Compass Rewards Program Ends

[hazeleyes]

Don't cancel the cards per se, just have all the credit lines rolled together into 1. Never give up credit if you don't have to.

 

Hey Preds how are you? How are things? Long time since our last cruise together.

[Preds]

Hey Preds how are you? How are things? Long time since our last cruise together.

We're doing well Debbie! How bout yourself, and Jose, and Amanda & Alberto and the rest of your gang? I have to admit, we are very bummed to lose the Compass Rewards program, though on the upside we'll be free agents to try some other cruiselines now!

 

Hawaii was great wasn't it! It was one of my favorite cruises!

[thewolffs]

How do the upgrade cert. work? I won't quite have 500 points by Jan. I have a cruise already booked for Jan. that I thought I might be able to use an upgrade cert. on. I'm in a mini-suite, though. I bet you can't use it to upgrade to a suite, huh? Thanks!

[hazeleyes]

We're doing well Debbie! How bout yourself, and Jose, and Amanda & Alberto and the rest of your gang? I have to admit, we are very bummed to lose the Compass Rewards program, though on the upside we'll be free agents to try some other cruiselines now!

 

Hawaii was great wasn't it! It was one of my favorite cruises!

 

How is everyone on your side? I was fortunate to use one $500 certificate and I have another comming to me once i request it so that makes $1000 i received from the program. I honestly loved the program and find it an awful shame its ending. I too looked at NCL first before booking cruises so they were always my 1st choice. Now that its ending it wont matter any more. I'll base my choices on price and location etc.

 

I finally booked the Alaska cruise that we were chatting about a few months back. Not to mention NCL screwed me with that one too. :mad: Seems that I booked a B2B2b leaving out of CA connecting in Vancouver then Vancouver to Seattle then Seattle round trip. They made me cancell the 2nd leg due to some Jones act rule, and we were left scrambling for choices on what to do next, since air fare was already bought and paid for.

 

Oh well thats my story. I'm keeping up to date on all of the boards findings by reading what each person find on new credit cards to get etc.

 

I never knew that cancelling cards did harm to our credit score. I recently cancelled maybe 10 that i never used. Heaven knows what damage i did . :eek:

[weloverunning]

Ok. I've finally crawled out from under the bed and am ready to face my depression from the ending to the Compass Rewards Program. We are going on a free cruise (due to points) next week and by the end of the year we will probably have close to 1500 points.

I called BOA to ask a question. You would think I would know better by now since if you call and talk to 5 people you get 5 different answers.:(

Anyway, the guy pretty much read me the letter I already received. He kept pushing the benefits of World Points until I finally told him to "can it with the world points" He told me the leftover points would roll over into World points if we did not order our certificates. We KNOW this is wrong based on the NCL site which states: "you will be issued a Compass Rewards Certificate based on your point balance as of December, 2008"

I may be naive but I am interpretting this to say you will be issued a certificate for your point balances on each card i.e,, 345, 500, or whatever and have nothing to do with having to have increments of 500.

I will wait until Monday when maybe a supervisor is there and I might get a straight (and maybe even correct) answer.

I think I'm going to wear black for the next week. The compass rewards were probably the only reason we were able to take our family of 7 on a 9-day cruise last Thanksgiving. It took a big chunk off the price of the cruise.

[*Wink*]

How do the upgrade cert. work? I won't quite have 500 points by Jan. I have a cruise already booked for Jan. that I thought I might be able to use an upgrade cert. on. I'm in a mini-suite, though. I bet you can't use it to upgrade to a suite, huh? Thanks!

From the NCL Compass Rewards Program Rules:

 

"A 1 category upgrade for 1st person in cabin - 100 pts. Value of upgrade may not exceed $100.

A 1 category upgrade for 1st and 2nd persons in cabin - 200 pts. Value of upgrade may not exceed $200.

A 2 category upgrade for 1st person and a 1 category upgrade for 2nd person in cabin - 300 pts. Value of upgrade may not exceed $300.

A 2 category upgrade for 1st and 2nd persons in cabin - 400 pts. Value of upgrade may not exceed $400.

 

Stateroom upgrades are applicable for inside-to-inside or OV-to-OV upgrades only, and are subject to availability. Upgrades into suites or penthouses are not available. Calculation of upgrade value to the Cardholder will be consistent with the fare basis applicable to the booking. If upgrades cost more than the maximum value of the Certificate, the Card-

holder must pay the difference."

