Princess Rewards Visa - Princess Should Look For a New Banking Partner

[DaisyRose]

I received a letter today from Barclay, the issuer of the Princess Rewards Visa Card. A couple of months ago, we had gotten notice of the fact that they were increasing (by quite a bit) the amount of points you needed to redeem various awards, which was very disappointing. Well, today, it got worse!

 

They are making more changes to the terms of the accounts, and at this point, I sincerely believe Princess should look for another banking partner to issue their reward cards. I'm hoping some of you might agree.

 

I realize that a number of credit card issuers are changing their terms, but the terms I read in the letter I received today seem to me to be some of the worst. The letter stated, in part, that you must use your card for at least one purchase every six months (or have some type of account balance every six months) or they might close the account and you would forfeit all outstanding points earned! It went on to state that if your payment is late in a particular billing cycle, it may result in forfeiture of points earned in that billing cycle. If points are forfeited for any reason, they will not be reinstated.

 

To me, these are very unsatisfactory terms. Credit cards that are requiring a purchase to keep the account in good standing usually only require a purchase once a year, not every six months. Imagine if you had thousands of points, and inadvertently allowed more than six months to go by without making a purchase - you could loose all your points! I find this outrageous, and am thinking seriously about closing my account. My problem is that I believe that opening and closing credit cards can negatively affect your credit rating, and I may be applying for a mortgage in the next year or two, so I'm not sure I want to close the account.

 

I hope Princess is reading this, and if so, it would be my suggestion that they look for a different banking partner to issue their card. I'm wondering how others feel about these changes, and wondering if a letter writing campaign to Princess might also be in order. What do other Cruise Critic members think about this?

[Whimsy]

I don't have this card, I use another reward type card that is broader for redemption. I personally would just go charge $20 worth of gas every few months and not worry about it.

 

I am not trying to be sarcastic to the OP but if you aren't using the card you aren't accumulating points. So why have the card in the first place? I use my rewards card as much as possible to accumulate points but pay it off every month. I am letting the points accumulate for our trip in 2012. Have some major remodeling going on so hoping that we are able to accumulate quite a few points.

[seastar2]

Had this card for several years...used for cruises...would get enough points for a spa discount by the time we cruised....:D

 

Recently booked a cruise...used card for deposit and a few other charges...paid the bill in full....then a month or so later had to cancel...they sent a refund check and then CLOSED the account.:eek:

 

I had read here about folks having credit lines reduced, that never happened. If they had sent a letter telling me the account would be closed I would have used it. Guess cause I didn;t use it every month and paid in full I was not a "good customer"....

 

I called and tried to find out why. Was told the account could not be reopened but I could re-apply which I did...several weeks later I get letter saying I had an account that was closed therefore they will not at this time give me another account!!!!:eek: A couple of weeks ago I recieved another letter thanking me for my application but the partnership will not be continued and at this time they will not be issuing me a card????

 

Yes a new partner is needed.....

[DaisyRose]

I have other cards that I use that I feel I get better rewards from, but the Princess Rewards card offers double points on Princess purchases - paying for cruises and onboard spending. When you get double points, then the card is more worthwhile. However, I can generally only take a Princess cruise once a year, which is why I might "forget" to use the card in the six month period. I could make a point of making sure to use the card a little more often, but it's an extra thing to try to think about and remember. I just think that loosing points you have accumulated is pretty drastic.

[Whimsy]

I have other cards that I use that I feel I get better rewards from, but the Princess Rewards card offers double points on Princess purchases - paying for cruises and onboard spending. When you get double points, then the card is more worthwhile. However, I can generally only take a Princess cruise once a year, which is why I might "forget" to use the card in the six month period. I could make a point of making sure to use the card a little more often, but it's an extra thing to try to think about and remember. I just think that loosing points you have accumulated is pretty drastic.

 

That makes sense. I really wasn't trying to be sarcastic. I hope it came out the right way. :)

[whatcruiseisnext]

We have the Princess Rewards Visa card AND a Delta Skymiles AMEX card. We are "forced" to use the Visa card whenever a merchant doesn't accept AMEX although we primarily use the AMEX. We charge EVERYTHING and I mean everything and pay both cards off monthly. An easy way to do that is when we charge something we write it out of the checkbook in red ink. So it is just as if we were writing a check. When the statments come...the money is there with no scrimping. This system works for us and we have reaped the rewards of both cards and intend to continue doing so.

