Disclaimer: I receive a commission if you use my links for the Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard. Should you find that it is a good card for you, I appreciate you using my link!
We like to use the words “free travel” to describe how we travel with miles and points. The truth is that, while the out-of-pocket cost of travel is severely lowered by miles and points, award travel still costs money. It can cost as little as the segment tax on US flights ($2.50) to costing as much as hundreds of dollars per ticket for taxes, fees, and surcharges.
A classic example of this is the fuel surcharges that are present on many award tickets to or from Europe. Even for economy tickets, the cost can be over $500 just in taxes on an award ticket! That certainly is not free travel! In fact, with costs like that, it can often be more worthwhile just purchasing the ticket outright.
A Delta award ticket in economy from Europe to the US – over $500 in taxes and fees!
An American Airlines economy award ticket – almost $700 in taxes and fees!
Enter The Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard
Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard – 40,000 miles after spending $3,000 in 90 days – Application Link (I receive a commission if you use this link)
This is one of those situations where the Arrival card can present some great value to your travel. While it is nice to use Arrival points to reimburse for things like revenue airline tickets, hotel rooms, or rental cars, it is also possible to use those Arrival points as a supplement to your miles.
It is simple – when you are booking reservations that have fees, taxes, and surcharges along with the miles, just use your Barclaycard Arrival card as the payment source. After the charge has posted to your account, you can the apply what points you have available towards those charges.
The minimum that can be applied is 2,500 points ($25), but anything over that is allowable – up to however many points you have in your account.
With the sign-up bonus of 40,000 points, it will give you $400 off any type of travel. In addition, you will receive a 10% rebate on the points used as well as 2 points for every dollar you spend. While it may be discouraging to see that sign-up bonus just go to cover taxes and fees on an award ticket, it is still money saved so the card is doing what it is supposed to. If you use your Barclay Arrival card as a supplement for your airline miles, it can begin to open up a lot of awards that you may have held off on because of the taxes and fees.
Above are some of the examples, but one that is great to redeem for is the flight from/to JFK to Frankfurt on Singapore Airlines in Suites Class. It is a fabulous experience and one worth trying, at least once.
Using your Barclay Arrival points can eliminate that tax and allow you to enjoy one of the best cabins in the sky for cheaper!
The travel does not have to be for you. It can be for anyone, as long as you put the charges on your Barclaycard Arrival. So, if you are getting award travel for family members for a trip, as long as you use your Barclay Arrival card for the charges of the ticket, you can get that money back (up to the amount of Arrival points you have available). This is yet another nice use of a very versatile card.
