Using princess visa reward points for excursions ed

Hello. My first post! Hubby and I booked a cruise in January. We have points to redeem on our Princess Visa card amounting to $500. We called Barclay and gave them our booking info. Points were redeemed and will show up in our cruise account on day of sail. The problem is that we would like purchase our excursions now, because we have missed our in the past. Excursions must be prepaid. We called Princess and asked if we could prepay them and then use our OBC when we embark... crediting our credit card and accessing our OBC's. The Princess rep said "maybe" ... couldn't guarantee it. Has anyone done this? Does it seem doable?

You can use OBC that posts to your account before sailing to make pre-paid reservations.

However the official line from Princess on the types of OBC unavailable before boarding (thus the 'O' in OBC) is:

"Please note that purchased and gifted Onboard Credits for [your] booking will be available onboard even though they are not visible on [the cruise personalizer]."

But I do recall posts here from people able to find an unusually cooperative phone rep who did find a way to use purchased OBC (which is what you have) in advance. I guess it never hurts to keep trying.

Hello. My first post! Hubby and I booked a cruise in January. We have points to redeem on our Princess Visa card amounting to $500. We called Barclay and gave them our booking info. Points were redeemed and will show up in our cruise account on day of sail. The problem is that we would like purchase our excursions now, because we have missed our in the past. Excursions must be prepaid. We called Princess and asked if we could prepay them and then use our OBC when we embark... crediting our credit card and accessing our OBC's. The Princess rep said "maybe" ... couldn't guarantee it. Has anyone done this? Does it seem doable?

There have been a few threads on the challenges with this card (which we also have) and redeeming points etc. Since the best redemption value is a statement credit, why not take that option and pay for the excursions with that credit? It would alleviate any angst about missing out on the excursions, you'd get the best value for your $, and you'd earn 2x the points for your Princess excursions.....seems like a win/win/win! Im not sure if we will keep this card long term but until we decide to get rid of it the only option we've chosen is the statement credit, partly for the reasons listed but mainly because it seems currently to be the easiest and most fool-proof way to get the benefit. [emoji4]

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And oops, welcome to cruise critic! [emoji4]

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There have been a few threads on the challenges with this card (which we also have) and redeeming points etc. Since the best redemption value is a statement credit, why not take that option and pay for the excursions with that credit? It would alleviate any angst about missing out on the excursions, you'd get the best value for your $, and you'd earn 2x the points for your Princess excursions.....seems like a win/win/win! Im not sure if we will keep this card long term but until we decide to get rid of it the only option we've chosen is the statement credit, partly for the reasons listed but mainly because it seems currently to be the easiest and most fool-proof way to get the benefit. [emoji4]

 

 

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I agree completely - it's the only way I've ever redeemed points and I've done it several times. The last time I redeemed for statement credit, I did it completely online with no problems at all (unlike some previous times when I had to call). A statement credit against a single Princess transaction of $4,001 or more is definitely the best payback. Then you will have no problem charging your excursions to your credit card (and getting the double points for that also).

I agree completely - it's the only way I've ever redeemed points and I've done it several times. The last time I redeemed for statement credit, I did it completely online with no problems at all (unlike some previous times when I had to call). A statement credit against a single Princess transaction of $4,001 or more is definitely the best payback. Then you will have no problem charging your excursions to your credit card (and getting the double points for that also).

I totally agree! And - whether true or not, I've heard OBC that is "purchased" with points - can be lost if you have to cancel your cruise.....so for us, the statement credit will always make the most sense.

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