Barclays will prevent new customers for signing up for the Arrival Premier card that was launched only earlier this year. In a statement to VFTW Barclays stated that the application would be pulled sometime at the end of the week due to low demand for the product. They tried to increase demand by waiving the annual fee first year and we saw targeted sign up bonuses as well. It’s hardly surprising given that it launched with no sign up bonus, travel partners that don’t transfer 1:1 to travel partners and an unclear value proposition. In the same statement to VFTW they stated they don’t have any planned changes to the card and they will continue to serve existing cardholders.
In reality I don’t think that will happen. The Arrival Premier is the only flexible point earning card Barclays offers, they will do one of the following:
- Make changes to the Arrival Premier to increase demand
- Launch a new card with flexible points (Arrival Premier Plus anybody?)
- Discontinue the Arrival Premier and the flexible point partner
It’s gone
I would’ve much preferred if they had done the following:
pros:
#1: add KE as a transfer partner.
#2: 75k sign up bonus
#3: transfer 1:1
#4: remove all of their “anti-gaming” nonsense rules for this card.
cons to keep costs down:
remove that loungekey nonsense.
remove global entry
sign up bonus duration and spend extended: requires total of $25k spend over 1 year.
increase annual fee by ~$200
remove the useless partners, just keep JL, AC, EY, AF, (and added KE).
card bonus is once in a lifetime.
Sum: For first year, after spending $25k, you’d have ~150k pts and you’d have paid ~$300+ to the fee.
I have barclay arrival still as my primary card simply because it has such a massive CL now. They are the absolute worst of all the major credit card banks I’ve dealt with as far as doing anything for their customers. Just don’t even pretend to give a flying you know what. Working on transitioning all spending to doublecash and downgrading the card. I’m not surprised at all this card was a huge flop.
Can I still apply for this card ? I was planning to use it to pay mortgage through plastiq
It boils down to how much money do you have. It’s a great card if your wealthy, but to an average Joe the card is worthless.
barclays so fukn dumb. they think low apps mean failure? do they not have a sneaky RAT to read comments and reviews? this CC isnt for n00bs which is 99% of reddit. only pros can use this card to the max. hence the low app rate. but MORE importantly, their stupid ass app rules and denial rates are preventing anyone from wasting their time on this card. they have uber and B6 and etc.
and instead of pivoting and improving the cc, they “dont have any plans to alter the card”? wow. idiots. this is the hallmark of stupid entrepreneurs giving up from a small mistake. waive the AF and add a sign up bonus dude. wtf man.
i want to walk into their dumbass HQ and bitchslap their CEO. i hope they read this.
Best card for high organic spender abroad, shame it did not work out.
Yup, which is me and it will be in wallet till they force it out of my hands.
Can one still
Product change the arrival plus to it?
Be the DP you want to see
Never been able to PC I don’t think
Love the title.
This was pretty obvious from the get go.
* No sign up bonus
* Annual fee due at the start
* Transfer partners too confusing
* Spending requirements were too high, even if people could hit them, seeing the numbers written out make it seem daunting.
They seemed to create a card where it really benefitted them, not offering signup bonuses and only bonuses for customers who had higher organic spends but this ended up backfiring as no one signed up for it. They made the classic mistake of thinking they had the power to tell the consumer what they needed instead of the consumer telling them what they’d take. The C-suites should come out of their glass offices and get a dose of reality, you’re Barclays.
“You’re Barclays”
Love it haha