Celebrity Bank of America American Express Card

[GD2J]

Does this mean that any worldpoint card will no longer offer Obc or money off the cruise if i is on Celebrity?

Yes, that is what it means. I have the BofA BankAmeriCard Visa, which is a Worldpoints card, but not specific to any cruise line. I logged on today, and there are NO Celebrity cruise redemption options, either for OBC or cruise discounts. I feel very fortunate to have just redeemed points for a cruise 2 months ago (sailing in December). We've been earning/saving points for 3 years for it, and I'd have been upset had we not been able to cruise.

 

I'm wondering if this is a temporary thing, while Celebrity and the new Worldpoints administrators work out the finer points...

[Spurs Fans]

Listen to Dave Ramsey. American Express is the worst card you can carry, if you have to carry one at all. In general, credit cards should be avoided at all cost.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Well this is pretty annoying, since I hadn't turned my points into OBC yet. But thanks for the heads up, host Shiela, so I know not to put my final payment on that card. Actually, that card will join the dustbin of history, since I specifically got it to earn OBC. And I won't be using it on the trip I'm going on in a few days either. So there, Bank of America, you just lost my business.

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

:( I just received my OBC certificate last week and called it into Celebrity

Captain's Club. I have the BOA Celebrity Visa and wanted to put my

final payment on the card for additional OBC's for our Solstice cruise

this coming Jan. So, now, is it my understanding that I can redeem

those World Points for cash instead ???

 

Also, where is the phone number Host Sheila mentioned ?? :confused:

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Cynthia,

You will still receive cash for your points - just not at the same rate (almost the same) as with the Celebrity card. I was to receive $450 for 45,000 points and received $430 since the regular Worldpoints conversion was $350 for 35,000 points and $80 for 10,000 points. My understanding is that the new vendor is not honoring any BOA Celebrity cards except for the reg. Worldpoints cash back. Not what I would have expected from the card but much better than losing all of the points. I plan to use the cash onboard as if it was a credit, but need to be diligent not to spend it first :)

 

Thanks Sheila,

I'll wait for awhile and see what happens. I'll stop using this card immediately. I have some automatic payments attached to it so lots of work ahead. I really liked the OBC because it seemed like found money. I was more likely to treat myself. Now it will just go in the bank.:(

Cynthia

[kelmac]

I went online today with BofA and just clicked on "Rewards" and clicked on "get cash for Points" and converted 25,000 points into $250. You can print out your "Points Redeemed Confirmation".

Not sure what to do with the 4,434 points I have left?

 

For sure, I will stop using this card.

 

Thanks Sheila for the heads up!

Kelly:)

[SheilaNC]

Thanks for the info, Kel, I think they must have made an adjustment on cashing out using the Web site. That didn't work when I tried it on Monday. I'm glad to hear you were able to do it on your own.

 

I, too, have a few thousand point left over. I'm simply going to dump them and stop using this card...my opinion only :)

[CruisingChick]

I am on the BOA web-site now and I can only get $120 cash for my 15,000 points. Not acceptable in my book.

 

In any event a sent an e-mail to the CT State Attorney General's office filing a complaint against the BofA Worldpoints Program and also sent them the link to the Celebrity Application for the Visa BofA Worldpoints card.

 

As another poster has stated, hopefully this has all been some big misunderstanding had it will be corrected. If not, I will stop using both the BofA Visa and Amex that I've had for over 4 years now.

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

:) As you are able to redeem points for cash -rather than "dumping" your left over points --- why not purchase items to bring yourself up to the next level and then "cash out". Seems like a waste to me. I certainly would

not go too much over your personal levels, though. JMO ;)

[kelmac]

I am on the BOA web-site now and I can only get $120 cash for my 15,000 points. Not acceptable in my book.

 

 

CC,

 

I guess you need 25,000 points or more to get dollar for point reward. Kinda sucks. Here is the chart copied from BofA's website:

 

 

VALUECASH REWARDSELECT REWARD2,500$12.50 Check 5,000$25 Check 7,500$37.50 Check 10,000$80 Check 15,000$120 Check 20,000$160 Check 25,000$250 Check 35,000$350 Check 50,000$500 Check

 

I hope it works out for everyone!

Kel

[GD2J]

Well, what I predicted:

I'm wondering if this is a temporary thing, while Celebrity and the new Worldpoints administrators work out the finer points...

may be coming true!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1060452

 

Stay tuned!

[Cindy G]

C-Chick,

 

I have a hard copy letter ready to mail if this matter is not resolved. I also will contact the State of Ohio Atty. General's office.

 

I just hope this was all a temporary glitch and no one experiences any loss of points.

[CruisingChick]

Hi Cindy,

 

There is obviously some type of problem with the vendor that took over the Worldpoints program. Only thing is Celebrity and BofA are still advertising the Celebrity Rewards Visa Card. Shouldn't they have made SURE that this new vendor was going to honor all our points and continue to service us? If not they should at least given us notice and we should had 3 months to cash in our points for on-board credits or whatever else from Celebrity we wanted.

 

I was going to write to BofA and Celebrity and attach the letter I sent to the CT State Attorney General, but I will wait until the end of the week to see what happens.

 

I am also still waiting to hear back from Alicia from the Captain's Club as she is trying to find out what is going on.

[kb4683]

Does this mean that they are no longer giving double points for Celebrity purchases, too?

 

We just redeemed 100,000 points for $1,000 rather than OBC then just use the $1,000 to pay off our card after returning. That way we would get the advantage of 2 points for every $1 spent. If that's not the case, guess we'll just redeem our remaining points for cash and change cards.

 

Thanks.

[Nonna and Papa]

Reading the last few posts, pretty much describes what happened when my husband talked to Bank of America last night. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the rep tried to get him to accept a lesser amount of cash for our points. She even suggested that $240 for 25,000 points was all we could get because we were't at the 35,000 point level (the next level to cash out). We had almost 33,000 points. He was polite but persistent and in the end, cashed out 32,500 points for $300.

 

Keep trying, be fair but insistent. Good luck.

 

Mary

[Cindy G]

I was told that the double Celebrity points will remain as well as double gas, grocery and drug store points though 10-31.

 

We'll just have to wait until the dust settles and see what transpires. It's not easy. I have a cruise in Oct. that I was trying to redeem points for OBC and I have a final pymt. due on an 11-day Galapagos in a couple of months. I want to be able to maximise the points to my advantage....either with BOA or a competitor's card.

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

:) Don't know what happend to an earlier reply but checked the BOA site

this afternoon --- if you have leftover points --- you can redeem them

for gift cards or merchandise. Better than "flushing them down the drain" JMO.;)

[Spurs Fans]

Just curious, how much in monthly credit card fees did you have to pay to come up with these "points" that seem to be worth 1/10 of 1% in cash?

[Cindy G]

Spurs Fans...to whom are you directing your question? And why do you want to know? How could it possibly be any of your business? Also, your math is a little off.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

I just heard from my contact at Celebrity, and they wanted me to let you know that the lack of redemption options is temporary, and due to a change to their redemption portal. According to Celebrity, Bank of America has been contacted, and proper service should resume shortly.

 

Please, don't hold me to this :) I'm just passing along the information. I hope this is helpful.

[Spurs Fans]

Spurs Fans...to whom are you directing your question? And why do you want to know? How could it possibly be any of your business? Also, your math is a little off.

 

Cindy, my question was not directed to anyone specifically. Just throwing out a question. My math is correct. 25,000 points to get $225.00 is less than 1/10th of 1%. Just curious how much in annual fees for the credit card company to receive this generous gift, that is all. If you don't want to answer, you certainly do not have to.

[Cindy G]

This is taken directly from the Celebrity site:

 

Receive 2,500 Bonus points after your first qualifying transaction.§§

Earn two (2) points for every dollar you spend on qualified purchases with Celebrity Cruises.§

 

That would be 2% for Celebrity purchases and BOA is currently doing a promo of 2% rewards for gas, grocery and drug stores. There is no annual fee associated with either card, VISA or AMEX.

 

On a personal note, I have NEVER, EVER (on any card) paid an annual fee, interest, late fee, finance charge or any other transaction fee. I only use my credit cards for convenience and the advantage of receiving from 5% to 2% in rewards. My very smart parents taught me well. How about you?

[lbw]

Actually, $225 for 25,000 points is 0.9%. (Former math teacher here ;))

 

But it's really better than that, since you don't have to spend $25,000 to get the points. If you only use the card when you can get double points, $12,500 would earn $225 cash or 1.8%. Of course, before they discontinued the OBC reward, you could get $250 in onboard credits, which would be 2% of the $12,500. I got the card because they gave me 10,000 bonus points for signing up, and I'm assuming Cindy got bonus points too. So, that's actually an even better return. And I never paid an annual fee either.

 

I'm just hoping they give us back the Celebrity reward options before I have to pay for my next 3 cruises.

[Gonzo70]

Cindy, my question was not directed to anyone specifically. Just throwing out a question. My math is correct. 25,000 points to get $225.00 is less than 1/10th of 1%. Just curious how much in annual fees for the credit card company to receive this generous gift, that is all. If you don't want to answer, you certainly do not have to.

 

I think you are rather confused. 25,000 points at 1 point per dollar comes to just under 1%. However some transactions give you multiple points, so it really over 1%. Then factor in the free points when you first use the card and you might be at about 1.5%. There is no annual fee and if you pay the balance in full every month then there is no interest fees as well.

[Spurs Fans]

I stand corrected on my math, that is why I went into law! Those of us that pay off our cards every month, do not take cash advances and have cards with no annual fee will benefit from the programs. I do this with a flyer program. However, the countless others who do this in the hopes of receiving something from nothing end up paying huge amounts to receive this bonus. Those who can not pay in full each month should never try to benefit from a program of this type.