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Carnival Mastercard


CarnivalCreed
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As I said it was not a smart way to do it.

 

 

 

Will never happen again if for no reason not using the card much at all.

 

 

 

Was amazed that they would classify the obc as nonrefundable. Good thing I believe in trust but verify.:)

 

 

Me too. I wonder why that is? I always verify as well. Better to be safe than sorry!

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Yes, there are better cards, but the Carnival MC is not bad if you use it right. I use mine primarily for cruise-related purchases, and also use it when they run other promotions that gives you 2x. After that, you just have to be patient enough not cash out until you reach 100,000 points. Do that, and you get $1500 towards a cruise (yes, $1500 and not just $1000). That's what I will be using for my May cruise, which will make my cruise free courtesy of the card. Do the math, and that is the effective equivalent of getting 3x on cruise-related purchases and promotional purchases. Works for me!

Edited by RMcoolX
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Correct my math if needed, please... It seems this card is better than the Capital One card that gives you 1.5% cash back if you only use this card for carnival purchases...

 

Carnival MasterCard (Barclaycard): $5,000 x 2 points each gets you 10,000 points, worth $100 credit (my Barclaycard says 10,000 points for $100, not 12,500 points, I just checked).

 

Capital one: $5,000 x 1.5% cash back = $75 cash back.

 

Just comparing Carnival purchases to Carnival purchases, the Carnival MasterCard gets me $100 on $5,000 spent, but CapOne gets me just $75 on $5,000 spent.

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Correct my math if needed, please... It seems this card is better than the Capital One card that gives you 1.5% cash back if you only use this card for carnival purchases...

 

Carnival MasterCard (Barclaycard): $5,000 x 2 points each gets you 10,000 points, worth $100 credit (my Barclaycard says 10,000 points for $100, not 12,500 points, I just checked).

 

Capital one: $5,000 x 1.5% cash back = $75 cash back.

 

Just comparing Carnival purchases to Carnival purchases, the Carnival MasterCard gets me $100 on $5,000 spent, but CapOne gets me just $75 on $5,000 spent.

 

I have Cap One Venture Card which is 2% on everything all the time. The same 10,000 points = $100 off of ANY travel purchase. You aren't just limited to Carnival. 40,000 bonus miles for signing up = $400 in free travel. Carnival Card earns 2% only on Carnival purchases, 1% on everything else. There is a $59 annual fee with Cap One, but it's waived the first year.

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Yes, there are better cards, but the Carnival MC is not bad if you use it right. I use mine primarily for cruise-related purchases, and also use it when they run other promotions that gives you 2x. After that, you just have to be patient enough not cash out until you reach 100,000 points. Do that, and you get $1500 towards a cruise (yes, $1500 and not just $1000). That's what I will be using for my May cruise, which will make my cruise free courtesy of the card. Do the math, and that is the effective equivalent of getting 3x on cruise-related purchases and promotional purchases. Works for me!

 

This is exactly what we use our Carnival MC for and it is a great option and value. The $1,500 statement credit covers your cruise expense and it is like getting a free cruise or close to it, I will take the 3% any day. :D

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This is exactly what we use our Carnival MC for and it is a great option and value. The $1,500 statement credit covers your cruise expense and it is like getting a free cruise or close to it, I will take the 3% any day. :D

 

I don't have a lot of "cruise related expenses" so I would never get anywhere near 100,000 points. I use Rewards Boost for my airline miles, so it's very rare that I need to pay for airfare. Cap One Venture works much better for me and I like the fact that I can use my points for ANY travel related expense. That way when I go back to Celebrity, I can use it there if I want.

 

Oh, and I might add that I pay for my cruises and expenses with Carnival Gift Cards purchased for at least 10% off through Citi or AARP. In which case, they don't show up as a Carnival purchase so wouldn't be eligible for the 2% with the Carnival CC. So I use either my Citi Card that earns airline miles, or my Cap One card which I earn 2 points per $. I have saved a TON that way. Just something to think about :).

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Yes, there are better cards, but the Carnival MC is not bad if you use it right. I use mine primarily for cruise-related purchases, and also use it when they run other promotions that gives you 2x. After that, you just have to be patient enough not cash out until you reach 100,000 points. Do that, and you get $1500 towards a cruise (yes, $1500 and not just $1000). That's what I will be using for my May cruise, which will make my cruise free courtesy of the card. Do the math, and that is the effective equivalent of getting 3x on cruise-related purchases and promotional purchases. Works for me!

 

I just recently got a Carnival CC. I'm confused with the wording of having 180 days to redeem for statement credit?? Is this redeeming fun points? What do i have 180 days to spend on. Any info someone can share is greatly appreciated. I hope to understand how this CC works clearly.

