AMEX offer

[hubofhockey]

2 hours ago, RichYak said:

Your $15000 cruise example would net the max of 50,000 bonus MR points using this offer. That's on top of however many points your Amex card typically earns, lets say 15,000 points. That's 65,000 points which is between $650 (1 cent per point) and $845 (1.3 cents per point).

 

If you're like me and have the offer on your primary and AU cards, you can split the payment between them and earn 75,000 bonus MR points instead of the max of 50k and again add the 15k base points. That would bring the total value of the points (80k points) earned up to between $800 and $1040.

 

Either way, your original math is off by multiple factors and this far exceeds what you would earn using your Citi card.

You're correct. A $10K cruise (I usually spend 10 or less) would get 50K points.  At 1.3X value, it is $650.  Even at a penny, it's $500.  With Costco Citi, I would get 5% with Executive Membership (3% for credit card and 2% of executive membership) or $750.  I would still use my Costco Citi and book with them though.  They also give store credit in a similar amount.  AMEX Platinum does provide gratuities on Oceania if you book with them, so not bad.