Anyone have a Carnival FunPoints Mastercard?

[dear23]

If you pay off your card every month, pay all you bills with your credit card, and cruise Carnival at least once or twice a year, then it's very worth it to get this card. If not, then I would certainly recommend one of the other rewards cards out there....although rewards cards are really only worth it if you pay the bill on time & in full every month.

 

I've only had my Carnival card since April of last year (switched from an Alaska Airlines Visa), but have paid off this years airfare to San Diego for my Spirit cruise with points. Still have 9500 points left, and plan on saving them up until next years Magic cruise, then using whatever I have to cover my sail & sign bill. Did receive a pretty hefty bonus just for signing up with them, as well as another for using the card within 30 days...so be on the lookout for a good promotion with points.

Edited October 5, 2010 by dear23

[TBut50]

Just an FYI, I used to be able to collect points with my corporate AmEx Card and got a ton out of it. Then we switched to to a Capital One VISA and we weren't allowed to get points, I think it was because our company negotiated better deal for themselves and VISA took away our ability to get points. Recently after another merger, we are back to AmEx, but again we can't get points. Now I travel a bit for work, and quite a few of the places I go they don't take credit cards, let alone AmEx, I had to look around for a card that I would use in those occasions. Looked at the ones with the best Rewards Program and hands down it was the Marriott VISA. I get 3 points for every dollar spent on a Marriott property and can redeem these for pretty much everything; flights, hotel/resort stay, cruises, etc.

[Willbcruisin]

Just my personal preference.

 

I use the points towards payment of the CC card or payment of the cruise.

 

If you use your points in the form of an OBC, that OBC does not earn you double points on board. That's why I use the points to pay the CC.

 

Being addicted to cruising it's a good card for us. ;)

[MochaZen]

LoL You guys made the offer sound so good that I applied and have my own Carnival FunPoints Mastercard! I hope to be cruising on points one day!

[novellaherman]

How far in advance can you use your points to get an on board credit........we cruise in april and I would love to redeem my points now so that I don't have to worry about it. thanks

[golfadj]

We pretty much only use our card to pay Carnival expenses. For other purchases have a better card that gives me 2% cash back.

[The4Cruisers]

Reviving an old thread...

 

I've had the Carnival Fun card for a tad over three years now and I am just about hitting the 100K point level.

 

I noticed that my card is physically cracking so I called to get a replacement. The lady was very nice and said they'll send a new card to reach me in 7 -10 days. I said I'd like to get one sooner as I use the card for every purchase I make. She said OK.

 

Then she told me an expedited card would cost $15 to send. I asked her to review my account to see if they'd waive the fee (just like my bank does and other people I do business with on a regular basis). She declined to waive the fee. So, I asked her to check with her supervisor.

 

After a brief delay, she said that he declined to waive the fee as well. I told her that this was not a good business practice to upset a solid customer, but I understood that her hands may have been tied on the subject.

 

I asked for her name and her supervisor's name as I planned to express my displeasure through escalation.

 

She gave me the info and basically sent me on my way.

 

By now, I am fuming internally and filed a complaint through the credit card website. The result was a canned reply.

 

OK, so I am now done with them. I am now getting ready to switch cards and apply for a pretty good cash back card I found online.

 

Can't believe Barclay Bank is going to lose my business (not sure if it's of any value or whether I'm a small fish in a big sea) over a trivial item like this.

[SteveinMinnesota]

I too have had a Carnival MasterCard for 10-15 years and recently had a nightmare situation with their customer service. Similar to post above we requested new cards and they ended up sending multiple cards for each cardholder and then cancelling some of them and eventually rejecting payments and putting the card on hold the exact morning that we leave for a European trip. I called and tried to reason with customer service and a supervisor and were told that there was nothing that they could do. They apparently had tried to apply our payment to one of the cards that they cancelled so they rejected it and charged us interest and a late fee and jacked up our interest rate up to 24.9%. Amazing that they have no one available that could make a decision to keep us as a customer.