 

I've been doing a little reading today. ;)

[hazeleyes]

I just got the mail drop off out of the mail box and did not receive the letter yet. I guess due to mass mailing it might take a few days before we all get them?

[*Wink*]

"you will be issued a Compass Rewards Certificate based on your point balance as of December, 2008"

I may be naive but I am interpretting this to say you will be issued a certificate for your point balances on each card i.e,, 345, 500, or whatever and have nothing to do with having to have increments of 500.

I will wait until Monday when maybe a supervisor is there and I might get a straight (and maybe even correct) answer.

 

Oy.. I pray you're right!!

[PSCruiser]

One cruise next year that I can get $1000 for, then its bye bye NCL card, and bye bye NCL. Didn't like them much anyway.

[Preds]

How is everyone on your side?

They're good. The kids are both teenagers now (16 & 13), which is an adventure!

 

I was fortunate to use one $500 certificate and I have another comming to me once i request it so that makes $1000 i received from the program. I honestly loved the program and find it an awful shame its ending. I too looked at NCL first before booking cruises so they were always my 1st choice. Now that its ending it wont matter any more. I'll base my choices on price and location etc.

Without a doubt this program kept us loyal to NCL. Losing it will allow us the freedom to explore all options and go with the best deal. I guess it will be nice to experience some other lines as well for the variety sake of things.

 

I finally booked the Alaska cruise that we were chatting about a few months back. Not to mention NCL screwed me with that one too. :mad: Seems that I booked a B2B2b leaving out of CA connecting in Vancouver then Vancouver to Seattle then Seattle round trip. They made me cancell the 2nd leg due to some Jones act rule, and we were left scrambling for choices on what to do next, since air fare was already bought and paid for.

Hard to blame NCL on the Jones act rules. It looks like you've worked within it well though with Princess reposition squeezed between the 2 Pearl cruises!

 

Oh well thats my story. I'm keeping up to date on all of the boards findings by reading what each person find on new credit cards to get etc.

I think we're all exploring our options right now as to which card will yield the most benefits. I doubt we'll find anything remotely equal, but change happens, and we'll adjust!

 

I never knew that cancelling cards did harm to our credit score. I recently cancelled maybe 10 that i never used. Heaven knows what damage i did . :eek:

Never close a card if you don't have to. If you have multiple cards with one bank and want to close accounts, merge the most recent lines into the oldest line. The longer you've had credit with an institution the better it is for your overall point score.

[Preds]

I just got the mail drop off out of the mail box and did not receive the letter yet. I guess due to mass mailing it might take a few days before we all get them?

I got 2 letters today. 3 more to go. We had 5 cards between Kelly and I.

[cruiser82]

Just got my letter in the mail today. Oh well, it was good while it lasted :(.

[halos]

:(

Just picked up my mail and there it was.

 

 

:rolleyes: I just love how they tell you there is no limit to the number of points you can earn each year....I'll have to spend 3 to 4 times more to come close to accumulating the points I earned before.

Don't think that's gonna happen. :rolleyes:

[board_jay]

I for the life of me couldn't understand why NCL had such a good deal with the 3% cash back up to $1000 per year per card. I kinda figured this was coming and am psyched that we are going on a cruise this Nov. with $1500 paid by NCL compass rewards (and another $1800 back from Bush' stupid tax rebate means it's "free" to me). This is going to be the end of the NCL cards for us, will probably just use RCL and maybe get a Princess one since they go to more exotic places.

 

So right now I think that the best deal going - until they change it - is the RCL Visa card. Yeah, it's the same 1% back, but... you can go on a free 4-day cruise anywhere as long as it's <$1000 so essentially that means for this option, you are getting 2% back instead of 1%. 50,000 points or dollars = FREE 4-day cruise or $500 certificate, so as long as you are ok with a 4-day cruise it's the better bang for the buck. We just booked our second FREE 4-day RCL cruise which would have cost us $996 were we to just book it, but instead that's free and we just have to pay the $180 total in port charges!

[krystall]

This is very sad news but I have been expecting it for some time. The program was to good to be true.

 

We just sent in $1000 worth of certificates for our Feb. 2009 cruise. NCL is very convenient and cost effective for us and we really enjoy Freestyle cruising so we will continue to sail NCL along with other cruise lines.

 

Truly a sad day. :(

[mikaula]

I just got my letter from B of A in the mail today. It's a sad day!!

