Carnival Mastercard

[djcass4199]

Hey everyone.

we were just off the Ecstasy a week ago and we signed up for the Carnival Mastercard. I recall that there was a promo that if we signed up for a card, we would be able to earn a $50 OBC towards a future cruise. I forget, however, what the catch was to do this. I believe part of it was getting 5,000 bonus points the first time the card is used. Does anyone know about this???

[deeluvs2cruise]

It's been several years since I first got my Carnival MasterCard, but I believe the 5,000 points were added after my first purchase.

[djcass4199]

I thought it was 5,000 points on your first non-Carnival use and 5,000 points just for signing up. You need 7,200 points to get $50 OBC and that's why I was confused.

[brokenbusted]

Hey everyone.

we were just off the Ecstasy a week ago and we signed up for the Carnival Mastercard. I recall that there was a promo that if we signed up for a card, we would be able to earn a $50 OBC towards a future cruise. I forget, however, what the catch was to do this. I believe part of it was getting 5,000 bonus points the first time the card is used. Does anyone know about this???

 

I use my cc card alot but noticed that they just changed that program as well and it like vifp is not for the better.

[golfadj]

I use my cc card alot but noticed that they just changed that program as well and it like vifp is not for the better.

 

How was it changed?

[plynn]

Just got 400.00 on board credit from my Carnival Mastercard! Will be using it on my B2B in 4 days!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D

[Loving My Life]

We got $850 off of our January 2013 Southern Caribbean cruise. It was, however, a HUGE hassle, involving hours of speaking to supervisors to get it all applied properly.

[trizzou]

I just checked it out.. the offer now is 5000 points after your first purchase and 5000 for transferring a balance of at least $5000 to the card. But the catch is that there is a 3% transfer fee. So to get the 10,000 points to get $100 off your next cruise you will have to spend $150 in transfer fees, unless I'm missing something?

 

I guess the way to go would be to sign up and get the 5000 points and NOT transfer anything, then use it to pay for your next cruise to get enough points to redeem?

[bafinegan]

DH and I just used our points to get a free cruise. What we had to do was book and pay for the cruise. Cpl days later we used 50,000 points to get $750 cash back applied to our master card. Seeing as our little get a way only cost $705, it paid for the cruise with $45 left over. Oh and we just got a $20 price drop approved:D>

 

baf

[golfadj]

Better to get a statement credit and not use it to pay for the cruise. Using it to pay for the cruise sacrafices the 2% you would otherwise get.

[ranger10!]

We use our bonus points to pay for our tips and then some obc. I always have the money saved to pay for the cruise so I booked with the credit card pay it off and then use the points as stated above.

[cuyahoga11]

I thought it was 5,000 points on your first non-Carnival use and 5,000 points just for signing up. You need 7,200 points to get $50 OBC and that's why I was confused.

 

You get a better point ratio to get a statement credit after your cruise.

 

5,000 points for $50.00 credit

[spunkie4]

bonus points are added after the first purchase.

 

Shirley

[djcass4199]

I wonder if getting the card will be beneficial for my DW and I. We got the card because we plan on cruising every year, but when I saw the rate that you earn points, I'm not sure it is that great. My Discover card gets AMAZING cash back rewards. I wonder if getting the card was worth it...

[golfadj]

I wonder if getting the card will be beneficial for my DW and I. We got the card because we plan on cruising every year, but when I saw the rate that you earn points, I'm not sure it is that great. My Discover card gets AMAZING cash back rewards. I wonder if getting the card was worth it...

 

We get 2% on our Amex card so we only use our Carnival card for cruise payment and places where Amex is not accepted.

[balcony bound]

How was it changed?

 

A couple months ago they decreased the values -- where you used to get more than 1x points value for cruise redemption, everything is now pretty much 1x. There is a better redemption rate for carnival purchases over $1200, but not a great deal, either.

 

I notice that shopping the "boost rewards" merchants does not give as good of a return as other cards. For example, if shopping Drugstore dot com, you might get 5 points on your purchase from the mastercard, but my visa card gives me 10 points on the dollar. Almost all the merchants have higher point values on my visa by at least twice as much.

 

I'm no longer finding much value in the carnival master card myself, but others may be doing better with it. Considering just cashing in my points and cancelling it since the best feature is 2x points on carnival purchases and that's pretty much it since the lowered the redemption values.

[bitemyfly]

while i dont use the carnival master card, credit cards perks are they way to go.

we get 2% + , so we do try to purchace everything by Credit card. and i mean everything.. from food, shopping, insurance everything.

Even tried to purchace our new car but the dealer wouldnt accept it

we found that at the end of the year they are good for at least one trip..

next up on our card is hawaii ( 4 rt airfares)

I expect that these perks will change too as I havent paid a dollar in intrest..but ride it till its over

[crazyfrazee]

I have been wanting to get more info on the MC. I heard someone on here used one for their business and got free cruises but also heard the card is more of a hassle than it's worth. I spend over $50,000 a year with one of my suppliers and between paying other suppliers and bills, we spend over $150,000.00 a year. How would it work out with using the CCL MC? For those with experience, is it worth it?

