Paying Final Payment for a World Cruise on a Credit Card?

[Smokeyham]

I'm wondering if there is a way to make the final payment for a world cruise on a credit card.   Given the large sum involved I expect it is higher than the limit that many of us would have on a given card.  Is there a way to break up this large sum so that smaller transactions can be made so the card can be used for points, etc?

 

Thanks.

[Heidi13]

I use 2 seperate cards, as my British Airways one gives us miles + a free companion flight and the other one just points.

 

If the amount is over the limit of the cards combined, I prepay the difference to one of the cards, so the cards don't exceed their limit. With the cost of the cruise and flights to/from the cruise we get lots of reward flights.

[Smokeyham]

3 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

I use 2 seperate cards, as my British Airways one gives us miles + a free companion flight and the other one just points.

 

If the amount is over the limit of the cards combined, I prepay the difference to one of the cards, so the cards don't exceed their limit. With the cost of the cruise and flights to/from the cruise we get lots of reward flights.

Ahhhhh......  Prepaying the credit card is a great idea!  Thanks......

[2552phxcrzr]

17 hours ago, Smokeyham said:

I'm wondering if there is a way to make the final payment for a world cruise on a credit card.   Given the large sum involved I expect it is higher than the limit that many of us would have on a given card.  Is there a way to break up this large sum so that smaller transactions can be made so the card can be used for points, etc?

 

Thanks.

I simply pay the final amount in installments over a period of couple of weeks by paying off the CC balance in full before making the next installment payment.  Another alternative would be to use multiple credit cards, but I prefer to collect my miles/points on a single card.

[Smokeyham]

1 hour ago, 2552phxcrzr said:

I simply pay the final amount in installments over a period of couple of weeks by paying off the CC balance in full before making the next installment payment.  Another alternative would be to use multiple credit cards, but I prefer to collect my miles/points on a single card.

Excellent idea.  Thanks.   Is this something you have been able to do online through your cruise line's website, or do you need to call them (or your travel agent)?

[JM0115]

37 minutes ago, Smokeyham said:

Excellent idea.  Thanks.   Is this something you have been able to do online through your cruise line's website, or do you need to call them (or your travel agent)?

I pay the credit card online as soon as the charge hits. Then do another charge as soon as it is credited. 

[2552phxcrzr]

1 hour ago, Smokeyham said:

Excellent idea.  Thanks.   Is this something you have been able to do online through your cruise line's website, or do you need to call them (or your travel agent)?

 

At the time we did RTW2017 ... I worked through my travel agent.  Just called her and gave her the amount as I was ready to make the payments.  As @JM0115 wrote, once the charge from O hit the credit card, I paid it off in full online (off-schedule from my usual pay in full on due date autopay) and when the CC showed paid in full online, I repeated the cycle.

 

(If you book directly with the cruise line, then you would probably be able to do it through your cruise line dashboard.  But not if you book through a travel agent.)

Edited March 8, 2021 by 2552phxcrzr

[Smokeyham]

Thanks for the responses.   We would probably want to use just one credit card, so this is all very helpful information.

 

[Mich3554]

We were initially planning on just making multiple max payments up to our credit limit on our Costco card.  The card gives us 3% back, so for the WC it would have been about $4200 on the card.  Viking through their direct pay will give you a 3.3% break....about $400.  
 

We were able to dump one of our canceled cruise vouchers onto the cruise, so the balance isn’t quite so gobsmacking now.

[rkacruiser]

On 3/7/2021 at 5:37 PM, Smokeyham said:

I'm wondering if there is a way to make the final payment for a world cruise on a credit card. 

 

An excellent question!  Really, I don't recall it being an issue for me.  I know I paid early in order to get a 3% discount on the cruise fare.  I am certain that the card that I used had a high credit limit.  I probably made certain that previous charges on that card had all been paid and that the credit limit was at its maximum.   As others have suggested, I may have made a couple of payments after the deposit was made, but I know that the fare was paid in full in order to take advantage of the discount.  

[Ladys Mom]

When we were booked on the Regent 2021 my husband started making payments months ahead of time dividing the amount owed by six.  When the cruise was cancelled Regent refunded us everything but the deposit, which we kept to book the 2022.  We have since applied FCCs from other cancelled cruises to the amount owed on the 2022 which has lessened the final amount we owe.  Next month my husband will start paying the installments of the 2022.  If no Regent ship sails before our final payment is due, we may chuck the whole thing and move it over to the 2024 when it is open for booking.

[beach bunnie]

The credit card I wanted to use (2% cash back) doesn't allow prepayment.  I didn't know that until I started paying for our world cruise.  So check if you plan to do this.  I called our TA each Monday for 8 weeks having her charge a set amount.  It had to post to my card before I could make a payment - usually by Thursday.  Then I'd  make a payment and start again the next Monday.

[Brownie54]

Ladys Mom, 

Just be careful with all of your current FCC’s. Under the current policy, they must all be used (as in you must sail) by December 31, 2022.

[Ladys Mom]

7 hours ago, Brownie54 said:

Ladys Mom, 

Just be careful with all of your current FCC’s. Under the current policy, they must all be used (as in you must sail) by December 31, 2022.

My understanding is that is Regent cancels you will get everything back in cash.  No more FCC.

[Hflors]

I read that you should have a card with a high limit.  My limit is around 10,000, would that be high enough?  Or will I need to bring a second card as a back up?

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, Hflors said:

I read that you should have a card with a high limit.  My limit is around 10,000, would that be high enough?  Or will I need to bring a second card as a back up?

 

Depends on which WC you are booking, but for booking a WC, I suggest a minimum of $30 to $50K

 

Mass market mega ship cruise lines have a lower base price, but I doubt $10K is sufficient, even for 1 person. Our 2015 Princess WC in a midship's balcony was about $35K pp.

