Fun Points vs Sea Miles

[ladycaveat]

I'm going nuts trying to get a straight answer from Carnival's Sea Miles/Fun Points people. All I wanted to know was could I use my sea miles/fun points for things purchased on my January 9th Dream cruise.

 

I've talked to three represenatives and gotten three different answers. One said it was only for gifts ordered 15 days before sailing . . . another said it was for "gifts" bought on board and spa appointments (as in not being able to use it for the final bill which includes DOD and things from the gift shop . . . as in suntan lotion, postcards and whatever) . . . the third rep said she really didn't know (after putting me on hold twice).

 

Then I asked how the "points" converted to $ . . . as in . . . I have 57,680 sea miles (soon to be fun points) and no one could tell me how much that was in dollars. Last January, I got a $250 discount on my cruise for 25,690 sea miles.

 

I know they are probably going crazy trying to figure out things but darn it all, they should have let their reps know about the changes before they went public.

[KroozFoolz]

Looks like we will know more on December 21 when the "conversion" is completed and the rewards options posted. I think we will have more options than we did with Sea Miles and be able to use TA/PVP we want. From what I have seen so far today, I am hopeful this FunPoints program will be an improvement over Sea Miles.

Here is a thread I started earlier today:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1105563

[Casey1022]

Hi

 

Like all of you I have been trying to figure out what exactly is happening as it has been confusing trying to do a comparison of the two cards...but a video has now been posted on www.seamiles.com that goes through the two programs in a very clear way so that was very helpful. And based on that video, it looks like there are better opportunities with the SeaMiles card if you are an avid cruiser like me especially if you like to experience different cruise lines.

 

Glad to find this discussion board so if anyone has any additional information, please post it!

[trbtweety]

Go to www.barclaycardus.com log in to your account or create one and one of the tabs is rewards. Click the redeem funpoints. You can redeem "funpoints" for on board gifts which include on board credit, gifts, spa treaments or a few other items or you can pay with funpoints and apply them to your current bill. Hope this helps!

[aggieastrosfan]

Go to www.barclaycardus.com log in to your account or create one and one of the tabs is rewards. Click the redeem funpoints. You can redeem "funpoints" for on board gifts which include on board credit, gifts, spa treaments or a few other items or you can pay with funpoints and apply them to your current bill. Hope this helps!

 

The only piece of information missing is what the general redemption rate is if you choose to take a credit for an already purchased cruise. The website tells me how many points I need to get a credit for my previous purchases, but there's no general guideline on what that redemption rate is. :rolleyes:

[johnh4071]

I have almost 90,000 seamiles and now 7600 fun points...What can I get???

[martinchem]

One month ago they closed my account for not using the card for 1 and 1/2 years, I was told they'll honor my points till their expiration in 2011, but I have a zero balance. I will call them and see if they'll give me my points back, I quit using the card because it's the worse program I've even tried, I can not believe Carnival would include themselves in such a crappy program. Maybe the new one is better, obviously they knew it was crappy and needed a change, I like how they closed my account and made my 10,000 points plus disappear before the new program started. I would think there should be a grace period for using them, looks like a crooked deal by a bunch of money hungary businesspeople who pry on others with deceptive practices.

[Frank12]

I'm baffled also!:confused:

[karenh1127]

I have always hated seamiles mc! They screw me any way they can! When I got the email regarding the change over, I went to the site and saw that my seamiles had converted to funpoints. I had over 8000 so I purchased a $50 obc for over 7000 pts for my upcoming march cruise. Seems like alot of pts for just 50 bucks but Ill take it. I do plan to payoff the card this year and close it out.

[MEOWSMURPHY]

I have almost 90,000 seamiles and now 7600 fun points...What can I get???

