Success Churning Barclaycard Arrival Plus

I can officially call myself a credit card churner. I’ve been opening new credit cards for the sign-up bonus for a while now, but this is the first time I reopened a card to get the bonus for a second time. It’s well known that Barclays credit cards are churnable, and I was able to do it within a three-month time frame. Here’s what you need to know about churning the Barclaycard Arrival Plus.

Applying for the First Time

I applied for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus for the first time on 11/1/2016 (read more about that here). This is a great time to apply for this card since the sign-up bonus is 10,000 points higher than the usual offer. I met the $3,000 spending requirement on 11/25 and the points posted the same day. I redeemed my points for a $344 flight to New Orleans, $240 private tour in Chile, and a $25 statement credit. I was left with 250 points and closed my account on 12/7.

Planning Your Churn

After opening the Barclaycard Arrival Plus, I received a targeted mailer for the same offer. Since the offer expired on 1/6/2017, I decided to wait until January 5th to use it. I figured having a unique offer code would help increase my chances of being approved again.

Applying for the Second Time

I used my targeted offer to apply for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus for the second time on 1/5/2017. I was bummed to get a pending screen and decided to call the reconsideration line. Upon calling, the credit analyst noted that my application was actually automatically denied because I recently had the product. They didn’t even do a credit pull. Looks like the targeted mailer didn’t do squat!

I told the credit analyst that I’d recently closed the account and regretted doing so, so I decided to apply again. He said he could consider my application if I’d authorize a credit pull. Then he verified my income and employment and put me on hold while he assessed my report. Moments later he came back and told me I was doing what they like to see in terms of paying on time. He then approved my application with a $7,500 credit line.

Don’t Let the Fine Print Scare You

While I was working on the spending requirement, I was afraid I wouldn’t receive the bonus a second time since the fine print reads:

“This offer is available to new cardmembers only.“

I knew it was the risk I was taking by trying to churn the card. It would be a bummer if I didn’t get the bonus, but the worst that would happen is I earned some points I didn’t really care about and had another hard pull on TransUnion.

Getting the Bonus (Again!)

I met the spending requirement on 2/3/2017 and the points posted the same day. I was able to get the Barclaycard Arrival Plus bonus twice within three months! It’s so easy I almost feel bad…keyword being almost. I’ve already redeemed points for $260 worth of hotels in Chile. I’ll use the rest for tours and trains for my upcoming trip to Italy.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think this method is sustainable and since I really don’t want to get banned by Barclays, I don’t think I’ll try it again for another year. A few key things to keep in mind when churning the Barclaycard Arrival Plus is that you can’t have an active version of the card or the no-fee version (Barclaycard Arrival) or your application won’t be processed. The system also won’t process your application if you recently closed the card like I did. In general, I’d recommend taking a more conservative approach by waiting six months to a year before opening a new account. However, if you need some travel cash fast or want a recon call challenge, you can try churning it quickly. This is definitely one of the easiest ways to get over $1,000 worth of travel for free.

Have you successfully churned the Barclaycard Arrival Plus?

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