Maybe this site can do an article on trip insurance. How it works. And how it worked for people who actually had to make a claim.

I’d suggest checking this out: https://awardwallet.com/blog/best-credit-cards-for-free-travel-insurance/ . The claim process is similar across the board where you file a claim and provide documentation but they all ahve their nuances.

The article in the link is a great resource…thanks!

We could have used this last week after getting stuck in Atlanta becaused of the storm

Great to hear this. Trip delay insurance is a key consideration for me when choosing a credit card for airfare purchases, especially when traveling with my family.

Glad to know you have to pay the taxes and fees with your card. Wouldn’t have thought of that. Thanks for sharing and will look into booking our next trip with our Barclay card.

What kind of expanses it covers? Lounge? Books? Entertainments? For 6+ hours delay, airline should provide food vouchers already.

“travel expenses” is what is used throughout the document. Based on how other card products I think it is safe to assume meals, taxi/uber and hotel type expenses would be covered.

This is excellent information for us frequent flyers! Thank you ever so much!

Good to know it covers award trips as long as you pay cash portion!

So good to know! Sometimes I get so focused on the earn and burn side of travel that I overlook other useful bennies like this. Thx for the post.

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These Credit Cards Now Have Trip Delay Insurance!

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Barclaycard has added a new and valuable benefit to some of their cards!

As of April 1, 2017 , you’ll now get trip delay insurance when you reserve your flight with Barclaycard World Elite Mastercards , like the  Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard and  Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard.

So if your trip is interrupted for 6+ hours , you could get your expenses, like meals and hotel, reimbursed!

I’ll tell you what this new benefit means.  And show you how to use it!

Barclaycard Trip Delay Insurance

Link:   Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard Benefits

Link:   Barclaycard Arrival Plus

Link:   Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard Benefits

Link:   Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red

Barclaycard has made an upgrade to some of their cards.  World Elite Mastercards like the  Barclaycard Arrival Plus and the Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red now come with trip delay insurance !

To see your new benefits, log-in to your Barclaycard account and check the “ Benefits ” section of your account.  Here are the new Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard Benefits and   Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard Benefits .

But Barclaycard issues other World Elite Mastercards too, like the  JetBlue Plus Card .   So check your account for your new guide to benefits!

Who Is Eligible for the Coverage?

When you purchase the trip entirely with your card, you, or your family member, and your travel companions will be covered.  But the perk only applies applies to purchases made with your eligible card on or after April 1, 2017.

And you’re eligible for up to 2 claims per 12-month period.

However, if you use any certificates, vouchers, frequent flyer points, etc. for part of your trip, you’ll still be covered as long as you pay the remaining portion (like taxes & fees) with your eligible Barclaycard credit card!

That’s great news for folks who use the Barclaycard Arrival Plus to pay taxes and fees of award tickets, because they can redeem Barclaycard Arrival miles at a rate of 2 cents per mile to get a statement credit for travel purchases of $100+ !

What’s Considered a Trip Delay?

According to Barclaycard, you will be reimbursed for travel expenses, up to $300 per trip , if you are kept waiting for 6+ hours  for any of the following reasons:

• Inclement weather
• Airline equipment failure
• Lost or stolen travel documents, including passport

Does This Mean You Should Buy Airfare With Your Barclaycard?

This is a great addition to these cards.  But keep in mind, there are cards with much better travel insurance coverage, like:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred – If your trip is delayed for 6+ hours , you could be reimbursed for up to $500 per ticket for reasonable expenses (meals, lodging, toiletries, medication, and other personal use items)
• Citi Prestige –  If your trip is delayed for 3+ hours , you could be reimbursed for up to $500 per ticket for reasonable expenses (meals, lodging, toiletries, medication, and other personal use items)

The coverage is much higher with these cards.  While the new Barclaycard benefit covers $300 per TRIP , these cards cover $500 per TICKET .

Plus, both of these cards earn bonus points for travel purchases.  You’ll earn 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred , and 3X   Citi ThankYou points with the Citi Prestige .

Check out my post on which card has better travel protection !

Bottom Line

Barclaycard has added trip delay insurance to their World Elite Mastercards, like the Barclaycard Arrival Plus and the Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red.

You’ll get up to $300 per trip in reimbursed travel expenses when you’re delayed 6+ hours, for reasons like inclement weather or airline equipment failure.  This is good news for folks who like to book airfare with Barclaycard Arrival miles.  Because there used to be NO trip delay coverage.

However, there are still cards with much better trip delay insurance, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Citi Prestige .  So use one of those if you can!

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Barclaycard Arrival Plus is Closing to New Applications

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The Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® is making a departure.

Barclays has announced it will soon stop accepting new applications for the travel rewards card. A Barclays representative confirms that affiliate sites like NerdWallet are being notified this week and that the issuer will stop accepting applications for the card, and for personal loans, on its own website in the next few days.

» MORE: NerdWallet's best travel credit cards

The news follows the closure of the Barclaycard Ring® Mastercard® to new applicants a few weeks earlier.

It's unclear whether Barclays plans to eliminate or replace the Arrival Plus entirely. The issuer has not determined the next steps for the product, the Barclays representative added.

Current cardmembers can continue using their cards as before, and get the following benefits:

Enjoy 70,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.

Earn 2 miles per $1 on all purchases.

Book travel your way — no airline, seat or hotel restrictions — and redeem your miles for travel statement credits.

Get 5% miles back to use toward your next redemption, every time you redeem.

No foreign transaction fees.

Annual fee of $89 (waived first year).

This news does not affect co-branded Barclays cards like the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® .

In early 2018, Barclays suspended applications for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® temporarily, to make way for the launch of the Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard® . That Premier card itself was then closed to new applicants just six months later, and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® was made available again.

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