Luxury Card’s From Barclaycard: Titanium, Black & Gold Reviews

Update: These cards no longer offer a sign up bonus and Barclaycard has cut benefits for military cardholders.

Two days ago we reported that Barclaycard had launched three new cards under their Luxury Card brand. I thought these cards deserved an in depth review due to the high annual fees they charge ($195-$995) to see if there is any value to be had. We’ll start by looking at what’s the same between the cards and then the individual benefits of each.

All Cards

Points Earning & Points Worth

All of these cards earn one point per dollar spent and there are absolutely no bonus categories to speak of. All cards can also redeem points for airfare at a rate of one point = 2¢. You can also redeem these points for statement credit, the rate you receive depends on the card you have and is as follows:

• Titanium: 1 point = 1¢
• Black: 1 point = 1.5¢
• Gold: 1 point = 2¢

One of the nice things about these cards is that the minimum redemption rate is really low, when redeeming for airfare you can redeem for as few as 50 points and in increments of 50 points. When redeeming for statement credit you can redeem in chunks of $1. Redemption can be done online at myluxurycard.com or by calling 844-724-2500, option 1, between 7:00am and 9:00pm Monday through Friday, and between 9:00am and 9:00pm Saturday and Sunday Eastern Time.

Some other information about points:

• Points don’t expire as long as card is open, active, and in good standing
• You cannot transfer points

Redeeming For Flights

Redeeming for flights is always only as good as the travel portal you have to use. There are a few things to consider:

• All airline tickets are non-refundable, non-transferable, and non-changeable (have to make any changes directly with the airline)
• There is no limit to the price of your ticket. Any combination of Points and other forms of payment can be applied to the purchase price
• If you select to receive paper tickets a $50 fee will be charged

It looks like they use a company called TLI for bookings.

Luxury Card Concierge

All three cards come with Luxury Card Concierge, this service is available 24/7 and 365 days per year. This concierge service is run by VIPDesk.com/Aspire (the same provider that American Express currently uses) and cardholders can access this benefit through the following website: http://www.luxurycardconcierge.com.

I don’t have a lot of experience with credit card concierge services (I usually find it quicker just to google the information myself), so if you do please share them in the comments or if you know of any good reviews of Aspire let me know and I’ll add them here.

Luxury Magazine

Another benefit available to all three cards is the members only Luxury Magazine, this is a quarterly publication. Although it’s supposed to be members only, it looks like anybody can access it by simply going to: http://www.luxurymagazine.com/ and clicking view now. A lot of it seems to be ads for expensive products, although I found a few interesting articles as well. I’d assume that cardholders receive a hard copy as well, but I don’t see anywhere to input your mailing details so unless Barclaycard just use the details they have no file it’s likely online only.

Other Benefits

• 0% APR on balance transfers for first fifteen billing cycles (3% BT fee)

Airline Credits (Black & Gold Only)

The Black & Gold cards both come with an airline credit ($100 & $200 respectively), according to the fine print this is available on a calendar year basis (based on the transaction date). The credit is automatic and should post to your account within two weeks of the transaction date. According to the fine print the following counts (emphasis mine):

• Qualifying airline purchases are defined as purchases made by the primary cardmember or authorized user(s) with an airline for items including airfare, baggage fees, lounge access, and some in-flight purchases, as determined by the merchant category code.  Barclaycard does not determine and is not responsible for whether merchants correctly identify themselves and bill transactions as being made at locations in a particular category.

This seems similar to the Citi Prestige benefit in that airfare counts, so almost any airline purchase (including gift cards) should also trigger this bonus. Some previous gifts have included the following: Cross pen set, Ray-Ban aviator glasses and a Swatch chronograph watch (let us know what else in the comments).

Luxury Gifts (Black & Gold Only)

Both the Black & Gold cards get access to something called Luxury Gifts. There is no set frequency of when you’ll receive a luxury gift, or even how many gifts you’ll receive in a card member year. Barclaycard used to issue the Black Card before the Luxury Card rebranding and this also had a luxury gift program.

Global Entry Credit (Black & Gold Only)

Like most premium cards, the the black & gold cards come with a global entry credit. You’ll receive a statement credit of $100 when making payment for your Global Entry using this card, this credit resets once every five years (this is how long Global Entry lasts). Your card must be open for 7 days before charging this fee to your card (seems like a silly rule).

Lounge Club (Black & Gold Only)

Another benefit for Black & Gold cardholders only is a Lounge Club membership. This looks like an unlimited access pass (meaning you don’t need  to pay the $27 fee to access the lounge) for yourself and as many guests as the lounge allows. Fine print below:

Primary cardmembers are eligible for a complimentary membership to participating airport lounges which allows for unlimited visits for yourself as well as guests

Titanium

• Annual fee of $195 and $95 for authorized users
• Card aesthetics: Brushed Stainless Steel/Carbon Card
• Sign up bonus of 10,000 points after $1,000 in spend within first 90 days of account opening
• Points can be redeemed for 1¢ for statement credit or 2¢ for airfare

Black

• Annual fee of $495 and $195 for authorized users
• Card aesthetics: Stainless Steel/Carbon Card
• Sign up bonus of 25,000 points after $1,000 in spend within first 90 days of account opening
• Points can be redeemed for 1.5¢ for statement credit or 2¢ for airfare

Gold

• Annual fee of $995 and $295 for authorized users
• Card aesthetics: 24K-Gold-Plated/Carbon Card
• Sign up bonus of 50,000 points after $1,000 in spend within first 90 days of account opening
• Points can be redeemed for 2¢ for statement credit or 2¢ for airfare

Application Information

When you apply for this card, it’s run through Barclaycard’s normal application procedure, this means it should be a TransUnion credit pull and it should be possible to get multiple inquiries merged. If you apply for any of these cards, let us know if you were approved/denied and some more information (income, credit score etc).

Apparently all applications for these go automatically into manual review, you can expedite this by calling in. Few reasons why they might deny you:

• Bankruptcy on file
• Too many new accounts

Our Verdict

Update: Military members do get the annual fee on this card waived.

The Gold Card is probably the card of most interest, the sign up bonus would be worth $1,000. Obviously this only cancels out the annual fee, but some people should be able to get that refunded (and various other tricks might work as well). Even if not you should be able to double dip the airline credit as it’s per calendar year and get $400 in airline purchases reimbursed, that’s a pretty good outcome for a TransUnion pull (and even better if you can get that AF waived/refunded).