Barclay Princess Card OBC question

[CSloan]

If I purchase OBC with the Barclay Princess card points, what happens to the OBC if I don't use them all? Would I just lose them?

 

THanks

[KirkNC]

My understanding is they are just a credit to your onboard account. Are you talking about buying more in total OBC's than your entire account can use? I would think those would be lost.

 

Kirk

[CSloan]

My understanding is they are just a credit to your onboard account. Are you talking about buying more in total OBC's than your entire account can use? I would think those would be lost.

 

Kirk

 

Yeah - If I buy $100 OBC with points, and only spend $75, I'm assuming I would just lose the $25 balance?

[ibfern]

Sometimes we have extra money left (OBC) and we figure if we don't spend it we will lose it, so I go shopping!!

 

On my last cruise, someone had suggested using it in the casino, lol! We are not really into gambling, but the suggestion was to keep cashing out and therefor get your cash back that way.

[Pam in CA]

Yeah - If I buy $100 OBC with points, and only spend $75, I'm assuming I would just lose the $25 balance?

You'd get it back. Some OBC's aren't refundable but where you've redeemed points for the OBC, you will. Chances are that unless you have a heck of a lot more OBC, you'll use it all up. The daily service charge ("auto-tip") alone for just one person will use up most of it and if you purchase drinks (water, soda or alcohol), tours, bingo, etc., those charges will be applied to your credit. Edited November 9, 2011 by Pam in CA

[CSloan]

Well, I doubt I'd really have any left. But, I have FCCs and TA credit that covers the auto-tips. Usually don't spend a whole lot onboard, other than that. But, now that I think about it, the casino is a great idea!!

 

If I get some back, would it go back to my "points" balance?

[umbertsmum]

Is this card available in the UK?

[Merlinite]

Sometimes we have extra money left (OBC) and we figure if we don't spend it we will lose it, so I go shopping!!

 

On my last cruise, someone had suggested using it in the casino, lol! We are not really into gambling, but the suggestion was to keep cashing out and therefor get your cash back that way.

 

That's the ticket. You don't have to gamble. Just set up the account, transfer the money from your account, cash out and the cashier will give you the cash. Your on board credits will be zero. Slots only, of course...

[CSloan]

Is this card available in the UK?

I did a web search for Barclay UK, and found the card. But, don't know if they have the Princess Card...

[princessmargaret]

I have the Barclay card in the US. When I have redeemed my points, it has just been applied to a credit to that charge account. Super easy.

[DGSFlorida]

Here is how it really works.

 

You may redeem reward points in increments of 10,000 points which will be applied as a $100 OBC. You cannot redeem for partial credit, i.e. if you have 15,000 points you cannot redeem for $150 OBC. Obviously if you have 20,000 points you can redeem 2 lots for $200 OBC.

 

You can request the redemption by phone or online. You must redeem in advance of your cruise. I believe they recommend 15 to 20 days in advance.

 

When they are applied to your sailing account, they will reside in "Special Services" and will not immediately show up in your OBC totals.

 

They are NOT reversible. The official policy is that once they are applied to a cruise you must take the cruise and use them or they will be forfeited.

[CSloan]

Here is how it really works.

 

You may redeem reward points in increments of 10,000 points which will be applied as a $100 OBC. You cannot redeem for partial credit, i.e. if you have 15,000 points you cannot redeem for $150 OBC. Obviously if you have 20,000 points you can redeem 2 lots for $200 OBC.

 

You can request the redemption by phone or online. You must redeem in advance of your cruise. I believe they recommend 15 to 20 days in advance.

 

When they are applied to your sailing account, they will reside in "Special Services" and will not immediately show up in your OBC totals.

 

They are NOT reversible. The official policy is that once they are applied to a cruise you must take the cruise and use them or they will be forfeited.

 

Ok, then. Any leftovers go into the slots!

[ibfern]

Here is how it really works.

 

You may redeem reward points in increments of 10,000 points which will be applied as a $100 OBC. You cannot redeem for partial credit, i.e. if you have 15,000 points you cannot redeem for $150 OBC. Obviously if you have 20,000 points you can redeem 2 lots for $200 OBC.

 

You can request the redemption by phone or online. You must redeem in advance of your cruise. I believe they recommend 15 to 20 days in advance.

