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Major changes to RCCL Visa program

bobinfl

By bobinfl,
in Royal Caribbean International

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bobinfl

bobinfl

Posted
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I don't see much of a change. What exactly are the changes you see?

 

Compare to the rules from a short while ago. You could not apply credits to other cruise lines (e.g. Celebrity); there was no exclusion of Oasis and Allure from free cruise award (125,000 miles), and additional mileage levels added.

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

Posted
Posted (edited)
Am I reading that right, no OBC for rci until 25,000 pts??

 

Oh wow, looks like I am better off with my chase freedom card; once I earn 20K points I can get $200 Royal OBC. And I get 1% back on everything and 5% back quarterly in different categories anyways. Or I can choose non RCI-rewards.

 

According to this site you can use the $100 OBC on Royal

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/dealsandmore/offer/visa.do

 

I will have to call...

Edited by LMaxwell
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RevSmith

RevSmith

Posted
Posted

thank you very much for that information. Up until now I have been able to cash out my points, no matter the value for on board credit, now unless I spend 25,000 points I have to choose some specific item on RCI, most of which I either have or don't want. To some it's not a significant change, to me it is. I thank you again for making me aware of this.

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SnappyNappi

SnappyNappi

Posted
Posted
Oh wow, looks like I am better off with my chase freedom card; once I earn 20K points I can get $200 Royal OBC. And I get 1% back on everything and 5% back quarterly in different categories anyways. Or I can choose non RCI-rewards.

 

According to this site you can use the $100 OBC on Royal

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/dealsandmore/offer/visa.do

 

I will have to call...

I had decided that I like my Chase Freedom card rewards better a long time ago... I use it for everything and redeem my rewards by 'paying myself back' (apply the credit to my balance due) when I come back from my cruise vacation. It is the same thing as onboard credit, really - I buy stuff I don't have to 'pay' for when I get home --- there is one perk to the Freedom rewards that no one really takes into account... because the charges from the Seapass account actually hit the card, I get more credit for next time. Win-win for me as far as I am concerned. :cool:

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Retired LEO

Retired LEO

Posted
Posted

So if you take the balcony discount the points are useless.

 

 

MyCruiseRewards are available for redemption on any eligible Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean or Azamara cruise vacation but may not be combined with any other promotional offers and/or certain Crown & Anchor Society, Captain’s Club or Le Club Voyage promotions and benefits. MyCruise Rewards are also not combinable with restricted pricing including, but not limited to, RSale, CSale, Residential rates, senior rates, and military rates. Reward Redemptions may be used by individuals, participants in qualified group bookings, by single guests, and for use with third and fourth guest bookings. Reward redeemed items are also subject to the Special and General Terms and Conditions described below. (All dollar values shown below are U.S. dollars.)

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Sunny AZ Girl

Sunny AZ Girl

Posted
Posted

Since I only use my RCI Visa card for RCI cruises and then redeem the points for OBC it looks like I may be better off to stick with my Discover card or AX card. The returns are better and I can use the rewards more ways, such as cash I can use for any of my travel expenses or $ off cruises, airlines or hotels. Both cards give me double points for travel. It may be time to say good-by to my RCI Visa. I don't want to have to save up 25,000 points until I can use them for an OBC and I don't see the point of not being able to combine it with my C&A balcony discount for $ off the cruise when other cards don't have that limitation.

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setsail

setsail

Posted
Posted (edited)
You can now redeem points from your RCI Visa Card and use those points on RCI, Celebrity and Azamara cruises.

 

Well, I do not see anywhere where one can get OBC on RCI for less than 25000 pts, please show me, I have a cruise coming up and need to use 15000pts and now that's no good because I use the balcony discount.

Edited by setsail
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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

Posted
Posted

According to Bank of America, they swear up and down the 10K BONUS sign up points apply for $100 OBC on Royal. I have asked no less than 3 times specifically. The agent is actually getting a bit exasperated with me. The web seems to contradict this, but I have applied anyway. I hate Bank of America with a passion, but I will take their $100 onetime offer.

 

After that first $100/10K points, it looks like this is not a better card to use than other major cashback or rewards cards.

 

They approved me for an incredible amount though; nearly added 50% to my credit limit overall and reduced my utilization from 14% (only amount I carry is on a card with no fees and 0% for another 11 months; helps to budget) down to a miniscule 9%.

 

The way I look at it, if they don't honor that first 10K points that they (Bank of America) says I can 100% use as OBC on RC I will simply make infrequent minimum purchases to maintain the high credit limit and not give BOA a dime of my money.

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molly361

molly361

Posted
Posted (edited)

And now I guess you will get a IRS 1099 form if you redeem for a free cruise:eek:

 

I wonder if you really can't get $50 or $100 OBC on RCL (it only lists Celebrity or Azamara) or is that just another RCL oversight of not including RCL in the list

Edited by molly361
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bouhunter

bouhunter

Posted
Posted (edited)
Here is the link from RCI Visa Card link http://www.royalcaribbean.com/dealsandmore/offer/visa.do?cS=NAVBAR&pnav=3&snav=5

 

According to the See Rewards Chart you can still get $50 OBC from redeeming 5,000 points.

 

Not on RCCL it doesn't. It specifically say's Celebrity or Az...

 

The OBC doesn't list RCCL until 25,000 points:mad:

Edited by bouhunter
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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

Posted
Posted (edited)
What happened to Bank of America? Why is this card now through FIA Card Services?

 

The phone number on the Royal Caribbean website was direct to Bank of America. The offer code was on the Royal website and when I gave that to Bank of America that is when they informed me that the BONUS 10K sign up points ARE redeemable for $100 OBC on Royal Caribbean.

https://www.applyonlinenow.com/USCCapp/Ctl/entry?sc=VABV2Q#b

Edited by LMaxwell
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cruisenfever

cruisenfever

Posted
Posted (edited)
Well, I do not see anywhere where one can get OBC on RCI for less than 25000 pts, please show me, I have a cruise coming up and need to use 15000pts and now that's no good because I use the balcony discount.

 

Not on RCCL it doesn't. It specifically say's Celebrity or Az...

 

The OBC doesn't list RCCL until 25,000 points:mad:

Just spoke with the Redemption Center and you can still, at this time redeem points to get a $50 up to $250 OBC on any RCI cruise. That will change eventually, but not at the present time. Here is the number if you would like to verify what I was told 1-888-305-4626.

Edited by cruisenfever
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setsail

setsail

Posted
Posted
Just spoke with the Redemption Center and you can still, at this time redeem points to get a $50 up to $250 OBC on any RCI cruise. That will change eventually, but not at the present time. Here is the number if you would like to verify what I was told 1-888-305-4626.

 

OK, thanks for calling, I will go ahead and apply the points and see what happens.

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printingchick Great Review Rare

printingchick

Posted
Posted

If I'm reading this correctly, and I may not be since legal-eze confounds me, this looks GOOD to me. I typically use my points toward cruise discounts. 15,000 was already the minimum I could trade in and it remains so. The difference appears to be that now I can use those discounts on EITHER a Royal Caribbean OR a Celebrity cruise. GREAT news!

 

I've sometimes used left-over points (less than 15,000) for OBC, but usually I prefer to ROLL those over toward my NEXT cruise. So that isn't even really an issue for me.

 

The down-side is the not-combinable with C&A discounts, as I become eligible for my first balcony discount AFTER my next cruise. (But at Platinum, the discount isn't much.) I don't see that the rewards are non-combinable with NextCruise certificates, so that's good.

 

Unless I'm missing something...which is likely...it's kind of a non-issue for me.

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