How I Saved $300 on a Carnival Cruise

[CENTEX CRUISER]

I hope you don't think I am conniving , or whatever, but this is how I reduced our final by $300 on one of our booked cruises. Wife and I are both signed up for Carnival e-mails, so a while back, we both got offers for $100 gift cards if we signed up for Carnival Mastercards. So we did, got the cards, and about a month later, both received Carnival $100 e cards. I went to our booking, selected Make a Payment, use gift card,and that dropped the final by $200 after applying both cards. The with each credit card I made a $10 purchase , which gives you 5000 bonus points for your first use..So then I go back to my booking and make a $100 payment towards our final with both credit cards, no big deal as I will have to pay it off sooner or later. Then, finally, I redeem my 5000 points on each credit card for $50 statement credit, thus saving the $300 total. I have a Visa that has better rewards, but I may use the Carnival card for Carnival purchases , and get the double points..Just wanted to share this idea, please don't call me a rat. They offered these cars, and the gift cards, so I just used them.

[cruizinisthebest]

Sounds good to me! Saving money is saving money! Now all Carnival hopes is that you'll use it onboard:D!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[rudechuck]

I'm not seeing anything underhanded here. Congratulations! :)

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Thanks for that.:)

I'm not seeing anything underhanded here. Congratulations! :)

[b_cruise]

wish they would offer these cards to canadians, jeeezzzzzz

[annawanX2]

Uh, you lost me when you signed up for carnival cards . . .:D

 

Smart move !!

[mhurley0504]

Ha! Did the exact same thing ;) Yay for us! Don't call it being conniving, call it being smart!!

[joshd33]

No conning here, just a good use of playing by the rule! Way to go!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[bluedevil72]

Here's my story on that card. We just signed up for one and after I waited on the email gift card for the 2-4 weeks that it said, I thought it wasn't showing up. It also said good for the first 750 people,so I figured I was #751. I canceled the card, which I had received promptly in snail mail, and guess what showed up in an email the next morning. Yep, the gift card. In fact, it came six mornings in a row,but all with the same number. We're using the gift card for our Triumph cruise in 19 days.

[halos]

I'm not seeing anything underhanded here. Congratulations! :)

Ditto. I call that smart, not conniving. :)

[WetToes]

Why would anyone call you a "rat"?

You used your head. I'd call that 'smart'. :)

[Guest fyree39]

Did you then cancel the card? Cancel it then reapply in 6 months and take advantage of the freebies all over again.

 

I have a points card that has given me about $700 in cruise payments so far. It's not a M/C, but rather one of the Capital One cards. I also have a United Mileage card that I have enough points on to send my DH and I R/T to the east coast. If I'm careful, I can enjoy a free cruise out of Miami every year, flight included!

[Neotericisis]

Power to ya! Glad you saved some money :)

[tkportersat]

I do this all the time with cash rewards cards....they send me stuff all the time. I use it, redeem for my cash and then close them with the 0% period runs out.

 

If they send you the app and approve it, then I don't think you did anything wrong. Sounds like you were smart and used it to your advantage.

[elliair]

I'm not seeing anything underhanded here. Congratulations! :)

 

I don't see anything underhanded here either. The OP is just a smart shopper using Carnivals system to get the most for him and his family. Very smart!

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Thank you all for the positive replies. I really appreciate you.:):)

[ccahope]

Thanks for sharing! We all need to look for ways to save money. Appreciate the tip!:D

[hancogran]

wish they would offer these cards to canadians, jeeezzzzzz

 

Ditto!! :(

[gritsnc]

Did you then cancel the card? Cancel it then reapply in 6 months and take advantage of the freebies all over again.

 

I have a points card that has given me about $700 in cruise payments so far. It's not a M/C, but rather one of the Capital One cards. I also have a United Mileage card that I have enough points on to send my DH and I R/T to the east coast. If I'm careful, I can enjoy a free cruise out of Miami every year, flight included!

 

Actually, cancelling a card is a big no-no when it comes to your credit. It's best to just cut the card up and leave the account open. Each time you close an account, it knocks your score down a bit.