NCL Mastercard FAQ

[Annies88]

On 2/18/2024 at 2:35 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

That's the pre penalty price.

 

Once you hit 90 days pricing will drop depending on inventory.

Those who are currently booked will be screwed if it empty.

I took the Encore 21 night repo and I was able to get into Haven for half of every one else because I waited till 6 weeks out.

Did Prima this past September and got into Haven at a third of every one else. I again booked 6 weeks prior.

Watch inventory.  Just before final, you might want to cancel if there is allot of inventory.

Is the upgrade to haven also only 30000 points?

[jds2001]

5 hours ago, Annies88 said:

Is the upgrade to haven also only 30000 points?

Upgrades to Haven are not available. Balcony is the highest you can go with points.

[Annies88]

8 hours ago, jds2001 said:

Upgrades to Haven are not available. Balcony is the highest you can go with points.

Oh. Did that change since msc notes the quote I did?

[julig22]

3 minutes ago, Annies88 said:

Oh. Did that change since msc notes the quote I did?

Don't know what you are trying to say but WP upgrades have never included Haven as far as I know.

[Annies88]

27 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Don't know what you are trying to say but WP upgrades have never included Haven as far as I know.

Ok. The first quote appeared it did. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

BA is the highest level cabin for upgrades.  Has never included anything above that.  I’ve been using the MC program back when it was with MBNA and a very different program but this is the way it’s always been.  If your dead set on a haven look at using points as a statement credit.

[mscdivina2016]

On 9/17/2024 at 9:51 AM, jds2001 said:

Upgrades to Haven are not available. Balcony is the highest you can go with points.

Aft balconies are also not available to upgrade to.

 

[wildcatwmn]

On 9/8/2024 at 8:39 PM, jds2001 said:

Actually, you mentioned PCC. That's a direct booking; there's no need to have anyone else on the phone when doing it. My bad.

Soooo, you can do all this by using a TA to make the original booking?  I've had the card for several years but always taken a statement credit.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

MSC Diva, Correct, I should have said that.

Edited September 19 by MagnoliaBlossom

[MagnoliaBlossom]

12 hours ago, wildcatwmn said:

Soooo, you can do all this by using a TA to make the original booking?  I've had the card for several years but always taken a statement credit.

N need to use a TA, but yes you can if you so choose.  To make sure you book correctly, call WP first and tell them what category cabin your u ultimately want to be in.  Say, yu want a BA, then see if you have enough points to do a double meta, or can your u only do a single.  Either way, ask the WP agent what you need to book in order to get to your BA cabin.

 

then make you ur reservation, TA, online or PCC.  Then call WP back and do the upgrade.  Be sure to have the deck plan in front of you so you can see what is surrounding your cabin.

[grouchomarx]

Can anyone tell me how long it took after spending the $1000 it took to get the 30k points posted to your account?  Fine print said 1-2 billing cycles just wondering what someone’s real life experience has been.

[hallux]

@grouchomarx I signed up last year, my bonus points arrived on the second month I accrued points.  That may have been with the second or third statement.

[grouchomarx]

27 minutes ago, hallux said:

@grouchomarx I signed up last year, my bonus points arrived on the second month I accrued points.  That may have been with the second or third statement.

Thanks for the info. I am just hoping to get mine so I could use them on my Dec 21 cruise. 

[julig22]

45 minutes ago, grouchomarx said:

Thanks for the info. I am just hoping to get mine so I could use them on my Dec 21 cruise. 

Just take the statement credit. Same value, plus you accrue points if you use the card for any onboard spending.

[hallux]

27 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Just take the statement credit. Same value, plus you accrue points if you use the card for any onboard spending.

Not everyone signs up with long-term use in mind, lots of people are getting the card and using it enough to get the bonus points for the stateroom upgrade and then let the card go stagnant.

[julig22]

17 minutes ago, hallux said:

Not everyone signs up with long-term use in mind, lots of people are getting the card and using it enough to get the bonus points for the stateroom upgrade and then let the card go stagnant.

So??? Getting a statement credit has nothing to do with intended future use. You can still use a statement credit to pay off the card. Especially if the credits won't be available in time for a scheduled cruise. Or you can request a check from BofA. But I also have little use for $300 in OBC, much prefer cash/credit at a higher amount.

[grouchomarx]

17 hours ago, julig22 said:

Just take the statement credit. Same value, plus you accrue points if you use the card for any onboard spending.

