What to do with Royal Caribbean credit card points now?

[Cruisin Kay D]

In 2016, we got Royal Caribbean credit cards when booking a family cruise for 17 people.  We used some points for onboard credits on our Allure cruise in 2019.  Now in 2021 points are expiring and I would like to use them, but there are NO cruises to take and the only other options for using points is RC merchandise (not interested) and charitable donations (which RC chooses).   I can't buy onboard credits since I haven't booked a cruise and that's  because I see no hope of any cruise ships going anywhere anytime soon!!    So I am about to lose $150 worth of on-board credits.   I am caught between RC and Bank of America and angry at both!!   Anyone else get been caught in this trap?    Oh yes, let me add that now husband's health will preclude him going on any cruises!!   We have enough points for a couple of free cruises.

Edited February 11, 2021 by Cruisin Kay D

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, Cruisin Kay D said:

In 2016, we got Royal Caribbean credit cards when booking a family cruise for 17 people.  We used some points for onboard credits on our Allure cruise in 2019.  Now in 2021 points are expiring and I would like to use them, but there are NO cruises to take and the only other options for using points is RC merchandise (not interested) and charitable donations (which RC chooses).   I can't buy onboard credits since I haven't booked a cruise and that's  because I see no hope of any cruise ships going anywhere anytime soon!!    So I am about to lose $150 worth of on-board credits.   I am caught between RC and Bank of America and angry at both!!   Anyone else get been caught in this trap?    Oh yes, let me add that now husband's health will preclude him going on any cruises!! 

Do you know anyone who is sailing?  You can use the points to purchase OBC for someone else.  perhaps work out a deal with them.

[cruiseguy1016]

Are the points from purchases made in 2016 or from later? They don't all fall off in a lump sum. Some people think it's 5 years and they all expire. The points actually expire 60 months after they were earned. There is a place within your on-line account that you can see month by month when the points actually expire.

[shoptom]

From experience I can tell you that people will pay 50% face value to add credit into their booking.

[Ourusualbeach]

57 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

Are the points from purchases made in 2016 or from later? They don't all fall off in a lump sum. Some people think it's 5 years and they all expire. The points actually expire 60 months after they were earned. There is a place within your on-line account that you can see month by month when the points actually expire.

Good point but I kind of took it from their post where they said they got the cards 5 years ago to book a cruise for 17 people that the majority of the points would be about to expire

[Iamcruzin]

I had a similar issue with my Princess credit card. Barley/Princess offer store / restaurant gift cards if you want to use the points. I turned mine in for Amazon gift cards. It’s a shame the RC card is so limited. They really should extend the expiration date given the situation.

[Cigar King]

The Royal Caribbean card is, as travel rewards cards go, lame.

[Lady Hudson]

At this point I have pretty much stopped using my card..  Switched back to my AE card.   I will use up my points as OBC as soon as I get back on a ship.  I was planning on using them on a 21 day trip last fall that was cancelled.  Katherine

[maureencruiser]

Thanks for this post, made me go check on my expiration dates.  Mine start expiring October 2022, I'm cruising November 2021, so, I will use what I can then.  I've stopped using My RCL and Carnival cards, switched to AmEx for cash back on everything.  

[PhoenixCruiser]

Have you requested an extension? It's worth a try.

[Coralc]

Our points are in no danger of expiring, but I am becoming disenchanted with the card. If our next 2 future cruises do end up going as planned. I think I will use the points up, and then switch to the (also free) travel rewards card that BofA offers. I would like a card that is more flexible for future travel. 

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

Without warning, BoA closed both my RCL and NCL zero balance cards due to lack of use at around the 2 year mark and my points that had not nearly expired were lost forever. I had not sailed between 2016 and 2018 and wasn't using the cards for anything else but the branded cruise related charges. Very irritating. Won't bother with a card from BoA ever again.

 

More recently, the same thing happened with an unused Capital One card, but, I was given ample notice and cashed out remaining points prior to the closing date.

Edited February 27, 2021 by Steeler Nation At Sea

[JBSteelerfan]

3 hours ago, Steeler Nation At Sea said:

Without warning, BoA closed both my RCL and NCL zero balance cards due to lack of use at around the 2 year mark and my points that had not nearly expired were lost forever. I had not sailed between 2016 and 2018 and wasn't using the cards for anything else but the branded cruise related charges. Very irritating. Won't bother with a card from BoA ever again.

 

More recently, the same thing happened with an unused Capital One card, but, I was given ample notice and cashed out remaining points prior to the closing date.

 

We had the same situation with a different B of A card.  Not a big fan of using them, but sometimes when a card is branded, you have no choice.  

[lr657]

We haven't really used our Royal Caribbean card since the cruise shut-down. I just checked the expiration dates and our points expire between 2023-2025. We basically only use the points  points  for OBC.  Hoping we'll finally to be able to use some of them in 2022. 

[SilkySal]

We're still waiting on an $8K refund to our BoA RCCL Visa, that we only use for cruise purchases. I've always wanted a pair of diamond stud earrings!🤩

[HBE4]

9 hours ago, Coralc said:

Our points are in no danger of expiring, but I am becoming disenchanted with the card. If our next 2 future cruises do end up going as planned. I think I will use the points up, and then switch to the (also free) travel rewards card that BofA offers. I would like a card that is more flexible for future travel. 

 

Same here. I've already redirected a couple of auto-bill payments to a different card and now only use the Royal card sparely, trying to get it up to the next redeemable $amount. I want to leave as few points as possible on the table.  Ideally, none. 

 

While I did like the idea of having a stand alone stash of Royal money,  there are better, more flexible reward cards out there.