Carnival Master Card- Can someone clear a couple things up for me?

[CheapieD]

I don't have this card but was wondering if they still had the fun point calculator? Seems like there was a loop hole a while back and you were better off spending $1251 on a cruise as opposed to $1250. Once again I do not use this card. As a poster above stated, I also feel there are quite a few better travel cards that fit my spending habits that pay out way more in rewards. However if this loop hole is still in effect (which I doubt), someone with a lot of points may or may not know about it.

 

 

http://www.andrewewhite.net/wordpress/2011/03/16/carnival-funpoints/

 

Once again I doubt it still works this way, but just in case.

$1500 lowers redemption to 100000. $1499 is 150000(well 149900)

[GeoHack]

$1500 lowers redemption to 100000. $1499 is 150000(well 149900)

 

Okay, so it sounds like if you have 100k points and you're looking at $1,300 for 2 ocean view, you're better off maybe going balcony and paying $100 more per person as it would actually be less points used. So for those using Carnival points, tip is go $1,500 cruise before even thinking about $1,100, $1,300 etc. as it looks like it would be better use of your points.

[belkin]

Okay, so it sounds like if you have 100k points and you're looking at $1,300 for 2 ocean view, you're better off maybe going balcony and paying $100 more per person as it would actually be less points used. So for those using Carnival points, tip is go $1,500 cruise before even thinking about $1,100, $1,300 etc. as it looks like it would be better use of your points.

 

Yes, or you can bump it up with pre paid tips or the vacation protection. But just remember if you are just above the $1500 and have booked early saver and apply for price drops you could go below the $1500.

 

I have a cruise on the Breeze booked for this January and am at $1586 right now with early saver. Not much wiggle room if I had planned on using my points. Instead we will be using them for our Alaska cruise.

[cruisinthemed]

I maximize our points by using it everywhere I can. I go to the market, ice cream parlor, drycleaner, walmart, pharmacy, etc & come home count up my receipts & do a bill pay through our credit union. I don't even wait for the bill to arrive. Points add up fast this way. There are many places that give you more than 1 point per dollar:)

[tdnosnhoj11]

I keep charging on my Master charge for everything. I use it to pay my taxes, insurance, airfare, etc. You get the idea. I just got a free, yes free cruise, because I saved my points up. I pay it off every month, so there is never an interest charge. It sure felt good to deduct the cost of the cruise from my charge bill.....

 

That's my plan! Kind of like a fake debit card that I will use as my primary "money." I'd never use more on the card than I have in my bank account, and then I'd pay it off every month to keep the pesky interest rate away.

[tdnosnhoj11]

Alot of the major retailers participate with the Rewards Boost program. Some examples include: hotels.com 3 points/dollar, old navy 2.5 points/dollar, Crocs 6 points/dollar, Macys 3 points/dollar...the list goes on. I buy alot of things online and have been able to accumulate alot of points that way too.

 

 

This makes me super excited, since about 85% of my clothes come from Old Navy! I’d assume it also includes Gap and Banana Republic since they’re all the same company? And I’ll now begin using Hotels.com over Travelocity, thanks to you! :D

 

 

Does anyone know if there’s a list of the places that offer more than 1 point per dollar? I did a quick search to no avail.

 

 

Does this one offer any perks for opening a new card? Like any OBC or anything?

 

 

I have read that some people have gotten the card at the right time and there were perks. I’m not patient enough to wait for one of those times, plus I only have 69 (or 68?) days till our cruise, so I want to begin building points now. But, it does give you 5,000 points with your first purchase.

 

 

I have the Carnival MasterCard and have had 2 rewards boosters this year. The deal is that if I spent $500 over a 3 month period on certain items (groceries) they would give me an extra 2,500 bonus points. Really easy to do and I have gotten 5,000 extra points so far this year.

 

This is good knowledge, also! It’s good to know that they do this at times. I’m no credit card expert, and didn’t even expect something like that.

[DebBrown]

Yes, you would get 2 points per dollar for every purchase (including alcohol) you spend onboard. And yes, you would need to link your sail n sign to your Carnival Mastercard in order to do so. You also get 2 points per dollar for using your Carnival Mastercard purchasing anything prior to cruising using your card (like excursions, bon voyage gifts, shuttles). Also, get double points when using your Carnival Mastercard to make payments or book new Carnival cruises.

 

They have a Barclays Rewards boost website where you can get multiple points per dollar when ordering from certain places online while using your Carnival mastercard as well. Alot of the major retailers participate with the Rewards Boost program. Some examples include: hotels.com 3 points/dollar, old navy 2.5 points/dollar, Crocs 6 points/dollar, Macys 3 points/dollar...the list goes on. I buy alot of things online and have been able to accumulate alot of points that way too.

 

Cruising is my preferred type of vacation so I've been enjoying accumulating points. I plan on saving them up until I have enough for a "free cruise". After a year, I'm at about 38,000 points, so I'm about 1/3 of the way there! Alot of posters will state that you can get better rewards using other "cash back" type cards, and I'm sure you can. But I've been enjoying using my Carnival mastercard and getting points. I used to use my debit card for everything, but now I just use my mastercard for everything and logon to the site every week or so and payoff the balance.

I just redid two bathrooms and a kitchen and put everything on my Carnival card. I had about 78,000 and used it towards a cruise. I had $1,000 credit to use for the cruise with those points. As I have never applied them towards a cruise before, I don't know if this is norm or not. I do know I got more bang for my points that way than taking the OBC.

[wiskt]

I just "cashed" in 12500 points for 100.00 OBC...When will I see the OBC, will it show up before I cruise or after I get on board? TIA!!!:)

 

Sorry, Don't know the answer for this. I only redeem my points for the Statement credits because it is the most value you can get. Then I just use the $100, $200 or $300 I would have paid to my credit cards as extra spending money on board. My statement credits usually show up within a week. I would think the OBC would reflect on your S&S about the same time?... but may not be until just before sailing.