ncl credit card

[jennylane]

oh yah, youre right, that makes sense about it being mbna not ncl.

 

i guess i shouldnt stress about it. i dont work (outside the home!) so i liked the concept of being about to get cruise discounts, and he looks at it differently, he thinks the thousand a year isnt that huge a deal and he'd rather get a few small things for free each month. its probably one of those times that i need to let it go even if i disagree. i'm going to wait till we get back home, maybe after he's had a fantastic time and wants to go again, maybe then he'll "see the light"!!! or maybe by the time i'll decide to put my foot down and say we need to meet in the middle! ;)

 

thanks for all of your help, its all been really helpful and now i *think* i understand how it works!!

[CRUZIN TOM]

we applied for our cards a 1-1/2 years ago. One by internet and one over the phone. Turn around time was about the same 10-14 business days to get them. Credti limit depends on your credit history. Ours started at 11,000 each and have increased up from that.:)

[IrishKathy]

We applied and starting using our individual MBNA Mastercards in September of 2004. As of today's date we have about 1850 points each (1000 from last year and 850 so far this year). Once we hit the magic 2000 points I'll send for the certificates. We booked a minisuite for this Christmas/New Year's cruise on the Star. Once the certificates are credited to our account we will only owe $43.00:) for A HOLIDAY CRUSE.

 

As others have stated, we charge everything and pay our bills in full every month. We will each also hit the 1000 yearly limit by July and we have another MBNA card at the ready to start charging at that point. Once we get to 500 points on that card, we'll switch back to our individual cards and start earning points on them. This is the only way to go.;)

 

Kathy

[x2tpd]

Just throwing this out there but although it does say you can not use certificates to pay your deposit, there is 50 % of the time atleast a catch. You do have to pay the deposit up front but both times I have sent in certificates for more then the balance owed after the deposit I have received a credit for the difference on my credit card. Does that make sense? For exampe say I owed 2300 for the cruise and paid the 500 for the deposit making my balance 1800. I sent 2000 in certificates and got 200 credited to the balance of the credit card I had used for the deposit.

 

I know at one point there was a survey on the boards somewhere here polling people about this and alittle over 50 % saw the credit

[CTCruisers]

Just throwing this out there but although it does say you can not use certificates to pay your deposit, there is 50 % of the time atleast a catch. You do have to pay the deposit up front but both times I have sent in certificates for more then the balance owed after the deposit I have received a credit for the difference on my credit card. Does that make sense? For exampe say I owed 2300 for the cruise and paid the 500 for the deposit making my balance 1800. I sent 2000 in certificates and got 200 credited to the balance of the credit card I had used for the deposit.

 

I know at one point there was a survey on the boards somewhere here polling people about this and alittle over 50 % saw the credit

 

We just booked two cruises for this year using vouchers.

 

For our Dawn cruise costing $1380, we made a $500 deposit and then sent $1000 in vouchers. We did receive a credit on our card for the difference of $120.

 

For our Star cruise costing $1730, they originally wanted $1,600 for an upfront deposit because it was more than 7 days. But, I told our TA that we had $1500 in vouchers, so she booked the cruise with a $230 deposit and forwarded the vouchers. I have not heard of any problems with this from the TA or NCL.

 

We now have 3 cards because we also max out the other two. We pay everything with plastic including house taxes. They let me use my card at work for purchases for which I am reimbursed in plenty of time to pay the bills. We always pay in full and on time each month. We have never paid any interest for late payments.

 

If you like cruising, the cards are a good deal. With the limited seats available on airlines for free mileage it seemed silly to us to use a card for airmiles. So, we charge everything on our MBNA NCL cards.

[jennylane]

well, i went ahead and applied for the cards. i figure if he's violently oposed whats the worst that can happen. and he wont be, by the time the cards come, we'll be back from the cruise and i'm sure he'll be happy with the cruise. i know, a little sneaky, but i'm sure that in the end he'll be ok with it. so now he can use his for his amazon certificates and i can work towards a cruise for US!

[immargaret]

One nice thing about using the vouchers from the MBNA-NCL credit card is that you can use your own TA or book directly through NCL, where ever you can find the best price, and then apply the vouchers.

[jon46]

I have a Question, I'm waiting on my vouchers now 1000. I'm planing on going through my TA. Do I make a down payment on my mbna for $500.00, then apply my vouchers to the final payment. Inside cabin is about $1200.00, Balcony is about $1700. Do I go for the inside and hope they apply the difference to my down payment on my card or pay the extra, I don't want to lose any of my points if they do not apply the difference. John

[immargaret]

This will depend upon your TA. The vouchers state that they are not to be used for down payment so most TA's will have you pay the down payment (on your credit card) and then when they submit the vouchers to NCL, NCL will credit that same credit card the amount of the vouchers. From what I understand the vouchers can pay for the entire cruise portion of your NCL bill, but can't be used for any hotel or airfare that may be combined on your reservation. One cruiser posted that they weren't able to use the vouchers to cover the taxes, port charges and insurance...so I'm not sure about that. One poster here on CC stated that they were allowed to only pay a portion of the down payment and then submitted the vouchers immediately to cover the rest of the fare.

