Major changes to RCCL Visa program

[croosieloosie]

Paula, any questions just call the RCI Redemption Center at 1-888-305-4646.

 

Hmmm, that number is only giving me a fast busy signal.

[mein18]

Hmmm, that number is only giving me a fast busy signal.

 

That usually means that the lines leading into their system are overloaded. I would venture to guess that even though there are only a couple dozen on this thread, many upon many have noticed the problems and are all calling.

[cruisenfever]

Hmmm, that number is only giving me a fast busy signal.

Keep trying. I just tried and it went right through though I was put on hold for the next available agent.

Edited August 19, 2013 by cruisenfever

[croosieloosie]

Keep trying. I just tried and it went right through though I was put on hold for the next available agent.

Thx, on hold as we speak :)

[mein18]

I am sure it is coincidental but I just received an obvious scam/phishing email titled "Congratulations your Capital One card is now available".

 

I normally receive very few spam emails so it really stood out.

 

Just want everyone to be aware just in case it is somehow being sent to RCI cardholders.

[atb]

But - it was for my old Celebrity card - and I quit using it a long time ago, because I they had discontinued the cruise benenfits.

[lauren0309]

I have 83,000 points on my Visa Royal Caribbean Bank of America credit card. I think I will redeem them today for my December cruise just to be safe!

[Zigggypup]

If the ship is new, and you want to use Visa Points, you would have to book a cruise 13 months after it has been introduced.

 

This comment has been posted before by the same poster. Can you direct me to where this is in writing please? I like to read all the fine print.....lol.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Zigggypup

[Daytonasailor]

Not pushing BA Card, but I have a 3-2-1 rewards card. Get 3% off fuel, 2% off groceries, and 1% off everything else. This builds up over time and you can redeem in $25.00 increments. Plus, if you deposit this into your BA checking or savings account, you get an extra 10% added. I just redeemed $450 and had $495 deposited. $450+$45. I use the card for everything, just make sure you payoff all when bill received or all your savings go for interest.

[cruisenfever]

This comment has been posted before by the same poster. Can you direct me to where this is in writing please? I like to read all the fine print.....lol.

Certainly.

 

If you go to Page 11 of the See Program Rules SPECIAL REWARD REDEMPTION TERMS AND CONDITIONS it's the last sentence in the first paragraph under "Upgrades". "Upgrades are not applicable on new ships during their first 13 months in operation, also known as, their ‘Inaugural Season”.

Edited August 19, 2013 by cruisenfever

[Zigggypup]

Certainly.

 

If you go to Page 11 of the See Program Rules SPECIAL REWARD REDEMPTION TERMS AND CONDITIONS it's the last sentence in the first paragraph under "Upgrades". "Upgrades are not applicable on new ships during their first 13 months in operation, also known as, their ‘Inaugural Season”.

 

Thank you. I was concerned that buying on board credits would be effected, but that appears not to be the case.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Zigggypup

[goforhome]

Does anyone use the Royal Visa card for business expenses? The new rules seem to say the annual limit for points earned is going from 250,000 to 540,000 but it also says use by a business or for a business does not earn points!!! How is anyone going to accumulate that many points with only personal expenses?

Any comments?

[cruisenfever]

Thank you

Oh, but it was my pleasure. LOL:D

[green eyed lady]

Confused :eek: Do we know if FIA card services will be servicing the B of A cards now? If so, word of warning...they are awful!!! We have had nothing but bad experiences trying to deal with them for simple things...like trying to make a payment over the phone, etc. I was so glad when the bank we have one of our cards with dropped FIA for servicing and started servicing their credit cards in house. :rolleyes:

[mein18]

Does anyone use the Royal Visa card for business expenses? The new rules seem to say the annual limit for points earned is going from 250,000 to 540,000 but it also says use by a business or for a business does not earn points!!! How is anyone going to accumulate that many points with only personal expenses?

Any comments?

 

Visa has separate cards for businesses and the RCI is not offered to business customers. Tried to get one for my business. I can't see how they can distinguish if you use a personal card for business purposes.

 

Surprised nobody has mentioned this change albeit not applicable to most. Never knew there was an annual limit but I can only assume some users must hit the limit if they are increasing it or maybe just trying to make it look like they are making the benefits better.

[cruisenfever]

Confused :eek: Do we know if FIA card services will be servicing the B of A cards now? If so, word of warning...they are awful!!! We have had nothing but bad experiences trying to deal with them for simple things...like trying to make a payment over the phone, etc. I was so glad when the bank we have one of our cards with dropped FIA for servicing and started servicing their credit cards in house. :rolleyes:

Yes FIA Card Services is still handling the RCI BofA cards, that is not changing.

 

We've had our BofA card since 2004 and have never had any problems making a payment. We only have a credit card with BofA so payments are made directly from our Chase Bank to BofA on-line with no problems.

[wrcjr98]

Guess I wasted my time applying for a Royal Caribbean Visa with Bank of America yesterday! Dang!!

[cruisenfever]

Thank you. I was concerned that buying on board credits would be effected, but that appears not to be the case.

I should have included the word "upgrades". I do apologize for the confusion.:o

Edited August 19, 2013 by cruisenfever

[green eyed lady]

Yes FIA Card Services is still handling the RCI BofA cards, that is not changing.

 

We've had our BofA card since 2004 and have never had any problems making a payment. We only have a credit card with BofA so payments are made directly from our Chase Bank to BofA on-line with no problems.

