OBC - Credit Card

[shellunderwater]

About 70 days out from our first Celebrity cruise but are Diamond on RCL.  Haven't done the credit card OBC before, so have a couple of questions.

 

We have a $300+ OBC from the Celebrity credit card to have applied. 

 

What timing is best for requesting it? 

Do I contact the cc company or does Celebrity do that? 

 

One issue, there is a slight chance we may need to cancel before the cruise.  If I need to cancel, do those points go back to the card?  Is there something I need to do to recapture the points?

 

Sorry to be a bother, but new to the cc points game.  Thanks in advance.

[cruisestitch]

My advice is to use the points differently. Instead of applying them for OBC, apply them to a reduction in the cost of the cruise.

 

My thought is based on assuming that you intend to cruise Celebrity Again. In that case, you want to maximize the charges that go onto your credit card.  
 

So if you plan to spend $300 on board, instead of using the points for OBC, charge that $300 to your card.

 

Use the points for the cruise fare reduction option. This will take $300 off your next credit card statement.

 

With both options, you go through the credit card company, not Celebrity.

[shellunderwater]

On 4/21/2023 at 10:42 AM, cruisestitch said:

My advice is to use the points differently. Instead of applying them for OBC, apply them to a reduction in the cost of the cruise.

 

My thought is based on assuming that you intend to cruise Celebrity Again. In that case, you want to maximize the charges that go onto your credit card.  
 

So if you plan to spend $300 on board, instead of using the points for OBC, charge that $300 to your card.

 

Use the points for the cruise fare reduction option. This will take $300 off your next credit card statement.

 

With both options, you go through the credit card company, not Celebrity.

Not sure when we'll be back on Celebrity so we'll just cash them in now. 

 

Have first grandson, so cruise priorities are changing.

[Sigyn]

On 4/25/2023 at 11:29 PM, shellunderwater said:

Not sure when we'll be back on Celebrity so we'll just cash them in now. 

 

Have first grandson, so cruise priorities are changing.

Congratulations on your first grandson!!!!

To apply the OBC, you can do it online on the cc website. You enter your reservation number for the cruise and choose how many points you want to convert to OBC for that cruise. 

[rcrabb1513]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:56 AM, shellunderwater said:

About 70 days out from our first Celebrity cruise but are Diamond on RCL.  Haven't done the credit card OBC before, so have a couple of questions.

 

We have a $300+ OBC from the Celebrity credit card to have applied. 

 

What timing is best for requesting it? 

Do I contact the cc company or does Celebrity do that? 

 

One issue, there is a slight chance we may need to cancel before the cruise.  If I need to cancel, do those points go back to the card?  Is there something I need to do to recapture the points?

 

Sorry to be a bother, but new to the cc points game.  Thanks in advance.

We applied Royal CC rewards on our last Royal cruise.  Since Royal and Celebrity are owned by Royal Caribbean International I would hope the OBC accounting is the same.  I know we can redeem Royal Visa rewards for either Royal or Celebrity cruises and Royal applied our CC rewards OBC as refundable.  Since it was a shared redemption $225 was applied to me and $225 was applied to my wife.  The final tally included the $225 credit from both of us  ($450)

Here is the OBC line item from our final statement

10/2 CREDITS REFUNDABLE OBC - ROYAL CC REWARD                 -225.00 (me)

10/2 CREDITS REFUNDABLE OBC - ROYAL CC REWARD                 -225.00 (spouse)

 

I did a room charge of $100 and applied it to a slot machine. 

The line item on the statement:

10/6 OA3372257 CLUB ROYALE ENTERTAINMENT GAMES               100.00

I did not lose the entire $100 and cashed out the remaining for $$ at the cage, I think around $45.

 

We did charge more than $450 OBC in total and ended with a balance due BUT the casino charge to the room was included in the total and subjected to the OBC credit as a regular charge.

 
What I don't know is what happens to unused OBC in this case.  Is it returned as CC rewards points or a credit to the credit card bill? 

[cruisestitch]

10 minutes ago, rcrabb1513 said:

We applied Royal CC rewards on our last Royal cruise.  Since Royal and Celebrity are owned by Royal Caribbean International I would hope the OBC accounting is the same.  I know we can redeem Royal Visa rewards for either Royal or Celebrity cruises and Royal applied our CC rewards OBC as refundable.  Since it was a shared redemption $225 was applied to me and $225 was applied to my wife.  The final tally included the $225 credit from both of us  ($450)

Here is the OBC line item from our final statement

 

 

10/2 CREDITS REFUNDABLE OBC - ROYAL CC REWARD                 -225.00 (me)

10/2 CREDITS REFUNDABLE OBC - ROYAL CC REWARD                 -225.00 (spouse)

 

I did a room charge of $100 and applied it to a slot machine. 