 

If booking a premium/luxury line, expect prices of $50K + pp. Note - by the end of the cruise, the per diem price will be almost identical, as on premium/luxury lines you have no, or minimal bill upon departure.

 

Another consideration, since WC's are selling our quickly, I doubt you will see any price discounts. If anything, price increases are probable. Our 2023 WC, which we booked in December is sold out, with our cabin having increased $6k pp.

[vp1]

It's not so much a question of paying for expenses during the cruise - though that is also something to keep in mind.  The questions is more directed at the final payment for the cruise itself.  As an example, my world cruise leaving January, 2021 will have a final payment due in August in the mid-$30K range.  (And that's for a lower-end [OV] cabin for 2. people - it could easily be twice that or more on a high end world cruise.). Very unlikely that my CC would simply approve that charge without checking with me (I certainly hope they wouldn't!) and it's also very likely that a particular card doesn't have a credit limit that high (hence the original thread).  Several ideas here have been helpful...

[Heidi13]

10 minutes ago, vp1 said:

It's not so much a question of paying for expenses during the cruise - though that is also something to keep in mind.  The questions is more directed at the final payment for the cruise itself.  As an example, my world cruise leaving January, 2021 will have a final payment due in August in the mid-$30K range.  (And that's for a lower-end [OV] cabin for 2. people - it could easily be twice that or more on a high end world cruise.). Very unlikely that my CC would simply approve that charge without checking with me (I certainly hope they wouldn't!) and it's also very likely that a particular card doesn't have a credit limit that high (hence the original thread).  Several ideas here have been helpful...

 

I wasn't quoting on board spend, as I did indicate base prices. Our WC's were:

• 2015 Princess - $35K pp
• 2020 Viking - $65K pp
• 2023 Viking - $65K pp

Our first WC on a mass market line, only having a $10K credit limit, would have required making multiple charges/payments, or a significant pre-payment. Could be done, but takes lots of time. With our 2023 WC, even with a FCV, our balance is >$95K, so only having $10K limit is impractical, hence the reason I suggested at least $30 - 50K, as a miminum credit limit.

 

When I make the final payments, provided it is within our credit limit, I don't expect the bank to contact us and this has been our experience, with all major purchases. Mind you, our credit cards have used PIN technology for well over 20 years, so that could be the difference. 

[Smokeyham]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback and ideas.

I like the idea of making the final payment in installments so as to be able to use one credit card for this purpose.

 

With regards to on board spending I could see going to the purser's office at the start of each month to pay off any outstanding balance to help keep an eye on things and to avoid possibly having a large charge at the end of the world cruise.    I do know realize that you can check your charges at any point and that on a higher end line you will likely have fewer on board charges. 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Smokeyham said:

Thanks everyone for the great feedback and ideas.

I like the idea of making the final payment in installments so as to be able to use one credit card for this purpose.

 

With regards to on board spending I could see going to the purser's office at the start of each month to pay off any outstanding balance to help keep an eye on things and to avoid possibly having a large charge at the end of the world cruise.    I do know realize that you can check your charges at any point and that on a higher end line you will likely have fewer on board charges. 

 

With Princess, they charged the onboard account to the credit card at the end of every segment, so over 104 days we had 4 charges.

 

Viking advise they clear the onboard account about every 3 or 4 weeks, but since we were never able to use all our OBC we didn't receive any charges.

 

Others can confirm, but I suspect most, if not all, cruise lines with World Cruises/Grand Voyages will zero the onboard account and charge to a credit card multiple times during the cruise.

[rkacruiser]

1 minute ago, Heidi13 said:

Others can confirm, but I suspect most, if not all, cruise lines with World Cruises/Grand Voyages will zero the onboard account and charge to a credit card multiple times during the cruise.

 

If I remember correctly, on the Amsterdam, one of my early questions to the Front Office concerned this issue.  I had a choice--as I recall.  Allow the charges to accrue and have only one payment due at the end of the cruise.  Or, periodically pay the charges at whatever interval I preferred.  

 

I strongly recommend having more than one credit card with a high dollar amount limit.  Before I needed to make any payments for a world cruise, I had used my various cards sufficiently over many years and always paid the balance on time.  The credit card issuers kept raising my credit limit without my requesting that they do so.  I do recall that when it was time to make final payment, I did not use that card for a couple of months in order to be sure that all charges had cleared.  I also contacted the company and let them know that a very significant charge was going to be placed on the card and asked them to approve it.  

[Smokeyham]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

Others can confirm, but I suspect most, if not all, cruise lines with World Cruises/Grand Voyages will zero the onboard account and charge to a credit card multiple times during the cruise.

Thanks..... That is exactly what I would like to have happen.

[Guinness1000]

Whenever I need to use my cc for a larger purchase, I usually call the bank and tell them I will be charging x amount in the next few days. That way I don't have to ask for a higher credit limit, but don't have to worry it will be declined either. Maybe it helps that I've had that same card since -96, I don't know.

[Ladys Mom]

My husband just spoke with our TA.  For our Regent WC final payment due early July, she is taking out three payments over the month of June.  Nice part of Regent is that once we have paid the very large final payment we don't have to worry about many charges on board.  Now if I only believed that we are actually going to sail in January I would be really excited.

[travelwell]

When we booked our WC we called American Express and we were  allowed to put the sizable down payment on it. We have the platinum card that requires pay off monthly. At the time we told them we would have a very large final payment to Regent in July two years later. They noted it and said would be fine. We will then have the money transferred from our brokerage acct directly to AmEx. The American Express does have a significant yearly fee that for us has been off set by large travel charges with points earned.