[Whimsy]

I automatically deduct from the check book too. Good idea about the red ink. Will have to start doing it that way. Thanks!

[caribill]

The letter stated, in part, that you must use your card for at least one purchase every six months (or have some type of account balance every six months) or they might close the account and you would forfeit all outstanding points earned!

 

You are going to see this more and more from other credit card issuers.

 

With the changes in credit card rules imposed by Congress, credit cards are not as big a money maker as they used to be. As a result, issuers are starting to cancel accounts that have little or no inactivity as they cost more to maintain than any income that comes in to the issuer.

 

Obviously, if such a card is tied to points for some purpose, the points will disappear when the account is closed.

 

At least this issuer is giving a warning that the card must be used or cancelled. I have had (unused) cards cancelled with no advance warning and some with no notification that they were cancelled.

 

I do remember one notification that basically said (and I paraphrase): "We have noticed that you have not used the card for a period of time and thus assume that this card does not meet your needs. Accordingly, the account is closed. Please destroy any cards associated with the account"

[Loonbeam]

The loss of points for a month due to a late payment is actually fairly common, Barclay was one of a few that didn't do that up until recently. (Citi and Chase are the only two rewards issuers I know of who don't do that now).

 

The six month activity rule is a new one, but I expect to see more of it, possibly with it being waived if you select e-statements. Even with that however, there are costs to the issuer for every open card, so I suspect you will see a lot more cards canceled with no activity. A simple solution is to find something with a very small membership fee (I use my postage scale rental for my Princess card which is billed quarterly plus postage) and set it to auto-bill thus maintaining card activity.

[Colo Cruiser]

I canceled my Princess visa earlier this year. :mad:

[SF]

I am not trying to be sarcastic to the OP but if you aren't using the card you aren't accumulating points. So why have the card in the first place?

 

I agree, if the card isn't used to accumulate points what's the point of having the card?

 

We have a Princess Visa Reward card and have turned in the points for several different benefits.

 

In today's economy several credit cards companies have been making stricter guidelines, reducing credit limits, adding fees, etc.....Asking someone to use the card once in six months to me isn't that terrible. I'd more upset if they initiate a fee then I'd think about canceling.

 

I really don't see what the problem is because if the card isn't used in a six month period anyway there would be hardly any points to redeem so why not cancel the card.

[BlueCat1105]

I have another credit card that I want to keep active so they don't shut it down (God forbid you have a card for emergencies only...) so I have one bill per month automatically paid with that card. Yes, that means I have to pay that bill every month, but with I would have to pay the bill anyway (it's my cell phone bill), so instead of paying the cell phone bill each month, I pay the credit card for the cell phone bill. With online banking, bill paying isn't much of a hassle anymore anyway.

[Pia1913]

I love my Princess Visa; I charge everything to my Princess Visa and I've gotten lots of cash back. Since we cruise so much and so often this card is very good for us.

 

We have lots of cards that have been closed for inactivity. I'm glad they did that. Did me a favor of not having to keep track of cards I wasn't using. One MC, with a humongous credit line, I keep active with two or three annual charges. Makes them happy.

[Woobstr112G]

One thing I found out is the computation for the minimum payment % of the outstanding balance has charged. Last year, Barclays reduced it to .1% because of the economy. They have recently bumped it back up to the original amount of 1% of the outstanding balance. I know that many of you out there pay off balances each month, but for those of us who don't, just be forwarned as it can leed to substantial increases in minimum monthly payments.:eek::eek::eek:

 

Bob

[LARGIN]

One thing I found out is the computation for the minimum payment % of the outstanding balance has charged. Last year, Barclays reduced it to .1% because of the economy. They have recently bumped it back up to the original amount of 1% of the outstanding balance. I know that many of you out there pay off balances each month, but for those of us who don't, just be forwarned as it can leed to substantial increases in minimum monthly payments.:eek::eek::eek:

 

Bob

Why would you make minimum monthly payments with today's high interest rates?

[Woobstr112G]

Why would you make minimum monthly payments with today's high interest rates?

 

I was just warning people, that's all......

 

Bob

[Pia1913]

Why would you make minimum monthly payments with today's high interest rates?

 

Unfortunately that's how most of the world lives. Not you nor I, but the majority.

