MBNA iCruise Visa Card terms changing

[defreeze]

You're absolutely right. This was handled horribly.

 

No notice at all from I-cruise. In fact, their website still lists the old levels.

 

No notice for website customers. The online statement says nothing.

 

Inadeqaute notice for paper statement customers. No letter sent, just a note on the statement, and apparently, not on everyone's statement.

 

The sad part is that they seem to be allowed to do this under the fine print of their "terms and conditions" of the card. It says they can change the terms at any time, and it doesn't state that they have to give ANY advance notice of doing so. Only where they completely cancel the program are they required to give notice.

 

I definitely see a "bait and switch" class action lawsuit in this, because MBNA is are using a generous rewards program to obtain new customers, and then changing the terms after you become a customer.

 

A darn shame!!!

 

The only positive thing that came out of this was that I booked a 4 night New England cruise for this summer using my remaining points!!!!

[piercetc4]

Have any of you gotten the letter from mbna about the changes to the icruise card? Have any of you found a better way to accrue cruise rewards by using another credit card- like the rci card maybe? at least it gives you 5 yrs to earn your cruise points - I need to find another card- any advice out there?p.s. icruise did give me a price reduction a couple of years ago after i booked with them and the price of the cat. i booked went down on their site- hope that has not changed-

[Coolcruise02]

I received the letter, actually two of them but have not come up with anything close to the deal that was being offered. Probably why it was reduced significantly!

[halos]

I got a FEW letters.

First, on a billing statement, there was a side note that the points would change as of July 1st.

THEN, I recieved a letter saying that I had until 8/31 to redeem points. The website now says the change will occur on 8/31.

I also got another letter today...same as the last one, saying that I had until 8/31.

I'm not happy about it either but to be honest, there is no one out there giving anything better....but oh, the agony :( . I was planning on having 34000 points for $1000 off a 2 week Panama Cruise. The change will now give me only $400 off.

It is very painful. :mad:

[ciship]

I got my letter today as well. I am getting rid of my MBNA I-cruise card and switching over to MBNA World Points card. Atleast with that card, I can use it on ANY form of travel, hotels, cash rewards, etc....

 

Very disappointing that a lot of us spent a long time building up our points and now this........... :(

[halos]

I got my letter today as well. I am getting rid of my MBNA I-cruise card and switching over to MBNA World Points card. Atleast with that card, I can use it on ANY form of travel, hotels, cash rewards, etc....

 

Very disappointing that a lot of us spent a long time building up our points and now this........... :(

 

I looked into that. Since I'd really only want points for cruising, it wouldn't make sense for me. The terms turned me off a little:

 

Cruise. Save on the cost of your cabin accommodations and/or shipboard expenses. For every 25,000 Points you redeem, you will receive a ($250) credit toward the cost of your shipboard accommodations. 25,000 Points = $250 MDV. For every ($100) of shipboard credit you request, you must redeem 10,000 Points. 10,000 Points = $100 MDV. All cruise operator booking terms apply, and accommodations are subject to availability. Additional terms apply.

 

At least with Icruise, although you have to book through them (and their prices are competitive...especially with the new pricing regulations, prices don't vary too much these days anyway) there are no additional terms and you can choose your accomodations on their site and the points are good for any cruise...no restrictions.

I will say that at first, I wanted to tell them to 'stick' their card...but I don't want to give up the points I've already earned. :(

[ciship]

I'm not happy about giving up my points either. I have just decided that I will have to save the money elsewhere (air, hotel, car) with my WorldPoints card and pay RCCL for my cruise straightout.

 

Also booking through RCCL (recently) I was able to get the famous aft cabin 1388. I-cruise didnt even have booking opened yet on that same day that RCCL did (for my dates) so I was forced to book through RCCL so I wouldnt lose my cabin. It took i-cruise a few days later before they could even assist me with booking for my dates and I tried to figure out a way to use my accumulated points and book with them and STILL get my cabin 1388. They couldnt do it :(

 

Does anyone know if I can cancel through RCCL and book with icruise and still get my cabin 1388 that I already have booked? I just wonder if I got someone at icruise who didnt want to "deal" with it??

[piercetc4]

ciship- you should be able to do that- icruise gets a commision if you switch to them, they don't if you stay with rci so someone there should want to deal with it, right?

hope you get it worked out so you can use those points-

still in mourning over the new points redeemtion program-- sniff snifff

[PSCruiser]

I got the letters, same as everyone else, so I booked a Princess cruise for 2006, now I'm charging like crazy to get to the $800 level by the August deadline. BTW, I had never booked with Icruise before, but they were very nice - I booked a balcony guarantee, but emailed them and requested a specific cabin, since other online TAs were showing specific cabins at the same price. They called back and ended up giving me a specific cabin but I was upgraded by 2 categories, also given $50pp onboard credit, and a bottle of wine! They were showing none of these extras on their website.

 

OK, lets talk credit cards: of course, I was bummed over the icruise situation, since I thought it was a great deal. Did a lot of looking around, and of course most don't even come close, around 1% return compared to almost 3% with icruise. HOWEVER - check out the Mastercard on the NCL website - no annual fee, and they use a point system, but what it works out to is you can get $500 off a cruise for spending $16,667, actually a touch better than icruise. Two downsides - of course the discount is only on NCL, and also its an MBNA card, which could mean the whole thing could happen again.

An unrelated note - you can now get a Choice Hotels VISA, no fee, use it once, then ditch it if you want, and you get 2 free hotel nights (at their lowest level of hotel).

