The Offer
No direct link to offer, sent out via snail mail
- Barclays has sent out a snail mail offering 25,000 points after $3,000 in spend on the Arrival Premier credit card
The Fine Print
- Card earns 2x miles per $1 spent
- Ability to transfer miles to Barclays travel partners
- $150 annual fee
- Annual spend bonuses:
- Spend $15,000 in a card membership year and get 15,000 bonus miles
- Spend an additional $10,000 and get an additional 10,000 bonus miles (total of $25,000 spend for 25,000 miles)
- Global Entry credit
- No foreign transaction fees
- Lounge Key access (basically just Priority Pass, but you have to pay for lounge access at $27 per entry)
- Read full review here
Our Verdict
We’ve never seen a sign up bonus on this card, if Barclays wants to get any traction on this card they will need to add one. You basically get 3x miles per $1 spent if you spend $25,000 (plus the sign up bonus), the problem is that this card does have transfer partners but it’s not a 1:1 rate (either 1.4:1 or 1.7:1). Fingers crossed we see a public sign up bonus on this card at some stage, but I’m hoping for more than 25,000 points.
Hat tip to reader Alex
A family member received this literally 4 weeks after opening an Arrival+ using a targeted mailer.
Don’t know what to think. Does Barclays have any rules on how soon/how often cards can be opened?
I couldn’t find any DP whether this card is subject to the 6/24 rule. It is an “arrival” so maybe yes????
Does this offer have a waived $150 annual fee like the public offer? It doesn’t say in the letter.
For this card to “gain traction,” Barclays has to do the following:
1) Follow through on adding Alitalia and Finnair (were supposed to be added by the end of July), and add the “major partner” they’ve alluded to. Even more would be ideal.
2) Offer transfer bonuses every so often, like Citi and Amex, even if it’s just 5-15% tops.
3) At a minimum, offer free lounge entry for the primary cardholder (ideally with at least one guest)!
4) Sign up bonus, as already mentioned.
Optional 5) Offer bonus spending targets at least one quarter a year, as typically happens with their other cards.
Those four changes would go a long way in improving the business case for this card. With a little tweaking, this card could be great for those that are interested in decent rewards but can’t deal with or don’t want multiple cards. Being able to choose between transferring miles or 3% (2.4% after year one) cashback on all categories is very nice.
If it does not say it in the letter, it is highly unlikely to wave it.
I got a mailer like this but with only a 10k points bonus. I wonder if they’re trying different offers to see what works.
The 10k sign-up bonus offer waives first year AF, this 25k one doesn’t.
I also got the 10K bpnus offer via snail mail, but with the annual fee waived for the first year.
FYI, I’ve seen this offer when logging into my Barclays account.
Can you take a picture? Where does it show exactly?
I am astonished that the second-tier banks like Barclays, Bank of America, and US Bank keep trying to break into the premium card market with less-than-premium cards. Even the poor, gutted Citi Prestige is a better card than the ones offered by these three banks.