NCL Mastercard FAQ

Just wanted to post our experience today for some people on here. Im pretty sure I had read on several post that if you wanted to exchange your reward point from the NCL card you needed to do it 8-10 weeks ahead of time.

I will tell you this is 100% false. All you need is you cruise info and your card info and call the #. It took a whole 20 minutes and we had a email with the pdf file attach showing out conversion to OBC.

So heads up you cant always believe what you read on here. It was simple and easy. Fyi we was advised you can call and do this 24-48 prior to departure. Andit should on our NCL account within 10 minutes.

Yes! I just called today (sailing on the Star Dec 28th) and it took about 20 minutes. Had my email confirmation for OBC before I was off the call. On the same call, I was able to set up bar and pre-pay gratuities. Eazy-Peazy.

We are still new to the NCL BofA Mastercard and haven't redeemed any points yet, but it looks like you can do it on the credit card website also by clicking on Rewards and then on Travel/Cruises, and it offers choices of redeeming for cruises, OBC, upgrades, $ off of cruises, etc. Plan to try it before our upcoming cruise in January.

ETA: When we signed up we got the 10,000 free points plus $50 NCL credit, which we received a few weeks later on an NCL gift card.

Wondering if someone can explain the double cross meta upgrade more clearly for me. We would like to book an Alaskan cruise for 3 people. Ideally, I would like to use my points to pay for an interior cabin, but get a balcony cabin. My confusion is how many points does that take? Is it 60,000 total or 60,000 x 3 people for a total of 180,000 points?

Wondering if someone can explain the double cross meta upgrade more clearly for me. We would like to book an Alaskan cruise for 3 people. Ideally, I would like to use my points to pay for an interior cabin, but get a balcony cabin. My confusion is how many points does that take? Is it 60,000 total or 60,000 x 3 people for a total of 180,000 points?

Good question. This seems to be the best way to use the points, and I'm reviewing it myself as it just might convince me to get one of these cards. According to the cc t&c:

Double Cross-Meta upgrade refers to having the option to book a specific Balcony category for the price of a specific Interior category.

Since it doesn't mention the number of people, I assume that you pay for the inside for the number of people you want and then use this upgrade to get a balcony cabin instead. It should be just 60,000 regardless of the number of people (assuming the cabin is rated for the number you have, of course).

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You basically have it correct. We are using this upgrade on our upcoming Panama Canal cruise. "Saved" us around $2,500 dollars. Because I was a few hundred points shy of 60k when Norwegian opened up our cruise for booking, I used a cruise reward to book the balcony cabin we wanted. In this case it is one of two HUGE bow facing cabins on SUn. Once the few remaining points were in my account, I contacted Norwegian, they repriced mour sailing as a comparable category inside.

I suggest that you book directly through Norwegian since it took me explaining several times to the PCC what I wanted to do both when I first booked and when I used the upgrade. Both times, it appeared they were not aware of the double cross meta ....but once I helped them find it online and they put me on hold, presumably to read how to book it, it wasn't a problem at all.

You basically have it correct. We are using this upgrade on our upcoming Panama Canal cruise. "Saved" us around $2,500 dollars. Because I was a few hundred points shy of 60k when Norwegian opened up our cruise for booking, I used a cruise reward to book the balcony cabin we wanted. In this case it is one of two HUGE bow facing cabins on SUn. Once the few remaining points were in my account, I contacted Norwegian, they repriced mour sailing as a comparable category inside.

 

I suggest that you book directly through Norwegian since it took me explaining several times to the PCC what I wanted to do both when I first booked and when I used the upgrade. Both times, it appeared they were not aware of the double cross meta ....but once I helped them find it online

and they put me on hold, presumably to read how to book it, it wasn't a problem at all.

No problem.... I had to laugh. It's not the first time we had to explain things to a NCL representative. :)

After doing my homework, (I too) then had to explain everything to the NCL PCC (booking agent).

My TA(travel agent) told me to go directly to NCL Rewards (Mastercard) 866-954-4077 since she was not permitted.

Have others had a similar experience?

I finally got our 2016 Alaska booked using the rewards points. I originally planned to do a double cross meta upgrade. However, with the freestyle choice promotion I decide to go from outside view to balcony so we could get the beverage package. The staff is extremely confused about the redemption of rewards points. I called the rewards points staff first and she said I had to book OA category to get BD category and that was as good as it was going to get. Once I talked with the actual person who books the cruise, he got me into a midship BA category on deck 10. Happy dance. Cashing in 30,000 points saved us $1500, not to mention the free beverage package worth over $900 for the 3 of us. I am excited about trying out all kinds of drinks. :eek:

I remember sometime earlier this year there was a promotion of 5x points on gas and groceries. Does anyone remember when they do this? Last time I got a little notice about it in my bill but I haven't used the card since April. I called and they couldn't really give me an answer (pretty sure the girl has no clue what I was talking about to be honest).

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can someone give me the number to transfer points to an on-board credit... I am using my phone and it is difficult to go thru the threads...Any help is greatly appreciated....

can someone give me the number to transfer points to an on-board credit... I am using my phone and it is difficult to go thru the threads...Any help is greatly appreciated....

from post 3681

My TA(travel agent) told me to

go directly to NCL Rewards (Mastercard) 866-954-4077

Thanks shipshape......this is crazy I've already called 2numbers and can't quite get it right......

Done.....thank you again.....I called that number last week and they told me they couldn't do it because I booked thru the casino....thankfully they did it today.......

I got approved for this card and i am wondering a few things:

1) How many points can i earn from paying off of my cruise (final payment is about 1300) next month?

2) Can i use the redeem those points plus the bonus points for applying for the card for my cruise in June?

