Overview

Barclays has quite a few co-branded hotel and airline cards in the US. Cards like AA Aviator, JetBlue, and Choice Hotel are all fairly solid, and it also recently took over Chase’s AARP card. Its welcome bonus requirements are usually pretty easy, and annual fees are not high. That said, its product lineup has never been very stable. Quite a few previously well-known cards have already been discontinued, such as Arrival, cash forward, and Uber.

Application

1. Barclays does not limit the total number of cards you can hold, but you do need an SSN to apply. As long as your credit profile meets the requirements, approval is possible. Of course, the more cards you have, the harder it usually gets. Often, you may hit your total credit limit with Barclays and need to move credit from another card in order to get approved for a new one.

2. After applying for a Barclays card, you can call the reconsideration line to speed up the review process or ask an analyst to reconsider a denied application. After calling, you will need to verify your identity and address. The analyst will usually review your application on the spot and ask about items on your credit report. You may also be asked to move credit limits around to approve the new card. Barclays is known for asking a lot of recon questions, so be prepared. More details: Introduction to Reconsideration in Credit Card Applications

3. Barclays credit card applications usually pull TransUnion (TU), and hard pulls on the same day can be combined; if you already have another Barclays card and your new application is not approved, there may be no hard pull. You can apply for two cards in one day to combine the HPs and reduce the impact on your credit report and score.

4. Barclays welcome bonuses are generally the same everywhere, and targeted offers with different terms are relatively rare. Sometimes you can find obscure links with a higher welcome bonus than the public offer on the official site. For the AA co-branded Aviator card, applying on a flight may get you a slightly better bonus or a waived annual fee.

5. Barclays welcome bonuses can be earned multiple times. Although application links usually say, “ You may not be eligible for this offer if you currently have or previously had an account with us in this Program. ”, it appears that if you close your old card and wait six months, you may still be able to get the bonus again (this is based on fairly old data points, without much recent DP). More details: Introduction to Churning Credit Cards

6. Barclays welcome bonuses can be matched. This generally needs to be done within 30 days of application, but if you are past 30 days, it is still worth calling to try. More details: Welcome Bonus Match

Usage

7. The spending period for the welcome bonus starts on the day your application is approved, with no room to negotiate an extension. Barclays usually states the requirement in terms of days, such as 90 days.

8. After completing the minimum spending requirement, you will usually receive the bonus when the next statement closes. If your card has an annual fee, you generally must pay that year’s annual fee first. If the annual fee has not yet posted, you may even be able to bill pay the annual fee in advance, and then have it automatically applied when the statement generates, which can still trigger the welcome bonus.

9. Annual fees, interest, cash advance fees, and similar charges do not count toward minimum spending and also do not earn points/cash back. Be sure to exclude these charges when calculating your spending.

10. You can move credit limits among different Barclays cards, usually as a soft pull; if you simply want to increase the credit limit on one card, a hard pull is required. You will need to call customer service to do this. See also: What You Need to Know About Credit Limits

11. Barclays often sends targeted spending offers. If you see one, make sure to complete it, since the rewards can be quite good.

12. Barclays cards all come with chips. Since Barclays is a UK-based bank, its cards support chip+PIN, which can be especially convenient when traveling in Europe.

Closing Cards

13. It is best to keep a Barclays credit card for at least one year before closing it. Once the annual fee posts, you can still get a full refund if you close the card within 60 days.

14. After closing a Barclays-issued proprietary card, your points will be lost; after closing a co-branded card, airline miles/hotel points will remain in the corresponding loyalty program. Miles and points from airline and hotel co-branded cards are already held in your loyalty account, so closing the credit card does not affect that. However, after you close the card, you can no longer rely on the card to extend their expiration date.

15. You can call to close a card, and customer service may offer a Retention Offer. However, Barclays does not offer these very often, and the most common one is simply waiving the next year’s annual fee. See also: Analysis of Credit Card Retention Offers

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