New American Express $150 off $500 offer for Celebrity Cruises

[RichYak]

20 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

we offer a co-branded Platinum Amex essentially free if certain terms and conditions are met.

I miss the Ameriprise Amex Platinum which was free with no hoops to jump through.

 

I've considered your "engagement bonus" version but haven't gotten around to it yet. Soon though. It's a good deal.

[Gist Ducky]

4 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I've seen several people write, "co-branded cards will never see these offers".  I work for one of the big Wall Street firms and we offer a co-branded Platinum Amex essentially free if certain terms and conditions are met.  I can tell you that I routinely receive these offers.  I currently have an offer for $150 back from $500 spent on RCCL.

The problem I seem to have is that one can only have 100 Amex Offers at once.  So on my Amex Platinum, I have moved 83 offers over to the saved category (Mostly offers expiring soon), and they immediately populate my offerings with new ones, bringing me back to 100.  Because my queue is full, I miss out on some deals.

I have Amex Platinum, Amex Gold and 3 Amex Blue and so far, I don't see the Celebrity offer, but again, those queues are full at 100 other offers, so new offers cannot be added.

Thanks for the tip about moving offers over to the saved category. I did not know that was possible. It’s definitely worth a shot!

[mfs2k]

Thanks to this seeing this post, I was able to get the $150 credit using my BlueCash Amex card this week. On 10/19 I booked “Beyond” next year (10/26/22 ) and paid a $900 deposit. I immediately received the $150 credit on my Amex account. This is a much better reward than the points I would have gotten if I used my Visa card. Thank you to the OP. (Ps. No clue what “Miramar” means in the pic.)

[ExArkie]

1 hour ago, mfs2k said:

Thanks to this seeing this post, I was able to get the $150 credit using my BlueCash Amex card this week. On 10/19 I booked “Beyond” next year (10/26/22 ) and paid a $900 deposit. I immediately received the $150 credit on my Amex account. This is a much better reward than the points I would have gotten if I used my Visa card. Thank you to the OP. (Ps. No clue what “Miramar” means in the pic.)

It's the location of Celebrity business office. Miramar, FL, according to SEC filings. 

[Fly and Sail]

I got $150 back on my Platinum and 15,000 MR on my Everyday card. Signed up for both!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

21 hours ago, Gist Ducky said:

Thanks for the tip about moving offers over to the saved category. I did not know that was possible. It’s definitely worth a shot!

 

I went into my offers to attempt to do this.  Couldn't see any way to do it.

[Cruise Gopher]

9 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

I went into my offers to attempt to do this.  Couldn't see any way to do it.

You have to use a desktop computer browser. Log into the AMEX site, then click View All Offers. It should say something like “Available 100”. Just start adding a whole bunch of them to your card, heck add all 100. Then sign out and sign back in and it should be back up to “Available 100” and you’d see new offers that you didn’t see before. Keep repeating this process until the Available no longer maxes out at 100, that means that there is nothing left to load. 

[mkam2821]

On 10/21/2021 at 8:13 PM, Jacka__53 said:

 Does the $500 purchase need to be on one transaction

According to Amex, no. I even took a picture of the chat message for evidence

[evandbob]

I have used this AmEx discount in the past, but now our next 4 cruises on the Edge, Apex, Reflection and Silhouette are all casino fares and under the $500 threshhold.  Sigh.  😤🤗

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

4 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

You have to use a desktop computer browser. Log into the AMEX site, then click View All Offers. It should say something like “Available 100”. Just start adding a whole bunch of them to your card, heck add all 100. Then sign out and sign back in and it should be back up to “Available 100” and you’d see new offers that you didn’t see before. Keep repeating this process until the Available no longer maxes out at 100, that means that there is nothing left to load. 

 

Thanks.  I was on a desktop.  Added a bunch just to see what would happen.  Nothing.  What I didn't do was log out and log back in.  Will give it another go when I have some spare time.

[wrk2cruise]

4 hours ago, evandbob said:

I have used this AmEx discount in the past, but now our next 4 cruises on the Edge, Apex, Reflection and Silhouette are all casino fares and under the $500 threshhold.  Sigh.  😤🤗

 

If you sail before the March deadline just take your casino money (or any other charges) from you seapass account and make sure you use the right Amex card to cover your onboard account.   At the end of the cruise the charge will be from "Celebrity" and you will get the credit.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Thanks to help from someone on one of my roll calls, I applied for and got the blue card.  There are two blue cards with no fees.  It's the one with the small blue box in the middle.  Instant approval since I already have a platinum card.  And the offer was available with this free card.  I find it strange that the offer is available on a card which has no fee but not on the one I pay big bucks for.  Whatever.  I'll take the $150.  I love that Cruise Critic members are always ready to help one another out!

 

[mkam2821]

6 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

If you sail before the March deadline just take your casino money (or any other charges) from you seapass account and make sure you use the right Amex card to cover your onboard account.   At the end of the cruise the charge will be from "Celebrity" and you will get the credit.

