Credit cards with rewards?

[New2cruise1483]

Does anybody on here know of a good credit card to get to earn travel rewards, such as free/reduced airfare, reduced hotels, or even reduced cruise fares? I currently have NCL's MasterCard, but honestly, the rewards really don't seem to be that great and you have to earn ALOT of them to get anything significant. I would really like to find one where I could earn airline points, because from where we live ( in Idaho )it's SO expensive to fly to any cruise port. I've looked at airline cards, but I don't want to be stuck with one airline in case they don't travel to the place I want in the time frame I want. Any ideas?

[seaofwonder]

Chase Sapphire Preferred transfers to most major airlines except American. Double points on travel and dining. They will also transfer to hotels. You can book travel through them and get 10% discount on point redemption. Free annual fee the first year and $75 after that.

 

Starwood Amex is another one. Yes, it earns Starwood points, but you can transfer to major airlines and if you transfer in 20000 increments then you get a 5000 mile bonus. No annual fee the first year and then $65 after that.

 

If you have Southwest, they have a decent credit card.

 

Check out flyertalk.com for lots more info on travel hacking and using credit cards. Frugal travel guy is another good one.

[mommasharn]

I have a royal Caribbean Visa. Use it for everything and pay it off every Sunday. Just saved 1000.00 on my upcoming cruise! Took less than two years to earn 100,000 points!

 

 

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[Totalelf]

Barclay offers a travel credit card that you earn $$ and can redeem for any type of travel expenses.

 

 

 

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[dbsb3233]

Barclay offers a travel credit card that you earn $$ and can redeem for any type of travel expenses.

 

 

 

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That's what I'm using. 2% rebate on all travel purchases (and they do count them all... cruises, airfares, tours, etc.). And no foreign transaction fee. And of course no annual fee. I think there was $100 sign-up bonus (i.e. 10000 miles).

[Rickst75]

I'm using the "IT Card" by Discover. I get 1% back on everything. And every three months the cash back bonus changes but you get 5% back on those. Right now it's restaurants. And you can use it for a lot of things. Paying your bill. Actual cash. Restaurants. Travel including cruising.

 

 

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[dashel]

Hi,

 

Does anyone know of a good card for the UK for RCI or Celebrity? I can only see ones for the US.

 

Thanks very much!

[Got2Cruise]

I use a cash back card. I can use the cash towards any cruise flight hotel etc with no restrictions. I have both a Chase Visa and Citi MC. For me it works best. Especially 5% back on gas purchases. I charge almost everything

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I'm using the "IT Card" by Discover. I get 1% back on everything. And every three months the cash back bonus changes but you get 5% back on those. Right now it's restaurants. And you can use it for a lot of things. Paying your bill. Actual cash. Restaurants. Travel including cruising.

 

 

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Discover "IT" is awesome, and no foreign transaction fees. We used it in Jamaica and Grand Cayman, but you have to inform them of your travel plans.

 

Don't forget the 5%+ you get at shopdiscover, including all the major cruise lines. We just purchased something from Walmart online, 5% extra going through Discover's website and having it shipped site to store.

 

Also, you can redeem your rewards with cruise bonuses. Let's say you have $40 in rewards, that can be turned into an $80 cruise certificate.

 

Other than that, I would go Chase Sapphire, Barclay, or Capital One Venture.

[HappyAFWife]

Chase Sapphire Preferred transfers to most major airlines except American. Double points on travel and dining. They will also transfer to hotels. You can book travel through them and get 10% discount on point redemption. Free annual fee the first year and $75 after that.

 

We just got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card a few months ago thanks to the current promotion - 40,000 points if you spend $3,000 in the first three months (we have teenagers so our grocery bill alone covered most of that) and an additional 5,000 points for adding an authorized user during that time period as well. The annual fee will be $95 after the first year but given the double points on travel and dining (plus an additional .7 points awarded on earned points at the end of each year, even if you have redeemed already them) the card will be worth it. We liked the flexibility: we can redeem points for travel (and get the 10% discount), shop with them (on Amazon and other retailers you just register your card and they do the redemption for you), or get cash back applied to our balance. There is also no foreign transaction fee and it's a more secure chip card (which I wish the US would adopt as well). The nicest thing is the customer service! You are put through to a customer service rep (all of whom have spoken perfect English) right away and they are incredibly helpful.

 

You often get double takes when you hand someone the card, though. It's blue, made of metal, really heavy, and the info is on the back so it doesn't look anything like other cards.

[octoberdana]

We just got the Chase Sapphire Preferred as well. We also have a Costco American Express that gives 2% on travel, but like the benefits of the Chase more, especially the extra 7% rebate.

[HappyAFWife]

We just got the Chase Sapphire Preferred as well. We also have a Costco American Express that gives 2% on travel, but like the benefits of the Chase more, especially the extra 7% rebate.

 

Another advantage - if you book your travel through the Ultimate Rewards people (not using points, just paying for it) you can earn an additional point, bringing your total points up to 3.7 per dollar spent. I'm not sure what their pricing looks like but I will definitely look into it next time we have to book airline tickets or hotel stays.