Mbna Celebrity Rewards Credit Card ?? Beware

[emeyers]

I received an unpleasant surprise today.

I applied for and received my Celebrity American Express card in September.

Seeing that they were allowing double points for travel and restaurant charges through 2006, I figured I could receive a nice onboard credit for our July cruise on the Constellation.

After using the card to pay for the balance of this cruise and a cruise I have booked for October, I will have accumulated over 50,000 points and I could use it for a $500 onboard credit.

I wanted to be sure of the time element involved in applying for and having the credit applied, so I called MBNA REWARDS. I was referred to their travel department. I was told that unless I had booked the cruise through the MBNA's travel department, I could not use the credits toward that cruise.

I kept the e-mail message which was sent to me introducing the card. It stated that the benefits included:

Double Points on all Celebrity Cruise bookings and onboard purchases.

Double Points on travel and dining purchases through January 1, 2007.

5,000 Bonus Points the first time you use your Card for a qualifying transaction equivalent to a $50 onboard credit.

 

Nowhere did I see a statement that the Celebrity bookings had to be through MBNB's travel agency.

Anyone else have this experience? Are you aware of this?

 

Ellis

[Petoonya]

Ellis,

It's really a little nasty.

In the fine points in the disclosure info pamphlet that you usually get with any credit card, there is a statement inside that reveals that all travel must be arranged through THEIR travel desk.

It isn't very nice but whenever something seems to good to be true the old adage applies. :(

[anjnshelly]

That doesn't sound right. I booked our cruise with an online agency. I received our mbna card last summer. When I had accumulated enough points I went to the online site and used my points to "buy" an onboard credit. I received an id number for my purchase, called Celebrity and told them I had a reward to turn in. They took the number and when we got onboard in November our credit showed up.

 

I think the people at MBNA are thinking you want to use your points to pay for part of the cruise as opposed to getting an onboard credit. I think there have been other posts from people saying the staff at MBNA isn't too clear on what is going on. I would just use the online service if you can - that way you don't have to talk to anyone! ;) and then call Celebrity with your reward number.

[Cindy G]

I started a thread a couple of months ago about my ugly experience in redeeming the MBNA rewards. Bad information after bad information is given out by the MBNA customer service reps. Take deep breaths (and maybe a margarita) and keep trying. I can assure you the I was able to redeem the rewards for onboard credit, having booked with our personal TA. I estimate it took 5-7 hours and several different 800 numbers. I can feel your pain...it is not easy and nothing should be so difficult. Here are some numbers to try: 1-800-257-8425, 1-800-653-2465 and 1-800-434-8313. I was hopeful that this situation would be resolved. In addition, I was told that beginning in Jan, points could be combined with the Celebrity Visa and AMEX.

[skyview851]

We have the MBNA Celebrity Visa & have redeemed & used points 3 times now. None of the cruises were booked thru MBNA, they weren't even booked with the same travel agent. We simply go online, redeem the points & in a week or so, they send a confirmation. Then we call captains club & have the points applied. Is the difference that you are using a AMEX card?

[mumsyo]

I have had a different experience with my MBNA Credit card (actually it is the NCL one) and I had no trouble whatsoever applying the $500 to the cost of my cruise. The "voucher" was sent to me, I gave it to my TA and she sent it in. And, I didn't use that cc to book the cruise.

 

Marilyn

[gracecarmo]

I used our Celebrity MBNA AMEX card to get a cruise shipboard credit. I did just as skyview851 said. It was painless. I got points for booking and paying for our upcoming cruises on X.

Keep trying, and don't let them get you down!

[emeyers]

Thanks

 

You've given me hope.

It's a crime when an employee is improperly trained.

I wonder how many others were given this information.

 

Again it proves that C.C. is a wonderful source of information.

 

Ellis

[Andy]

Ellis,

It's really a little nasty.

In the fine points in the disclosure info pamphlet that you usually get with any credit card, there is a statement inside that reveals that all travel must be arranged through THEIR travel desk.

It isn't very nice but whenever something seems to good to be true the old adage applies. :(

 

Hi Ellis !

 

I would be VERY surprised if this were the case. I have the Visa Card, and have had No problems at all redeeming points. I truly feel you got some very bad information from the Customer Service Rep.

 

Being that both cards are issued by the same bank (MBNA), it would make no sense that AMEX would force you to book through their own TA. Sure, it would be nice for them, but its pretty unreasonable.... especially since the Visa Card has no such requirement. Furthermore, I do not think Celebrity would not be ok with that type of arrangement.

 

As others have said, keep trying, and ALWAYS ask to speak to a supervisor when things arent going well. It usually works for me.

 

Good Luck, and let us know what happens.

[Petoonya]

Well.

Thats interesting. I got the MBNA AMEX card as the double points for travel and restaurant charges looked terrific...and then cancelled it when I read the fine print in the pamphlet about booking with their agency. I called to verify and got the same answer Ellis did.

 

I'll be interested in hearing how this turns out for you Ellis. Altho I I'll be miffed if I find out I got misinformation too! Best wishes and let me know.

