Earning Cruises ?

[sunprincess]

I know that some airlines offer credit cards to earn miles. I have been tempted but have yet to join. Mostly because I never really had one primary air carrier.

Lately have used Delta & know they have a card. Anyone use this that can tell me pros & cons??

 

Also, reading a reply recently Seamiles.com and Icruise.com were also listed.

Checked both websites. Seamiles appears to be linked with Carnival, but said you can use any cruise line. ?? Since Carnival is the parent company to Princess can you use it for a Princess Cruise?? Again, pros & cons??

 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks :confused:

[sammiedawg]

You can use Marriott Rewards to purchase HAL or Carnival cruises. Not the best value for the points but we did buy a HAL cruise once this way.

[wrecks]

We use VISA United. They do charge $60.00 per year/per card. United works well for us where we are located. Clark Howard, (http://www.clarkhoward.com) recommends using the cash back cards and make your own choice as to cruiselines, airlines, resorts, car rental and your own time-frame! I am fortunate enough to have vendors that take plastic and am able to earn enough miles for several tickets each year. My wife has one in her name, she uses it for everything she purchases :eek: and that gives us at least one first class ticket per year. Most airlines restrict the number of seats that are available under this promotion and also the time frame that they can be reserved. I'm fairly sure that on United booking is not available until one year out and most of the available first class seats are taken within 10 days. We have gotten coach much closer to our vacation date. I believe that I have seen an ad for a Princess charge card on their web-site, but not sure. Many pros and cons between credit and debit cards - from what I've read both are susceptable to stolen cards/identity, but the credit card offers you more security.

[wrecks]

I guess I should have noted that we use the plastic rewards only for flying. United does give us e-mail updates on cruises they offer, but have never used miles that way. It seems to me most mile/reward programs are becoming more inflexible/restrictive in rewards than they have been. If you want to take advantage of these rewards, you have to plan in advance. There are other links to sites that give you many pros and cons and options on different cards, I just put in cardit card advantages on search and got over 20,000,000 sites! Good luck :confused:

[Toto2Kansas]

As wrecks, we have two United Mileage Plus Visa Cards. Mine is for all of the household expenses and his is for his business. We put ALL of our purchases on it, including paying some bills each month. Mine buys all of the furniture, grocerys, clothing, etc. His is used for fuel and his parts for his business.

Yes, we do pay $60 per year per card for these, but they have really paid off for us.

About every 12-18 months we reward ourselves with a first class flight to either Hawaii, or as in this August, Britian. The first class flight R/T to Britian runs between $12,000-$13,000 per person for the tickets.

Sure, we could get 4 flights in the U.S. for what we are paying (miileage wise) for this one round trip fare, but we just love to live the good life once in awhile without having to shell out those terrible prices for the flights.

 

Of coarse, we pay off the cards when the bill comes in so we never pay interest. They haven't gotten one cent of interest out of us in 4 years. It is a great way to earn upcoming flights, we never have to carry our check book or cash when shopping, and we often times fight over which one is going to pay for something so they can get the miles. lol I keep track online of our miles so they stay within a few thousand of each other, that way we are always ready with enough miles for that special flight to that special cruise.

It also makes it nice at the end of the month to enter all the business charges into our accounts without having to go through the hassle of trying to figure out which charges are business and which are personal for income tax purposes. It's all is on HIS statement which makes it very easy for me since I am the bookkeeper. :D

[wrecks]

Now I know, 2 is for two sets of books! Transfer of miles between accounts will cost you actual dollars, charged to your credit card. I put some of my business purchases on DW's card so I don't have to pay for the transfer.

[gg3]

I think using a credit card that gives miles is the only way for us to go. My husband and I use Mastercard (American Airlines miles) and like ToTo we put everything on it. Even when he had open heart surgery, cataract surgery, heart stent surgery, we paid those bills (after insurance paid), with our Mastercard. BUT, do pay your credit card off each month. We have never paid one penny interest. We use the miles for long flights from Texas to Oregon, Canada, Washington. American flies everywhere it seems, so we have never had a problem booking from 4 weeks to several months in advance. To us, it is a great option. And that is coming from folks who never had a credit card, til our kids left for college and they told us THEY had one!!!:)

[sunprincess]

Thanks for your replies. :) I look forward to upgrading my current charge card to one that counts!!

[rollingstone]

The Delta American express is my favorite. It gives you 2 miles per dollar for food, gas,drug stores and home improvement stores. Last year we had a sun room put on our house and bought all the materials on the charge card. They also have specials once a year for 2x miles on all purchases. Its usually around Christmas and comes in really handy!!!

[gg3]

Stone - that does sound even better than AA Mastercard, but Delta does not fly out of our local small airport, as AA does. Therefore, when we want to take a long trip, we can fly from our hometown to Dallas on American Eagle, then from Dallas to anywhere. Sure makes a trip wonderful to have our kids drive us 15 minutes to the airport and thats it. :) We do as you do re: any additions at home, any maintenance work on home or car or body :p , all is charged to credit card, then paid off end of month. gg

[atlcple2]

After our first cruise with Carnival about 4 years ago, I did get the Sea Miles Card that Carnival has. The interest rate was high and as I recall, there is a monthly fee to have the card. I have closed mine as the number of "sea miles" wasn't worth the interst rate.

[Pam in CA]

I looked at the RCCL reward card when it first came out and I didn't think the rewards were that great. As I remember, you could upgrade from an inside to an outside, outside to a higher category, etc. That doesn't work for me since I'd want a balcony and there was no upgrade from an outside to a balcony or a balcony to a mini-suite option.

 

I looked at the airline cards and rejected them as well. AA doesn't fly out of MHA so we'd have to always fly out of BOS. Delta and United? I'm not sure they're going to be in business in a year or so and there go your rewards.

 

So, I went with an Amazon.com card and I now buy books, electronics, etc. -- stuff that I really want and can use.

 

If there were a Princess reward card that you could use to get rewards to pay for a cruise (not just an upgrade), I'd definitely consider it.

[candydane]

I have the NCL mastercard and love it! I get 3% for my normal charges and 4% for NCL charges. The credit is redeemable for actual dollars against the price of the cruise or can be used for upgrades. It is only usuable toward a NCL cruise. I can book the cruise with my choice of any TA or directly with NCL and use the credit. There is no annual cost. There is a 1-year limit of $1000 credit on a card, so I have one in my name and one in my husbands.

 

Of course it has a high interest rate like most credit cards so I pay it off each month.

 

Very easy way (since I'd spend the money anyway) to help pay for a cruise!

[Italy52]

You can use Marriott Rewards to purchase HAL or Carnival cruises. Not the best value for the points but we did buy a HAL cruise once this way.

 

We also used our Marriott points on a cruise with HAL. We went to the Caribbean on the Zuiderdam and had a blast.