 

If you can get a balcony for only $500 more that sounds like a deal, of course I know nothing about your cruise date or ship. I guess it wouldn't be a deal if it were a one night cruise. I just love the balcony and couldn't cruise again without one.

[jmcdon7230]

I have used the MBNA certificates for four cruises. The last time was two years ago. This morning I redeemed three $500 certificates. It was the smoothest transaction ever. I called 1-800-421-2110 and punched zero when the account information started. An operator was available immediately and was very knowledgeable about the Compass Rewards program. This is the opposite end of the experience from years gone by....previously, they acted as if they didn't know what you were talking about.

 

Our last cruise on the Sun cost us $32.....this one will be a little more: $122!

 

Our neighbors want us to join them on a Royal Caribbean cruise this summer. I can't bear to spend real money on a cruise. We've been spoiled by this MBNA program.

[silkhair1]

I am sold, where do we get the card?????

[cruizinwithkids]

It's on the home page of the NCL website.

[silkhair1]

Thank You!!!:D

[jennylane]

well...before i could let my guilty conscience take over and admit that i had applied for the card, tonight over dinner, hubby said, ok if you think it sounds like a good deal then we should just go ahead and get it. :D so tomorrow i will call and check on the application and see if there's any way i can get the number before the cruise. if not, thats fine too, we'll use it in the future. i didnt convince him that we needed TWO cards yet, that will come in time...;)

[Joanniebop]

How do you apply for more than 2 cards if one is in wife's name and one is in hubby's name, how do you get any additional cards?

 

Thanks

[luvseadays]

Ok, excuse my complete lack of brain power, but what is MBNA?

 

I know I will kick myself after a reply, but just can't connect it right now.

 

Can you tell that we have had the same major cc forever?

[immargaret]

How do you apply for more than 2 cards if one is in wife's name and one is in hubby's name, how do you get any additional cards?

 

Thanks

 

You can apply for as many cards as your credit limit will support in the same name. When we first applied we had one account and the credit limit on that account was over 20,000 so we just called and told them we would like another account and if they needed to they could reduce the credit limit on the first account, they said they didn't need to. By the third account 6 months later they did finally reduce the credit limit on the first card.

[jennylane]

whats the most you can charge per year to get the maximum benefits? was that 1000 points? can that be right? does that translate to only 3000 dollars?

 

is there a limit per month that you can get credit for? i was thinking it would be easier to just watch my spending for a few months and then i'll know if i need additional cards..??

[shoreguy]

whats the most you can charge per year to get the maximum benefits? was that 1000 points? can that be right? does that translate to only 3000 dollars?

 

is there a limit per month that you can get credit for? i was thinking it would be easier to just watch my spending for a few months and then i'll know if i need additional cards..??

 

I wish:)

 

1000 points requires $33.333 in regular charges or $25.000 in NCL charges.

 

 

250 max points per month

[jennylane]

oh, ok....so you're more likely to reach your annual maximum than you are to reach your monthly maximum. so i can get one card and see how its working. if i charge 3000-5000/month, it sounds like i wont be reaching the maximum per month but i may be in danger of reaching the max per year?

 

i guess i need to just wait till i get the card, and then reread this thread, and then maybe it will all make sense to me!

[Joanniebop]

You can apply for as many cards as your credit limit will support in the same name. When we first applied we had one account and the credit limit on that account was over 20,000 so we just called and told them we would like another account and if they needed to they could reduce the credit limit on the first account, they said they didn't need to. By the third account 6 months later they did finally reduce the credit limit on the first card.

Thank you so much Margaret. Guess I'm going to apply for at least one more card.

[immargaret]

Thank you so much Margaret. Guess I'm going to apply for at least one more card.

 

It would be easier if they raised the limit on how many points we could earn, but since they haven't....we just go around the system.

 

MBNA makes keeping track of your credit card balances and points so easy on-line, so we don't spend too much on one account and know when to switch cards.

[Joanniebop]

Margaret, I hate to sound so dense, but would I apply for a second card in my name exactly as I did with the first card, or would you suggest that I add a middle initial, or doesn't it matter? ( already have one in husbands name)

 

Wouldn't MBNA catch on to it using the exact same name ?

I agree that they should just raise the limits allowed each month.

Thanks again for the info.

[immargaret]

MBNA doesn't mind at all, I even told them why I was doing it. I believe all of our accounts are in the same names, except two have hubby listed as the primary and the third has me as primary and hubby as a second person on the account.

 

The middle initial added might make identifying the cards easier. It's hard keeping track of the last 4 numbers of the accounts and knowing which card to use. We do have a different ship pictured on one of the sets of cards.

 

Another nice thing about having more than one MBNA account is that when you check in on the ship you can each use your own card (different accounts) to set up your on board account and can both earn points (4% on NCL purchases) and not worry about hitting the 250 point max per month.

[Joanniebop]

Thanks again Margaret for all the info., I really appreciate your help.

 

Have a good one!