Do you put your cruise on a credit card?

[HImom]

My United Explorer CC gives me up to $1500 in travel insurance at no additional charge & is primary for insurance in car rentals, so I do use that card for my air & cruise. It's not total coverage, but it is helpful to have it at no extra charge. H always wants us to check our luggage rather than hand carry everything onto the plane anyway, so this is an additional savings of not having to pay luggage fees when we have bought our tickets with the CC.

 

We always pay off our CC in full every month. We try to charge pretty much everything we can on CCs--tuition for our kids, major purchases & even small ones. The other CC we use gives us back 2% on all our purchases & that adds up quickly as well.

 

We rarely use our debit card, but it is available as well.

 

We aren't charged any additional fee for using the CC.

[shorbr]

Recently received the RCCL Visa and just paid off balance this past Saturday. I did it for the reward points, but will be paying it off the minute I get the bill.

[Droop]

Like others have said....we use a CC as well. We put all of the excursions etc on them as well, and then pay it all off. It sure was nice getting $300 back afterwards.:D

 

I have to agree with others... if you don't have the money to pay it off then I would wait until you had the money in the bank so you could pay it off. A trip is not worth the risk of living from paycheck to paycheck. Please understand this is just my opinion. :)

[tip]

CC for me...As I love getting my "rewards". :) And I make sure I am able to pay it off, so no interest, either.

 

 

Same here!:D

[operabob]

Same here!:D

 

Ditto! :cool:

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

always to get the points..

[QShip]

There is a very recent decision (not sure if it was a Court or the FTC) that may allow merchants to pass cc company charges along to the consumer.

[garyb(uk)]

There is a very recent decision (not sure if it was a Court or the FTC) that may allow merchants to pass cc company charges along to the consumer.

If I am reading this correctly this is exactly what I reported earlier in this thread that RCCL in the UK are already doing - charging 2.5% surcharge if you pay your invoice with your CC.

I did pay my deposit using my CC as I have been led to believe that gives me payment protection for the complete purchase. The balance I will make other arrangements for.

 

Most High Street retailers (merchants) do not pass this charge on as it would lose them money. They do however reject purchases below a limit which they set themselves.

 

As for US/Canadian travelers disembarking in the UK I am not sure if RCCL are charging the 2.5% for settling the onboard account. Maybe someone that has recently used them out of Southampton will comment. For the convenience and the small charge for settling the onboard account I personally will probably use my CC.

[ginnie 66]

but RCCL charges 2.5% for using one.

 

I paid my deposit with a credit card. I thought I heard somewhere if you pay any part by cc it is covered. Does anyone know if that is true?

Yes it is true Gary,I hate paying cc charges so i called my bank and they told me that if i paid at least £100 on my cc then i could pay the rest by debit and the cc will still cover me for the whole holiday.

 

Ginnie x

[HImom]

Please remember INSURANCE is a CONTRACT. No one can tell you what YOUR credit card or insurance contract's terms are unless they are POSITIVE that the card and policy are identical.

 

To KNOW what coverage you may have from your credit card, ask your credit card company to mail you a copy of the insurance contract. You can call them on the phone number printed on your credit card. READ the contract to be SURE you have the coverage/protection you THINK you have. I was told by the credit card company that as long as ANY portion of the trip was charged, everything was covered. I requested that they send me the contract which specifically says that EVERYTHING must be paid on the charge card for any coverage.

 

IF I had relied upon what I was told on the phone, I would have believed I had coverage when actually I had none. The printed terms from the credit card company are the best source to find out what IS and IS NOT covered by credit card charges.

 

Good luck in sorting this out. It's worth it for peace of mind and knowing what you are covered for. Another thing--credit cards often have a cap (e.g. maximum of $100/day on delays of 12 hours or longer, $1500 maximum coverage for trip insurance) on how much they will reimburse for--in my case, it's pretty low, but OK with us since we could handle the loss.

[calliopecruiser]

To KNOW what coverage you may have from your credit card, ask your credit card company to mail you a copy of the insurance contract.

 

Or check on line - that's where I found mine ;)

[garyb(uk)]

Please remember INSURANCE is a CONTRACT. No one can tell you what YOUR credit card or insurance contract's terms are unless they are POSITIVE that the card and policy are identical.

