RCI Visa--What would YOU do?

I'm getting close to 75,000 points on my RCI Visa card...I should be there in a few more months. If you were in my shoes, which would you do--

--Use 50,000 points for a free 4 night cruise for two and use some of the rest for onboard credit...or...

--Use 75,000 points for a free companion fare on a 7 night

Since you live within driving distance of the ports (like Me), and do not have to pay to travel, I would take the free 4 nighter.

Or you could hold off until you get 100,000 and then cash them in for 2 free 3 or 4 night cruises and do a b2b to get 7 nights for 2 free!

Although if you really need a cruise sooner, go with the 4 night and obc.

We have the RCCL card too, and personally, we would either cash the points in for a defined amount of money off a cruise (for example, we used 50,000 points to get $500 off a 3 nighter in a suite last year) or redeem it all for onboard spending money. I believe that 75,000 points would be worth $750 in your onboard spending account.

The reason we say this, is that we feel we are getting a better deal that way - and they aren't sticking us in a yucky room that would have cost less than the points can be redeemed for monetarily.

Just my 2 cents - don't know if I am right or not.:p

Our past two cruises on RCI, we cashed in points for OBC's...:) We like sailing in a BL, so we figure the 'cash' is our best option..:D

We also had JS 1100, on the Jewel of the Seas... WOW!!!:p

I figured my decision on the point per dollar effectiveness. If you do the standard OBC conversion, i.e. 50,000 pts for $500 OBC its a 100 to 1 ratio.

When we looked the 4 nighter it was 50,000 pts for $729 worth of value, for 68.5 to 1 ratio. The 7 nighter was 75,000 pts for $1,249 worth of value for 60 to 1 ratio.

With this method we chose the 7 day. Run it for your cruise fares and see if there is dramatic difference in the ratios to help you decide....if they are the same, well.....this doesn't help..LOL:D

I do it the way you do. We took the 50000 points for a free 4 nighter. As it is over the fourth of July holiday, it is a more expensive cruise, with the cheapest outside cabin being $650 a person. Therefore, we got the full $1000 credit, which is double what we would have gotten as an OBC. For the poster who said they took the OBC because they wanted a better cabin, you don't have to take the cheapest cabin - we could take the money for the cheapest cabin ($1000) and pay the difference to upgrade. This way, we came out with $500 more value for the points, which using your ratio is 50 to 1.

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's comments on my question. You each have a unique and interesting way of looking at this situation and I appreciate your kindness in thinking this over and giving me some different ways to look at this.

I do it the way you do. We took the 50000 points for a free 4 nighter. As it is over the fourth of July holiday, it is a more expensive cruise, with the cheapest outside cabin being $650 a person. Therefore, we got the full $1000 credit, which is double what we would have gotten as an OBC. For the poster who said they took the OBC because they wanted a better cabin, you don't have to take the cheapest cabin - we could take the money for the cheapest cabin ($1000) and pay the difference to upgrade. This way, we came out with $500 more value for the points, which using your ratio is 50 to 1.

Good point about being able to use the free cruise during a more expensive time.

We have almost 25000 now, and are trying to decide if we should wait to use them, (do a short one this summer to build up more points):confused:, or burn them now, in case B of A discontinues the program. Any thoughts on the longevity of the program?

Good point about being able to use the free cruise during a more expensive time.

We have almost 25000 now, and are trying to decide if we should wait to use them, (do a short one this summer to build up more points):confused:, or burn them now, in case B of A discontinues the program. Any thoughts on the longevity of the program?

You bring up a valid point where in this day and age benefits for certain programs keep disappearing...I will definitely consider using my points SOONER rather than too much LATER!

Also, I remember someone mentioning that points starting being deducted from her statement, and after inquiry determined that they expire after a certain point, i.e not used with X years/months...Does anyone know what the time frame is??

All of these suggestions are very helpful. We too, have over 50,000 right now and were kicking around the free 4 day. If we choose to do that, do we book it first, then get ask B of A for the remit of our points, or do we get the points first and turn them in when we book. This will be the first time we redeem anything, and not exactly sure of the process

Also, I remember someone mentioning that points starting being deducted from her statement, and after inquiry determined that they expire after a certain point, i.e not used with X years/months...Does anyone know what the time frame is??

As I understand it, and if it hasn't changed recently, the points are good for a total of 5 yrs., (60 months). We are almost up to 125,000 pts. and will be using them for a free 7 nt, but upgrading to a balcony. So far only the Oasis is showing up for the Caribbean for Oct. of 2010, when we would want to cruise. The cheapest OV is only a few dollars cheaper than a balcony. When more choices become available, then we will make a decision. Hopefully, they won't change the program until we can redeem the points!

The points are good for 5 years, but only for 6 months after you get the certificate. That doesn't mean you have to cruise within 6 months of the certificate, but you need to send in the certificate within that time frame on a booking. We booked our cruise with RCL and then called B of A and asked for the 50000 points to be redeemed for the free cruise. They sent the certificate within a few weeks and I forwarded it along to RCL. We had to give a deposit to reserve the cabin, which was OK, because we added to the $1000 we were getting for a better cabin. If the certificate would cover the whole cost, I would have called B of A before RCL and asked for the certificate number, and then booked the cruise, giving the RCL agent the number, so I would not have had to put down a monetary deposit.

Actually, we used up the rest of our points with this cruise and have switched to a different credit card (Starwood Amex). It gives you more options for your points, and now that cruises have become so much cheaper, it is difficult to rationalize using points for RCL, as you can rarely get the 50 to 1 (or 2%) return.

Are you saying that the 50,000 point certificate (free 4 night cruise) is basically worth $1000? Somewhere I thought I read it was only worth $500......

If you take on onboard credit, you get $500 for the 50000 points. If you use it for a free 3 or 4 nighter for two, you will get the cheapest available outside cabin for two, up to a maximum of $500 a person ($1000 in total). If the cheapest cabin costs more than $1000 for two, you have to pay the extra plus any upgrade you may want will cost more. We upped the cabin one catagory (only $10 per person) so we would not be on the lowest deck. If the cheapest cabin is less than $1000, you will be credited the full cost of that cabin. So, you can see, the yield for a free cruise can be double what you would get for an onboard credit. The only time it would be less would be if you found a cruise that costs less than $250 per person for an outside cabin, but I doubt that exists.

Hmmm, four nights VS 7 night's let's think about this........7 NIGHTS!

4 nights is not nearly long enough.... go for the 7 day!

Keep in mind that these points DO expire. We let 1250 points expire on accident - luckily it wasn't more than that. We are using our 75,000 points for a free companion fare on a 7 day. Was going to cash out more points for on board credit but thought we would wait & use for another cruise.