Back Again: $100 off $500 AMEX

[Underwatr]

If you buy Onboard Credit that is handled directly with HAL via the same mechanism as booking a shore excursion. I'm still waiting to see if buying OBC has worked for me this time around.

 

Your TA not accepting American Express suggests that they don't make payments directly with the line and instead take payment from you and then remit to travel providers - which in this case means you probably wouldn't get the credit anyway. The $500 payment has to reflect being made directly with the cruise line.

[exxige]

If you buy Onboard Credit that is handled directly with HAL via the same mechanism as booking a shore excursion. I'm still waiting to see if buying OBC has worked for me this time around.

 

Your TA not accepting American Express suggests that they don't make payments directly with the line and instead take payment from you and then remit to travel providers - which in this case means you probably wouldn't get the credit anyway. The $500 payment has to reflect being made directly with the cruise line.

 

See I was thinking the same except the down payment that went through when we booked coded as the cruise line... not sure maybe I will just have to forget about this.

[DSLibrarian]

If you buy Onboard Credit that is handled directly with HAL via the same mechanism as booking a shore excursion. I'm still waiting to see if buying OBC has worked for me this time around.

 

Your TA not accepting American Express suggests that they don't make payments directly with the line and instead take payment from you and then remit to travel providers - which in this case means you probably wouldn't get the credit anyway. The $500 payment has to reflect being made directly with the cruise line.

 

Not exactly true. Some TAs do not accept AMEX - for example, the well known Big Box based out of Seattle no longer accepts AMEX but they do make the payments directly with the line - obviously with other credit cards - and the charge shows up as made to the cruise line. This is one reason we book directly with the cruise line and wait until closer to final payment before moving the booking to the TA, so we can take advantage of offers like this.

[MisterBill99]

Not exactly true. Some TAs do not accept AMEX - for example, the well known Big Box based out of Seattle no longer accepts AMEX but they do make the payments directly with the line - obviously with other credit cards - and the charge shows up as made to the cruise line. This is one reason we book directly with the cruise line and wait until closer to final payment before moving the booking to the TA, so we can take advantage of offers like this.

Yes, that is a unique case of an agency not taking all credit cards. Amusingly, during the last AMEX deal, someone on one of these threads told me that they used their AMEX with a reservation booked with the warehouse club and insisted that the store still only took AMEX. I never got a response when I challenged them on that.

 

As for keeping the booking with HAL until final payment, there are ups and downs to that. When I booked my current HAL reservation, my TA had a free gratuities offer that HAL did not have. The booking actually replaced one with Explore4 that was not valid with a reduced fare that her agency had but which HAL did not show, so another bonus for booking it with the TA (I gave up Explore4 for $300 savings PP + grats). Typically those offers are only valid on new bookings so I would not have been able to transfer the reservation and get it. And she has no problem with my paying for the cruise in multiple chunks. I paid this one off at the end of December in 11 chunks, plus she took care of buying some OBC to get the $100 on the last card.

[*Miss G*]

Booking OBC online did not activate the offer for me. The charge on my Amex was notated as Holland America Web Purchase. It wasn't until I booked a new cruise down payment and purchased a Retreat Cabana that the credit was activated. Those purchases were notated as Holland America Res.

[MisterBill99]

Booking OBC online did not activate the offer for me. The charge on my Amex was notated as Holland America Web Purchase. It wasn't until I booked a new cruise down payment and purchased a Retreat Cabana that the credit was activated. Those purchases were notated as Holland America Res.

Interesting. When it worked for me on OBC I believe that I called to do it.

[*Miss G*]

Interesting. When it worked for me on OBC I believe that I called to do it.

 

Ahh. Good point. I booked the OBC online. Hence the "Web" notation. But you need to call Ship Services to book a Retreat and that one showed up as "Res". I think we've cracked it!

[Underwatr]

Booking OBC online did not activate the offer for me. The charge on my Amex was notated as Holland America Web Purchase. It wasn't until I booked a new cruise down payment and purchased a Retreat Cabana that the credit was activated. Those purchases were notated as Holland America Res.

My transaction still shows as Pending on the Amex website. If it doesn't qualify I should still be making a final payment for the August cruise before the current offer expires.

[unclerich]

American Express terms and conditions (bolding - mine) include:

Excludes onboard purchases, transfers and transportation to the ship, gift and services, full ship charters, McKinley Chalet Resort (Holland America), Worldwide Emergency Assistance Services, Cancellation Protection plan (Holland America), formalwear rentals and charitable donations. Excludes gift cards. Excludes the following if not booked at time of reservation: airfare booked through cruise line, excursions, Prepaid food/beverage programs, prepaid gratuities, prepaid wi-fi packages, spa packages, photo & video packages, onboard celebrations, luggage valet services, Travel Insurance, Vacation Protection, motorcoach program, charters, meetings and incentive bookings.

Pretty restrictive if not a new reservation.

[alwaysfrantic]

If you buy Onboard Credit that is handled directly with HAL via the same mechanism as booking a shore excursion. I'm still waiting to see if buying OBC has worked for me this time around.