 

When they are applied to your sailing account, they will reside in "Special Services" and will not immediately show up in your OBC totals.

 

They are NOT reversible. The official policy is that once they are applied to a cruise you must take the cruise and use them or they will be forfeited.

 

This seems correct. I have two Barcley cards, one Carnival credit card (I think Visa, never use it anymore) and the other a Princess Visa.

 

In addition to OBC, you can also reduce the price of the cruise with the credits which in essence is about $100 per 10,000 points on the Princess visa. The carnival card is not as generous with the exchange, it costs 15,000 points to buy $100 dollars in credit toward the cruise or OBC.

[caribill]

Here is how it really works.

 

You may redeem reward points in increments of 10,000 points which will be applied as a $100 OBC. You cannot redeem for partial credit, i.e. if you have 15,000 points you cannot redeem for $150 OBC. Obviously if you have 20,000 points you can redeem 2 lots for $200 OBC.

 

Actually, you can redeem 5000 points for $50 OBC

 

Thus, 15,000 points can be redeemed for $150 OBC, but it will be done in two parts. $100 and then $50. (I have done this multiple times).

[Elkhorn20fan]

we just redeened 60,000 points to get $750.00 off our January cruise!!!!!!!!!!!Great deal!!!

Edited November 10, 2011 by 17kenseth

[northcreek]

I don't understand how anyone could have too much OBC, I could easily spend it all, jewelry,spa, drinks, dinners, tours, casino, art. I never have trouble spending money, it is so much fun!

[BLS]

You'd get it back. Some OBC's aren't refundable but where you've redeemed points for the OBC, you will. Chances are that unless you have a heck of a lot more OBC, you'll use it all up. The daily service charge ("auto-tip") alone for just one person will use up most of it and if you purchase drinks (water, soda or alcohol), tours, bingo, etc., those charges will be applied to your credit.

We're just off the Ruby Transatlantic and I used points for on board credit and checked with the Pursers desk and was told it was use it or loose it.

Bev

[crooooze]

Once princess reward points are redeemed and OBC credited to an existing booking, has anyone changed their room category and retained their OBC?

 

Apparently changing the room category (ie. going from oceanview to balcony) requires the reservation to be cancelled and rebooked. When the original reservation is cancelled, any OBC is forfeited, even OBC earned from several years of loyal Princess VISA spending.

 

That has just happened to us and we are trying to work with Princess to have that corrected. but I really have to say - Princess customer support isn't very warm or friendly on this topic. We've been getting a cold "No - that's the way it works."

[whatcruiseisnext]

Waht we do instead of getting onbaord credit we use the points to "purchase" cash. So oinstead of say getting ing $100 or more in OBC we just have Prncess visa credit the amount to our account. If you purchased yoru cruise or your airfare on your card you can have whatever amount you slect just credited to your Visa. So then you have the $100 or wahtever in your own onboard account at home without having to lose any. Much easier!

[crooooze]

Waht we do instead of getting onbaord credit we use the points to "purchase" cash. So oinstead of say getting ing $100 or more in OBC we just have Prncess visa credit the amount to our account. If you purchased yoru cruise or your airfare on your card you can have whatever amount you slect just credited to your Visa. So then you have the $100 or wahtever in your own onboard account at home without having to lose any. Much easier!

 

I am looking on the Princess VISA Rewards site and don't see an option to purchase cash or receive a credit to my acct. Where did you see that? That would be great if that was possible.

[whatcruiseisnext]

I am looking on the Princess VISA Rewards site and don't see an option to purchase cash or receive a credit to my acct. Where did you see that? That would be great if that was possible.

 

On the first page of the the Princess Visa awards page you will see a catagory that says Cruise discount and free cruises. Click on that. When the next page opens up click on cruise discounts. There will be a drop down box. Click on it and you will see the same points as for onboard credit.

$100---10,000 points

$200----20,000 points

$500----40,000 points

$750----60,000 points

and so on

 

You do not have to book your cruise through the Visa website. Your can book with your own travel agent but you have to pay for your cruise with your Princess Visa. All you have to provide when you go to cash in your points is a valid bookng number. The amount you chose is then credited to your Visa statement.