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I don't have a lot of "cruise related expenses" so I would never get anywhere near 100,000 points. I use Rewards Boost for my airline miles, so it's very rare that I need to pay for airfare. Cap One Venture works much better for me and I like the fact that I can use my points for ANY travel related expense. That way when I go back to Celebrity, I can use it there if I want.

 

Oh, and I might add that I pay for my cruises and expenses with Carnival Gift Cards purchased for at least 10% off through Citi or AARP. In which case, they don't show up as a Carnival purchase so wouldn't be eligible for the 2% with the Carnival CC. So I use either my Citi Card that earns airline miles, or my Cap One card which I earn 2 points per $. I have saved a TON that way. Just something to think about :).

 

A Carnival Gift card is not considered a qualifying Carnival purchase that would be at the 2%? I was thinking of purchasing the Carnival Gift cards using my Carnival MasterCard, but I guess I'll have to rethink it.

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I don't know if this topic has come up, but on my "fun points" balance, it shows a negative balance of over 400. I have not made $400 in returns. I've called customer service twice and they opened a claim over a week ago, it still shows the negative balance. Has anyone else had this issue?

 

Thanks y'all!

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Citi has a 2% cash back card with no annual fee ("Double Cash"), FYI for those of you using the CapOne 2% card with $59 annual fee or CapOne 1-1/2% card with no fee. On their website, it's called the double cash card.

 

Anybody know of a card with no ongoing annual fee with better than 2% cash back? Or anyone know of any cards offering "too-good-to-refuse" sign-up promotions right now?

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Citi has a 2% cash back card with no annual fee ("Double Cash"), FYI for those of you using the CapOne 2% card with $59 annual fee or CapOne 1-1/2% card with no fee. On their website, it's called the double cash card.

 

 

 

Anybody know of a card with no ongoing annual fee with better than 2% cash back? Or anyone know of any cards offering "too-good-to-refuse" sign-up promotions right now?

 

 

I have enough Citi cards [emoji39]. I think what drew me to the Cap One Venture card was the 40,000 or maybe even 50,000 points back then at sign up. That was a free $400 or $500. Annual fee waived first year. Still puts me way ahead.

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I think what drew me to the Cap One Venture card was the 40,000 or maybe even 50,000 points back then at sign up. That was a free $400 or $500. Annual fee waived first year. Still puts me way ahead.

 

Agreed, the promotions can make a big difference, then after a year you can re-evaluate whether there's a new promotion on a different card, or some other reason that would lead someone to decide to drop the card when the annual fee is about to take effect.

 

Anybody know any great current promotions? I'm happy with my Citi Double Cash (2% cash back on everything, no annual fee), but a promotion like $400 up front will likely make me pull the trigger.

 

Thanks.

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Agreed, the promotions can make a big difference, then after a year you can re-evaluate whether there's a new promotion on a different card, or some other reason that would lead someone to decide to drop the card when the annual fee is about to take effect.

 

 

 

Anybody know any great current promotions? I'm happy with my Citi Double Cash (2% cash back on everything, no annual fee), but a promotion like $400 up front will likely make me pull the trigger.

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

Yep! Cap One Venture has the 40,000 points currently.

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Yep! Cap One Venture has the 40,000 points currently.

 

When I read "Earn unlimited 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, every day" I cringe because from experience, a mile is not worth a dollar, and the more I read the more complicated it gets.

 

Can you summarize?

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When I read "Earn unlimited 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, every day" I cringe because from experience, a mile is not worth a dollar, and the more I read the more complicated it gets.

 

 

 

Can you summarize?

 

 

Sure. It's 2 miles (points) per dollar charged. So if you make a purchase for $100 you get 200 miles (points).

 

Let's say I want to use my miles (points) to pay for my $500 airplane ticket, or for my $500 deposit for a cruise. I would simply charge it to my card, then when it posts, erase the whole purchase for 50,000 miles (points).

 

So right off the bat, you're getting a free $400 to use on ANY travel expense you want. Plane, train, taxi, Uber, cruise. Whatever shows as travel.

 

Does this help?

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Sure. It's 2 miles (points) per dollar charged. So if you make a purchase for $100 you get 200 miles (points).

 

Let's say I want to use my miles (points) to pay for my $500 airplane ticket, or for my $500 deposit for a cruise. I would simply charge it to my card, then when it posts, erase the whole purchase for 50,000 miles (points).

 

So right off the bat, you're getting a free $400 to use on ANY travel expense you want. Plane, train, taxi, Uber, cruise. Whatever shows as travel.

 

Does this help?

 

I think it does!

 

It's just very different from the cards where you can simply get the cash back, but it is equivalent to 2% card PLUS THE PROMO. So as long as you don't mind the extra step, it's $400 in your pocket? Sounds great if I have figured it out.

 

More complicated than the pure cash back cards but worth it if so.

