apply for NCL MC before or ON ship for 100 credit?

[bjinouno]

I see in the dallies, there is a offer, If you sign up for NCL MC (I'm sure have to be approved) do u get the instant on board credit for This cruise, OR should I apply on line at home 4 weeks before the cruise, Will I still be able to get that credit for this cruise, or it won't come through for 6 to 8 weeks, AFTER qualifying purchase?

[tiyana4]

Why not purchase a Reward certificate once you get onboard? It will still yield you $100 for this sailing. If you plan to sail NCL again anyway, they sell them at $250 per certificate which serves as your full deposit for a future sailing (unless you're in a suite). I wouldn't open a new credit account just to get the $100 OBC when there are other methods available.

[vols_159]

Last March while on the SUN I applied for the MC and with moving my on board credit to the mastercard they gave me 10k bonus points besides the 10k you get after the 1st transaction.. But I didnt receive any instant OBC on that cruise.. I do have enough points for for my next cruise to receive 200 off and 50 obc.. Honestly this Credit card rewards program isnt that good after they bonus points.. Only 1 point per dollar spents and 2 points when using NCL.. Id rather stick to discover where i get 5% back on different things and gas right now..

[azappraiser]

I see in the dallies, there is a offer, If you sign up for NCL MC (I'm sure have to be approved) do u get the instant on board credit for This cruise, OR should I apply on line at home 4 weeks before the cruise, Will I still be able to get that credit for this cruise, or it won't come through for 6 to 8 weeks, AFTER qualifying purchase?

 

You would not be able to utilize the 10,000 bonus points right away if you applied for the card on your cruise.

 

The NCL Rewards card is issued through Bank of America. You will have to go through the approval process before being issued the card, at which time they will then award your 10k bonus points after you make your first "qualifying" purchase with the card. The points will then be listed as "pending" until your next statement is closed out. At that time, the bonus points will become available for redemption. So, depending on when you make your first purchase, your points may not be available for nearly six weeks after you apply for the card.

 

You can redeem your points when you "log on" to the "worldpoints" site with your card number, last name & billing zip code. Once on the site, you can use the card in the worldpoints mall with participating retailers, many of who offer additional bonus points for each dollar spent. Several of the retailers offer 4 or more bonus points and I've even seen as many as 30 points per dollar offered for magazine subscriptions and 180 per dollar for airline tickets. There are several retailers that have one-time bonus point offers starting at 50 points, all the way up to 6000+ points for new customers.

 

I've made several purchases through the worldpoints mall, specifically for things I was going to buy anyway... that way I could pad my bonus point total and cash them in before our cruise. IMHO, the worldpoints mall is a handy option to have if you use it properly.

 

Between the initial 10k points, pre-paying for our shore excursions, DSC, cruise balance and my worldpoint mall purchases, I was able to cash in 20k points, which gave us a $200.00 On Board Credit the moment we step on the ship. The credit shows up on your Final Cruise Confirmation.

 

Are there better credit card reward programs available? You bet. But if used properly, the NCL rewards program has quite a few merits of it's own. One added benefit, as pointed out by the post above, all purchases through NCL equal 2 points per dollar.

[fiftyguy]

I see in the dallies, there is a offer, If you sign up for NCL MC (I'm sure have to be approved) do u get the instant on board credit for This cruise, OR should I apply on line at home 4 weeks before the cruise, Will I still be able to get that credit for this cruise, or it won't come through for 6 to 8 weeks, AFTER qualifying purchase?

 

I don't know if you noticed it, but there's a "sticky" at the top of the thread page for the NCL Mastercard. There are many tips and opinions.

[coka]

OP is confusing two different reward programs. Azappraiser correctly discussed the 10,000 points for starting the Bank of America mastercard. The other reward program where a cruiser receives an automatic 100 dollar credit is when a future cruise deposit is purchased. This can only be done onboard and yes, the 100 credit is given on that sailing. It costs 250 dollars and is only good if you know you will sail with NCL again within the next four years.

 

coka