Celebrity branded credit card...

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

32 minutes ago, poeticlicensed said:

One of the best features of the chase card are transfer partners. I can transfer my points directly to certain airlines and get a higher value than going through the credit card travel portal. But of course the trade off is the annual fee. There is no best card for everyone. Its finding the card that meets your needs. 

Couldn't agree more.

[miched]

15 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Other than the intro bonus, the card is pretty pointless (had to!).  You have to spend so much to gain so little.  If you have or are willing to get a Costco membership, their cash back card gives you so much for your spend without an annual fee.  You can do far better if you're willing to play the points game yet that isn't for everyone

 

We use the same card.   Give me the money.  Points  don’t mean much to us anymore because the rules and redemption values may change.  

 

We also have a Discover card.  The card doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee.   Great to use when traveling outside of the USA.    There are some places don’t accept it.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, miched said:

We use the same card.   Give me the money.  Points  don’t mean much to us anymore because the rules and redemption values may change.  

 

We also have a Discover card.  The card doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee.   Great to use when traveling outside of the USA.    There are some places don’t accept it.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

There are still deals to be had the best redemptions being for international business airfare where you can still receive $5000 cash price seat for $1000 in points.  It takes some work but once you learn how, it's pretty easy.  Quick rundown is you find out when the airline releases saver award space, find the flight you want, call the airline to put the seat on a courtesy hold, transfer your credit card points to a partner airline with more favorable redemptions and book your held seat.

 

The much easier way to redeem points is with Hyatt as they still have favorable redemptions.  As you can see in the pic below, three different examples hotels with wildly different cash prices vs amount of points; the top hotel in the image would be the most favorable redemption and the middle would be the worst

 

[paulh84]

9 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Whenever this Celebrity branded card gets mentioned, I always point to the Wells Fargo Autograph card. 3x points on travel, among other categories, and no annual fee. For a no annual fee card, it's among the best out there for the travel category.

No transfer partners so you’re locked in at $.01 at point. Portal bookings are generally a hard no. That’s a big miss. If you stack Chase or Amex points correctly you can get $.06+ per point fairly often. I think my record was $.16 per point at Hyatt using Chase points. Massive value to be had there since.  
 

Hold branded credit cards for perks like hotel status, free bags, etc. and earn points using cards with transferable currency. For $99 a year the Chase Sapphire Preferred is still the best starter card in the industry and it pairs extremely  well with no annual fee cards like the Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex.

 

In terms of using points specifically towards a cruise I just wouldn’t do it (aside from the Virgin Voyages offer…that one is a pretty great value). You have to focus on hotel, premium cabin flights, or general cash back and using it to offset your travel costs.

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

21 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

10 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Whenever this Celebrity branded card gets mentioned, I always point to the Wells Fargo Autograph card. 3x points on travel, among other categories, and no annual fee. For a no annual fee card, it's among the best out there for the travel category.

No transfer partners so you’re locked in at $.01 at point. Portal bookings are generally a hard no. That’s a big miss. If you stack Chase or Amex points correctly you can get $.06+ per point fairly often. I think my record was $.16 per point at Hyatt using Chase points. Massive value to be had there since.  
 

Hold branded credit cards for perks like hotel status, free bags, etc. and earn points using cards with transferable currency. For $99 a year the Chase Sapphire Preferred is still the best starter card in the industry and it pairs extremely  well with no annual fee cards like the Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex.

 

In terms of using points specifically towards a cruise I just wouldn’t do it (aside from the Virgin Voyages offer…that one is a pretty great value). You have to focus on hotel, premium cabin flights, or general cash back and using it to offset your travel costs.

You've got the right idea.  I wasn't saying that the Wells Fargo Autograph card is the "best" card on the market.  I was saying that if you're looking for a no annual fee card with no foreign transaction fees (same format as the Celebrity BoA card) to use for cruise purchases, the Autograph card is a better option due to the 3% rewards on travel.  For someone who doesn't want to spend their time managing points, travel partners, or annual fees, this card is a good card to use for cruise purchases in comparison to the BoA card.  I don't even have this card myself since I'm working on the Chase combo, but I know folks out there don't want a card with an annual fee and this one provides a better value proposition.

 

On another note, the risk in using points for booking travel is that people often end up spending more for the extras involved with the trip than you normally would if you paid for the trip out of pocket and used the points as straight cash back.  Since the flight/hotel was "free", you're going to more apt to spend more on drinks, food, tours, etc.  The credit card companies and the travel industry know this.

[poeticlicensed]

7 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

You've got the right idea.  I wasn't saying that the Wells Fargo Autograph card is the "best" card on the market.  I was saying that if you're looking for a no annual fee card with no foreign transaction fees (same format as the Celebrity BoA card) to use for cruise purchases, the Autograph card is a better option due to the 3% rewards on travel.  For someone who doesn't want to spend their time managing points, travel partners, or annual fees, this card is a good card to use for cruise purchases in comparison to the BoA card.  I don't even have this card myself since I'm working on the Chase combo, but I know folks out there don't want a card with an annual fee and this one provides a better value proposition.

 

On another note, the risk in using points for booking travel is that people often end up spending more for the extras involved with the trip than you normally would if you paid for the trip out of pocket and used the points as straight cash back.  Since the flight/hotel was "free", you're going to more apt to spend more on drinks, food, tours, etc.  The credit card companies and the travel industry know this.

I think different cards work for different folks and how they view travel and credit and money. For me,  am terrible with cash back cards cuz I end up just paying a bill with my cash back.  With reward points, I'll hoard them and use them to cut costs for travel. But I'm notoriously cheap and won't spend more because I didn't pay airfare. The points game is labor intensive, and lots of folks don't have the time or patience for it, so a no fee card is best for them. I am not hard core but I pay attention to earn rates and redemption rates and award seat release dates. I also don't card churn. Thats crazy IMO