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The card offer described in this post has expired. To see the latest top travel credit cards with big bonuses that will save you tons, check out our Top 10 List for Consumers and Top 10 List for Small Businesses.

The Barclaycard Arrival Plus is a tool every frequent flyer should have in their wallet, especially big spenders and families. In essence, the card earns 2.1% back toward travel on all purchases. (Not to mention the sign up bonus worth $400 toward travel after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days on the card.)

With Arrival miles, you can book any flight on any airline with no blackouts and no need to search for award availability. You can even use the rewards to pay for the taxes and fees on other airlines’ award redemptions.

For a complete breakdown and analysis of the Arrival Plus, make sure to check out my comprehensive review here.

This post is a simple walk through of how to redeem your Arrival miles for travel purchases, as well as some pitfalls to avoid when doing so.

  • How do you redeem Barclaycard Arrival Miles on travel?
  • When do you receive your 5% rebate?
  • Can you use Arrival miles as partial payment towards a charge?
  • Is the redemption process simple?
  • How do you avoid lower value redemptions?

When I got the Barclaycard Arrival Plus, I met the $3,000 minimum spend quickly, and the bonus miles posted.

I then used the card to pay for the taxes and fees associated with two United awards I booked. You absolutely have to use your Arrival Plus to charge whatever travel expense you want to redeem your miles for.

The first step in redeeming is to log into your Barclaycard account and to click on the “Rewards & Benefits Center.” Then click “Start using my miles.”

screen-shot-2016-10-05-at-9-46-48-pm Next select “Redeem now” under “Travel statement credits.”screen-shot-2016-10-05-at-9-47-07-pmThere you’ll find any qualifying travel purchases you’ve made in the last 120 days.screen-shot-2016-10-05-at-9-47-20-pm

When you have eligible purchases, you see how many days you have left to redeem them, and you see a button to “Redeem now.”

screen-shot-2016-10-05-at-9-55-35-pm

New cardholders can redeem for the full amount or partial amounts down to 10,000 miles for $100 off. (Older cardholders may be grandfathered into redeeming as few as 2,500 miles for $25.)

Barclays Step 4

After you click the green “Checkout” button and was able to review my order before hitting the green “Place your order” button.

Barclays Step 5

Barclays Step 6

Immediately after placing the order, I received confirmation of the redemption. The best part is the 5% rebate happens automatically automatically, and the points are instantly credited back to your account!

A net redemption of 9,500 Arrival miles (10,000 – 500 rebate) saves you $100. That’s a rate of 1.05 cents per mile.

What about redeeming Arrival miles for cash back? Is that a good value?

I don’t recommend this redemption at all. You only receive 0.5 cents per point when requesting cash back, as opposed to getting 1.05 cents back when redeeming Arrival miles for travel related purchases.

Cash back diminishes the value of Arrival miles.
Cash back diminishes the value of Arrival miles.

Can you redeem Arrival miles for gift cards?

That’s also an ill-advised move, as you are again receiving 0.5 cents per mile in value. You would accrue Gold Passport points if using the Hyatt gift card for a hotel stay, but that’s a small consolation. Using Arrival miles on a Lowe’s or Outback Steakhouse gift card (two of the scarce available options) is a poor deal.

Hyatt Gift Card

Recap

Redeeming your Arrival miles for travel related purchases (hotels, flights) is a simple process and the absolute best use of your miles. You get 1.05 cents per mile in value since the 5% rebate credits to your Arrival mile balance instantaneously.

Arrival miles are a fantastic way to be reimbursed for the taxes on traditional awards or to pay for cash tickets that still earn miles and status with the legacy carriers.

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.

With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!


Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.

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