Mbna Reward Points - No Hassle At All

[JLDMED]

Many people on these boards have expressed having difficulty using the phone to redeem points. My advice is -- DON'T! Use your mouse, instead!Seems as if none of the people on the phones there know what the heck they are talking about! Seems they are telling people that in order to get onboard credit, you must redeem BEFORE final payment is made. Not true!!

 

We redeemed our points from our MBNA CELEBRITY AM EX and VISA cards in January for our cruise Feb 13th, and our final payment had been made 2 months prior. Yes, we made our final payment with one of those cards, and yes, we got the points for doing so. That's why we waited till AFTER we made the final before redeeeming the points. We also used the card to pay for Celeb shore excursions online -- and got points for that, too. Celeb purchases earn double (sometimes triple) points.

 

We did it online, with virtually NO HASSLE at all!! We clicked our way through the website, and were promptly sent a coupon via snail mail (one for each card) to give to our travel agent. She went online through her agency, entered the coupon codes, and our $400 shipboard credit was applied. She called a week later to confirm that all is well, and Celeb has it all documented and ready for us to spend.

[CruisingChick]

I've never had any problems redeeming my points for onboard credit. We have both the VISA and the AMEX cards also. I usually call MBNA about 3-4 weeks prior to my cruise to redeem points and then call the Captain's Club number or my TA and give them the code. It's always been no hassle and we have received all our onboard credits without a problem.

 

I am not sure why so many others seem to have problems with it.

[estebofarr]

I was under the impression that I could not redeem points after the final payment was made. Are you saying now that after Mar 5 (our final payment date), I can redeem points accumulated after that date? I was going to switch credit cards and start saving miles again, but if they will accept them, I will continue with MBNA.

[JLDMED]

Yes, that is what I am saying. We made our final payment in November, 2005, and redeemed our points in January, 2006. We did it that way on purpose, so we could benefit from having the final payment on the Celeb card and earn double points for that huge charge. Our cruise is Feb 13, 2006.

 

We redeemed them about a week after the statement closing date in January, in order to get all the points we were due for that time. We wanted to make sure they all got posted.

 

Now -- we used the points for onboard credit -- NOT to pay for a portion of the cruise. Maybe that is where all the confusion is coming from. We intend to use the onboard credit for purchases, drinks, massage/spa treatments, etc.

 

We have stopped using those cards now as well -- now we're racking up Disney dollars!

[Fang]

We used our points on our last X cruise. Filled out the information on the credit card website four weeks before our cruise.

 

The first time I looked at our account on the TV, we had already been recieved our credit.

 

Worked great for me.

[AFT_LOVER]

but our $200 onboard credit for 20,000 points on 11/20 cruise on Summit was not there the first week, & then the second week we were told it was applied to our May 20th cruise, which we cancelled when we saw how horrible Summit CC AFT was.

 

So now Amy Scott in Loyalty department, who moved my money elsewhere without my OK, has to place our 20,000 points back on our account. That had better be there by 2/7 or she will be giving me 40,000 for the inconvenience.

 

 

 

I've never had any problems redeeming my points for onboard credit. We have both the VISA and the AMEX cards also. I usually call MBNA about 3-4 weeks prior to my cruise to redeem points and then call the Captain's Club number or my TA and give them the code. It's always been no hassle and we have received all our onboard credits without a problem.

 

I am not sure why so many others seem to have problems with it.

[Cindy G]

Has anyone been successful in combining the points? I was told by a MBNA customer rep. that VISA and AMEX points could be combined after the first of the year.

[CRUISE BUG BIT HARD]

If you go to the MBNA website there is a link to combine the points. It is very easy.

Suzanne

[Cindy G]

Thanks for the info, Suzanne. Did you actually try it?

[CruisingChick]

I went to the site to see about combining points but they want to charge you $15 to do it. So I said forget it. You can get as many certificates you want and apply them to the same cruise for purchase or on-board credits. I've had as many as 3 applied for one cruise. I don't think we will ever use them to actually pay for a cruise. We just want the points for on-board credits.

[DDMiller]

We recently started using the AM EX Card for our June Alaska cruise. When we signed up it said we would be given 5000 points with our first purchase. After two months of use I still haven't seen the extra 5000 points. Does anyone know if we need to do something special to get those points?

[claud925]

DDMiller: I was recently told by customer service at MBNA that it would take approx. 8 weeks for those 5,000 bonus points to post on the account. Sounds like you're just about there now.

 

If you don't see them in the next week, I would call and find out why you still don't have these bonus points posted.

 

As a brand-new card-user, I would be interested in knowing how you make out. Please post back and let us know how it turns out for you.

[DDMiller]

Claud925: Thank you for the information. I need to work on that patience thing. so far I have not had any problems with the card. I will let you know about the extra points and redeeming them for the onboard credit.

[estebofarr]

We got our 5,000 points with our first statement and redeemed it right away. So far we have $200 shipboard credit from our AMEX and $200 from our RCI stock. Cool! I couldn't access the info on the website but they have written me to tell me the $400 is there and waiting.

[susierailroad]

What do you know about Summitt CC aft that I don't? We just booked a CC, cabin 8152 for an Alaskan 7/1/06 sailing. Should I be concerned?

 

Appreciate your reply.