topic Re: Is a barclays card anything special? in Credit Cards

Is a barclays card anything special?

Scott90 — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 22:20:57 GMT

I get pre-approved offers in the mail all the time and today I got for the first time, a barclays rewards card offer in the mail.

I do not know much about Barclay's at all. I see it in a few posts here and there but I have no idea where it ranks as far as anything special. To me, i am not really impressed. It is the Barclays rewards card (blue and white card). 0% for 18 months after that 14.99%. 2 points per dollar on gas, groceries, utilities, and 1 point for everything else.

I would much rather user quicksilver/freedom than this. Just seeing your opinions maybe i am missing something?

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 22:22:30 GMT

@Scott90 wrote:
I get pre-approved offers in the mail all the time and today I got for the first time, a barclays rewards card offer in the mail.

I do not know much about Barclay's at all. I see it in a few posts here and there but I have no idea where it ranks as far as anything special. To me, i am not really impressed. It is the Barclays rewards card (blue and white card). 0% for 18 months after that 14.99%. 2 points per dollar on gas, groceries, utilities, and 1 point for everything else.

I would much rather user quicksilver/freedom than this. Just seeing your opinions maybe i am missing something?

for some people it works well, for some others, not so much.

if the card doesn't seem to be of much use / value to you, then yea don't apply for it.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

bigblue7722 — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 22:43:48 GMT

What are your credit scores. Imo the barclaycard is worth it just for the free fico if you cant get approved for discover it. I know you can get the free fico with walmart but u get no rewards and can only use it there which for me is not very useful. The rewards are worth it to me cause of the 2 points back on utilities no other card offers that. They also have a pretty good website that allows you to get more points if you do online shopping. So you would go to barclaycard first then go to the retailers website. I have done it a couple times already for staples.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 22:43:54 GMT

@Scott90 wrote:
I get pre-approved offers in the mail all the time and today I got for the first time, a barclays rewards card offer in the mail.

I do not know much about Barclay's at all. I see it in a few posts here and there but I have no idea where it ranks as far as anything special. To me, i am not really impressed. It is the Barclays rewards card (blue and white card). 0% for 18 months after that 14.99%. 2 points per dollar on gas, groceries, utilities, and 1 point for everything else.

I would much rather user quicksilver/freedom than this. Just seeing your opinions maybe i am missing something?

The card is certainly not amazing but it can be pretty good depending on your spending (as can the quicksilver). If you spend a lot on gas groceries and utilities, the 2% can be better than QS overall 1.5%. Also people here have found that some unlisted things, like drug stores, will also give 2%. If you spend less on those categories, or have other cards that are better on those categories, then this isn't a good match.

Barclays is one of the biggest banks in the world, just not so well-known in the US. They have a wide range of cards here, some of which are now popular, such as the Arrival and Sallie Mae.

But as enharu says, if the card doesn't interest you, ignore it. Getting a preapproval means very little!

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

gdale6 — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 22:47:34 GMT

Not in my opinion, some love them others don't like them. I am bombarded constantly with offers from Barclays they all get circular filed, the main reason for me is I don't like being told that I have to use a card every 90 days or face possible closure. The score that they offer I already get from Discover & Walmart so I see no advantage to a crad from them.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

red259 — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 22:55:18 GMT

I wouldn't say its a special card, but for some people it can fit in well with their needs. For it to be of value you would need to spend 15k at least on it in a year. If you were going to put less than 15k spend the venture card is similiar and would be a better value.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

baller4life — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 22:55:39 GMT

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 22:57:27 GMT

@red259 wrote:
I wouldn't say its a special card, but for some people it can fit in well with their needs. For it to be of value you would need to spend 15k at least on it in a year. If you were going to put less than 15k spend the venture card is similiar and would be a better value.

the venture and barclay rewards card are very different products.

for the venture, you need to have "excellent" credit history as well, while all you need is "average" credit history for the barclay rewards.

the venture has an AF, the barclays rewards doesn't. So even if you put $10 annual spend on the barclays card, it doesn't really matter. You're still not making a loss.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

red259 — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:02:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@red259 wrote:
I wouldn't say its a special card, but for some people it can fit in well with their needs. For it to be of value you would need to spend 15k at least on it in a year. If you were going to put less than 15k spend the venture card is similiar and would be a better value.
the venture and barclay rewards card are very different products.
for the venture, you need to have "excellent" credit history as well, while all you need is "average" credit history for the barclay rewards.
the venture has an AF, the barclays rewards doesn't. So even if you put $10 annual spend on the barclays card, it doesn't really matter. You're still not making a loss.

Sorry, I thought OP was asking about barclays arrival card (just glanced at title and didn't see OP specified the rewards card), since that is the barclays card I normally see asked about and that is the card I was referring to. Its been a long week, so to be clear my analysis was not meant to apply to the barclays reward card which I have never looked into.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:04:33 GMT

@red259 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@red259 wrote:
I wouldn't say its a special card, but for some people it can fit in well with their needs. For it to be of value you would need to spend 15k at least on it in a year. If you were going to put less than 15k spend the venture card is similiar and would be a better value.
the venture and barclay rewards card are very different products.
for the venture, you need to have "excellent" credit history as well, while all you need is "average" credit history for the barclay rewards.
the venture has an AF, the barclays rewards doesn't. So even if you put $10 annual spend on the barclays card, it doesn't really matter. You're still not making a loss.
Sorry, I thought OP was asking about barclays arrival card (just glanced at title and didn't see OP specified the rewards card), since that is the barclays card I normally see asked about and that is the card I was referring to. Its been a long week, so to be clear my analysis was not meant to apply to the barclays reward card which I have never looked into.

