Charge on board for cash advance

[bobmcdonld]

I am assuming that the credit card (e.g. VISA) will have a fixed charge for a cash advance on board. Is there an additional charge by the ship/whatever?

 

Thanks.

 

Bob

[catl331]

There is only the 3% charged by the ship. It goes on your on-board account, so as far as your bank knows it is a purchase (part of your final bill) not a cash advance. On the Koningsdam (and possibly other ships now) there is an ATM that charges a flat fee of $6.75 instead of the 3%.

 

But - the best way to get cash on board is through the casino slot machines. Charge money to your account, take a few spins, and cash out. No 3% fee.

[kazu]

There is only the 3% charged by the ship. It goes on your on-board account, so as far as your bank knows it is a purchase (part of your final bill) not a cash advance. On the Koningsdam (and possibly other ships now) there is an ATM that charges a flat fee of $6.75 instead of the 3%.

 

But - the best way to get cash on board is through the casino slot machines. Charge money to your account, take a few spins, and cash out. No 3% fee.

 

Totally agree.:)

[cb at sea]

Or, simply BRING the cash you think you'll need! No sense in paying to access your own money!

[blizzardboy]

There is only the 3% charged by the ship. It goes on your on-board account, so as far as your bank knows it is a purchase (part of your final bill) not a cash advance. On the Koningsdam (and possibly other ships now) there is an ATM that charges a flat fee of $6.75 instead of the 3%.

 

But - the best way to get cash on board is through the casino slot machines. Charge money to your account, take a few spins, and cash out. No 3% fee.

I only play Blackjack. Just curious, what is the minimum slot wager?

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have seen slots for as low as 5 cents.

At one time there were penny slots -- don't know if they are still around.

[bobmcdonld]

Called Bank of America VISA. In addition to the 3% charge, there is a 2% charge because the charge occurred outside the US.

[catl331]

Called Bank of America VISA. In addition to the 3% charge, there is a 2% charge because the charge occurred outside the US.

The charge occurred in Seattle, no matter where in the world you are. I have never paid a foreign transaction fee on any HAL final bills. Have you? If yes, change banks.

[bleacher04]

I only play Blackjack. Just curious, what is the minimum slot wager?

Nickel slots, sometimes pennies. But you just insert your room card, add $200 from your room account, pull the handle a couple of times, and then go cash out. Presto -- cash to take to the blackjack table!

This also works well to cash out OBC that you can't spend and won't get refunded.

[Reagan0712]

I have seen slots for as low as 5 cents.

At one time there were penny slots -- don't know if they are still around.

 

Last summer Koningsdam had penny slots. I happened upon a machine that was quite nice to me. At the end of two weeks ended up $66 ahead. I know it's not much but it kept me entertained many an evening while my roommate was snoring away at 9pm.

[oceanmom]

Just to be clear, you do not use your credit card to get a cash advance on board (unless there happens to be an ATM on board and I've never seen one). Everything you do on the ship is charged to your onboard account. If you want cash, you go to the front desk, tell them how much cash you want, and it is charged to your onboard account with a separate entry for the 3% fee. So if you ask for $200 cash, you get $200 cash, it is charged to your onboard account along with a separate $6 charge for the 3% fee to your onboard account. Your onboard account also gets charged for drinks, purchases in any of the shops, daily hotel service charge, etc. Then when you get off the ship, the total on your onboard account is charged to the credit card you gave them when you boarded the ship (or if you're lucky, you had a lot of onboard credit from the travel agent or you prepurchased it and you get a refund back to the credit card.)

[KroozNut]

But - the best way to get cash on board is through the casino slot machines. Charge money to your account, take a few spins, and cash out. No 3% fee.

 

That sounds a little dangerous to me.. :o

[KroozNut]

Or, simply BRING the cash you think you'll need! No sense in paying to access your own money!

 

Completely agree... Duh!;)

[catl331]

That sounds a little dangerous to me.. :o

Why? I have done it several times, as have others ... kazu and CrewNews I know for certain.

[kazu]

Why? I have done it several times, as have others ... kazu and CrewNews I know for certain.

 

absolutely I have done it. And sadly, I have also learned to "play" in the casino and gained casino discounts in my bookings ;) And, that is an even bigger plus :D

 

I believe it was you or JTL (John) who first mentioned it to me and I am forever grateful.:hearteyes:

 

As to those that ask why not just bring enough cash???? How much do you want us to carry???

 

With the days of Travelers Cheques pretty much gone, there is only so much cash one wants to carry and much easier to buy OBC and put it to use.;) . (Keep in mind, we are not all in U.S. ports but do want to tip, etc. in U.S. $ )

[Hlitner]

Called Bank of America VISA. In addition to the 3% charge, there is a 2% charge because the charge occurred outside the US.

