Amex spend 500 get 100 is back

[*Miss G*]

2 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Just used the link and it worked as well.  I bought $500 in OBC for my Dec cruise and got the following reply:

 

Looking forward to hearing whether the credit comes through or not!

[regnig]

Many thanks for the link to use.  I have a Hilton AM EX and that site accepted it and added the offer to my card.  I then went to HAL site and purchased $500 OBC.  I then received email telling me my purchase qualified for the $100 back.  Can't imagine just how AM Ex would have any idea as to when I booked my cruise (last spring) but guess only time will tell as my cruise isn't until March.  Heck, we'll spend the OBC anyway and if it ends up only costing us $400 all the better.  So- thanks again for the link! 🙂  

[WackyWayne]

I have used the Amex perk before, but the timing matched our final payment.  I have never purchased OBC before, so I appreciate any advice.

 

Do I just purchase 5 x $100 Shipboard Credits?  I assume it all shows up as a single $500 charge to Amex?

Does it matter if I purchase the OBC under my name or my wife's name?  We share all billing on board.

Is this type of OBC refunded if we cancel the cruise?

My wife and I each have Amex cards (but one actual account), so I assume we can double up on this.  I have already added the perk to each of our cards.

 

 

[Crew News]

Just made a payment on my Alaska cruise next year and AMEX said it met the qualification pending payment of the amount on the next billing.  The transaction was "Holland America Line Res".

[regnig]

Yes, 5 x $100 is correct. Yes if you cancel you will get it back.  I really do not think you can double up as I believe it is one per "account" not one per each issued card but - I'll have to dig out my paper work to be certain.  

[WackyWayne]

10 minutes ago, regnig said:

Yes, 5 x $100 is correct. Yes if you cancel you will get it back.  I really do not think you can double up as I believe it is one per "account" not one per each issued card but - I'll have to dig out my paper work to be certain.  

 

I know we were able to double up (wife & I) on the perk when we used it "properly" as a cruise payment in 2018.  I just don't know if the OBC perk would be any different.  But as long as the OBC is refundable (if cruise is cancelled or if not used fully) then I don't see that I am taking much risk to try.  Our two HAL cruises are already fully paid, so OBC seems to be our only option.  I know that we cannot both use this on both HAL cruises as Amex says "limit of 1 statement credit per card member".

 

I now see that Celebrity is offering a similar $150 for $500 perk that expires on 12/31/19.  Our Celebrity cruise is not fully paid, so I will likely just make a "proper" payment.  There is discussion about if the OBC "workaround" works for Celebrity in their forum.

[Blake18]

1 hour ago, regnig said:

Yes, 5 x $100 is correct. Yes if you cancel you will get it back.  I really do not think you can double up as I believe it is one per "account" not one per each issued card but - I'll have to dig out my paper work to be certain.  

Anyone Tried Buying Casino Credit and get the credit? Thanks otherwise for sure with the new offer it works for purchasing onboard credit on the Holland Website? Will they use up the non refunable credit fist? I have $400 OBC from my reservation and  Worst case can I charge things at the casino to my shipboard account and use the onboard credit for my account? Sorry for all the questions and help. In the past with these offers I have always had a cruise balance to pay but I don't have that right now.

[DaveOKC]

6 minutes ago, Blake18 said:

Anyone Tried Buying Casino Credit and get the credit? Thanks otherwise for sure with the new offer it works for purchasing onboard credit on the Holland Website? Will they use up the non refunable credit fist? I have $400 OBC from my reservation and  Worst case can I charge things at the casino to my shipboard account and use the onboard credit for my account? Sorry for all the questions and help. In the past with these offers I have always had a cruise balance to pay but I don't have that right now.

I do not see the logic of buying casino credit when you can just buy OBC and accomplish the same thing (plus use for alot more than casino purchases).  We are planning on using a good piece of the OBC in the casino on our next cruise, but some of it will go for drinks, specialty dining and misc. purchases.  We likely will have some OBC leftover and this should go back on the card we used to charge the cruise on (not Am Ex by the way).

Edited November 17, 2019 by DaveOKC

[Blake18]

1 minute ago, DaveOKC said:

I do not see the logic of buying casino credit when you can just buy OBC and accomplish the same thing (plus use for alot more than casino purchases).  We are planning on using a good piece of the OBC in the casino on our next cruise, but some of it will go for drinks, specialty dining and misc. purchases.

This will be my first Holland Cruise but you can charge at the casino to your room and use the shipboard credit to cover it? This is what I did on carnival but didn't know if it works on Holland also? 

[DaveOKC]

Just now, Blake18 said:

This will be my first Holland Cruise but you can charge at the casino to your room and use the shipboard credit to cover it? This is what I did on carnival but didn't know if it works on Holland also? 

It depends!  If the OBC is from Holland sources, you cannot do this.  If the OBC is something you bought or was given to you from your TA or a friend, then you can use in teh casino (just charge it to your room right from the machines or table games).

 

[Blake18]

3 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

It depends!  If the OBC is from Holland sources, you cannot do this.  If the OBC is something you bought or was given to you from your TA or a friend, then you can use in teh casino (just charge it to your room right from the machines or table games).

 

Thanks! What if I Have both? I will have $400 of OBC from Holland Sources. So I would have to use that for excursions real things etc would that $400 be used first? Then I could buy this $500 OBC and use it for casino option if I want? Thanks again for all your help

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, Blake18 said:

Thanks! What if I Have both? I will have $400 of OBC from Holland Sources. So I would have to use that for excursions real things etc would that $400 be used first? Then I could buy this $500 OBC and use it for casino option if I want? Thanks again for all your help

HAL provided OBC is used up first.

