carnival cruise points

[alrighty then]

Has anyone paid for a cruise in full with the barclay card points? If so does it have to be done through carnival or can it still be booked thru a travel agent? Thanks!

[Whimsy88]

Has anyone paid for a cruise in full with the barclay card points? If so does it have to be done through carnival or can it still be booked thru a travel agent? Thanks!

 

I haven't been able to pay in full, but have used points as credit against the card balance and knocked a good chunk off. My understanding is that as long as the charge shows it is for a Carnival cruise purchase (deposit, balance payment, whatever), you should get double points and be able to redeem them. TA might not count for the double points since you are technically paying the agent and not Carnival. Be aware that you usually can't redeem the points until 30 days after the charge to allow time for "processing." Sometimes it takes a little back and forth, but it's always worked out. If you have to call in to get it done, call during the day - night calls always seem to go to customer service reps who don't speak English very well!:rolleyes:

[larrymeador]

In 2010 I was able to pay for a rear facing balcony on the Carnival Spirit for an Alaska cruise. It took several years to save up enough points, but it was worth the wait. Since that time, we have started using an American Express card to earn travel points for most of our purchases. We still use the Carnival card for booking our cruises and for purchases where they don't take American Express. Since we don't earn as much on the Carnival card, we usually justs get a couple hundred dollars in OBC each time we cruise. The purchases made for a Carnival cruise through a travel agent does qualify for the double points to the extent that the payment goes for a the cruise itself. If you pay a travel agent for air and cruise together, then only the amount transferred to Carnival applies for the double points.

Edited May 29, 2014 by larrymeador