The annual fee on my Barclay Arrival+ card just posted, and since the card hasn’t been getting any use, I called in to downgrade. Two separate front-line reps insisted that there is no option for downgrade available on the account. I pushed to speak to a supervisor, and he was able to find the downgrade option to the no-fee Arrival card.
Using this option, I’ll save the annual fee with my rewards balance remaining intact. The rep told me that there’s even a 1,000 points downgrade bonus to boot for downgrading from the Arrival+ to the no-fee card (requires a purchase of any amount). Presumably, they are trying to encourage downgrade versus cancellation.
It used to be possible to downgrade to the Barclay Rewards card while keeping all points intact. The benefit in choosing that method is that points on that card can be cashed out at 1 cent-per-point without needing a travel charge to offset. However, that card is no longer available for signup, and the rep insisted that it’s not available for downgrade either, so I took the no-fee Arrival as my downgrade option.
Within days, the $89 fee got credited back leaving my balance at $0. (Oddly, it still shows me owing the minimum monthly payment, but SM confirmed with me that since my balance is $0 I don’t owe anything.) In the login it’s still showing as Arrival+. I’ll wait until the downgrade is fully complete – I believe the rep said I’ll be getting a new card – then I’ll make a small $1 purchase to trigger the 1,000 points downgrade bonus.