[emeyers]

I'm going to pay the balance due on my Constellation cruise in March. As soon as my credits appear in my account, I'm going to request an onboard credit reward and I'll let you know the results.

Page 2 in the program rules pamphlet states after you receive the order number, you must redeem your Celebrity Rrewards at the travel agency where you made the cruise arrangements.

It goes further to state that ALL FREE CRUISE REWARDS MUST BE BOOKED DIRECTLY WITH CELEBRITY CRUISES. I believe the clerk misinterpreted that sentence. An onboard credit, in my estimation, is not a FREE cruise reward.

 

Ellis

[rucruisn2]

I can join the group of those who had problems redeeming points for onboard credits. But I did get it done. Call the Captain's Club desk for help if MBNA won't do what you want. The point is, yes you can use your points for onboard credits no matter who booked your cruise!!!!

[joeyanddavid]

We have the MBNA Celebrity Visa & have redeemed & used points . We simply go online, redeem the points & in a week or so, they send a confirmation. Then we call captains club & have the points applied. Is the difference that you are using a AMEX card?

 

I echo

[Texed]

We've had good results also.:)

[PatC]

I have an MBNA Visa, we're booked on Summit on 3/26. I did the MBNA redemption on line, got my confirmation # and had requested $200.00 credit for our cruise (we had the points). Got a confirmation in the mail on Friday (4 days later) and was instructed to call the Captain's Club with the #. When I called the rep told me that MBNA had already credited our account and we were good to go. So, no problem for us. Maybe we should just do this on line and not deal with "humans" in this case. As with many companies and customer service people, they don't know what they're talking about or have not been brought up to date on what's going on.

 

Good luck. It will be interesting to see what they say.

 

Pat C

[CRUISE BUG BIT HARD]

Do everything online and you will have no problems at all. Forget the phone. The customer service reps don't know what they are talking about.

Suzanne

[SheilaNC]

Can you give the URL for the site where you redeem points on the Celebrity AMEX card. I've had trouble finding it. Thanks

[Cindy G]

Has anyone tried to combine the Visa and the AMEX points? Can it be done online?

[chessbriar]

Can you give the URL for the site where you redeem points on the Celebrity AMEX card. I've had trouble finding it. Thanks

 

Login to the MBNA website using your account and they have a link to connect there.

 

I always go through their link and never book through MBNA and never have had a problem.

[cruise freak]

I just got off the phone with all the same mis-information others had received. MBNA connected me to Celebrity captains club and they told me the real story. You call (800)434-8313 and pick option 3-which is redeeming for merchandise. (She said that you would think option 2 would be good since it is for travel but she said they have tried it themselves and it is option 3) and you can redeem any of the credits towards reducing the price of cruise or onboard credits. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GO THROUGH MBNA TRAVEL. I just redeemed $250.00 towards the price of the cruise and my husband also has a card and since he is the primary account holder he has to do his himself or I can do it online and they give me a number right away.

 

What started out as bad ended good if you follow what I have written. Good luck.

[SheilaNC]

Thank you all so much for clearing up this unnecessarily complex issue. I can now access my account online (duh!) and have the right 800 number. You are terrific. Just one more reason for loving CC and my fellow cruisers. And for the first time, I understand how to use our points....moving towards getting a really good discount or onboard credit on our next cruise. Although - it does seem to me that if you're flying cross country the best deal might be airline tickets...hmmmm

[Cindy G]

Thanks Cruise Freak....I have recorded the number and will try it the next time. We owe you one!!!

[hcat]

We have the Royal MBNA--same pain in the neck. We decided only to use it for shipboard credit since that has a set dollar value. It still is an effort first to get the certifs from MBNA & then to have them processed by celeb once we sent them in..(literally had to ask someone to stand at a fax machine to get copies of them as origs were MIA) .Another boondoggle was that they are only processed before a certain day each week & if you want them sooner they encourage you to order them expedited. Being naive we said OK--they charged our card the expedited free for each certificate--when we complained they said that's how they do it & then they re-credit the card later. Sounds fishy to me. They did re-credit but wonder if they would have had we not called them on it. It was about $15 per certif & we really did not need expedited -they make it sound like you do! Good luck--it is still nice to have that big shipboard credit once it gets done....

[cruise freak]

You are very welcome.

 

As soon as I started to have trouble the first thing I did was bring up cruise critic and I was sure others had the same problem so when it was solved I wanted to post the solution. When I was talking to X on the phone I told the girl at the Captains Club that alot of people on cruise critic were upset and she asked if I could explain how it works so people would know.

[tbelian]

We have the Visa.

 

No problems redeeming the points, using the 'on line'

website based system. Placed the order for shipboard credit based upon the amount of points, and received an order number. A couple days later, we called Celebrity with the order number, and the credits were applied to the account.

 

Now for the thought. let's say for example you have $300.00 in earned points that you get for shipboard credit. You go on your cruise, wander through the casino, and get cash out at the window. You walk by a slot, drop a dollar in, then put the rest in your 'pocket'. This cash can now be spent as you like, including 'paying' for the cruise. It's just a matter of semantics.

 

 

Just a thought.