Upgrade from OV to Bal with visa points - How does it work?

[4merlurker]

:confused: If I use 50k points to upgrade to a balcony do I have to pay any additional or do i get the cheapest available? What if balcs are sold out? Also, can you book an inside, upgrade with 50K to OV then upgrade again to Bal? Thanks!

[Clarea]

:confused: If I use 50k points to upgrade to a balcony do I have to pay any additional or do i get the cheapest available? What if balcs are sold out? Also, can you book an inside, upgrade with 50K to OV then upgrade again to Bal? Thanks!

You might have to pay additional. The amount of credit is the difference between the OV stateroom and the minimum available balcony, with a max of $500. So if the difference between the OV you booked and the minimum balcony is more than $250 per person, then you have to pay the difference. I don't know if the double redemption is allowed.

[molly361]

The max value like Bob said of the upgrade is $500 or you could just use it to get $500 off whichever cabin that you book. If you use it for an upgrade you could end up getting less than the full value.

 

The only way to get more than the $500 from the 50,000 award is for a 3 or 4 night cruise for 2 which has a max value of $1,000

[4merlurker]

Oh. OK. I have 145K points but the only cruises that are an option (by our choice) are 7 days bahamas or 9+ caribbean. Neither are option if I want the "free" cruise :( so I have to manipulate the points the best I can and try to pay the least amount out of pocket.

[Clarea]

Oh. OK. I have 145K points but the only cruises that are an option (by our choice) are 7 days bahamas or 9+ caribbean. Neither are option if I want the "free" cruise :( so I have to manipulate the points the best I can and try to pay the least amount out of pocket.

In order to maximize your value, look for awards that get better than the normal 1% (5000 points = $50) value.

 

For example, for 75K points you can get a free companion fare on a 7 night cruise with a max value of $1500. That would be 2% for your points, the max you can get. However, this type of award depends on current pricing, so many times it's difficult to get the max of $1500.

 

If you can only get the normal 1%, then you can ignore all the upgrade, companion, free cruise type awards and just redeem multiple 15K rewards for $150 discount each.

 

Here's a link with the detailed program rules. Look in the Rewards section.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/bofa_program_rules.pdf

[Docdan48]

In order to maximize your value, look for awards that get better than the normal 1% (5000 points = $50) value.

 

For example, for 75K points you can get a free companion fare on a 7 night cruise with a max value of $1500. That would be 2% for your points, the max you can get. However, this type of award depends on current pricing, so many times it's difficult to get the max of $1500.

 

If you can only get the normal 1%, then you can ignore all the upgrade, companion, free cruise type awards and just redeem multiple 15K rewards for $150 discount each.

 

Here's a link with the detailed program rules. Look in the Rewards section.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/bofa_program_rules.pdf

 

 

Thanks for the link ref the Rewards program. It was exactly what we were looking for.

Dan & Donna