In honor of the one-year anniversary of its Arrival card, Barclaycard announced the re-branding of the popular travel credit card to the Barclaycard Arrival Plus^TM World Elite MasterCard®. The new card sports all of the old features as its predecessor, along with some new ones that should make it even more appealing. New benefits include chip and signature technology (with PIN capability) for added confidence and convenience when traveling abroad, a new and improved card design featuring a cyan-colored core and World Elite status.

In particular, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus now offers:

• Chip and signature cards with PIN capability (EMV- Europay, MasterCard and Visa)
• The ability to redeem miles for travel statement credits toward any travel purchase made in the last 120 days (increased from 90 days)
• Expanded travel statement credit redemption options including buses, timeshares and more
• Improved card design that is sleeker, more durable and features a cyan-colored core

Of special note is that the Arrival Plus card will now be an EMV credit card that offers “Chip and PIN” technology. “Chip and PIN” credit cards generate new random codes for each transaction and require the consumer’s PIN number, making them much more secure. They are also more of the standard in Europe, which means that not only will your security be enhanced, but it’s more likely your card will be accepted when traveling abroad.

Current Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard cardmembers ($89 annual fee) will receive the new Barclaycard Arrival Plus card, with chip technology, when their current card expires. They can also request the newly enhanced card right now. Existing cardmembers with the no-annual fee version can continue using their card with the enhanced redemption options and can receive their new card–with the new design–at the time of renewal or upon request.

With the changes, the Arrival Plus is now even a better value
The Barclaycard Arrival Plus continues to offer 40,000 bonus miles when the cardmember spends $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. 40,000 miles is enough to redeem for a $400 travel statement credit.

Another nice feature of the card is that you earn a 10% bonus whenever you redeem your miles for travel. For instance, when you redeem your 40,000 miles towards travel, you’ll receive an additional 4,000 bonus miles to use towards your next redemption.

Travel statement credit redemptions start at 2,500 miles for $25 and miles may be redeemed for for any travel purchase within the last 120 days (up from 90). A charge is considered a travel purchase when the merchant fits into one of the following categories as determined by its merchant category code: “Airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, tourist attractions, discount travel sites, trains, buses, taxis, limousines, and ferries.” (Note that travel has been expanded to now include additional categories such as buses, taxis, limos, campgrounds, tourist attractions, timeshares and ferries.)

All purchases also earn 2 miles per dollar spent. So if you are always redeeming towards travel, the card essentially earns a 2.2% rebate on all purchases once you include the 10% bonus. In addition, there are no mileage caps and your miles don’t expire as long as your account is open, active and in good standing.

When you consider all of these features, including the Chip and PIN technology with no foreign transaction fees, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus should be strongly considered by anyone in the market for a travel credit card.

For more info or to apply, see this link.