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I think it does!

 

It's just very different from the cards where you can simply get the cash back, but it is equivalent to 2% card PLUS THE PROMO. So as long as you don't mind the extra step, it's $400 in your pocket? Sounds great if I have figured it out.

 

More complicated than the pure cash back cards but worth it if so.

 

Yes that is correct. It really is very simple and easy.

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Best travel rewards card that I have is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. It cost $450 a year but you get $300 back in travel credits, so it is really $150. It pays 3X on all travel and all restaurants. Got 100,000 points after 3 months which now they have cut back to 50,000 point bonus. Also get free TSA pre check.

 

A great card to get for hotels is the IHG Rewards Club Select Card. You get 60,000 point bonus after you spend $1000 the first 3 months. 5X on all hotel stays and 2X on gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants. Costs $49 a year and you a free night each year after your first anniversary. Great card to get free pre or post cruise hotel room.

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Yes, there are better cards, but the Carnival MC is not bad if you use it right. I use mine primarily for cruise-related purchases, and also use it when they run other promotions that gives you 2x. After that, you just have to be patient enough not cash out until you reach 100,000 points. Do that, and you get $1500 towards a cruise (yes, $1500 and not just $1000). That's what I will be using for my May cruise, which will make my cruise free courtesy of the card. Do the math, and that is the effective equivalent of getting 3x on cruise-related purchases and promotional purchases. Works for me!

 

Agree. We're pretty much of the same mind-set. We use it only for cruises (and once for a great 0-interest balance transfer promo). But you don't have to wait until you build up 100K points to cash in for a statement credit. We just booked a rather pricey Journeys cruise for 3 people. The $1200 deposit brought my points up to 73K. As long as you apply the points against qualifying CCL purchases of $1500 or more, you will get a redemption rate of 1.5%. I applied 70K points against a purchase from our previous cruise this summer, and received a statement credit of $1050.00. We paid the remaining $150 on the statement and cleared it off. And when final payment is due in July, we will hit the card for that and will receive another 7200 points that we will combine with our remaining 3300 points, and again turn into another 1.5% credit to the statement.

 

We pay card off each month so that there is no balance subject to interest charges. And when we're not cruising, the card stays idle.

 

Like many on this thread have said, there are other cards out there with reward programs that are better. And, yes, we have a couple of cards that we use for other financial purposes because their rewards programs meet the needs of those purposes better than the Carnival MC. It's all just a matter of personal choice and knowing what works best for your financial planning.

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I use my Costco Anywhere Visa from Citi Card for all my travel purchases.

 

It pays 3% for all travel and restaurant purchases and 4% on gas purchases.

 

There is no annual fee, but it's tied to our Costco membership so you would have that fee. It helps when your DW works at Costco because I get an executive membership for free.

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I just recently got a Carnival CC. I'm confused with the wording of having 180 days to redeem for statement credit?? Is this redeeming fun points? What do i have 180 days to spend on. Any info someone can share is greatly appreciated. I hope to understand how this CC works clearly.

 

Agree that it's confusing. Hope this helps:

 

First, know that the 180 days does not refer to the expiration of your accumulated points. They do not expire.

The 180 days refers to the "eligible purchases" against which you can apply your points as a statement credit.

 

Example:

 

Let's say you took a cruise 3 months ago. In the weeks leading up to the cruise, you used your Carnival MC to purchase the cruise, excursions, Cheers program, etc. And when the cruise was over, you had a balance on your S&S account that also hit your Carnival MC. All of those charges are "eligible purchases". They will remain on your rewards program history as eligible purchases for 180 days from the transaction date. (Note: your monthly statement and the rewards program history are two different things. Even though you may completely pay your statement off at the end of the month, these eligible charges will still be listed on your rewards program history for 180 days).

 

When you select the option to use your points to apply as a statement credit, all of the active eligible purchases will be listed. You select the one to which you wish to apply your accumulated points. Now this is where it gets interesting. If you have eligible purchases of $1500 or more (individually, not collectively), then the redemption value of your points increases from 1% to 1.5%. This means that a 10,000 point redemtion would get you a statement credit of $150. On the flip-side, if you redeem your points against an eligible purchase of less than $1500, then that same 10,000 points will only get you a statement credit of $100.

 

Yes, it was a bit confusing at first. We have had this card for several years now. Once we had some history with it, and took the time to sit down and draw up some scenarios that mimicked our typical crusing pattern, then we were able to make the card work well for us.

 

I hope this helps.

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Don't ever carry a balance on a Carnival MC because the interest rates are crazy. Not many options for using the points other than taking a Carnival cruise. I did cash in my points last year for either Amazon or Chili's gift cards. I prefer my US Bank card where I can use my points for hotels, airline tickets and lots of other stuff.

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