 

Doesn't seem right..I had over 148K seamiles and I now have over 148K fun points...seems like they converted miles for points evenly...I'd be questioning why you only have 7600 fun points...on another note I went into my credit card and clicked on rewards and they gave me the option to pay my December air fare (purchased in August) and my Feb air fare (purchased in December) with fun points..I haven't figured out why only the airfare and not my S&S December bill..no matter..I can turn in 75K of points for $1250 credit and I'll be doing that..twice..once I hit 150K..which should be very very soon :D

[Cruzman]

One month ago they closed my account for not using the card for 1 and 1/2 years, I was told they'll honor my points till their expiration in 2011, but I have a zero balance. I will call them and see if they'll give me my points back, I quit using the card because it's the worse program I've even tried, I can not believe Carnival would include themselves in such a crappy program. Maybe the new one is better, obviously they knew it was crappy and needed a change, I like how they closed my account and made my 10,000 points plus disappear before the new program started. I would think there should be a grace period for using them, looks like a crooked deal by a bunch of money hungary businesspeople who pry on others with deceptive practices.

 

Me too! Only I lost 51,000 points for the same alleged reason. If Barclay Bank is involved, you can expect to get screwed! Given the choices available, I'd recommend transferring points to the the Chase Visa card.

[Casey1022]

Happy New Year to all fellow cruisers!

 

Now that the holidays are over, my New Year's resolution is to figure out exactly what I should be doing - FunPoints or SeaMiles! Still quite confused so going to take it one step at a time and do a comparison which I will post just in case it helps anybody else!

 

My first priority is what card is best for redemptions in the future. Looks to me like the SeaMiles card is the best one for that as I can book at any travel agent and take advantage of any special offers from any cruise line (I am a senior and a past guest with many cruise lines so lots of special rates out there as I am sure you all know). So I will let my travel agent find the best price and then get my cash credit from SeaMiles on that lowest price. And I get a $250 cash credit with 20,000 SeaMiles so that is good.

 

So next will be figuring out which card is best to earn the points.:eek:

[Casey1022]

Hi

 

Here it the next instalment in my comparison.....based on an e-mail that I saw yesterday, we get twice as many SeaMiles as FunPoints on a cruise booking...there is also a new chart on www.seamiles.com that shows this comparison so that is helpful.

 

I also just realised that I do not even have to cruise to redeem...I can redeem SeaMiles on an air ticket, car or hotel booking if I want so that is a good benefit

[douggw]

Finally! They have an estimator online that will tell you how many points you need for a $$ amount. If you go to Rewards and the Redeem you can click on How Many Funpoints Will I need and then you put in a dollar amount.

 

I got jipped though because I did book my cruise, but needed two cabins. When I went to pay, the rep had to charge me per cabin. So my cruise was $2000 which would have needed 119,760 points.. The more your cruise is, the better your redemption rate. But my two cabins ended up being $1315 and $685 which means I have to redeem one individually, thus costing me 143,000 points for the same thing!!

[FraidyCat2011]

Has anyone tried to purchase a Carnival gift certificate (from their website) and pay for it with funpoints?

 

I asked customer service, but I couldn't even make them understand my question.

 

I thought I would be able to use my funpoints toward airfare, but no go (there is no partial credit with airfare, just cruises):eek:

[StevieG]

Has anyone tried to purchase a Carnival gift certificate (from their website) and pay for it with funpoints?

 

I asked customer service, but I couldn't even make them understand my question.

 

I thought I would be able to use my funpoints toward airfare, but no go (there is no partial credit with airfare, just cruises):eek:

 

You can use it as a statement credit against Carnival purchases, so when you get back you can use the points to pay off a portion of the credit card. That's what I will be doing.

[papilliontraveler]

Has anyone tried to purchase a Carnival gift certificate (from their website) and pay for it with funpoints?

 

I asked customer service, but I couldn't even make them understand my question.

 

I thought I would be able to use my funpoints toward airfare, but no go (there is no partial credit with airfare, just cruises):eek:

 

You can use your Funpoints toward airfare. I just looked at mine today, but the airfare rate is not very good. I was able to use points to pay for my whole cruise though. Much better if you are using them for a cruise.