With a Welcome Bonus Worth $700 in Travel and Great Benefits, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus Is Worth the Annual Fee for Many

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With so many different credit card options out there, it can be tough to sort through the true keepers, the nice-to-haves and the not-really-worth-its.

Here’s one thing I’ve learned by doing the research on multiple cards: Sometimes it’s perfectly fine to enter a short-term relationship to figure out if a card is the right fit for you.

For example, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® comes with 70,000 Arrival miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account. That’s $700 in travel, and I love it. But do the card’s ongoing perks make the Barclaycard Arrival Plus annual fee worth it in the long term?

The Barclaycard Arrival Plus Annual Fee Is Waived the First Year = Love

You can apply here for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard®

Read our full review of the Barclaycard Arrival Plus

There’s a lot to love with the Barclaycard Arrival Plus.

One of the card’s best perks is that there’s no annual fee for the first year ($89 each year after that), so it feels like there’s really no risk in signing up — plus the incentive to give the card a try is HUGE.

The first year, you’ll receive the welcome bonus of 70,000 Arrival miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of opening your card. Since you’ll receive two Arrival miles for every $1 you spend on this card, you automatically get an extra 10,000 miles by hitting this initial $5,000 spending goal, for a total of $800 in travel credit within your first 90 days. I’d say that’s a pretty nice start.

Ongoing Perks For a Low Annual Fee

After the first year, you’ll want to assess if the Barclaycard Arrival Plus benefits and perks make this card worth keeping around. We did a pretty comprehensive review of the Barclaycard Arrival Plus card a little while ago, including a lot of information on how to actually cash out your rewards points.

For example, this card is really great for those who are looking for a simple points system that doesn’t take a lot of maneuvering to figure out how to maximize your rewards. That’s nice for those travelers who don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to extra research.

Here are some of the top benefits you’ll receive every year that you renew this card:

• 2 Arrival miles earned per every $1 spent – It’s easy to earn Arrival miles and just as easy to cash those miles out for travel credit when you’re ready to book a trip.
• World Elite Mastercard benefits – There are a ton of great perks with the World Elite Mastercard including travel assistance, a global concierge to help you with travel arrangements, theft protection and trip delay insurance, which reimburses you for certain travel expenses that result from a delay of 6+ hours.
• $10 Lyft credit every month – This is a relatively new perk that is included with the World Elite Mastercard. I use Lyft all of the time (not just when traveling, but around town too) and I’m guessing that this will be a very attractive perk to others as well.

Is the Barclaycard Arrival Plus Worth Keeping?

This one just comes down to personal preference.

Since there’s no annual fee for the first year, it definitely makes sense to sign up and earn the initial rewards bonus, then see how much you use this card’s perks throughout the year. If you think you’ll use other cards more than this one and don’t want to pay the renewal fee, wish it well and set it free.

Remember, this card’s earning rate is similar to a 2% cash back credit card, and you get one of those with no annual fee.

However, the benefits may have good value to you. For example, if you use the $10 Lyft credit every month, you’re guaranteed to receive more value than the annual fee cost of $89.

Let me know what you think about the huge Barclaycard Arrival Plus welcome offer! And subscribe to our newsletter for more credit card analysis like this!