Question for people with Princess visa card

[akeasley]

My family was booked on the 10/22/16 Royal Princess cruise to Mexico but before sailing, I found out I was pregnant and because of Zika, etc, chose not to sail. I had used 15,000 points from my Princess visa CC to earn $150 OBC toward that sailing. I have received all my $ back from the cruise except for these points.

 

Has anyone who had to cancel a cruise have trouble getting their points back? I've called Princess once and Barclay cards twice and sent them an email. My TA has also called and gotten no where since it's not her credit card.

 

I'm almost ready to give up but would like my 15,000 points back, considering I have a cruise booked late next year with DH and our two kids. According to one phone call, I should have received the points back on my account last week but they still haven't shown up.

[Astro Flyer]

My family was booked on the 10/22/16 Royal Princess cruise to Mexico but before sailing, I found out I was pregnant and because of Zika, etc, chose not to sail. I had used 15,000 points from my Princess visa CC to earn $150 OBC toward that sailing. I have received all my $ back from the cruise except for these points.

 

Has anyone who had to cancel a cruise have trouble getting their points back? I've called Princess once and Barclay cards twice and sent them an email. My TA has also called and gotten no where since it's not her credit card.

 

I'm almost ready to give up but would like my 15,000 points back, considering I have a cruise booked late next year with DH and our two kids. According to one phone call, I should have received the points back on my account last week but they still haven't shown up.

According to the Barclay Princess Rewards website you're entitled to having points returned to your account or transfer the OBC to your other cruise.

 

Sign in and follow these steps to see that statement:

 

Rewards & Benefits Center

 

Using My Points

 

Onboard Gifts (OBC is probably a type of gift)

 

What happens to my onboard credits if I change or cancel my cruise?

 

"Should you need to cancel or change your cruise plans, when you're talking with the Princess representative, please ask to have your onboard credits or gifts moved to your new booking. Or in the case of a cruise cancellation, please just remind the representative to return your points to your account".

 

Based on this statement, their Barclay Princess Visa card representative can either have your OBC transferred to your other cruise or have the points returned to your account.

 

If returned to your account, effective on 11/9/16 there are new reward rules which have been discussed in another thread. The new rule implementation isn't going smoothly yet but hopefully will be soon.

 

If you want a chargecard statement credit, you can earn up to 2% instead of the 1% you received for OBC. Barclay has done a poor job explaining the new rules (including to their agents) with some contradictory information. You could read the most recent posts on the thread in this link but here's apparently how it works once they update their rewards system & educate their agents.

 

If you have a single Princess purchase made within 180 days of redemption for a statement credit, depending upon the amount of your purchase you'd receive between 1%-2% for a statement credit. If qualifed for 2% (over $4,000 in a single Princess purchase within 180 days) then your 15,000 points could earn you a $300 statement credit instead of a $150 OBC.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2407334&page=7

 

You should have received their confusing & contradictory new reward rules in the mail in early October but the thread is making it clearer about how their new rewards rules will be implemented...soon. ;)

[akeasley]

Thanks for the info. I called this afternoon and princess directed my call to another rep who I spoke with for 45 minutes and said he couldn't make any promises that I would get my points back. If I don't hear back from Princess by Thursday, I'm suppose to call the rep back and see if he has any more information.

[go sea]

Good luck getting points back. I found out I has cancer and required surgery right away. I was able to cancel and get a full refund for the cruise with princess cruise insurance. This was within two weeks of the cruise. BUT the credit card points I used for onboard credit which was 2500 points were not refunded and after phone calls an a letter,the replies were that they were nonrefundable .

[cruiseintoheaven]

Just a thought - I have not redeemed our points for OBC because of the confusion on whether and how to get it back/refunded in case of cancellation - but I do use them for a statement credit. At least it's a sure deal.....just paid off our B2B in February and redeemed the points for a $150 statement credit - kind of works out the same either way in the sense that money is money, but I understand some like having it as OBC [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the info. I called this afternoon and princess directed my call to another rep who I spoke with for 45 minutes and said he couldn't make any promises that I would get my points back. If I don't hear back from Princess by Thursday, I'm suppose to call the rep back and see if he has any more information.

 

 

Lousy customer service from Barclays is the reason why we canceled our Princess card.

I wish you luck getting your points back.

[Astro Flyer]

Lousy customer service from Barclays is the reason why we canceled our Princess card.

I wish you luck getting your points back.

As soon as I get my recent Princess charge deemed as eligible, I'll get a statement credit before cancelling their card. I have a Barclay airline miles card & never have any issues with that account & only with their Princess card. :(

 

Their new rewards rules are confusing & even make contradictory statements but returning points is clearly stated on their website that the OBC is transferable to another existing Princess booking or for the points to be returned to our accounts.

 

"What happens to my onboard credits if I change or cancel my cruise?"

 

"Should you need to cancel or change your cruise plans, when you're talking with the Princess representative, please ask to have your onboard credits or gifts moved to your new booking. Or in the case of a cruise cancellation, please just remind the representative to return your points to your account".

 

akeasley...with such a clear cancellation policy statement currently on their website, why are their reps saying it's not possible? Such lousy customer service for their Princess Rewards card is why I'll soon cancel it & use another card who honors their own rules without hassling their customers.

[whitman]

I wanted to redeem 40,000 pts ($400) towards my Princess final payment, as i have done with Royal in the past.  I couldn’t find anything related towards a Princess redemption online, only Carnival or various other gift cards.  I called barclay and explained i wanted to apply the 40,000 pts to final payment.  They offered obc, but i was leery if  i would get a return if i had to cancel for an emergency.  Barclay’s rep suggested i get Carnival gifts cards as they were incorporated with Princess.  Being skeptical i called Princess to question if they would indeed accept Carnival.  Through many holds, Princess’s rep said i could use Carnival gift cards on Princess.  Being leery again, i asked the Princess rep to make the notation on my account that was authorized and i would be using $400 of Carnival gift cards when i made final payment.  I redeem my points, receive the gift cards in the mail and guess what, when i call to make final pymt., Princess wouldn’t accept them!   After dozens of calls to both barclay and princess, i am now stuck with $400 worth of Carnival gift cards that barclay will not accept their return or exchange.  Still fighting with both of them and neither will budge or try to resolve.

[rgmacm]

This may only 'partly' be related to what you're dealing with as our situation was different.  We DID have a MAJOR dispute over points with Barclay Princess Visa, but not related to reinstatement of the points.

However, perhaps what I learned can be of help to you... 🙂

That is...when you use phrases such as "This is discussed on CruiseCritic"...."there are people unhappy on CruiseCritic" (that was the situation for my problem) etc... etc... it GETS their attention (Barclay).  According to their own policy, you're entitled to those points back.  I was relentless until they did the right thing....that's just 'me'. 🙂  

Anyway....you might try those magic words and see if they work for you too.  

Best of Luck!!!   

Edited January 9, 2020 by rgmacm