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NCL Mastercard FAQ

Host CMLA

By Host CMLA,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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weloverunning

weloverunning

Posted
Posted

I am still looking for my new credit card of choice. Is anyone looking at Citi Cash Returns Mastercard? Although, it only pays 1% cash back on all purchases, it pays an additional 4% cash back on over 400 participating merchants INCLUDING NCL, Carnival, Celebrity, RCI, etc. You can also purchase gift certificates for some normal purchase stores like CVS, BB&B, etc. at an additional 4% cash back. I would not use the online shopping merchants. There is no limit to how much you can earn. It has the other bells and whistles including travel insurance, car rental insurance, extended warranty, etc. There is also a 20% bonus on cash back earned the first 12 months. (meaning if you earn $100 cash back they will send you an additional $20) Since we have two NCL cruises coming up this year (one with 8 of us all on our credit card which still has a $4000 balance) and all the money we spend in the casino I may try this card for a year. There is NO annual fee. We don’t carry a balance so it doesn’t matter what the rates are.

 

 

I posted this last week. After researching it to death, I finally came across the pitfall buried deep in the bowels of credit card deals. In order to receive 4% from cruise lines you must book through their travel agency and you will not earn 4% while on the cruise. :mad: Back to square one.

 

I am going to take a closer look at the Citi PlatinumAmerican Express card talked about by Hoosier above. I have a Mastercard I use for 5% gas etc. so I will always have this backup if a business does not accept American Express. I know NCL accepts it so it might be worth using for the first year at 3%. I can then decide if I want to pay an annual fee to continue into the second year.

 

Hoosier: Do you have this card? Have you come across any pitfalls?

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c breeze

c breeze

Posted
Posted
Sorry, I totally disagree with this being the norm!

 

My last NCL Gem trip was $3200. I paid a $750 deposit, leaving a $2450 final balance. I paid with $2500 in compass rewards. NCL refused to credit my credit card with the $50 difference. No OBC. No nothing. They were adamant about not using compass points to "retro pay" a portion of the deposit.

 

(Actually the trip cost was even lower - I added trip insurance to bring the cost up to $3200. Otherwise, I would have lost even more...)

 

So if you experience otherwise, good for you. But, do not expect it...

 

 

I used Compass Points to "retro pay" a portiono of the deposit in 2007, and the difference was credited back to my MasterCard. I was quite skeptical about doing this, but many people on the boards said it worked fine and it did, even though the back of the certificates state otherwise. I am guessing that this used to be allowed, but now that they are tightening up on everything, they may not do it anymore. I don't think I would try it now....

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noreddye

noreddye

Posted
Posted
I just pulled up my Dec statement and the only thing that is mentioned about Worldpoints is that we will automatically be enrolled 1/1/09.

There was a blank page...I don't know when we will get info.

 

That is the only info we received as well. I thought we were suppose to get information with our Dec bill.

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weloverunning

weloverunning

Posted
Posted (edited)

I finally bit the bullet and applied for the Citibank Platinum American Express. I've never had an Amer Exp before but since we frequent mostly LARGE businesses and have a second (third, fourth) card in case someone doesn't accept AmEx, I will give it a try. We already accumulate Thank You points through our other Citibank card at 5% for gas, grocery, and drug. We accumulate 75,000 points a year which equals $750 by spending $15,000 to get there. Our points accumulated real fast when gas was $4.30 a gallon.:eek: The new AMEX offers 5% gas, drug, and grocery for the first 24 months and 3% on Everything else for the same 24 months. Since we have a final payment on NCL coming up for $3000 and a have a 4-day and 7-day in which we will spend too much money in the casino, we can at least earn 3% in points for that. We have used Thank You points in the past and are very happy with the program. They use Expedia for their travel agency and they seem to be very competitive with the rates they use. There is no annual fee for the first year so that gives me the opportunity to try it out at no expense.

P.S. We are done earning our compass rewards as we reached $503 on our second account which closes tomorrow. I have been using my other card to Christmas shop and cringe everytime I think about the 1% I am earning.:mad:

 

I will be keeping our largest credit line BOA card open just in case they have a great offer. Always the optomist!

Edited by rpbcouple
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AFT_LOVER

AFT_LOVER

Posted
Posted

So I clicked on LEARN MORE area of the Compass Rewards logo to the left of my $-0- balance due for December. 250 points as of Nov 30th & we shredded our cards since we are HH Signature Visa now.

 

So they are changing from what I was told & what was written in B of A area when they removed the Platinum Plus MC from available travel cards. Worldpoints seems to lurk everywhere for just about everyone. Even the B of A Signature Visa is Worldpoints so forget that.........

 

So now NCL is saying different things from what was said when we got the letter & called both B of A & NCL. So read this:

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=CompassRewardsFAQ#MasterCardChanging

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trish1c

trish1c

Posted
Posted
What happens to my Compass Rewards?

 

NCL is ending the Compass Reward program and as stated in the program terms and conditions, you will be issued a Compass Reward certificate(s) based on your December 31, 2008 point balance. Your final certificate(s) will arrive by mail on or before January 31, 2009. You will have one year from date of issue to apply the certificates to a booking, but you will be able to use them towards any NCL cruise before January 31, 2011. Compass Rewards points will not be transferred to the WorldPoints program.

 

Sorry for being a bit of a blockhead but just so I understand, b/c they are changing programs, we get the certificates, have to book with in a year but have 2 more years to sail? That would be great b/c we really don't want to go on another vacation right now.

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lumofny

lumofny

Posted
Posted
Sorry for being a bit of a blockhead but just so I understand, b/c they are changing programs, we get the certificates, have to book with in a year but have 2 more years to sail? That would be great b/c we really don't want to go on another vacation right now.

 

Correct.

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alkotik

alkotik

Posted
Posted
I used Compass Points to "retro pay" a portiono of the deposit in 2007, and the difference was credited back to my MasterCard. I was quite skeptical about doing this, but many people on the boards said it worked fine and it did, even though the back of the certificates state otherwise. I am guessing that this used to be allowed, but now that they are tightening up on everything, they may not do it anymore. I don't think I would try it now....

 

Tomorrow I'm sending 3x$500 certificates. My total payment is $2000 and final payment is about $1250. I'll be checking my CC to see if they credit the difference. Does anybody know how long it might take if at all?

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lumofny

lumofny

Posted
Posted
Tomorrow I'm sending 3x$500 certificates. My total payment is $2000 and final payment is about $1250. I'll be checking my CC to see if they credit the difference. Does anybody know how long it might take if at all?

 

I've heard anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Right now might be a good time to send them in as come January they will be mailing out certificates automatically and may become backed up. On the other hand, you may want to wait until after the new program begins: I'm not sure what happens to your points if a refund is issued to your card. If you mail the certificates in January theres no chance that credit the $1500 back will interfere with your point balance (there will be no point balance by then).

 

I personally am going to call tomorrow to request my certificates, but wait until the new program begins before mailing them in. That way theres no chance I'll encounter an issue with my point balance when being issued a refund.

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ute_fan

ute_fan

Posted
Posted
Yes, by all means call Bank of America now and ask for your two $500 certificates. They come fairly quickly and won't get mixed up in what I expect to be chaos once the program ends December 31st.

 

BobK/Orlando

 

Here's a question for you: If you call and request your certificates now, will they still have the extended expiration date of 2010, or will they reflect the regular "year from the date of issue"? I'm now just over my 500 points, but I don't want to call and request them if they will be need to be used in a year. :confused:

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lumofny

lumofny

Posted
Posted

And for those of you wondering: Yes! The new program is far superior to the old Compass Rewards program. With the old program $30k in spending would get you $500 off your cruise. With the NEW and IMPROVED program, you now get FOUR tickets to see Smuckers on Ice. Which would you rather have???

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lumofny

lumofny

Posted
Posted
According to the link in a previous post, the new and "improved" BOA card is a VISA card! But, in looking for another MC, it looks like the WorldPoints BOA card is a MasterCard.

 

I'm soooo confused - which one is it???

 

I'm confused too. One the one hand it says our card and account number will not change (which means MasterCard will stay MasterCard), however on the BoA website it says WorldPoints Visa Card. To make things more confusing there is a picture of a MasterCard. I don't think they really know whats going on with the program, but are just hurrying to get some information out there like they said they would.

 

Here's part of the new T&C from the new program:

Other significant terms apply. Program subject to change. For more information, visit bankofamerica.com/rewards. Details accompany new account materials.

 

Yet it fails to mention these "other significant terms"...

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c breeze

c breeze

Posted
Posted
Here's a question for you: If you call and request your certificates now, will they still have the extended expiration date of 2010, or will they reflect the regular "year from the date of issue"? I'm now just over my 500 points, but I don't want to call and request them if they will be need to be used in a year. :confused:

 

This is just my opinion, but I would not request certificates, unless I had final payment for a cruise due in January or early February. I think if they are issued in 2008, they will still have the one year expiration date, but if they are issued in January, you will have two full years to use them. (I doubt you can get anyone on the phone at either NCL or BOA who can confrim that, but that would be my assumption.) Plans can change, so I would let them mail out the certificates in January. Just keep you last statement with your points balance, as well as your statement that shows your charges through the end of December for future reference. I printed out the FAQ page too.

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mpk218

mpk218

Posted
Posted
This is just my opinion, but I would not request certificates, unless I had final payment for a cruise due in January or early February. I think if they are issued in 2008, they will still have the one year expiration date, but if they are issued in January, you will have two full years to use them. (I doubt you can get anyone on the phone at either NCL or BOA who can confrim that, but that would be my assumption.) Plans can change, so I would let them mail out the certificates in January. Just keep you last statement with your points balance, as well as your statement that shows your charges through the end of December for future reference. I printed out the FAQ page too.

 

I couldnt agree more . if you request it now you will most likely get one year from the day you called. Wiat until January .

Also a little side note ::

I was just on the phone with on of the people in the accounting department asking how long its taking to process certificates ( I have final payment in 2 weeks).

He told me they are being flooded with these things so make sure you get them in early . I know some have said that they were still processed after final payment , but with the ending of the program and ALOT of people sending these in I would not bet against NCL falling back on the original rule of " no good after final payment" Just my 2 c../

 

 

mpk

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lhall85917

lhall85917

Posted
Posted

I know this has been discussed but after looking through 10 pages I can't find it and my eyes are about to give out! I believe that I remember the advice is that you shouldn't cancel a card - just shred it and don't use it - but I don't remember why that is. Our house is for sale and I want to do all that I can to make sure our credit score is as high as possible. We don't use (or have)any other cards except the NCL card and pay it off each month. Is it better to cancel this card when we decide on a new program or leave it as is with the 0 balance?:confused:

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Salsera718

Salsera718

Posted
Posted

Leasve it open with a zero balance...when you go to purchase another home it will reflect well on your credit report (score) because your amount of "available" credit is higher and your debt/credit ratio looks better. If you pay all balances off every month then perhaps it won't affect the score because then it's a "zero/debt to "whatever credit available balance" anyway....but me. I'd keep it open JMHO...

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