 

To KNOW what coverage you may have from your credit card, ask your credit card company to mail you a copy of the insurance contract. You can call them on the phone number printed on your credit card. READ the contract to be SURE you have the coverage/protection you THINK you have. I was told by the credit card company that as long as ANY portion of the trip was charged, everything was covered. I requested that they send me the contract which specifically says that EVERYTHING must be paid on the charge card for any coverage.

 

IF I had relied upon what I was told on the phone, I would have believed I had coverage when actually I had none. The printed terms from the credit card company are the best source to find out what IS and IS NOT covered by credit card charges.

 

Good luck in sorting this out. It's worth it for peace of mind and knowing what you are covered for. Another thing--credit cards often have a cap (e.g. maximum of $100/day on delays of 12 hours or longer, $1500 maximum coverage for trip insurance) on how much they will reimburse for--in my case, it's pretty low, but OK with us since we could handle the loss.

as you are quoting $ I'm guessing you are a US customer. Here in the UK there is a separate Credit agreement (covered by the FSA I think or Trading Standards) that covers the whole industry.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Some cards have free insurance..

[yak]

I make sure I have the cash to pay off the entire cruise, then use my American Express Delta SkyMiles card so I get free skymiles towards a future flight... then I pay the credit card off the next day.

 

Might as well get the most bang for the buck.

[sewsweetpink]

I always use a credit card, but I always keep it paid off every month. If I don't have the money, I don't charge it. The credit card does give me points towards a free cruise. We did a free cruise on the Allure of the Seas in Sept. and am almost up to another free 7 night cruise.

Wow! What credit card is that?

[StampedersFans]

We have our money for the cruise in a savings account but always pay by credit card. The day we pay by credit card we pay off the credit card! No interest fees, no worries! With our credit card it's a no fee card and we get points towards free groceries. This year alone we've had over $1000 in free groceries! Not bad for 2 people and for a credit card we rarely use!

[Nyrina4life]

We used our CC for the initial down payment, but we're hoping that people will contribute to the honeymoon fund. If not, we'll pay the rest in cash.

[3DBeach]

I use a CC for mostly everything and pay in full each month (to earn miles/points)...as far as cruises if we're going on NCL we use their card and then cash in points for OBC before we sail.

[Scrapnana]

I use a credit card that gives me triple points for travel related expenditures (flights, cruises, hotels, etc.). I pay off in full each month and they pay me for using the card!

[LMaxwell]

I put everything on whichever card currently has the best deal. Pay in full each month. Never pay interest. Collect my cashback rewards. Get additional insurance, longer warranty, price drop guarantees etc through the card.

 

I would never use a debit card for a major purchase. No protections, once the money is gone it's gone.

 

For those who are not in a position to pay off in one shot look at Chase Slate Visa card. No annual fee. Can transfer balances at NO fee (I have never found another card that didn't charge 3%+). Best part; 0% Interest on Balance Transfer AND New Purchases for 15 months. No cash back or other rewards but 0% for 15 months lets to budget appropriately. This card has the excellent insurance/warranty protections as well.

[wpgmag]

I looked for cc company offering 18 months or more free financing. Applied online and received the card in a week. After booking the cruise with a debit card, I put the balance and all excursions on the new no finance card and also all charges during the cruise. Now I have 18 months to pay for the cruise wit no finance charges, I'll pay it off over the next 18 months.

[cemetery-man]

I book approx a year in advance. That way my card is paid off well before the departure date and then be used for all cruise expenses. Points toward future cruises that can add up quickly and come in handy.

[partyelf]

I usually put the deposit on a credit card that we get points and/or cash back from. Then I save, and save and save. This last time, we were lucky enough to save the final payment in full so that when I charged the final payment for the cruise on our points cc, I was able to pay it off right way AND get the points too! WIN, WIN!:D

[Russ_MT]

We use rewards credit cards for everything we buy. Rarely carry cash. Earned $1,000 back this year.

 

Added benefit of cards (and paying balance in full each month), is buyer protection. The card rewards double warranty and offer breakage protection. Amex paid us $500 to fix a laptop my son jumped on and broke.

Then you can charge back a purchase if the merchant rips you off.

 

Yea, always use plastic. Just pay it all every month to avoid fees.

[OCruisers]

We always put our cruises on our AMX and just pay it off in full when we get the bill. Easy! :)

 

LuLu

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