[ciship]

ciship- you should be able to do that- icruise gets a commision if you switch to them, they don't if you stay with rci so someone there should want to deal with it, right?

hope you get it worked out so you can use those points-

still in mourning over the new points redeemtion program-- sniff snifff

 

Thanks for the info......I'm going to try it. I would love to get that max discount PLUS keep my prime cabin 1388.

 

I'll let you know what happens.

[cruisinfanatic]

I'm not happy about giving up my points either. I have just decided that I will have to save the money elsewhere (air, hotel, car) with my WorldPoints card and pay RCCL for my cruise straightout.

 

Also booking through RCCL (recently) I was able to get the famous aft cabin 1388. I-cruise didnt even have booking opened yet on that same day that RCCL did (for my dates) so I was forced to book through RCCL so I wouldnt lose my cabin. It took i-cruise a few days later before they could even assist me with booking for my dates and I tried to figure out a way to use my accumulated points and book with them and STILL get my cabin 1388. They couldnt do it :(

 

Does anyone know if I can cancel through RCCL and book with icruise and still get my cabin 1388 that I already have booked? I just wonder if I got someone at icruise who didnt want to "deal" with it??

 

All you have to do is transfer your booking to them. Just contact one of the online agents. They'll be happy to take the booking.

[ciship]

All you have to do is transfer your booking to them. Just contact one of the online agents. They'll be happy to take the booking.

 

Soooo, Icruise will call RCCL and do all that for me??? Will I get to keep my same cabins?

[ciship]

Soooo, Icruise will call RCCL and do all that for me??? Will I get to keep my same cabins?

 

 

Cruisinfanatic???

[seadays4me]

Received my first and I guess last approval last week for a $1,000 credit on my September Voyager sailing. Hopefully the amount will be posted to my reservation before the final payment is required in mid July. I don't think I will keep using the card after this.

 

Ron

[ciship]

I called icruise today to see if they would accept transfer of my already booked cruise on the Mariner for July 2006. Got a "Patricia" who was pretty lousy at her customer service skills. She said they would accept the booking, but that I had to call RCCL and do all the legwork??? Does that sound right?

 

Does anyone have a GOOD customer service rep at icruise that they can recommend and what is their phone extension??

[ciship]

Actually I'm glad you brought that to my attention. iCruise recently discontinued their affiliate program. I no longer care if anyone books with them or not. They do have the best credit card rewards program in the business, but as I said the program is being cut considerably as of July 1st. I've deleted my homepage for now.

 

As far as changing prices after you book. Quite rare!!! Or we'd be hearing about it much much more.

 

Cruisinfanatic........do you know of a seasoned, decent cruise rep at the icruise 800#???

[cruisinfanatic]

ciship

 

 

 

Email me and I'll tell you who I use.

[cruisinfanatic]

I called icruise today to see if they would accept transfer of my already booked cruise on the Mariner for July 2006. Got a "Patricia" who was pretty lousy at her customer service skills. She said they would accept the booking, but that I had to call RCCL and do all the legwork??? Does that sound right?

 

Does anyone have a GOOD customer service rep at icruise that they can recommend and what is their phone extension??

 

Yes, she is correct. You have to call RCCL and tell them it's ok and to tell them who will be taking over your booking. Takes only a minute.

[ciship]

ciship

 

 

 

Email me and I'll tell you who I use.

 

 

Thanks Cruisinfanatic..........I just emailed you this morning.

 

ciship

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

When it was time to select which one of the cruise credit cards to have, I compared how much money you'd have to spend to get to each card's various cruise levels. By far the NCL MASTERCARD by MBNA was superior. This has been mentioned by two others in posts above. Here's an example:

 

Spend $16,666, get $500 off on NCL.

Spend $23,000, get $500 off on Carnival.

Spend $50,000, get $500 off on Royal Caribbean.

 

Since we're over here on the RCI pages, I don't expect many NCL fans here. But take a look and you'll see the huge difference. NCL is the equal of any of the other lines and there are a great variety of NEW ships. Points are also valid on Orient Lines and Star Cruises in Asia.

 

BobK/Orlando

just off: Sea Princess

[piercetc4]

i used debbie at icruise- have emailed her 2 times asking a question and no response- may be emailing you to find out who you use as well over there cruising fanatic.

anyone think of using one of those cash back rewards cards? like chase ultimate cash award mastercard? looks pretty interesting- could save the cash back and use for cruises- (my intentions anyway)

[AMARINEMOM]

Well I don't have the I-cruise card but do have MBNA RCI card. I'm cashing in 80,000 points for 1 compantion fare and 1 $50 onboard credit for my upcoming MOS cruise. What ticks me off is that with the companion fare I can book a room up to $1500.00 however that $1500 does not allow you to use it for a cruise with air and you have to pay the taxes. Taxes aren't really an issue. BUT they make out like a bandit because I booked a Jr suite $1399 and the balance dollar difference they keep. You are also very limited to what cruise you can use these points on. We've been to the Caribbean so many times and found a Caribbean cruise that included Bermuda, thought ok, this is good. Called and found out this cruise wasn't eligible because it was 9 days and not 7. Also this cruise was lower priced than what I booked MOS. Maybe I am wrong, but if they say you can use up to $1500 they should give you the difference in onboard credit. I have the NCL card and now am going to use it exclusively. My TA told me she used her NCL card had $3,000 to use on any cruise they wanted and even included air! I don't normally book air with the cruise lines, but in this case I would have just so I got my full reward. Oh well, live and learn...