The line item on the statement:

10/6 OA3372257 CLUB ROYALE ENTERTAINMENT GAMES               100.00

I did not lose the entire $100 and cashed out the remaining for $$ at the cage, I think around $45.

 

We did charge more than $450 OBC in total and ended with a balance due BUT the casino charge to the room was included in the total and subjected to the OBC credit as a regular charge.

 
What I don't know is what happens to unused OBC in this case.  Is it returned as CC rewards points or a credit to the credit card bill? 

It does not go back as REWARDS points.  You have cashed the points to get on board credit. It is refundable so it will either go back to your credit card bill or you can ask for it in cash at the front desk on the last night

[shellunderwater]

39 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

It does not go back as REWARDS points.  You have cashed the points to get on board credit. It is refundable so it will either go back to your credit card bill or you can ask for it in cash at the front desk on the last night

If I may ask another question....

There is a slight (but real) chance we may need to cancel our cruise (covered by trip insurance, no worries).  But, if we cancel after applying the points to the cruise as OBC, can we get the points back?  In the grand scheme of things, its not a big issue.  They are funds we never had.  But, would be nice to be able to reapply them if we reschedule our trip.  I don't anticipate cancelling, but there is a scenario that could happen. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Wonder if BoA will let you convert this card to another co-branded card with higher rewards/lower spending requirements?

[CHEZMARYLOU]

2 hours ago, shellunderwater said:

If I may ask another question....

There is a slight (but real) chance we may need to cancel our cruise (covered by trip insurance, no worries).  But, if we cancel after applying the points to the cruise as OBC, can we get the points back?  In the grand scheme of things, its not a big issue.  They are funds we never had.  But, would be nice to be able to reapply them if we reschedule our trip.  I don't anticipate cancelling, but there is a scenario that could happen. 

We've used the BOA rewards several times to reduce the price of a cruise. The 1st time a cruise was cancelled the rewards went back on to the CC. The next time a cruise was cancelled the rewards were held in a file and we just had to call Celebrity to have them applied to another cruise. There is a document on line with BOA showing the order details (this is different from the Confirmation/Redemption Receipt and shows the transaction ID and Item ID). It is helpful if you have to have the points applied to another cruise.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

38 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Wonder if BoA will let you convert this card to another co-branded card with higher rewards/lower spending requirements?

I don't think so. I've had a BOA card for years and I once asked about converting it to a Celebrity CC. Couldn't do it, had to open a new account.

[NutsAboutGolf]

11 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

I don't think so. I've had a BOA card for years and I once asked about converting it to a Celebrity CC. Couldn't do it, had to open a new account.

 

Dang...

[shellunderwater]

On 4/21/2023 at 10:42 AM, cruisestitch said:

My advice is to use the points differently. Instead of applying them for OBC, apply them to a reduction in the cost of the cruise.

 

My thought is based on assuming that you intend to cruise Celebrity Again. In that case, you want to maximize the charges that go onto your credit card.  
 

So if you plan to spend $300 on board, instead of using the points for OBC, charge that $300 to your card.

 

Use the points for the cruise fare reduction option. This will take $300 off your next credit card statement.

 

With both options, you go through the credit card company, not Celebrity.

After speaking with a rep at the credit card company, he advised I contact Celebrity's Captains Club to redeem points to OBC. A wonderful lady there handled the request for us.

Thanks.

[rcrabb1513]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:56 AM, shellunderwater said:

About 70 days out from our first Celebrity cruise but are Diamond on RCL.  Haven't done the credit card OBC before, so have a couple of questions.

 

We have a $300+ OBC from the Celebrity credit card to have applied. 

 

What timing is best for requesting it? 

Do I contact the cc company or does Celebrity do that? 

 

One issue, there is a slight chance we may need to cancel before the cruise.  If I need to cancel, do those points go back to the card?  Is there something I need to do to recapture the points?

 

Sorry to be a bother, but new to the cc points game.  Thanks in advance.

I have applied CC rewards points to Royal OBC, not Celebrity, but they allow me to apply RC Visa rewards to Celebrity so I would like to think they have the same policies.  I applied the rewards points about 3 months before the cruise sailed.  They didn't show after a week and I called the RC rewards number and asked where my OBC was.  I was told RC makes the OBC available about 2 weeks before the  sailing but they could make them available immediately.  I said, "Please do!", and they were shown on the Cruise Planner page within minutes.

 

The OBC is of the refundable variety so any unused are applied as a credit to the CC on file.  You might be able to get cash at guest service on the last cruise day but I have never done that.  I believe rewards redeemed for OBC are now the same as cash and would be applied to the CC on file if you cancel but I have no experience with that scenario either.