[MisterBill99]

6 hours ago, regnig said:

Yes, 5 x $100 is correct. Yes if you cancel you will get it back.  I really do not think you can double up as I believe it is one per "account" not one per each issued card but - I'll have to dig out my paper work to be certain.  

 

6 hours ago, WackyWayne said:

 

I know we were able to double up (wife & I) on the perk when we used it "properly" as a cruise payment in 2018.  I just don't know if the OBC perk would be any different.  But as long as the OBC is refundable (if cruise is cancelled or if not used fully) then I don't see that I am taking much risk to try.  Our two HAL cruises are already fully paid, so OBC seems to be our only option.  I know that we cannot both use this on both HAL cruises as Amex says "limit of 1 statement credit per card member".

 

 

You can load the offer to one card per person, even if they are both the same credit card account. Obviously each person needs to have their own login. There used to be ways to add it to more than one card per person but AMEX stopped that. I had a great time with those offers, paid for entire cruises in $500 chunks across many different AMEX cards. Those were the days!

[MisterBill99]

On 11/16/2019 at 7:03 PM, *Miss G* said:

 

Looking forward to hearing whether the credit comes through or not!

 

It's almost unheard of to get the email from AMEX saying that you redeemed the offer and not actually receive the credit.

[MisterBill99]

On 11/16/2019 at 1:39 PM, VermeulT said:

Here's the fine print for my offer (World Leading Cruise Lines Spend $500 Get $100). (emphasis is mine)

Must be booked on the respective cruise line’s US website only. ..... your transaction will not qualify if it is not made directly with the merchant.

 

I would have used my card to make an extra payment before final balance is due but I made my reservation with an agency and several months ago.  Darn.

 

In case you haven't figured this out from the other posts, this is not an issue. It will work fine no matter who you booked with so long as the charge comes thru the HAL system (which any reputable agent would do). Look at how the deposit hit your credit card and I'm sure it said Holland America RES. That's all it needs to be in order to qualify for the offer.

 

And the date you booked the cruise doesn't matter.

Edited November 18, 2019 by MisterBill99

[luv2trvlnow]

I think the following line Must be booked on the respective cruise line’s US website only, might be that some of the cruise lines have websites in other countries.  I know Carnival has a website for Australia to book Carnival cruises based there.  We can book those cruises but it wouldn't be from the US website and therefore would not qualify for the offer.  It would come through as a Carnival Australia reservation charge.

[MisterBill99]

On 11/16/2019 at 2:33 PM, *Miss G* said:

Edited to add:  Now that I think about it, I did try that during the last offer but it never showed up.  No matter.  I’ve got it now!

 

I don't think the link worked the last time around.

[MisterBill99]

Just now, luv2trvlnow said:

I think the following line Must be booked on the respective cruise line’s US website only, might be that some of the cruise lines have websites in other countries.  I know Carnival has a website for Australia to book Carnival cruises based there.  We can book those cruises but it wouldn't be from the US website and therefore would not qualify for the offer.  It would come through as a Carnival Australia reservation charge.

 

But it could also taken to mean that it cannot be booked thru a travel agent, and it can. In all of these deals, I don't think I've ever heard anyone wonder if they could book on a non-US site.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Offer worked, thanks for the link.  I generally use all OBC for shipboard expenses and tours, and filter the remainder through the casino, gambling each dollar once.  I got quite the look last time, max betting the dollar machine!

[luv2trvlnow]

12 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

But it could also taken to mean that it cannot be booked thru a travel agent, and it can. In all of these deals, I don't think I've ever heard anyone wonder if they could book on a non-US site.

I never thought about booking on a non-US site before.  But for Carnival cruises in Australia you not only can book but you must book through the Carnival Australia site.  The lawyers are covering all bases. I don't know if there are any other similar situations.

 

You can book through a travel agent and have it qualify.  Good travel agents have the charge go to the cruise line.  But there are examples of travel agents that put the charge through for their agency.  They hold the money and then make your final payment.  Never work with an agency that does this!  If they go under you are out your money!

[cknic]

On 11/17/2019 at 3:19 PM, Crew News said:

Just made a payment on my Alaska cruise next year and AMEX said it met the qualification pending payment of the amount on the next billing.  The transaction was "Holland America Line Res".

When did you book your cruise?  I would rather make a payment on one on HAL booked last April for next May than use it on OBC if I have a choice.

[Crew News]

57 minutes ago, cknic said:

When did you book your cruise?  I would rather make a payment on one on HAL booked last April for next May than use it on OBC if I have a choice.

 

I booked my May Alaska 2020 cruise in Feb 2019 and have been making payments on it over the past two months.  This AMEX perk is good for several more months.

[MisterBill99]

20 hours ago, Crew News said:

 

I booked my May Alaska 2020 cruise in Feb 2019 and have been making payments on it over the past two months.  This AMEX perk is good for several more months.

 

Right. The WLCL offer is valid thru 3/31/20.

[awhcruiser]

My offer is spend $500 get 10,000 reward points.  

Edited November 20, 2019 by awhcruiser

[dszrew]

I booked a shore excursion and bus transfers to the airport for a total of over $500. However, there are two separate charges on my card. I got a text/email stating I made a charge on the offer and would get the offer IF it met all the terms of the offer. Now I'll wait to see if the two charges are treated together for a total over $500 or if maybe I won't be getting the credit because neither charge was over $500. If it doesn't work, I'll just cancel the shore excursion and try something else (or buy another shore excursion so the total goes over $500).