 

Your TA not accepting American Express suggests that they don't make payments directly with the line and instead take payment from you and then remit to travel providers - which in this case means you probably wouldn't get the credit anyway. The $500 payment has to reflect being made directly with the cruise line.

 

No, Costco just severed their relationship with Amex. HAL definitely processes the transactions on payments when booked through them. They just refuse to facilitate using that method.

[Underwatr]

I see that now. As others have mentioned that agency doesn't actually process the card payment, instead submitting the payment details directly to the cruise lines. So it seems like an arbitrary action on their part.

 

Going on 60 hours that my Amex payment has been "pending."

[Jade13]

so our TA does not accept Amex.... any way around this? It appears I cant make a payment direct to holland?

 

 

 

That is a big red flag! Your agent should be charging your money directly to the cruise line.

 

Are they putting it in their bank account and paying the cruise line some other way? I would never ever use an outside agent that was not taking my credit card and paying the cruise line directly.

 

 

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[Jade13]

Not exactly true. Some TAs do not accept AMEX - for example, the well known Big Box based out of Seattle no longer accepts AMEX but they do make the payments directly with the line - obviously with other credit cards - and the charge shows up as made to the cruise line. This is one reason we book directly with the cruise line and wait until closer to final payment before moving the booking to the TA, so we can take advantage of offers like this.

 

 

 

I think I know who you are talking about based on other comments on this board. I would never use them for this reason but it does seem those who do are happy with the ( group?) rates.

 

I use AmX wherever I can, and about the only place I don’t is to pay my real estate taxes which I can do with another credit card.

 

 

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[MisterBill99]

I see that now. As others have mentioned that agency doesn't actually process the card payment, instead submitting the payment details directly to the cruise lines. So it seems like an arbitrary action on their part.

 

Going on 60 hours that my Amex payment has been "pending."

Did you buy the OBC on the website or over the phone? Did you get the email? You won't see the credit until the charge actually posts, as I'm sure you know.

 

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[MisterBill99]

No, Costco just severed their relationship with Amex. HAL definitely processes the transactions on payments when booked through them. They just refuse to facilitate using that method.

Yeah, it's strange that they refuse to take AMEX for cruises given that they don't even process the charge. I guess it's because for some other travel that they sell, they would be the ones processing it. They don't take Discover for travel either, but do accept it for website purchases.

 

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Edited February 16, 2018 by MisterBill99

[MisterBill99]

American Express terms and conditions (bolding - mine) include:

Excludes onboard purchases, transfers and transportation to the ship, gift and services, full ship charters, McKinley Chalet Resort (Holland America), Worldwide Emergency Assistance Services, Cancellation Protection plan (Holland America), formalwear rentals and charitable donations. Excludes gift cards. Excludes the following if not booked at time of reservation: airfare booked through cruise line, excursions, Prepaid food/beverage programs, prepaid gratuities, prepaid wi-fi packages, spa packages, photo & video packages, onboard celebrations, luggage valet services, Travel Insurance, Vacation Protection, motorcoach program, charters, meetings and incentive bookings.

Pretty restrictive if not a new reservation.

Not sure what you're trying to get at here. The exclusions are because they won't post under the correct merchant required to qualify for the offer. As many others have said, it does NOT have to be a new reservation (which isn't even covered in the fine print you posted).

 

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Edited February 16, 2018 by MisterBill99

[exxige]

That is a big red flag! Your agent should be charging your money directly to the cruise line.

 

Are they putting it in their bank account and paying the cruise line some other way? I would never ever use an outside agent that was not taking my credit card and paying the cruise line directly.

 

 

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Not really a big red flag as the big box company does not normally accept AMEX however the confusion for me was they processed the original down payment directly with Holland so I assumed it would be no problem... Its not a huge deal considering I got better perks and a cheaper price booking through them then anywhere else I researched.

[MisterBill99]

Not really a big red flag as the big box company does not normally accept AMEX however the confusion for me was they processed the original down payment directly with Holland so I assumed it would be no problem....

 

I think the red flag comment was misguided in this situation since they're a very well known company who you know isn't ripping you off. Where it would be a concern is when you're dealing with a firm you just found on the internet and have no experience with.

 

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[Love2cruise77]

You can now add this offer to your card via this link:

 

www.americanexpress.com/wlcl

[mfanderso]

You can now add this offer to your card via this link:

 

www.americanexpress.com/wlcl

 

 

Thanks! Just added it to my Hilton card

[*Miss G*]

I just came online to post this! I am a happy camper. :)

[AryMay]

Thanks!!!

 

Just added the offer to my Hilton AND my Delta AMEX card.

 

Hopefully it will work to make payments on a cruise that I booked some time ago.

[gochina]

You can now add this offer to your card via this link:

 

www.americanexpress.com/wlcl

Thank you! My new Hilton card works with this link. I will definitely keep this for future use.

[bennybear]

Sadly, not in Canada:(

[gochina]

Question for you pros since I am new at this. My card offers is only for Carnival brand? Also, I don't quite understand how the credit statement by date works? Does it mean I have to pay in full at least by the expiration date? Thanks!