HAL/Barclay credit card points redemption for 2015

[Tom O.]

Thank you, good information! Like you, we use our HAL card for everything from groceries to a new roof.

 

I didn't know about being able to redeem points for cruise credit months after we return home. I remember only being told that we had to redeem our points no later than 15 (?) days before sailing date. Is this a recent change?

 

I just called the HAL points redemption center, to make sure my information is up to date. For the Cruise Discount or Free Cruise, the points can be redeemed after the cruise, and they said there is no time limit where they have to be used. You just give them the reservation number, and as long as you have not previously received a credit for it before, and if you owned the card before the embarkation date you will get the credit. Even if you took the cruise a year ago.

However, if you are redeeming for on board credit, you must contact them 15 days before your cruise to get the credit. This is another reason why you should never redeem points except for the Cruise Discount or Free Cruise.

Be aware that points will expire, if not used within 5 years of earning them, so don't wait too long before redeeming them.

[Cruising-along]

I just called the HAL points redemption center, to make sure my information is up to date. For the Cruise Discount or Free Cruise, the points can be redeemed after the cruise, and they said there is no time limit where they have to be used. You just give them the reservation number, and as long as you have not previously received a credit for it before, and if you owned the card before the embarkation date you will get the credit. Even if you took the cruise a year ago.

However, if you are redeeming for on board credit, you must contact them 15 days before your cruise to get the credit. This is another reason why you should never redeem points except for the Cruise Discount or Free Cruise.

Be aware that points will expire, if not used within 5 years of earning them, so don't wait too long before redeeming them.

 

Thanks for checking! I think there was only once we used our points for the cruise discount, but we most likely will again for our next cruise.

 

Something I just noticed a few minutes ago while checking our online statement. We're getting triple points for HAL purchases right now. I remember they did this last year about this time too. Last year we got notification ahead of time, we didn't this time. So glad I just purchased all the shore excursions for our next cruise, good timing! :D I think it ran for 2 months last year.

[Ricktan]

Thanks for checking! I think there was only once we used our points for the cruise discount, but we most likely will again for our next cruise.

 

Something I just noticed a few minutes ago while checking our online statement. We're getting triple points for HAL purchases right now. I remember they did this last year about this time too. Last year we got notification ahead of time, we didn't this time. So glad I just purchased all the shore excursions for our next cruise, good timing! :D I think it ran for 2 months last year.

 

Thank you for the info!!! I have several purchases in my cart, need to take advantage of triple points!!! :)

[Cruising-along]

Thank you for the info!!! I have several purchases in my cart, need to take advantage of triple points!!! :)

 

Yes, you're welcome! I remember being ticked off at myself last year because the promotion expired before we had purchased everything.

[CaveDiving]

I don’t understand the fascination with the HAL credit card rewards program.

 

Chase bank has a Visa card in conjunction with AARP that rebates back 3% for all “travel” expenses with no limit and no yearly fee. And anything spent with HAL for cruising (as well as any airline travel,) is considered a “travel” expense.

 

This seems like a better deal, in all respects, than the HAL card. Am I missing something here?

 

Scott & Karen

 

You had me intrigued, so I looked up the AARP Chase Card. What I found is that it has a cash back deal of 3% just for restaurants and gas stations, everywhere else is 1%. So if you drive a lot, and eat in restaurants often, you might come out ahead with it. But I don't do either very much, so I think I come out ahead with the HAL card, because of the 2% I earn on HAL purchases. Also, if you redeem HAL points in large quantities at a time, you will receive as much as 1.5 cents per point, instead of 1 cent per point you get back for the AARP card.

 

Hello Tom,

 

I'm afraid you were given some incorrect information. The Chase card you are describing is the standard Chase card and not the one in association with AARP.

 

In order to find out about the AARP-Chase card, it is necessary to contact AARP directly. Contacting Chase will not get you the information about this card. It’s weird I know, but that’s how it works.

 

As I said previously, the AARP-Chase card does in fact rebate back 3% for all “travel” expenses with no limit and no yearly fee. And anything spent with HAL for cruising (as well as any airline travel,) is considered a “travel” expense. This includes anything spent with HAL on ship for stuff like excursions. I have used this card for over $85,000 of HAL expenses last winter and received over $2,500 in rebates.

 

By the way, I also carry a Capital One “Spark” card for all other expenses. This card does have a small yearly fee but rebates 2% back on all purchases and has no foreign exchange fee. We use this for all purchases other than our HAL “travel” expenses. This account is also handy in that we have three cards (with different numbers) associated with the same account, all of which charges appear on the same monthly bill. Scott uses one, Karen uses one and the third is used for all of our regular recurring monthly bills (i.e. Pest control, utilities, gardener, health insurance, etc.) This way, if one card is compromised, the others are still valid and since we don’t carry the third card, the likelihood of having a problem with this card is reduced.

 

We find that using these two banks’ cards is about as beneficial a system as we have found.

 

Please let me know if you find a better system.

 

Scott & Karen

[frankc98376]

Hello Tom,

 

I'm afraid you were given some incorrect information. The Chase card you are describing is the standard Chase card and not the one in association with AARP.

 

In order to find out about the AARP-Chase card, it is necessary to contact AARP directly. Contacting Chase will not get you the information about this card. It’s weird I know, but that’s how it works.

 

As I said previously, the AARP-Chase card does in fact rebate back 3% for all “travel” expenses with no limit and no yearly fee. And anything spent with HAL for cruising (as well as any airline travel,) is considered a “travel” expense. This includes anything spent with HAL on ship for stuff like excursions. I have used this card for over $85,000 of HAL expenses last winter and received over $2,500 in rebates.

 

By the way, I also carry a Capital One “Spark” card for all other expenses. This card does have a small yearly fee but rebates 2% back on all purchases and has no foreign exchange fee. We use this for all purchases other than our HAL “travel” expenses. This account is also handy in that we have three cards (with different numbers) associated with the same account, all of which charges appear on the same monthly bill. Scott uses one, Karen uses one and the third is used for all of our regular recurring monthly bills (i.e. Pest control, utilities, gardener, health insurance, etc.) This way, if one card is compromised, the others are still valid and since we don’t carry the third card, the likelihood of having a problem with this card is reduced.

 

We find that using these two banks’ cards is about as beneficial a system as we have found.

 

Please let me know if you find a better system.

 

Scott & Karen

 

This is assuming that HAL passengers are members of AARP. What are the chances that HAL passengers are generally members of AARP? :D

[Bitterrooters]

We opted for the beverage credit on our cruise in 2016 and they had a card waiting for us to use in our stateroom.

[RocketMan275]

This is assuming that HAL passengers are members of AARP. What are the chances that HAL passengers are generally members of AARP? :D

 

The AARP card is just one example. There are other cards that also offer significant advantages over the cruise line affiliated cards. For example, my Sam's club card.

 

One advantage of these "cash back" cards that is often overlooked is this. Cash can be combined with all offers and promotions. You can use it on any cruise line so you're not locked into only one.

 

BTW, Cruise Critic has an article on credit cards:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1453

 

From this article: "If you want to get the best return on investment from a credit card, cruise credit cards aren't the way to go. With most charges yielding just a 1 percent effective rebate on a limited catalog of awards, cruise credit cards aren't top-of-the-class in terms of value or rewards flexibility."