 

You also can see on the first page airfare discounts. Again you just have to pay for the airfare with your Princess Visa. You do not have to purchase it through the Visa travel thing. You can book it anyway that you what from whomever you want.

 

As I said, we have found this a much better way. You don't have to worry if the credit is going to be on your onboard account and you will see it refelected in your credit card statment quickly.

Edited March 14, 2012 by whatcruiseisnext

[Go-Bucks!]

Here is how it really works.

 

You may redeem reward points in increments of 10,000 points which will be applied as a $100 OBC. You cannot redeem for partial credit, i.e. if you have 15,000 points you cannot redeem for $150 OBC. Obviously if you have 20,000 points you can redeem 2 lots for $200 OBC.

 

 

Actually, that's not how it really works. ;)

 

You can order $50 OBC for 5,000 points, $100 for 10,000 points, $250 for 25,000 points, and $500 for 40,000 points. You can order any combination, so if you want to cash in 15,000 points you do 2 transactions - one for 5,000 and another for 10,000. I've done this several times.

[georgetheblue]

I disembarked on March 11th and received a refund check today.  I did trade Barclay’s visa points worth $200 but all other OBC either came from princess or my TA.  Neither should have been refundable.  I would not have left and $$ on my account but my stateroom account listed the balance as refundable, plus I double checked with guest services before I left the ship  and I had more than $200 left and all refunded.  Yeah me!

[Retired_Army]

On 3/13/2012 at 9:26 PM, Go-Bucks! said:

Actually, that's not how it really works. 😉

 

You can order $50 OBC for 5,000 points, $100 for 10,000 points, $250 for 25,000 points, and $500 for 40,000 points. You can order any combination, so if you want to cash in 15,000 points you do 2 transactions - one for 5,000 and another for 10,000. I've done this several times.

The most beneficial way to use the Barclay Princess VISA points is to "cash them out" as a credit against your card balance.  They have to be "credited" to one specific transaction or your choosing.  The dropdown menu will list the eligible charges, going back 6-months, with the value of the points is on a sliding scale based on the amount of the charge. 

 

Princess purchase amount ($50 or greater) within last 180 days = Redemption points value
 $50 to $499.99 = 1%
 $500 -$2,000.99 = 1.25%
 $2,001-$4,000.99 = 1.5%
 $4,001+ = 2.0%

 

Example: If you charge $5,000 of your Princess ticket you get double credit (because it is a Princess purchase) for 10,000 points.  You can then use those points to get a credit against that charge (because it is greater than $4,001) for $200, double the OBC purchase example above.  

[nukesubsailor]

2 hours ago, Retired_Army said:

The most beneficial way to use the Barclay Princess VISA points is to "cash them out" as a credit against your card balance.  They have to be "credited" to one specific transaction or your choosing.  The dropdown menu will list the eligible charges, going back 6-months, with the value of the points is on a sliding scale based on the amount of the charge. 

 

Princess purchase amount ($50 or greater) within last 180 days = Redemption points value
 $50 to $499.99 = 1%
 $500 -$2,000.99 = 1.25%
 $2,001-$4,000.99 = 1.5%
 $4,001+ = 2.0%

 

Example: If you charge $5,000 of your Princess ticket you get double credit (because it is a Princess purchase) for 10,000 points.  You can then use those points to get a credit against that charge (because it is greater than $4,001) for $200, double the OBC purchase example above.  

This is exactly what I do.  Redeem reward points for a credit on my credit card bill.  It is easy and you see the result quickly.

Redeeming against a Princess purchase of over $4001 made with your Princess credit card is doubly beneficial; you got double points by buying something from Princess and you got a 2% return because the purchase was greater than $4000.

I used to book a cruise and wait until the final payment date to pay for it in full.  Now I will make early payments of $4001 or greater on months where I have fewer charges on the card until the cruise is paid in full.  That gives me more charges that are eligible for the 2% redemption rate.  Two $5000 charges a couple of months apart will get me more credit than one $10,000 charge.  I keep a note on my computer desk reminding me by what date I need to redeem reward points and which purchase I need to redeem them against before the 180 day time limit expires.

Unless I am missing something, this is the method whereby I can get the most financial benefit from owning the Princess Visa card from Barclay.