 

We'll figure out a way to use up our fun-points and then cancel the card. Maybe the issue is with Barclay, but maybe they just don't care anymore.

[cruisemom67]

There are a lot of really good credit cards out there, that give cash back. I also like to go on a "free" cruise, but if you do the cash back option and set it into a separate account (or even keep it on the account til use), you can use that cash back on ANYTHING and not be restricted. My husband found a credit card that gives 2% back on everything. No bonus points, but at best you will get back about 1.5% if you use the Carnival card. At worst you get back about .6% Definitely not worth it, IMHO.

[TVLady3]

Can you pay your service charges with OBC from this credit card?

[Aquahound]

OK, so I am now done with them. I am now getting ready to switch cards and apply for a pretty good cash back card I found online.

 

Sorry this happened but I have a feeling you'll discover it was a blessing in disguise. I ditched my cruise-line-specific card years ago and my only regret was not doing it sooner. The awards are so much better on other cards. Chase, Venture, AMEX, etc have excellent programs.

[The4Cruisers]

Sorry this happened but I have a feeling you'll discover it was a blessing in disguise. I ditched my cruise-line-specific card years ago and my only regret was not doing it sooner. The awards are so much better on other cards. Chase, Venture, AMEX, etc have excellent programs.

 

 

Thanks and you are correct! I searched around and found a 2% cash back card that we signed up to immediately. Just paid off my last little bit on the Barclay Card and moved on to charging everything to my new card.

[swtcntrygrl82]

I just recently signed up for this card as now that our kids are older we will be hoping to cruise at least every other year. I had a great signup offer. I got 100gc for signing up and another after making my first purchase. We are cruising next spring and I am using that card to pay for our trip and for our s&s account, so that I can earn 2 points per dollar and apply those toward this cruise, obc, future cruises, etc.... I do not however plan to use this as an everyday card.

[IntrepidFromDC]

I used to use my Carnival MasterCard only for Carnival purchases, but did the math and although it's slightly better than quicksilver for those purchases, it's not as good as the Citi doublecash or the Discover that pays 5% (10% first year) on restaurants, 1% (2%) on other purchases.

[dmdiver]

I have one - only got it to get an immediate $50 credit on my cruise a few years ago. We use it for most things & pay off every month. Instead of using for OBC, we use the card for the sail & sign account, which gets double points. Then, after the cruise, use the points to go back toward the Carnival expenses.

 

There are better cards out there for statement credit & we may be changing after our next cruise. Currently letting points build up to go back toward the trip.

[BettyPC]

We use ours all the time. Builds up after a while!

[MikeMSD]

I use mine only for Carnival purchases. My Capital One card is better for everyday purchases. I wish there were more benefits for cardholders. To me, it's a kinda useless card except for the 2x points on Carnival spending. I mainly got it for the $100 sign on credit.

[Tracey/Thom]

I'm cutting mine up, it's too much work! 3 times now I"ve used the Rewardsboost page to buy contact lenses and get 5x the points - it never happened, I had to chase them down for 2 months. This quarter I got a mailer that said if I used the card for the next 3 months in home improvement stores and restaurants I'd get 4x points. I activated the offer on the phone, as instructed. The extra points? It's never happened and my written complaint has resulted in yet another email saying they don't know what I'm talking about. I've waited the 6-8 weeks and so on and so forth. It's been a waste of time for the last couple years.

 

I AM DONE WITH THIS CARD! For a lousy 1%, I can use a different one and get 1.5% on everyday purchases, plus all the other 2x, 3x 4x points my other credit cards are offering. Sorry Carnival, you blew it for me.

[MidloCrusier]

I have cards with cash back bonus. Did some calculations about 3-4 years ago and found that for every dollar cash back I got , it was only about 80-90 cents for the cruise rewards.

This was 3-4 years ago and the calculations were based on the info I could find on the cruise rewards card verses what I received on my cash back cards.

 

Besides with cash back, you can spend it anywhere