[JWGrayson]

I just checked it out.. the offer now is 5000 points after your first purchase and 5000 for transferring a balance of at least $5000 to the card. But the catch is that there is a 3% transfer fee. So to get the 10,000 points to get $100 off your next cruise you will have to spend $150 in transfer fees, unless I'm missing something?

 

I guess the way to go would be to sign up and get the 5000 points and NOT transfer anything, then use it to pay for your next cruise to get enough points to redeem?

 

Exactly! I remember getting the card thinking that would be easy money until I read the fine print about the transfer fee.

 

I use my Carnival MC for all my purchases and pay it off each month. I do not use it for OBC, rather I simply take the $ value off my MC bill. I've gotten $700 back from mine.

 

If you use it for OBC, then you kinda screw yourself. If you were to run up $400 worth of spending that was offset by the OBC from the card, then you get no new MC point. Instead, if you rack up the charges of $400 and have put to your MC, then you get $800 in benefits. Then simply pay off the card when the bill comes using the $400 you accumulated.

 

I have been wanting to get more info on the MC. I heard someone on here used one for their business and got free cruises but also heard the card is more of a hassle than it's worth. I spend over $50,000 a year with one of my suppliers and between paying other suppliers and bills, we spend over $150,000.00 a year. How would it work out with using the CCL MC? For those with experience, is it worth it?

 

It is actually VERY easy to use. The deal is you don't apply it for a Carnival cruise purchase at the time you book the cruise. Rather make the cruise purchase and then when the cruise hits your MC activity, you redeem accumulated points against any qualifying purchase. You have months to do this after the fact and can use it for other travel related things such as hotel rooms with qualifying hotels. If you have 37,500 points at the time you book a cruise, the value of the cruise will add to those points. So, after booking a $1,250 cruise, you now have 40,000 points which is redeemable for $400 off of your MC bill. Remember Carnival purchase are worth double points. It takes no time, just a few mouse clicks and nobody else gets involved.

[Snowball]

They made a slight change last year that made the program a little better for those that use their points for a statement credit.

 

If you are redeeming your points for a statement credit, and you have a charge from Carnival of $1500 or more that was posted on your account within the last 180 days (probably from final payment of a cruise) then your redemption ratio is 1.5% instead of 1% (even if you don't have enough points to cover the entire charge of $1500 or more).

[ckdmom]

I am trying to cash in my 9,000 points for statment credit, rather than onboard credit. I cannot find any place on the Barclay website except for cashing in as Fun Points. Can anyone help me?

[Snowball]

I am trying to cash in my 9,000 points for statment credit, rather than onboard credit. I cannot find any place on the Barclay website except for cashing in as Fun Points. Can anyone help me?

You can only cash in your points for a statement credit if you have a charge from Carnival on your account within the last 180 days. Also, you can only get a statement credit that will cover up the amount of the Carnival charge on your account.

 

For instance, if you have a charge from Carnival for $200 in the last 180 days, then you can only get a statement credit up to $200 (provided you have enough points). You can't get a credit of over $200, even if you have enough points to do so.

 

If you do have a qualifying Carnival charge within the required time period, go to Rewards, Redeem FunPoints, then Pay with FunPoints. That will take you to a screen that shows all eligible travel charges which you can use your FunPoints to pay for, and how many points it will cost to reimburse you for each charge.

[Mizzouaholic]

We just used 80,000 points to get $1200 off of our cruise next May on the Breeze, so that only left us owing about $400 for our 8 day Southern Carribean cruise on the Breeze for two! Not to mention me and my wife signed up for the Southwest card a few months ago when they were doing the 50,000 point bonus for your first purchase and we each got our own card for a total of 100,000 points which is good for 4-8 free flights, so we are also flying for free into Ft Lauderdale from Kansas City. Oh and by the time our cruise gets here in May we should have enough points on our Carnival mastercard for about $150 in onboard credit.

 

We figured that two people flying from KC to Ft Lauderdale and sailing 8 days on the Breeze to the Southern Carribean for under $400 wasnt to bad of a deal! :D

[Snowball]

We just used 80,000 points to get $1200 off of our cruise next May on the Breeze, so that only left us owing about $400 for our 8 day Southern Carribean cruise on the Breeze for two! Not to mention me and my wife signed up for the Southwest card a few months ago when they were doing the 50,000 point bonus for your first purchase and we each got our own card for a total of 100,000 points which is good for 4-8 free flights, so we are also flying for free into Ft Lauderdale from Kansas City. Oh and by the time our cruise gets here in May we should have enough points on our Carnival mastercard for about $150 in onboard credit.

 

We figured that two people flying from KC to Ft Lauderdale and sailing 8 days on the Breeze to the Southern Carribean for under $400 wasnt to bad of a deal! :D

 

Did you have to pay the cruise off, then use your points to get the statement credit, or did you use the points to pay for the cruise directly? If you used them to pay for the cruise - how did you go about doing this? Did you have to call the credit card company or could you do it yourself online?

[Hei1980]

Did you have to pay the cruise off, then use your points to get the statement credit, or did you use the points to pay for the cruise directly? If you used them to pay for the cruise - how did you go about doing this? Did you have to call the credit card company or could you do it yourself online?

 

We would also like to know the answer to this? Please advise...