abugs

[quote name='kendallison']Has anyone sent in enough certificates to receive their cruise cost [B]and deposit[/B] back since the program has ended? My cruise cost is $2500. I have payed a deposit of $1000. I owe $1500. I have $2500 in certificates. I know in the good old days if I sent in my $2500 in certificates now, my cruise would be payed for and I would receive a $1000 credit on my credit card refunding my deposit. (Even though the fine print says you cannot use them for deposits...they still let you.) Since the change, I'm worried that if I send in $2500 in certificates my cruise will be payed for but I won't get my $1000 refund and $1000 in certificates will be lost.

Thanks!
Susan[/quote]

We just did this. Just got our last $500 cert. by paying off our cruise in December. They credited $500 back to our BofA card no problem. I was a little worried, but many people here said they had the same experience after paying in full.

ETA: Sorry - I just reread and saw what you meant about the deposit. We only paid a $250 deposit, so I cannot say that we were in the same scenario. Hopefully someone else can pop in to say. Good luck!

What genius at BofA decided to mail the cash certificates and upgrade certificates separately -- doubling their mailing cost.

 

I wonder of anyone at BofA is following this post? How about any of the travel writers? Seems to be a major blunder by BofA. Anyone remember how great MBNA was?

 

I got my $500 cash certificate and my $100 upgrade certificate in the same mailing. They actually tallied my points correctly, including the points I earned from 12/5-12/31, which I needed to make it over 500 points. Part of me wonders if BofA/NCL are telling people that line to give them some time to correct the errors and send out the missing certs. BTW, there was space for another 2 certificates on my page. 4 certs fit to each page the way they are printing them.

Just got my Compass Rewards today. I was truly fearing the worst after everything I've read and the fact that no one seemed to be able to give point totals as of 12/31/08 at either NCL or BofA. But they got my points 100% right. 1 $500 cert. and 1 useless 100 point upgrade. Funny thing is that the bulk of my points (311 or so) were from my ending date in early Dec. through month end. I am going to keep my fingers crossed that they are sending out some more correctly. What a pain this program has turned out to be. :(

Does anyone else have a problem with their on-line account? I'm told i don't have a valid account??? Just wondering if it's me or something to do with all the changes. Thank-you

 

I can access my acct. just fine. They are even showing a running tally for the very few transactions I have made since 1/1 with the points tallied accurately. Why they cannot show the points balance as of 12/31 is beyond me, though.

Um, What?? We're getting new cards? That's funny, cos I sure haven't gotten one. Has anyone else?

 

I actually got a letter from BofA saying that my card security had been compromised and the same day I got a new card from them. I think this was yesterday or the day before. I hadn't activated the new card yet (not 100% sure I want to, lol), but when I tried to use the old NCL BofA card today it had been deactivated. So, I think mine is a special situation, but yes, I did get a new card.

Thank you' date=' that was very helpful. Unfortunately, it showed that they only transfered the points thru my Dec statement date, and not the additional points I earned between then and Dec 31st. I ended up with 997 points. This represents a loss of $500 because they did not credit my additional 5 points I earned. It will cost [i']them [/i]my business.

 

This happened to us, as well. Although, curiously enough, they DID include credits for 2 transactions paid to NCL after the Dec. closing date. One on 12/10/08 and the other on 12/20/08, both INcorrectly credited at 1%. But at least it's something that they were included. My thinking is if they included those, they have to include the rest. Let's not give up hope yet!

 

I do think it's interesting that none of us ever experienced any problem with the crediting of points until the program was ending and a lot of us were trying to squeeze out another $500. :mad:

I don't know if BofA has always had this on their site, but I just noticed yesterday that when you first click on your acct., there are 4 tabs at the top in gray: Account Activity, My Statements, Services and Rewards. If I click on Rewards, it gives me options on redemption and then also to "Review reward points transaction history." Now the history search engine I found to be a bit cumbersome, but you can click on each of your closing dates in the "go to" box to get a running tally of what they say your points are. You have to click on the closing date and then move over to the right and click "GO!". And then it does show a point total for "conversion" of what they sent over to NCL. That transaction was posted 1/10/09 for us. HTH!

The 1/5/09 letter says on the front:

 

"You will receive your final Compass Reward certificates by mail in 6-8 weeks. You may redeem these certificates just as you have done in the past. Simply book and purchase your cruise before the January 31, 2010 certificate expiration date on any sailing prior to January 31, 2011."

 

Then on the back under the FAQs, it says:

 

"What happens to the Compass Reward points that I have already earned?