3) How do i redeem the points? Can i do it online, or by phone and how soon do i need to submit that request?

I got approved for this card and i am wondering a few things:

1) How many points can i earn from paying off of my cruise (final payment is about 1300) next month? Presuming your cruise is on Nowegian 2,600..2 points per dollar.

2) Can i use the redeem those points plus the bonus points for applying for the card for my cruise in June? yes but you might want to look at the rewards for higher points rather than just taking the OBC. Or if you want cash rather than cruise upgrades, then most believe it is better to take the cash option rather than the OBC since you earn additional points when you pay your onboard account.

3) How do i redeem the points? Can i do it online, or by phone and how soon do i need to submit that request? If you want to take the cash option you do that online at the credit card webiste….if upgrading, you dod that on the phone with Norwegian. Now sure about the OBC option as I have never done it.

answers above

Hello,

Is it possible for a husband/wife to both apply for the card and then apply the 20k points to an existing reservation for the upgrade from oceanview to balcony or does it have to be a new reservation? I am guessing the the on board credit would apply without issue, but not sure about the upgrade...:confused:

Hello,

 

Is it possible for a husband/wife to both apply for the card and then apply the 20k points to an existing reservation for the upgrade from oceanview to balcony or does it have to be a new reservation? I am guessing the the on board credit would apply without issue, but not sure about the upgrade...:confused:

Yes to 2 separate accounts/cards. It is 30,000 points for an ocean view to balcony upgrade. You can transfer points between cards. I don't know about new versus old reservations in regards to the credit card rewards points.

FYI - you can earn a lot more points if you are a Bank of America preferred customer (depends on how much you have in your bank accounts). You can earn 25% - 75% more points per dollar based on your BofA status.

Hello,

 

Is it possible for a husband/wife to both apply for the card and then apply the 20k points to an existing reservation for the upgrade from oceanview to balcony or does it have to be a new reservation? I am guessing the the on board credit would apply without issue, but not sure about the upgrade...:confused:

You should be able to apply the points to an existing reservation. That's what I had to do when I used 60k points for a double cross meta upgrade...I thought I had enough points but the final couple of hundred weren't showing in my account. So I went ahead and booked the balcony I wanted and then when I had all the points I called and after lots of conversation so they understood what I wanted, our fare was repriced equal to an inside stateroom.

Is there any way to receive your account number before you physically receive the card?

I just applied and was approved and would like to put my deposit that is due in 24 hours on there.

Never mind

Called the cc company and they won't give me my new number

Called Norwegian and they won't extend the hold

3,000 points down the drain:mad:

Help needed here. I have a worldpoints NCL card and haven't really used it since they converted from the old (AWESOME) program. I retired it because it seemed that it was basically a 1% reward program and I have other cards that offer 1% +

So after reading above it seems that the "double cross meta upgrade" may come in handy for a future cruise if I can book from inside to balcony (which we usually book) and spend the 60K points (better than the standard 1% which gets you $600 or 600 OBC)?

I'm also wondering about the Preferred Rewards bonus. I also have a BOA Cash Rewards card but do I have to have a checking/savings to get these rewards? If it does, will that entitle me to better rewards % and can that be combined with the above "double cross meta" offer? Very confusing

Card eligibility guidelines: Most Bank of America® branded consumer credit cards (such as the BankAmericard Cash Rewards™ credit card and the BankAmericard Travel Rewards® credit card) are eligible to receive the Preferred Rewards bonus, as long as the card account is open and in good standing. The Preferred Rewards bonus will replace the customer bonus you may already receive with the card.

No idea about the proffered bonuses but the double cross meta is a great reward IMHO. Especially if you use it for a longer cruise like we did for our upcoming 19 day one. Even more so since after final payment, the cost dropped substantially and they agreed to redecorating the points so we can do it again!

Sorry I have lots of questions! My dh got the card last cruise and we are wondering if I apply for one too if we can transfer all the points to one card? Will it matter that they are the promotional points? As for the meta upgrade can you do unassigned ox ocean view to unassigned balcony bx? And do you loose you extras like the prepaid gratuities or dinning packages? Lastly, how close to sailing can you use the points to upgrade? Thank you for any advice:)

Sorry I have lots of questions! My dh got the card last cruise and we are wondering if I apply for one too if we can transfer all the points to one card? i don't know Will it matter that they are the promotional points? As for the meta upgrade can you do unassigned ox ocean view to unassigned balcony bx? i would think so, when you call they will tell you what is eligible. And do you loose you extras like the prepaid gratuities or dinning packages? we didn't but it depends on the promo taking place at the time you use the upgradeLastly, how close to sailing can you use the points to upgrade? no idea but I would think as long as the upper tier category was avaiable. Thank you for any advice:)

Good luck!

Sorry I have lots of questions! My dh got the card last cruise and we are wondering if I apply for one too if we can transfer all the points to one card? Will it matter that they are the promotional points? As for the meta upgrade can you do unassigned ox ocean view to unassigned balcony bx? And do you loose you extras like the prepaid gratuities or dinning packages? Lastly, how close to sailing can you use the points to upgrade? Thank you for any advice:)

Me and my husband have separate NCL credit cards. You are able to transfer points between them. I'm pretty sure you can do it online. Doesn't matter where the points came from.

When I booked my Alaska cruise, I was told by the NCL staff handling the rewards points that typically when using the meta upgrade you book the highest level ocean view to get the lowest level balcony. With that said, I paid for OA and got BA (highest to highest). I got the impression I was being upgraded on top of my upgrade. The agent was super nice and there were some problems getting into BOA's rewards points system on the weekend, so it took several phone calls over 3 days to get everything squared away.

I was able to use the rewards points with the free beverage package and the AARP discount and several price drops since. I made out like a bandit.