How should I use my Barclaycard Arrival and Capital One Venture?

[PowerMan572]

Tried getting advice elsewhere and been ignored so far. Figured I'd try here on Fico :-) 

OK, small dilemma. I was approved for the Arrival card ($1,200) and the Venture card ($5,000). I planned on putting my "unofficial" business purchases on the Arrival card. I was buying cell phones, fixing them etc. and then selling them on eBay. Then for all of my personal purchases like Target, dining, shopping, etc. was going to go on the Venture card.

The cell phone purchases are not happening anymore. So now I'm stuck with 2 awesome cards that give 2x the miles on all purchases. I'm torn on what card I should be using more? I don't want to go back and forth between the cards as it's going to slow down the miles I earn.

I definitely don't want to close a card since both will look good on my credit and they're both new. Should I just leave 1 card open and don't charge to it and put everything on the other? Any tips or advice would be appreciated!

[IWOL]

Did you get 40k bonus miles on the Arrival?

i just got approved for the Arrival Platinum but I'm not sure if you have to get they World Mastercard to get the sign up bonus.

I know the Arrival also gives you 10% of your poings back when you redeem the miles. So if you use say 40k mikes you'll get back 4000 so the miles on the Arrival may be more valuable than the Venture.

[PowerMan572]

What color is your card? If it's lighter/silver then you will get the 20k mile offer. If you got the black/dark gray Arrival card then it's the 40k offer.

I did get the miles and already have 44,000 miles. I plan on buying my NYC airplane ticket with this. However, after that's done I don't really want to go back and forth swiping between 2 cards. Not sure how I should handle the situtation. Would like to know what others do with multiple cards that offer almost identical rewards.

[noobody]

Since I have arrival only, I may be biased 

arrival give you 2.22% back and venture only give you 2%, if you can handle much smaller credit line, I go with arrival for sure.

Heavy usage will result CLI in 6 month from Barclay without EO facebook, twitter BS

[DigitalArk]

I downgrated my AF arrival to the none AF version after getting the 40,000 points sign-up bonus. I will make Freedom/CSP combo as my everyday cards. 

[PowerMan572]

I'm thinking that's what I might do is downgrade after I use the points. 

I do know it offers that extra .2% when you redeem for travel, but that's not a huge factor for me. So I'm thinking after the downgrade try and use the Venture card as my main card?

[Anonymous]

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@PowerMan572 wrote:

I'm thinking that's what I might do is downgrade after I use the points. 

I do know it offers that extra .2% when you redeem for travel, but that's not a huge factor for me. So I'm thinking after the downgrade try and use the Venture card as my main card?

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After the bonuses, aren't the key differences between the cards:

1) Arrival has an effective .2% bonus (as you note)

2) Venture's AF is less.

So if you estimate your spend, you should be able to decide if the .2% outweighs the additional AF.  If so, keep the AF arrival, and PC Venture (not sure what is allowed, maybe Venture One).  Otherwise, PC the Arrival to the no AF version, and use Venture.

[Kenny]

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@DigitalArk wrote:

I downgrated my AF arrival to the none AF version after getting the 40,000 points sign-up bonus. I will make Freedom/CSP combo as my everyday cards. 

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Oh good, I was wondering if they would allow that! Nice to know!