ah i see. yea the rewards card doesn't get much press on most sites so it's not too surprising a lot of people won't know about it.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

370Z — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:23:52 GMT

I got the exact same offer today for the third time. Also, got the Discover IT offer with 10.99% APR after intro period again. Neither are tempting, especially since I always PIF, so they were shredded up for recycling.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

FocusedAndDetermined — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:40:36 GMT

As with all card, the value is a subjectively measured. For me, it has been a good value. They have two versions of the card: one for excellent credit and one for average credit. I had reeived many offers from them but always passed. I finally apped when they offered 10K bonus points (standard for them is 5K),since I had no need for the bal transfer feature. Only needed to make a single purchase to receive bonus award, which was credied almost immediately. The simplicity of non-rotating categories I enjoy. They also make it very easy to track points as they itemize points for each purchase made rather than a lump sum at the end of the month. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Target, CVS and Walgreen's are all coded as grocery stores, so for me the points amass quickly. When my 6th statement cut, I received a $2,200 auto CLI.

It really comes down to how you spend and what you need. What works for me may not be right for you.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Themanwhocan — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:45:34 GMT

@gdale6 wrote:
Not in my opinion, some love them others don't like them. I am bombarded constantly with offers from Barclays they all get circular filed, the main reason for me is I don't like being told that I have to use a card every 90 days or face possible closure. The score that they offer I already get from Discover & Walmart so I see no advantage to a crad from them.

Barclays Rewards card, and Barclays Sallie Mae card, require you to use them at least once every 13 billing cycles. So, about 13 months. That really isn't much of a burden.

Priceline.com requires once every 6 months. Still not that big a deal.

The thing that concerns me about the Rewards card, is that it used to be somewhat unique in offering 2% cash back on Utilities. Of course, you can get the Fidelity Amex for 2% on everything, but not everyone accepts an amex, etc. So, it was a reasonable alternative. However, now that its possible to get a Huntington Voice and assign it to give 3% cash back on Utilities, i see much less reason to consider that card.

The Sallie Mae is still a very useful card for many people.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Repo-ed — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:47:43 GMT

Barclay has been fantastic to me.

Have their apple and us airways world MC

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

maksimfa — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:52:34 GMT

Barclays is a huge bank and got into the states with takeover of Lehman brothers. They had bank status for tarp funds.

as a card.. 1% cash back plus bonus online is great. 2% for cell phones! cvs! Walmart! gas is terrific.

Free fico is a bonus.

I am partial to them as they gave me a really good start. Initial credit line of $1500 and quickly bumped it to $3,500.

They like lots of transactions and being paid in full.

Conservative bank in general. Great customer service agents.

Nothing to lose.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 01:43:41 GMT

@Themanwhocan wrote:
The thing that concerns me about the Rewards card, is that it used to be somewhat unique in offering 2% cash back on Utilities. Of course, you can get the Fidelity Amex for 2% on everything, but not everyone accepts an amex, etc. So, it was a reasonable alternative. However, now that its possible to get a Huntington Voice and assign it to give 3% cash back on Utilities, i see much less reason to consider that card.

The Sallie Mae is still a very useful card for many people.

Yes, I gave up my Rewards because I got the Fidelity Amex (and the really low CL, now repeated on my Sallie Mae!) However, even though Huntington can be better in any one individual category, some might still like this particular combination. But purely for utilities, there are also the Ink cards which give 5x, and, for 6 months, the TD Rewards card, which gives 5%

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Kenny — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 01:55:04 GMT

If I could do it over again, I'd app for the Sallie Mae instead of the Arrival. However, the sign up bonus for the Arrival was pretty good. I think I'll keep it for the obligatory year and then try to PC it to something.. if they won't let me PC it to Sallie Mae then I'll probably close it for sure.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 02:10:18 GMT

I got the Visa Financing card with Apple from Barclays to buy my MacBook Pro. I was getting ready to transfer the balance and close it until they started offering the FICO score. Although it is the same one as Wal-Mart, it generates for me at two different points in the month, which gives me a better picture of my score as it changes.

There are no rewards, but since there is no annual fee, I'll probably keep it open...

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

chwebb1 — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 10:42:40 GMT

@370Z wrote:
I got the exact same offer today for the third time. Also, got the Discover IT offer with 10.99% APR after intro period again. Neither are tempting, especially since I always PIF, so they were shredded up for recycling.

I personally would have been all over that Discover offer. A low APR is always good to have just in case.

I personaltly don't find the Barclaycard Rewards card to be particularly compelling. I like my Ring (great APR, fair fees). I think I'm going to app for the Arrival at the end of the year, too. Other than the Ring, Arrival and Sallie Mae cards, none of their other cards interest me.

Re: Is a barclays card anything special?

Open123 — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 14:46:04 GMT

@chwebb1 wrote:
I personaltly don't find the Barclaycard Rewards card to be particularly compelling. I like my Ring (great APR, fair fees). I think I'm going to app for the Arrival at the end of the year, too. Other than the Ring, Arrival and Sallie Mae cards, none of their other cards interest me.

In general, the Arrival is Barclay's best card for most who are interested in rewards. Once upon a time, their 2% Priceline was one of their best cares, but I think they've...er...nerfed it. For some, the US Airways is an excellent niche card.