[mailbroad]

Yikes! It is all so confusing! So, I will get my Compass Rewards and CAN USE them by the end of 2009????

I am very sad!

[ljrfrm]

Well, we're in trouble. We are planning a Summer 2010 graduation cruise for my son. We have $1,500 at this point saved up. But, it sounds like we now have to cruise by January 2010. I certainly don't want to lose the points.....so I guess we'll have to find a way to use them. But, then we won't be able to do the summer cruise. This is a nice way for NCL to get a bunch of people to take cruises they hadn't planned.........very frustrating! Like you all though, I kind of knew this was all too good to be true. Oh well.

[jcc&lnc]

I was under the impression that the certificate has to be apllied to a cruise booking within 12 months but the actual cruise date could actually be even farther out. could someone clarify this?

[weloverunning]

JCC: You're confusing the Freestyle Cruise rewards which you buy when you are on board which allows you to book your cruise within 12 months and sail within 30 months and the Compass rewards certificates friom BOA in which the sailing must take place within 12 months of requesting your certificate.

[halos]

Well, we're in trouble. We are planning a Summer 2010 graduation cruise for my son. We have $1,500 at this point saved up. But, it sounds like we now have to cruise by January 2010.

 

:(

I hear ya!

We are blessed to have 3 cruises booked already for 2009, the last one being at the end of Oct into Nov on RCI. I think my DH is going to have a very difficult time getting off in January of 2010...and there will be NO deals I'm sure because we'll all be looking to cruise at the same time. :eek:

 

We should get a group cruise together. That would make the misery easier to take. :)

[halos]

Here's a link.. see what you think.

 

http://www.credit-cards-resource.com/american-express/blue-cash/

 

I called American Express, and the way it works is, the first $6,500 in purchases earns 1% cash back. At $6,500.01 on, the cash back increases to 5%. Still a good deal. You can get a credit line of up to $100,000 depending on your credit.

 

That sounded good to me until I read it on their website:

 

Annual spending up to $6,500 earns 1% cash back on everyday purchases and 0.5% cash back on other eligible purchases

 

How I racked up points on my BOA/NCL card wasn't through 'everyday purchases'...so getting .05% when I used to get 3% isn't good. :( *sigh*

[Dannie138]

Some questions...

 

1) What happens to our extra points? Are we getting a certificate for them? (I'll have 400-500 or so...right around the amt for a cert, not sure if I'd have enough)

 

2) My final payment on my 2/15/09 cruise will have passed by 12/31. If I get the cert could I put it towards that? (and would they still credit my card, as they have done others?)...Or should I start looking for another cruise?

[LoveNCLJewel]

Just got over $2,000 in certificates, but was hoping for me....I wish it wasn't so. Unfortunately, My wife and I will have to switch credit cards, BofA will be losing $40,000 in our yearly transactions....I wanted another cruise card, but that's not happening as I want the best deal. I've done my research: and here is what i'm doing:

 

I'll be applying for the American Express Hilton HHonors Card as my primary card.

 

In addition, since american expres is not accepted everywhere, I will apply for the Citi Hilton HHonors Card as my secondary card. This way we can maximize land points.

 

Researched at: www.apeepa.com

[jame_g]

I'm hoping that since the program is ending, they will just issue a final rewards certificate that can be used in actual dollars regardless of the remaining amount of points. So if I have 187 points they will give me a certificate for a $187 cruise credit. Then I would find another short, cheap cruise to use it up on next year.

 

Right now the best rewards card with no fee that I am finding is the Chase Freedom Visa Signature card. 3% in top 3 categories, 1% on other purchases. You can switch between cash and points.

 

For a $30 annual program fee (waived the first year), it appears to be the Chase Freedom Plus card. 3% in top 6 categories, 1% o n the other purchases. No rewards expiration and unlimited earning. You can switch between miles, cash, and points.

 

Both are 14.99% variable rate, so don't carry a balance.

 

The Chase Sea Miles card is not as good, you only earn 3% on cruises purchased through their travel program. Everything else is at 1%.

 

The best Capitol One card is 2% on everything for a $79 fee, 1.25% on everything for no fee, or 2% on gas and groceries (or travel and entertainment) and 1% on everything else with no fee. You have to choose between points or miles. You can also chose cash but you only get the 1% and not the 1.25%. Interest rates appeared to be 8.99% to 9.99%, which is better if you are going to carry any balances.

 

It didn't sound like the BOA WorldPoints was better than either of those. Any one found anything better???