My Barclaycard Arrival+ has been on the ropes with me for a while given the changes they made to the card most recently. It’s not the worst card in the world, but the redemption changes coupled with the removal of the TripIt Pro subscription that came with it made paying the $89 annual fee a challenge for me. When my AAdvantage Aviator Red card matched the Arrival+’s redeeming quality, Chip and PIN capability at unattended terminals, it’s fate was sealed.
I gave Barclays a call and told them I wanted to cancel. They of course asked why, and I gave them all the reasons listed here. The agent advised that my account was “eligible” to downgrade to the no annual fee Arrival card. An interesting option to maintain a consistent credit line. However, my credit scores are high, and I have plenty of credit access. In short, if a small hit to my credit score is to be had from closing an account, I’d just as soon take it with this card, thin out my inventory a bit, and replace it with something else when an attractive bonus opportunity appears.
Will you be keeping your Arrival+ card?
-MJ, October 11, 2015
Stuart, Both my wife and i have the card that was originally USAirways with a 10K annual bonus. It got converted and has continued to pay 10K each year. We both got 10K posted 1 month ago, and I have seen no notification that that is changing. As for the Arrival Plus I downgraded to the no fee Arrival. I can still redeem like the Arrival plus though they keep cutting on the card. The earnings are hampered so I do not earn on it anymore.
Scott, That’s the card I had and I did get my 10,000 bonus last year. I phoned them as I needed to make a decision on which AA card to keep, between Citibank and Barclays, so when I was told (wrongly or rightly) unequivocally that my annual 10,000 benefit had been cancelled I decided to keep the Citibank card as I had it the longest.
Canceled mine last week, they didn’t offer to waive fee or downgrade even. Will get rid of the spouses card as well and cancel that shortly. We wound up with a negative point balance on that card as we redeemed points on a refundable airline ticket, which we later cancelled. Anyone have experience with whether they somehow make you reimburse the negative points when you cancel?
Just got the cheerful letter today, informing me of the changes and trying to insinuate that it’ll help them provide me with better rewards and make things “more efficient”. Idiots.
We can all just sign up again after 3-6mo and get the bonus again. I guess they’d rather do that then keep customers.
Never had the Arrival Card, but I cancelled the Barclays Aadvantage Red Card (keeping my Citibank Aadvantage MasterCard) after Barclays without notice cancelled the one benefit that gave it an edge over the Citibank version: an annual 10,000 mile bonus (which Barclays had initially told me would continue indefinitely). They seemed to take the cancellation in stride and I was not transferred to a “retention specialist) or given any incentive to change my mind.
That’s interesting, Stu, as I’d gotten the impression that those who had the original card offer with the annual 10K mile bonus would continue to get it.
Marshall, That is precisely what I had been told. However when I phoned them recently to confirm this I was told it had been cancelled for everyone, including those like myself who had accepted the original card offer. Now it’s possible that the agent with whom I spoke made a mistake, but they were quite adamant about this and said they understood that was the reason I was cancelling my card.
Cancelled. Asked about downgrading to the no annual fee version and I was not eligible. Oh well
I am planning to cancel, I have 2 of them as one is from when Virgin America bit the dust and they gave me a card with a $250 limit, and weekly cash advance checks!!! Not worth the hassle.
Nope. Canceled my Plus and non-plus in protest. Same for wife. Let them know why. I hope everyone does. You can not WHACK perks like that and expect folks to stay. I told the Barclays VIPS at BAcon2 to PLEASE just not mess up this card – clearly they did not listen! Bu-Bye!