Barclays Arrival World MasterCard (before May 2014)

Updated May 16, 2014.

The Facts
There are two versions: non-fee and $89 annual fee, both introduced in late 2012.  However, in May 2014, Barcalys rebranded the $89 Arrival as "Arrival Plus".  Please see our new review on Arrival Plus for details.

Arrival with no Annual Fee   

• Annual Fee: none
• Signup Bonus: 10,000 miles
• Rewards: 2x travel and dining, 1x everywhere else
• Best Use of Barclays miles:  These miles are not traditional frequent flyer miles but rewards points from the credit card company.  You can use them towards merchandise, giftcards, cashback or statement credit, up to 1 cent per mile.  However, the best redemption option is to pay for travel - you will get 10% of the miles you redeem back to your account, essentially making 1 mile = 1.11 cent.
• Other Benefits: no foreign transaction fees

Arrival with $89 Annual Fee (rebranded as Arrival Plus in May 2014)

• Annual Fee: $89, waived for the 1st year
  
• Signup Bonus: 20,000 miles
• Rewards: 2x everywhere
• Best Use of Barclays miles:  These miles are not traditional frequent flyer miles but rewards points from the credit card company.  You can use them towards merchandise, giftcards, cashback or statement credit, up to 1 cent per mile.  However, the best redemption option is to pay for travel - you will get 10% of the miles you redeem back to your account, essentially making 1 mile = 1.11 cent.
• Other Benefits: no foreign transaction fees

The Math
The more interesting card of the two is of course the $89 one which returns 2.22% if redeemed for travel.  

Barclays Arrival with $89 annual fee vs. FIA Fidelity Amex: Arrival's return of 2.22% is slightly higher than Fidelity's 2%, but Fidelity does not carry an annual fee. You need to spend more than $40,455 a year on Barclays Arrival to beat Fidelity.

Barclays Arrival with $89 annual fee vs. BankAmericard Privileges with Travel Rewards.  Differences: BankAmericard best returns 2.1 cents per dollar spent while Arrival best returns 2.22 cents; Arrival costs $14 more in annual fee and there is no waiver like BankAmericard; BankAmericard offers 3x travel through their portal.  However, for most people these differences are small enough.

Barclays Arrival with $89 annual fee vs. Capital One Venture ($59 annual fee): you need to spend $13,637 per year on Arrival to beat Venture.

The Conclusion
The new Arrival from Barclays catches up in the cashback equivalent credit card market and is one of the best cards in this category.  With BankAmericard Privileges with Travel Rewards discontinued for new applications, we have replaced it with Barclays Arrival on our Top List.