[Loonbeam]

One impact it may have on you is your credit score. Closing inactive cards reduces your available credit which can hurt you if you carry some debt. That's what happened to us, not a huge hit but enough to make a difference of .25% on a car loan.

 

 

I love my Princess Visa; I charge everything to my Princess Visa and I've gotten lots of cash back. Since we cruise so much and so often this card is very good for us.

 

We have lots of cards that have been closed for inactivity. I'm glad they did that. Did me a favor of not having to keep track of cards I wasn't using. One MC, with a humongous credit line, I keep active with two or three annual charges. Makes them happy.

[Bowie MeMe]

Thanks for the idea about putting one automatic payment on a credit card to keep it active. I mainly use a visa that is associated with my insurance company. I KNOW that I will have insurance (car,life, umbrella, house, homeowner's etc!) and that it will be with the same company. My points can be transfered to pay for the insurance with just one phone call. Then I have more money to buy airline tickets (from anybody giving a good deal) cruises (searching for a deal) and clothes for the cruise from the money I do not spend on the insurance. I am going to put my gym membership on the Mastercard I have had for 30 years. I like this card for the good it does on my credit score and the fact that it can be used in different set of ATM than the Visa.

[DaisyRose]

Lots of good ideas here, thanks everyone for all the suggestions. As long as I keep the card, I'll be sure to use it at least every six months, and the suggestion to put an automatic payment on it will do the trick. My daily newspaper delivery is billed every two months, so if I switch that to the Princess card, I won't have to worry. I do still think, though, that closing the account, and forfeiting all points you may have accumulated is drastic, especially if you don't get a warning that it hasn't been used for a few months and you are risking closure if you don't use it soon. I can just see some people who have a number of cards forgetting to use it and loosing lots of points with this new rule. Thanks again, all, for weighing in on this.

[cruiser113]

Like Pia , we love the Princess Rewards card. Charge everything that doesn't incur a fee. Use it to pay phones, utilities , member ship fees, groceries , gas etc. Pay it off every month and we usually cruise @ least once a yr or more. Use it for the cruise payment to get double rewards and this time we will gift ourselves with some casino monies.

 

Have used the rewards for on board credit , balcony breakfast.

 

On our upcoming cruise will have enough points for $500 ship board credit and almost a breakfast.

 

No fee is a plus!

[Pia1913]

One impact it may have on you is your credit score. Closing inactive cards reduces your available credit which can hurt you if you carry some debt. That's what happened to us, not a huge hit but enough to make a difference of .25% on a car loan.

 

Not to worry. If my credit score was any higher it would be scary. I just refinanced my mortgage at 2.99%.

[cruznliz]

Just received our cards today! I'm excited about it. We will be making final payment on a Princess cruise in a few weeks! ;) Double points! Yippee!! Can anyone tell me how easy it is to redeem the points? Will I be able to use them for a cruise in January?

 

We are planning on closing our American Airlines card because we have so many miles we don't know what to do with them. Also that card has an annual fee.:( Fortunately we won't lose the miles when we cancel the card.:eek:

[SF]

Just received our cards today! I'm excited about it. We will be making final payment on a Princess cruise in a few weeks! ;) Double points! Yippee!! Can anyone tell me how easy it is to redeem the points? Will I be able to use them for a cruise in January?

 

We are planning on closing our American Airlines card because we have so many miles we don't know what to do with them. Also that card has an annual fee.:( Fortunately we won't lose the miles when we cancel the card.:eek:

 

It's very easy to redeem the points. Just call there redemption number and tell them whether you want OBC or to apply the money to your credit card bill. To use it for OBC you need to call at least 15 business days prior to your cruise to give them enough time to inform the ship. That's all there is to it. We've redeemed our points several times and have had no problems. Plan to do the same for our upcoming cruise in November.

[caribill]

We are planning on closing our American Airlines card because we have so many miles we don't know what to do with them. Also that card has an annual fee.:( Fortunately we won't lose the miles when we cancel the card.:eek:

 

Don't close the card.

 

When it is annual fee time, call and ask for an option that lets you keep the card with no fee attached. They can usually do this, but lower future points that can be earned by 50% (1 point per $2 spent on non AA, 1 point per $1 for AA charges).

 

Then, you can use the card periodically just to be able to get a few points and extend the date for those hard earned points to not disappear.