I did not realize I could just get it as a credit to pay down my card.  That would be of great value to me more so than OBC since I don't really plan on racking up a bill and I can't use it for a stateroom upgrade because I have a b2b booked and would only get upgraded on one leg and I don't want to have to change cabins.  Thanks for the tip!

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Certainly the best bet in your case and as others have mentioned, you will get triple points for future use, whether it’s a cruise or just statement credit.

[hallux]

@grouchomarx just be warned that the points earned for on-board spend may not post in time to use them to pay down the bill for your on-board spend.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Depending on what your closing date is, they may not hit before closing, if it’s really close, but you will have them on the next billing.  I can’t think of a time when my charges and points didn’t hit the same billing cycle, but the points will offset the charges whenever you choose to use them.  It’s not like some travel cards where you “erase” specific charges with points.  If you are in a good cash flow point in your year you could hold off until a time when you need the points.  Maybe the holidays or a time when your income is seasonally low.

Edited Tuesday at 11:48 PM by MagnoliaBlossom

[karinad]

Hello, I have 40,000 points. I had more but had to cash some in because they were going to expire. In Oct I will have to cash more in. We won't travel without a balcony. Am I right to think that rarely it wouldn't be worth it to go from an outside to a balcony using 30,000 points. From inside to outside is usually worth it. I will never earn another 20,000 to do a double meta. I also have 2 cruise next certificates to use before 2025 is up. From what I've been reading I could lose the points if I book a cruise and have to change it. Am I just better off cashing the points out? It's looking to me that 40,000 won't help me. I once read that if you do a single meta from inside to outside that you can't pay to upgrade from outside to balcony???

 

I hope this made sense! Thank you!

[julig22]

3 minutes ago, karinad said:

Hello, I have 40,000 points. I had more but had to cash some in because they were going to expire. In Oct I will have to cash more in. We won't travel without a balcony. Am I right to think that rarely it wouldn't be worth it to go from an outside to a balcony using 30,000 points. From inside to outside is usually worth it. I will never earn another 20,000 to do a double meta. I also have 2 cruise next certificates to use before 2025 is up. From what I've been reading I could lose the points if I book a cruise and have to change it. Am I just better off cashing the points out? It's looking to me that 40,000 won't help me. I once read that if you do a single meta from inside to outside that you can't pay to upgrade from outside to balcony???

 

I hope this made sense! Thank you!

OV to balcony is usually a better use of points in my opinion. Price difference from inside to OV isn't nearly as big as difference between OV and balcony so more bang for your buck.

Yes, it appears that if you cancel a cruise after you have upgraded you MIGHT lose your points. If you have something booked and want to change it, NCL will let you move your reservation (keep your original reservation # and payments) - hard to say if that would preserve your points.

If you use your points to upgrade then pay to upgrade again you basically lose your points, because the price for the upgrade would be based on what you paid, not the price of the cabin you have.

CruiseNext certificates no longer expire so no worries on using them in 2025.

[karinad]

23 hours ago, julig22 said:

OV to balcony is usually a better use of points in my opinion. Price difference from inside to OV isn't nearly as big as difference between OV and balcony so more bang for your buck.

Yes, it appears that if you cancel a cruise after you have upgraded you MIGHT lose your points. If you have something booked and want to change it, NCL will let you move your reservation (keep your original reservation # and payments) - hard to say if that would preserve your points.

If you use your points to upgrade then pay to upgrade again you basically lose your points, because the price for the upgrade would be based on what you paid, not the price of the cabin you have.

CruiseNext certificates no longer expire so no worries on using them in 2025.

Thank you so much for the information! I did not know that the Cruise next certificates no longer expire. That is great news! They were bought a couple years before the pandemic hit and the last I heard they extended it until 2025. That takes some of the stress off. I have never used a cruise next certificates and these were a gift. I will continue to look.

[mrfeeto]

Sorry if this has been asked recently, but is there any idea when/if there will be a bonus day(s) this year? Is that even still a thing? I heard they sometimes offer 5x points so was going to hold off on my payments until then. 

[julig22]

6 minutes ago, mrfeeto said:

Sorry if this has been asked recently, but is there any idea when/if there will be a bonus day(s) this year? Is that even still a thing? I heard they sometimes offer 5x points so was going to hold off on my payments until then. 

They've done it for the past 2 years, hopefully it will be an annual thing. I think it's been in early November.