Barclaycard Arrival: New Features, New Technology

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s the graphic on the updates to the Barclaycard Arrival credit card announced today.

You can see the advertising video with an explanation of the new Chip & Pin payment feature here.

Chip & Pin is the state-of-the-art security feature that is especially useful if you travel abroad.

You can find my full reviews of the pros and cons of the fee version, and no annual fee version of the card here.

Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard®

I have the Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard® which comes with a $200 credit towards travel expenses if you spend $1000 in the first three months after opening the card.  This card has no annual fee, and pays two times “points” on purchases at restaurants and for travel purchases.  I like the bonus earning on restaurants and on Priceline purchases.  I also like that this is a no annual fee card, so I can hold on to it forever, thus aiding the length of credit history on my credit score.  This card does not have the chip and pin feature.  

Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®

There is another, probably better, version of the card, now called the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® that offers a $400 bonus toward travel expenses if you spend $3000 in the first three months.  This card has an annual fee of $89, which is waived the first year.  It pays two times points on all purchases, which is really a fantastic value, especially because you get ten percent back on all redemptions for travel expenses.  This card does have the new chip and pin feature, making it useful for purchases and ATM withdrawals abroad.