On board purchases do not qualify but if the amount you spend on your reservations or pre-sail purchases prior to the March cut-off date are 500 or more they'll qualify 

[ratnrol]

On 10/21/2021 at 6:41 PM, RichYak said:

No but you can call Celebrity and purchase $500 in one shot.

Thanks for sharing your experience @RickYak!  Calling in to add $500 as an OBC was easy. I talked to two agents. 2nd was more knowledgeable. They did say cash was a ship decision. Your past experience with this is a great data point. Also, using a different credit card when checking in is a good back-up plan if it does need to get credited back to a credit card.

[Stockjock]

On 10/21/2021 at 7:51 PM, RichYak said:

IME purchased OBC is refundable. If you don't take it in cash, whatever is left will be credited to the card on file. Just make sure that card is not the same Amex card you used to buy the OBC. Amex might (probably will) claw back the $150 if they see a credit from Celebrity.

Hey concern that I would have is that when you have shipboard expenses they might start for spending your refundable prepaid $500 onboard credit, I think we have about $350 OBC left that is nonrefundable. Is there any chance that would happen?

[wrk2cruise]

No they take the non refundable first.  Always.

[Stockjock]

26 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

No they take the non refundable first.  Always.

I’m not sure though that that strategy would work, i.e. buy the $500 of onboard credit, don’t use it, and then have it refunded back to your shipboard account under a different credit card. I had just called Celebrity and I asked them and they said they refund the purchase onboard credit to the original form of payment. So I assume that that would potentially trigger a clawback by American Express.

[Cruise Gopher]

2 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I’m not sure though that that strategy would work, i.e. buy the $500 of onboard credit, don’t use it, and then have it refunded back to your shipboard account under a different credit card. I had just called Celebrity and I asked them and they said they refund the purchase onboard credit to the original form of payment. So I assume that that would potentially trigger a clawback by American Express.

Highly unlikely they refund to original credit card. Once the sailing begins your OBC is transferred into the ship’s  accounting system and remains there so that folio purchases can utilize it. At the end of the cruise the folios are closed out just like at a hotel and any remaining amounts would be credited to the card on file that you used for your on board account. 

[wrk2cruise]

Yea I'm sure the phone rep you spoke with at Celebrity knows exactly how this stuff works. 

 

[wrk2cruise]

On 10/23/2021 at 8:07 PM, mkam2821 said:

On board purchases do not qualify but if the amount you spend on your reservations or pre-sail purchases prior to the March cut-off date are 500 or more they'll qualify 

 

You were correct.  The charge from my Nov cruise was originally posted as Summit OB as a pending charge, then as Celebrity but was not credited the $150.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We used the offer once on a cruise that was subsequently cancelled, not long after the offer was used. Really surprised to see the $500 PP refunded in full to our CC with no deduction for the $150 pp credit from the offer. We used the offer to pay on our cruise balance.

[RichYak]

4 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I’m not sure though that that strategy would work, i.e. buy the $500 of onboard credit, don’t use it, and then have it refunded back to your shipboard account under a different credit card. I had just called Celebrity and I asked them and they said they refund the purchase onboard credit to the original form of payment. So I assume that that would potentially trigger a clawback by American Express.

They'll refund to whatever card is on file for on board expenses--not what you used to purchase the OBC. If you're not confident that this is true, then simply visit guest services on the last day and withdraw the remainder of your OBC in cash.

[Julma]

Keep checking your cards for updates.  I had a spend 500 get 15,000 points, I used that and then I received one for spend 500 get 150 back and I used that too.  

[sbcs5390]

Hi all, I just booked a B2B2B - a Silhouette and two Millenium cruises. Has this worked out for everyone who used it to buy themselves OBC? Did you get your credits almost immediately?
 

I swore I went in to look for this offer as I thought I remembered something. But alas it was not there so I made the bookings. I just must have missed it as I went in right after adding the last segment and saw it in My Offers and added. I asked Amex and they assured me since it was still a pending charge, and I added the offer while still pending, that I would get the credit. Not so sure about that. The charge has hit and no credit although I got an ambiguous email that I’ve taken advantage of offers this year but not referencing the Celebrity offer specifically. When I cashed in the Oceania one, it emailed me right away. Maybe it’s coming. 
 

My father’s Amex also has the offer and they’re not cruising so I’m considering doing an OBC and gifts order for me with his. I always buy myself flowers and I guess in this instance need two sets - don’t/can’t cart them from Silhouette to Millenium and they aren’t going to last 24 days. I can get OBC for the rest, I suppose. Do you know if on the phone they’re able to do things like the first night specialty dining so flowers/OBC/first night promo are all on one transaction and across multiple sailings? I’d feel better if it was over $500 in one swoop than trusting that it is additive. I see myself having more opportunity to use OBC on Silhouette but it might be nice to give myself some on Millennium too. 
 

I noticed when making cruise planner purchases that you can select OBC as a payment method. Will OBC that I gift myself show up here?
 

Also, does anyone know if the OBC moves automatically in a side to side cruise? In a back to back on same ship? I guess I can take the cash and put it down the next day as credit for my next sailing if I don’t need it for spending money as I’ll bring cash for tips and don’t plan on going out to many ports.