With all the travel credit cards on the market today, it’s easy to see why two of the most popular are the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®. After all, both cards offer a slew of benefits that globetrotters value.
If you’re looking for a credit card to carry you around the world, you’ve probably done a lot of research that’s left you wondering: Which of these two should I apply for? To help you decide, the Nerds compared the cards on a variety of metrics. We’ll do a deep dive into how we did our assessment, but let’s start by taking a look at the basics:
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
starstarstarstarstar | starstarstarstarstar | ||||||||
| Signing Promo | |||||||||
| Earn 40,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months. | Earn 40,000 bonus miles when you spend $3,000 or more on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening. | ||||||||
| Intro APR Promo | |||||||||
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| Annual fee | |||||||||
| Introductory Annual Fee of $0 the first year, then $95. | $89 - Waived first year | ||||||||
| Details | |||||||||
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Now it’s time to put the basic features of each card under the microscope. To do our evaluation, we carefully analyzed the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® in terms of signup bonus, fees and acceptance, and earning and redeeming. Let’s dig in!
Signup bonus
Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcoming new card members with a hefty signup bonus is something that both the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® specialize in. But the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card’s welcome is just a little bit sweeter: Earn 40,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months. Assuming you redeem those bonus points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, each one is worth 1.25 cents apiece. This works out to $500 toward your next trip.
Don’t get us wrong – the signup bonus offered by the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® is certainly nothing to sneeze at. You’ll Earn 40,000 bonus miles when you spend $3,000 or more on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening. Since each mile is worth 1.1 cents when redeemed for travel, your bonus is worth $440. This is certainly sizeable, but the numbers don’t lie: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card wins out.
Fees and acceptance
Winner: Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®
When it comes to fees and acceptance, the winner was a little less clear. Since both cards don’t charge a foreign transaction fee, neither was able to pull ahead – they’re both equally enticing on that front. But in terms of annual fees, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® is slightly cheaper. It charges $89 - Waived first year. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card charges an Introductory Annual Fee of $0 the first year, then $95. A very small difference to be sure, but again, the numbers don’t lie.
When it comes to international acceptance, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® also has a slight edge. To be clear, we’re not talking about network acceptance – the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a Visa and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® is a MasterCard, which means that both will be welcomed at most international retailers. We’re referring to overseas acceptance with regard to EMV (or “chip”) technology.
Although both cards come chip-enabled, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® is also chip-and-PIN capable. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card only offers a chip-and-signature option. In most cases, this is more than adequate. But some European merchants (particularly kiosks at train stations) will only take chip-and-PIN cards. To ensure acceptance everywhere you travel, you’re better off opting for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®.
Earning and redeeming
Winner: Tie
There was no way to choose a clear winner when it comes to earning and redeeming. Both cards have a lot to offer, and each meets the needs of a different type of traveler.
Let’s start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. With this card, you’ll earn 2 points for every dollar you spend on dining in restaurants and travel, and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. Generally, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card points are worth one cent apiece. However, as we mentioned earlier, they’re worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. This drives the value of each point up to 1.25 cents.
When it comes time to cash in your rewards, you can use Chase’s Kayak-like portal to book a trip and score the 25% value boost on each point, or you can transfer them to a participating frequent traveler loyalty program at a 1:1 ratio. This is where things can get really lucrative; if you’re skilled at wringing a lot of value out of frequent flyer miles, you could get a value of substantially more than 1 or 1.25 cents per point.
With the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®, you’ll earn 2 miles for every dollar you spend. Each mile is worth $.01, but since you get 10% of your points back when you redeem them for travel, you’re really getting a rewards rate of 2.2% with this card.
Speaking of redemption, your options are a little broader than with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. You’ll be able to book your travel as you normally would, then go online and redeem your miles in the form of a statement credit. This tends to appeal to folks who like to shop around for the best deal on their flight or hotel stay, while still being able to use their rewards. For these travelers, being stuck with a finite set of airlines or hotel chains to choose from feels limiting.
The verdict
Before giving the final verdict, the Nerds want to emphasize again that both the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® are stellar choices in the travel credit card category. No matter which you choose, you really can’t go wrong.
With that being said, we generally think the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is better for sophisticated travel hackers who have a lot of experience with getting the best deals on frequent flyer award seats. Also, if you tend to do most of your spending on dining and travel, you’ll be able to easily rack up serious rewards and get a lot of value out of this card.
On the other hand, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® is a better pick for budget travelers who like to scour the web for the best prices on flights and hotels, and who frequently book through discount travel sites. It’s also a good choice for people who like the simplicity of earning a high, flat rewards rate on all their spending.
So there you have it, vagabonds! Bon voyage, and be sure to check back often with the Nerds – we’ll keep you up-to-date on all the latest news in the world of travel credit cards.
Booking travel with credit card image via Shutterstock
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