 

Which is a great reason to tell them to "take that card and shove it" and get yourself a card (like the CapitalOne MC) which does not charge any foreign exchange fees.

 

Regarding Cash Advances on credit cards (another post talked about cash advances) it is truly what a casino would call a sucker bet. Cash Advances involve fees plus high interest rates assessed from the date of the Advance (no 25 day grace period on this type of transaction). It is about the most expensive way to get cash....and most experts would say that it should only be used in the case of an emergency. On trips, either bring cash, or use an ATM card (at banks located on land) which has very low to no fees (and yes, they do exist).

 

Hank

[Hflors]

Called Bank of America VISA. In addition to the 3% charge, there is a 2% charge because the charge occurred outside the US.

 

This must be something new as we used our BOA Visa last year on our Europe trip. Rotterdam, Ft Lauderdale around the med and back to Ft. Lauderdale for 42 days. We used it for our shipboard account and there was no extra charge for "outside the US". We did not use it for anything "on land" there we used cash. IF we had used our card "on land" they would have charged us an extra fee for "outside" the US, or so the manager or our local branch told us.

[catl331]

Which is a great reason to tell them to "take that card and shove it" and get yourself a card (like the CapitalOne MC) which does not charge any foreign exchange fees.

We use the HAL-Barclay Visa card because it does not charge foreign exchange fees and gives us double points on HAL purchases, which we use for beverage cards or excursions.

 

This must be something new as we used our BOA Visa last year on our Europe trip. Rotterdam, Ft Lauderdale around the med and back to Ft. Lauderdale for 42 days. We used it for our shipboard account and there was no extra charge for "outside the US".

I believe the person bobmcdonld spoke to did not understand that he was asking about a cash advance on the ship, or did not understand how they work. There are never foreign transaction fees on HAL on-board accounts because they are all posted as occurring in Seattle regardless of where you disembark.

[blizzardboy]

It's all in where the charges are processed. To my understanding, HAL links by satellite with Seattle and processes their charges from there. If you were to use your card to make a purchase at a non-US port, you would likely incur foreign transaction fees unless your particular card waives them.

[NCTribeFan]

I have never, ever been charged a foreign transaction fee for any charge on any ship in any port. Caribbean or Europe.

 

Of course, if you use it off the ship, you'll be charged the fee unless your card doesn't charge one!

 

As for using slots as your own personal ATM, on my first HAL cruise (Zaandam to Hawaii), I wasn't even intending to use it for that purpose. I'd simply loaded $100 to my card, took a couple of spins, decided I didn't want to play and left. Next day, I decided to cash it out. Day after that, my card was blocked from downloading. Went to the window and was told in no uncertain terms that the machines were NOT to be used as an ATM!! Explained that wasn't my intention, and they (very grumpily) allowed me to resume using my card to load the machines.

 

Only time that's ever happened but the casino is well within their rights to prevent you from doing just that.

 

What I typically do is take my gambling funds and lock it in the safe to be doled out daily. But if I don't have the cash with me and want to play, I'll upload to my card, usually $100. If I want some cash, I'll only cash out $50 of it (assuming there's anything left!!).

[catl331]

Went to the window and was told in no uncertain terms that the machines were NOT to be used as an ATM!! Explained that wasn't my intention, and they (very grumpily) allowed me to resume using my card to load the machines.

Hmmm ... very interesting! That's never happened to me. I wonder how long you have to wait before you cash out if "next day" is too soon? What if you had won some? I guess your strategy of not cashing out the full amount is the best way to go unless you're at cruise end.

[catl331]

Or, simply BRING the cash you think you'll need! No sense in paying to access your own money!

 

Completely agree... Duh!;)

We've had to get cash advances when we underestimated how much we'd need, or had to spend cash in ports where we thought we could use credit cards.

[Lizzie68]

We've had to get cash advances when we underestimated how much we'd need, or had to spend cash in ports where we thought we could use credit cards.

 

Exactly. Especially on longer cruises where additional spending often happens in port, and/or I have miscalculated saving enough for all the tips. I either use the casino system to get extra cash, or just pay the 3%.

[Lady Arwen]

Why? I have done it several times, as have others ... kazu and CrewNews I know for certain.

We do that all the time! Sometimes we play for a few minutes, a couple of hours or we just cash it out to get our money. We've been receiving the HAL casino discount on all of our sailings (approx. 30% Canadian) for two years now.

[Lady Arwen]

Hmmm ... very interesting! That's never happened to me. I wonder how long you have to wait before you cash out if "next day" is too soon? What if you had won some? I guess your strategy of not cashing out the full amount is the best way to go unless you're at cruise end.

Never, ever had this happen to me! The casino cashier has never even questioned how long or how much I've played. We sailed on Kdam in May for 2 weeks and used the casino daily and "cashed out" quite often.