 

Actually now I'm more confused lol

I didn't know FIA was currently servicing BofA cards. When my son's Sovereign bank visa was serviced by FIA, we had to make the check out to FIA...and when you called you got FIA. Now it's serviced in house, so he pays Sov Bank. I don't make my RCCL visa payment checks out to FIA. :confused:

 

How do you know FIA services B of A cards now?

[mein18]

Guess I wasted my time applying for a Royal Caribbean Visa with Bank of America yesterday! Dang!!

 

Certainly not a waste of time. Really doesn't appear to be much in the way of changes being made. We have had nothing but excellent service from BofA on both a personal and business level. You will also get what was probably 10,000 points for signing up which can convert to $100 OBC on your next cruise.

[foxgoodrich]

Patty, do you know if there's a list of the 'benefits' for each card somewhere? (The Visa Platinum Plus and the Visa Signature) We seem to have the Plat Plus card, but assuming your info is correct, it will soon be automatically changed to the Signature card. I'm curious...

 

Thanks for clarifying that point redemption thing for amounts under the $250 OBC on Royal. My first reaction to the list of rewards posted on the RC site was that this had to be an error. I couldn't figure out any logical reason to prevent redemptions of less than 25k points for OBC on Royal but to allow them on Celebrity/Azamara. My thinking was that somebody probably just goofed when they added Celebrity and Azamara and accidentally deleted the smaller RC OBC point redemptions.

Judy

 

P.S. Isn't it weird how these credit card people can control us by giving us small reinforcements? We are as susceptible to behavior modification as Pavlov's slobbering dogs!:rolleyes: How much time do we all spend trying to figure out the best way to maximize all our 'rewards' tied to credit cards?:o (I confess...I just put my Keurig coffee order on a USAA card we rarely use....one more $25 or more charge on that card and I'll get a $10 credit. Whoopee! Oh snap! I think I'll have Buz go fill up the car and put it on that card....:p)

Edited August 19, 2013 by foxgoodrich

[mein18]

Actually now I'm more confused lol

I didn't know FIA was currently servicing BofA cards. When my son's Sovereign bank visa was serviced by FIA, we had to make the check out to FIA...and when you called you got FIA. Now it's serviced in house, so he pays Sov Bank. I don't make my RCCL visa payment checks out to FIA. :confused:

 

How do you know FIA services B of A cards now?

 

We have been with BofA for as long as I remember and payments get made to BofA. I believe FIA is behind the scenes if they are involved. If you get a call from BofA in regards to the card, it comes in as "Card services" (not BofA) and I believe they answer the same if you call them. Very generic.

[mein18]

Patty, do you know if there's a list of the 'benefits' for each card somewhere? (The Visa Platinum Plus and the Visa Signature) We seem to have the Plat Plus card, but assuming your info is correct, it will soon be automatically changed to the Signature card. I'm curious...

 

Thanks for clarifying that point redemption thing for amounts under the $250 OBC on Royal. My first reaction to the list of rewards posted on the RC site was that this had to be an error. I couldn't figure out any logical reason to prevent redemptions of less than 25k points for OBC on Royal but to allow them on Celebrity/Azamara. My thinking was that somebody probably just goofed when they added Celebrity and Azamara and accidentally deleted the smaller RC OBC point redemptions.

Judy

 

P.S. Isn't it weird how these credit card people can control us by giving us small reinforcements? We are as susceptible to behavior modification as Pavlov's slobbering dogs!:rolleyes: How much time do we all spend trying to figure out the best way to maximize all our 'rewards' tied to credit cards?:o (I confess...I just put my Keurig coffee order on a USAA card we rarely use....one more $25 or more charge on that card and I'll get a $10 credit. Whoopee! Oh snap! I think I'll have Buz go fill up the car and put it on that card....:p)

 

And we placed our Keurig order yesterday also but used our RCI card. An entire 80 cents more OBC for our next cruise. Guess I should put that aside and apply it to a cup of specialty coffee. :D

[misty57]

Does anyone use the Royal Visa card for business expenses? The new rules seem to say the annual limit for points earned is going from 250,000 to 540,000 but it also says use by a business or for a business does not earn points!!! How is anyone going to accumulate that many points with only personal expenses?

Any comments?

 

I guess if you have a high enough credit limit you could buy a car or time share then pay it off when you get the bill. Depending on your monthly purchases such as groceries and gas you could accumulate quite a lot of points. I use mine for gas, groceries, department store purchases and gifts, charitable donations and sometimes in restaurants .Purchasing a RCCL cruise with the card gives you double points. Anything you purchase on board is also double if your sea pass is covered by your Visa. Your'e not likely to accumulate the limit of points in a year but it's not so hard to accumulate enough for a nice upgrade or some OBC. Oh, and I used mine to make college tuition and room and board payments when I had 2 in college at the same time. I always pay it off each month and keep a close watch on the balance to make sure I can do that.

[foxgoodrich]

And we placed our Keurig order yesterday also but used our RCI card. An entire 80 cents more OBC for our next cruise. Guess I should put that aside and apply it to a cup of specialty coffee. :D

 

Hi Mein....I'm almost positive I already know the answer to this, but did you make sure your Keurig order was above $45 so you got the free shipping?:D

 

I actually used the calculator when I decided to use the USAA card...my 'reward' is worth 3 cents rather than 1 cent on the RC Visa. Whoopee!:o