 

You will receive Compass Reward Certificates by January 31, 2009 based on your Compass Rewards point balance on December 31, 2008."

 

Since it sounds like points were not calculated correctly for the folks that DID manage to get a point balance as of 12/31/08, I would not be surprised if they are having to go back and double check everyone's balances before sending out the certificates. I would expect the 6-8 weeks to be more accurate and I will be very surprised if we get anything before 1/31/09.

I received a letter today from NCL and BofA dated 1/5/09. It details the NEW Freestyle rewards program.

 

-Earn 1 WorldPoints point for every $1 in net retail purchases.

- Earn 2 WorldPoints points for every $1 in purchases made directly through NCL.

-Use your NCL MasterCard credit card or redeem your points for cruise specials that will only be available to NCL credit cardholders, including new itineraries, last minute offers and the new F3 ship debuting in 2010.

-Redeem your points for other NCL rewards, such as cruises, stateroom upgrades, cruise discounts, on-board credits & onboard experiences.

 

It goes on to say you can also redeem your points for travel, merchandise or cash back.

 

Anyway, there is a FAQ on the back that says, "While we convert your program, Bank of America customer service associates will be unable to provide you with new NCL WorldPoints balance until the end of your January statement cycle. Additionally, NCL WorldPoints rewards earned in January may not be reflected in your new point balance until the end of your Feb. statement cycle."

 

I am wondering if maybe this is why some of the BofA cust. svce. reps are confused when we call? Maybe they think we are asking for points balances on the NEW program instead of the old Compass Rewards? I just really don't understand why the points balances are so hard to get right now before those final certs. are issued.

I just had a similar situation. Called BofA and was told that that program in "handled out-house now". She said they sent over the point totals to NCL and no longer handle it. The number she gave me was 1-866-954-4077, NCL's WorldPoints Redemption Ctr. Of course, I gave them a call and they said they don't handle it and I need to call BofA. Will keep trying to call BofA and hope to speak to someone who knows something instead of someone who makes it up as they go! I would really like to be sure my point totals are correct BEFORE my last cert. is issued.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=17389676&postcount=1443

 

c breeze - Thank you. I think I have that post bookmarked already, just in case. I also have a spreadsheet where I was tracking my DEC purchases good to go. Just seems weird that some people would have balances on their JAN statement and others would not. Maybe they realized there was a problem with some so decided to stop adding potentially incorrect points balances until they get it sorted out. That's what I'm hoping anyway. :)

I had a closing date of 1/6/09 this month (usually it is the 3rd or 4th of the month). Funny enough, there were NO points listed on the statement at all. :confused: At the bottom, in the messages section, it does say:

 

"You will receive your final compass reward certificate by 1/30/09 based on your compass reward balance on 12/31/08. Your certificates will be received in the usual increments of 100 and 500 points."

 

I am a little nervous about the points not being listed. I should have had more than enough for that last certificate, but who knows how this will all play out.

I'm not sure if they'll except overpayment, but if not, go to the ncl website and under bon voyage gifts, you can print out a page to fill out for OBC. You'll get the additional 1% if you use your NCL mastercard.

 

Just a note: The website states that you can only buy a certain amount of OBC, but the truth is, people often send in thousands of dollars so that their cruises are completely paid for before they set sail, so I know it's done.

 

Thank you! I thought there was a way to do that.

Does anyone know if you can pay more than your final pmt due on the NCL site? For instance, if we owe $300 on our next cruise, can we pay $1,000 and have credit on our acct. when we board to pay for excursions and cocktails? I am thinking that might be the best way to get our last charge for points for our 2nd cert. :) Thanks!

I think I will have ~133, depending on some of my pending purchases. So I will need another 200. I was going to put another $1K down on the cruise, so that's 40 there, right? I don't think I will have a problem getting the other 160. I am thinking I will just go for it and if I don't get it until after final pmt is due, I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best. You're right - another card would not even compare. Thx!

I was hoping someone can give me some advice on whether or not I should even try to get the last $500 voucher.

 

We just redeemed one, sent it in and it all went fine. We need 333 more points by 12/31 to get 1 more. My billing cycle ends 12/4, so it could be doable. My big question is about timing. Final pmt. for our April cruise is due 1/19. I am not even sure I would have the certificate in hand by then. Is it worth it to make final pmt and then submit and hope they honor it and make a refund? I know some people have said that worked for them, but it makes me a bit nervous.

 

Anyone have any suggestions? I wish I had done the math a couple of months ago so I could have gotten the points THEN. :(