HAL Credit Card

[FlaMariner]

1 hour ago, Overhead Fred said:

In the meantime, I am keeping my powder dry until I accumulate 160,000 points...

 

My math shows the same answer.....you need to save up for 160,000 points and that is only for a 2.5% "refund" which is not competitive enough compared to our other "cash back/refund" cards. 

 

but here is the real kicker....If you accumulated your 160,000 points by spending $80,000 on HAL cruises (HAL purchases get you 2 points for every $1) then doesn't that make the "refund" 5%?

 

Someone please check my math. 

 

In that case, that's a good "refund"....especially if I was booking the world cruise. 

 

 

[Hogladyrider]

Well I originated this thread and after reading all the replies I am glad that I decided not to apply for the credit card.  It would not get that much use in our household.

[FlaMariner]

11 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

It would not get that much use in our household.

 

Agree.  We've got the card but we have other cards that are better.

 

I wish HAL would review this card and kick it up a notch......

[islandwoman]

I hope that someone who has redeemed points will post the details of their experience.

[Hogladyrider]

11 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

I hope that someone who has redeemed points will post the details of their experience.

Excellent suggestion 

[Fivelinks]

On 8/2/2023 at 4:17 PM, islandwoman said:

I hope that someone who has redeemed points will post the details of their experience.

What I have stated is correct as I have done it mutiple times. When you make a HAL purchase $4001 and higher you will take 2.5% and multiply that by your total points. I just did a $5000 cruise final payment and had 32,000 points. My statement credit was $800.

[jimdee3636]

I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but about eight months ago I applied for the HAL card and was immediately approved. However, my initial credit limit was only $2,000. I have a very high credit score, and my other credit cards have limits of up to $30,000. I specifically applied for the card because I had a $9,000 HAL final payment coming up in two weeks and I wanted to put it on the card and get the benefits, as well as getting benefits for future HAL bookings (I'm four-star with HAL and sail at least once a year with them). I couldn't get the customer service agent to increase the limit, at least not without filing all sorts of special exemptions forms and such. I couldn't be bothered, and I cancelled the account before I ever got the card in the mail. In my opinion, it was short-sighted on their part.

[islandwoman]

If I make charges on the Holland America credit card, can I use the points earned from those charges to pay part of that same bill?  Or do I have to wait until the next bill to use those points?

[Hogladyrider]

6 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

If I make charges on the Holland America credit card, can I use the points earned from those charges to pay part of that same bill?  Or do I have to wait until the next bill to use those points?

Not 100% positive but most credit cards require the balance to be paid before points can be used.

[Tom O.]

I had the HAL credit card for quite a while. I only used it for HAL purchases. We didn't go on a HAL cruise for a while and Barclays canceled it because we weren't using it.

[islandwoman]

On 9/1/2023 at 8:56 AM, Hogladyrider said:

Not 100% positive but most credit cards require the balance to be paid before points can be used.

 Are you referring to cash back cards? You might be correct about those. I don't know because  I don't have any cash back cards.

But I do have several cards that award airline miles.  Those are credited to my account as soon as the credit card bill closes and I can use them immediately to book a flight, even though the bill isn't due yet.

I'm not sure whether the Holland America credit card would be considered a cash-back card, or what?  I'm away from home right now, so I can't check my prior statements.  When I return I'll look on my prior statements to see when the points were credited.

Edited September 4, 2023 by islandwoman

[islandwoman]

1 hour ago, Tom O. said:

I had the HAL credit card for quite a while. I only used it for HAL purchases. We didn't go on a HAL cruise for a while and Barclays canceled it because we weren't using it.

I'm sorry that happened to you. But, it's good to know.  I won't need to pay for my upcoming HAL cruise until after my card's yearly anniversary.  So I'll be sure to use it before then anyway.

[mcrcruiser]

From what we now see is that the Barclays  Holland America credit card bounus is not what wev thought .what they do is tell you you must use the points for gift card redemptions like Lowes ,Chipolte ,Subway . Because of their misleading information to us ,once we use the points to our advantage qwe will not use the card as we have better cash back credit cards 

[islandwoman]

3 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

From what we now see is that the Barclays  Holland America credit card bounus is not what wev thought .what they do is tell you you must use the points for gift card redemptions like Lowes ,Chipolte ,Subway . Because of their misleading information to us ,once we use the points to our advantage qwe will not use the card as we have better cash back credit cards 

Are you saying that the points can not be used toward Holland America cruises?

[mcrcruiser]

1 minute ago, islandwoman said:

Are you saying that the points can not be used toward Holland America cruises?

We are not aware that the points are useable toward HAL cruises ;as we wanted to redemm yhe points siiner than later .Perhaps you can use the points toward a HAL cruise .I am not sure so best to ask Barclays directly  .If they allow  points to be used to book a cruise & pay 2% back for doing so it might be worth it .Then again ,we get free trip cancellation & free trip interyption plus gaggage ins with using our chase Sapphire credit card which is a far better deal than any  od Barclays  credits .Free trip insurance saves us many hundreds of dollars

[islandwoman]

I've read several posts from Holland America credit card holders who said that their card was cancelled by Barclays.  Since I have a card that I have been planning to use to pay part of my upcoming cruise, I called Barclays customer service and asked whether they would cancel it if I didn't use it before my final payment date.  The answer was that if there were no transactions for 6 months, it could be cancelled, but that Barclays would notify the card holder before cancelling.  I'm not sure I believe the notification promise, but I'm guessing that the six months is accurate.  Those of you who have had cards cancelled, do you remember how long it was without a transaction?  This policy seems a bit overzealous to me inasmuch as this is a cruise credit card.

[FlaMariner]

30 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

The answer was that if there were no transactions for 6 months, it could be cancelled, but that Barclays would notify the card holder before cancelling. 

 

I just looked.

 

The last transaction on my HAL Barclay's card was a year ago.  Almost to the day (9/20/22). The card is still open.  

 

Our goal is to spend the remaining points before "the end comes" to our card......

 

We wish HAL would blow the dust off this product and make it more competitive.......If they did, we would spend the heck out of it.

[cruisemom42]

On 9/4/2023 at 1:50 PM, mcrcruiser said:

From what we now see is that the Barclays  Holland America credit card bounus is not what wev thought .what they do is tell you you must use the points for gift card redemptions like Lowes ,Chipolte ,Subway . Because of their misleading information to us ,once we use the points to our advantage qwe will not use the card as we have better cash back credit cards 

 

You can use the card to purchase OBC for upcoming HAL cruises and you can use it to "pay down" any HAL purchases made on the card.

 

[islandwoman]

11 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

You can use the card to purchase OBC for upcoming HAL cruises and you can use it to "pay down" any HAL purchases made on the card.

 

How do you do that?

[cruisemom42]

46 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

How do you do that?

 

Login to your online account for the card, select Rewards & Benefits from the top menu, then select "Redeem My Points".

 

At the top of that page, you should see this. I've highlighted in pink the tabs for redeeming points for OBC and for statement credits: