Chase Ultimate Rewards - Redemption? Royal Caribbean Gift Certs? Chase Travel Portal?

[Deptacon]

Couldnt find a Cruise Critic section that covered travel cards so I am curious to know who here can provide some insight.

 

I know the Royal Card stinks in the big picture of Travel cards (poor point redemption and dollar vs points, foreign transaction fees, etc). I have used it for a few years with recent royal cruises and got some free on-board certs out of it, but I am looking at ditching it as my "Travel" credit card for something better, something with more points offers, more redemption offers, no foreign transaction fees.

 

I know the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is popular and I am looking at getting it but have some questions for anyone who has it. You cant access their rewards redemption area unless you already have a card....or the travel portal.

 

Does the Chase Ultimate Rewards redeem for cruises certificates? I found online Carnival mentioned....what about Royal? How about Norwegian or Celebrity? Anyone who has access to the system able to provide a list of what cruise certs are available for redemption?

 

I have a Citi ThankYou Rewards Card for my "everyday" purchases and you can redem points for Royal Caribbean gift cards which is nice.

 

Thier Travel Portal:

 

Can you book royal, celebrity, Norwegian, etc cruises in it? Are the prices the same to booking direct? Can you use points to redeem during the booking? do you EARN points by booking through the portal?

[alexkrn46]

Basically your points are assigned cash value, through their travel link you go to a travel agency which allows you to book certain items.

 

I use them for airfare, not every flight is listed but enough to find what I need. I did take a look they have selected cruises from many cruise lines, but they also has a phone number to call so the May have access for more.

[irishgal432]

I have the card. There is no option for gift cards for royal or carnival that I see. You can book cruises with points. As an example I have the following:

 

152,004 points are worth $1,900.05, so basically you get 1.2% value for travel.

[Deptacon]

I have the card. There is no option for gift cards for royal or carnival that I see. You can book cruises with points. As an example I have the following:

 

152,004 points are worth $1,900.05, so basically you get 1.2% value for travel.

 

ok thanks. does the 2X points apply to when you pay for a cruise? If I put a 2000 dollar final payment on the card paying for a cruise, they racking that as 4000 points?

 

Also, can you redem / pay for a cruise partial points/partial cash/pay? or like for your 1,900 cruise booking/152,000 points....you have to have those points available?

Edited March 14, 2016 by Deptacon

[irishgal432]

ok thanks. does the 2X points apply to when you pay for a cruise? If I put a 2000 dollar final payment on the card paying for a cruise, they racking that as 4000 points? I believe so

 

Also, can you redem / pay for a cruise partial points/partial cash/pay? or like for your 1,900 cruise booking/152,000 points....you have to have those points available?

 

You can pay partial point/$

[Valley Girl of VA]

2x points apply when you pay for a cruise. I also use my card when I am in the casino and want to play the slots. Rather than putting my money onto my card, I'll "charge" the money I want to play with on the slot machine and it gets charged to my credit card on file. It shows on my final bill and gets combined with all of my onboard charges and I get double points.

 

I have never purchased gift cards or used travel redemptions but rather save my points to transfer to airlines only for flights that I wouldn't ordinarily be able to buy - like my business class flight to South Africa. All paid for with points.

[Grand PooBah]

I suggest the Barclays Arrival + MC. They have been giving 40,000 sign up bonus, then 2 points for each dollar anywhere. Then when you redeem, they give back 5% of the redeemed points. NOBODY can touch that deal. :D

[Deptacon]

I suggest the Barclays Arrival + MC. They have been giving 40,000 sign up bonus, then 2 points for each dollar anywhere. Then when you redeem, they give back 5% of the redeemed points. NOBODY can touch that deal. :D

 

I checked it out but from what I read the Chase Sapphire Preffered won over with the 1for1 points transfers and 20% booking discounts.

[alexkrn46]

Forgot to mention, you get free travel insurance if you use your card, up to $5K per passenger.

[angelhelly]

I just love my chase sapphire.... Honestly, that is the best card ever. Especially when you also have the chase Freedom (5% cash back, rotating categories) as the points from the Freedom can be transfered to your sapphire.

 

Get 2X on travel and restaurant. I used to have the Southwest card, but I dropped it since I get the same benefits. If you use their portal, you can get cash back on online purchase.

 

So much things you can do with the points. Real Flexible

 

1) Regular Cash back, gift card... 1:1, probably the worse option, but still available like most cards.

 

2) First, use their travel portal to have 20% rebate using points. This is a good avenue, but it is not the best I believe. I did get some great deals on hotel room on that.

 

3) Use them to transfer points to travel partners. They transfer 1:1, so that's where it gets real good. What did I book with points...

 

- Flight on Southwest. 1 points gets about $1.70, depending of the flight. Advantage too is flexibility and getting points back if price drops that don't expire instead of a credit

- Hyatt. It is awesome. We needed 2 nights in Seattle.. Was over $300 per night most place I have seen downtown. Well, for $150 worth of points and $150, I got 2 nights at the Grand Hyatt. Would have been cheaper if I would have done the Hyatt Place. Just used $80 worth of points to get a room worth $300 in Florida for our Jan 2017 cruise

 

 

And as mentionned, Free Travel Insurance and also primary insurance when renting car (which is a big one for me as well). No fees to pay in foreign currency. And with the 50k bonus for sign off, it is a great card. Might not be the best to redeem for cruises, but works well for everything else around it (hotel, flight and so forth)

Edited March 15, 2016 by angelhelly

[Deptacon]

I just love my chase sapphire.... Honestly, that is the best card ever. Especially when you also have the chase Freedom (5% cash back, rotating categories) as the points from the Freedom can be transfered to your sapphire.

 

Get 2X on travel and restaurant. I used to have the Southwest card, but I dropped it since I get the same benefits. If you use their portal, you can get cash back on online purchase.

 

So much things you can do with the points. Real Flexible

 

1) Regular Cash back, gift card... 1:1, probably the worse option, but still available like most cards.

 

2) First, use their travel portal to have 20% rebate using points. This is a good avenue, but it is not the best I believe. I did get some great deals on hotel room on that.

 

3) Use them to transfer points to travel partners. They transfer 1:1, so that's where it gets real good. What did I book with points...

 

- Flight on Southwest. 1 points gets about $1.70, depending of the flight. Advantage too is flexibility and getting points back if price drops that don't expire instead of a credit

- Hyatt. It is awesome. We needed 2 nights in Seattle.. Was over $300 per night most place I have seen downtown. Well, for $150 worth of points and $150, I got 2 nights at the Grand Hyatt. Would have been cheaper if I would have done the Hyatt Place. Just used $80 worth of points to get a room worth $300 in Florida for our Jan 2017 cruise

 

 

And as mentionned, Free Travel Insurance and also primary insurance when renting car (which is a big one for me as well). No fees to pay in foreign currency. And with the 50k bonus for sign off, it is a great card. Might not be the best to redeem for cruises, but works well for everything else around it (hotel, flight and so forth)

 

thanks for the info on the travel insurance. I will look into the Chase Freedom transfer thing as well.