Help me not mess up - Barclay card points

[tea4ular]

Ok, so to date, I have 19,000 points amassed (not a ton, but as I read them, nearly $200).

 

Not one of those points is from Carnival purchases...

 

...however, today I have begun my countdown of paying down my April 2017 cruise. I made a $300 payment.

 

Based on everything I've read (and trust me, I have read, and read again) I can expect to see this $300 payment show up within a 30-day period as one of the payments I can credit my points towards.

 

Obviously I would like to wait until closer to my final payment date to apply points as I don't have another Carnival trip on my radar any time soon, other than the April 2017 trip. Nor do I think one will sneak in, as I've got some land based trips planned.

 

Questions:

Assuming final payment date is February 2017, when would I best start applying points so that I have none (or very few) remaining in the kitty (no point having them just sitting there).

 

Is there a minimum number of points I can apply at any given time (I've not found that info anywhere)?

 

Am I missing something important? I have been using the card almost exclusively since receiving it, but do not intend to use it again until I have a Carnival trip booked (I have another "travel reward" card, with much better "rewards").

 

Thank you in advance to those that have figured this system out! :)

[tropicaledrink]

Hi there,

 

Shakybeef has done several threads on this topic and there is a lot of really good info on these forums.

 

I will say that there are two ways to maximize your point usage - the first is to redeem 100,000 points at once and the second way is to make sure that the single charge that hits your card from Carnival is $1500 or more. With either of those conditions met, your points are now worth 1.5 times as much as they were before. So for scenario one, 100,000 points now covers a $1,500 charge (generally the exchange fee is 10,000 points = 100 dollars). For scenario two, if your charge is $1,500 flat and you have let's day 50,000 points, your statement credit is now worth $750 vs $500.

 

My understanding on the minimum number of points is 10,000 (or $100).

 

Also, you have definitely figured out one thing for sure - use it for a statement credit, do NOT redeem ahead of time for OBC.

 

There is also a feature called rewards boost that you may want to check out. It's helped us up our points a lot. For example, even though I have a Sephora in town, I now wait until I have a big enough order to justify ordering from the website with free shipping, because if I go through rewards boost, I then earn 5 points per dollar instead of one point per dollar if I swiped in the store. Several stores are on there. Even hotels - we have frequently earned bonus points by booking our hotels through rewards boost.

[CheapieD]

You have 6 months from

The time of the charge to redeem your points towards it. I think the minimum amount is 1000 points. You would do well redeem for the $300 as soon as you can because the reward structure is likely changing . My wife has the Princess card issued by Barclay bank (same as carnival) and they just provided notice that redemption are changing (better for those redeeming more and worse for those redeeming less).

 

 

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[audcc77]

I also had the barclay card. That was 2 credit cards ago. :)

 

Once they started making it so that you had to reach the minimum points in order to cash them in, which seemed kind of high, we bailed. We did get a ridiculous amount of cash back from them though.

 

I usually use these cards just to get the sign up bonus, which is what I did w/ Barclay card, but then they changed the redemption rules. Then I got the Chase Saphire. Now I'm off to Capital One Venture card.

 

Barclaycard seemed to me to have a lot of rules and you really have to pay attention to the points expiring, etc.

 

Care to share? What is your other travel card with better rewards?

[volmoma]

Get a Barclay MC, it's rewards are AWESOME!! 2 points per $1 spent. We accumulate upwards if $2000-$2500 a year in rewards. We use it like a debit card, we charge EVERYTHING, and pay off balance monthly.

 

 

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Edited October 2, 2016 by volmoma

[tropicaledrink]

I also had the barclay card. That was 2 credit cards ago. :)

 

Once they started making it so that you had to reach the minimum points in order to cash them in, which seemed kind of high, we bailed. We did get a ridiculous amount of cash back from them though.

 

I usually use these cards just to get the sign up bonus, which is what I did w/ Barclay card, but then they changed the redemption rules. Then I got the Chase Saphire. Now I'm off to Capital One Venture card.

 

Barclaycard seemed to me to have a lot of rules and you really have to pay attention to the points expiring, etc.

 

Care to share? What is your other travel card with better rewards?

 

 

Unless something is about to change, points no longer expire on the Carnival card, and haven't for a few years.

 

And volmama, we're with you - we charge everything and pay it off as the month goes on. We don't carry a balance, and it adds up quickly. :) (also, how about that game last night?? GO VOLS!)

[volmoma]

Unless something is about to change, points no longer expire on the Carnival card, and haven't for a few years.

 

 

 

And volmama, we're with you - we charge everything and pay it off as the month goes on. We don't carry a balance, and it adds up quickly. :) (also, how about that game last night?? GO VOLS!)

 

 

FREAKING AWESOME!!!! We've had season tickets since early 1990. Love my VOLS! But I'll be honest, they're going to give me a heart attack before this seasons over. Got 2 HARD games back to back. Hopefully no injuries. VFL GB[emoji521]

 

 

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[tea4ular]

Hi there,

 

Shakybeef has done several threads on this topic and there is a lot of really good info on these forums.

 

I will say that there are two ways to maximize your point usage - the first is to redeem 100,000 points at once and the second way is to make sure that the single charge that hits your card from Carnival is $1500 or more. With either of those conditions met, your points are now worth 1.5 times as much as they were before. So for scenario one, 100,000 points now covers a $1,500 charge (generally the exchange fee is 10,000 points = 100 dollars). For scenario two, if your charge is $1,500 flat and you have let's day 50,000 points, your statement credit is now worth $750 vs $500.

 

My understanding on the minimum number of points is 10,000 (or $100).

 

Also, you have definitely figured out one thing for sure - use it for a statement credit, do NOT redeem ahead of time for OBC.

 

There is also a feature called rewards boost that you may want to check out. It's helped us up our points a lot. For example, even though I have a Sephora in town, I now wait until I have a big enough order to justify ordering from the website with free shipping, because if I go through rewards boost, I then earn 5 points per dollar instead of one point per dollar if I swiped in the store. Several stores are on there. Even hotels - we have frequently earned bonus points by booking our hotels through rewards boost.

 

I'm aware of Shakybeef's post(s) - in fact I asked a few questions way back when (nearly a year ago).

 

I'm just trying to figure out the best timing for me to use my points.

 

It sounds like, if I have 6 months from the Carnival payments, my best time to use all of my points would be right after final payment in February 2017. I might have another $50 or so amassed by then.

 

Am I missing something?

[bandtaxi]

You can also use it for your onboard account (don't know if that will be a large amount for you or not), get double points for using it for a Carnival charge and then have 6 months after the cruise to redeem on that purchase.

[woodman]

To get the real skinny on the subject call the number on the back of your card. They are more then helpful and will tell you out right how to get the best rewards out of your card.

Happy cruising.

[suzycruiser2]

Wait until all of your Carnival charges hit after your cruise and then redeem them. If you do happen to have some extra points available afterwards, you can redeem them for travel other than Carnival.

 

I know you can redeem 5,000 points, but I think that may be the lowest amount.

Edited October 3, 2016 by suzycruiser2

[tea4ular]

Wait until all of your Carnival charges hit after your cruise and then redeem them. If you do happen to have some extra points available afterwards, you can redeem them for travel other than Carnival.

 

I didn't know anything about redeeming for other travel. I recently returned from a land trip to Maui, and nothing from that trip is showing as eligible.

 

As far as calling the customer service number, I already tried that...2 times. The first time I was instructed to read the material sent with the card (did that) and the 2nd time I was told, "I really don't know" (at least she was honest). :confused: