Royal Caribbean - BOA Credit Card - BEWARE

[h20skibum]

Received hard copy statement that was due 11/11/14 and indicated I had 19,444 points.

On 11/9/14 - called to redeem points for upcoming cruise - to my SURPRISE - 5000 points had been removed.

 

Only 19,444 points in five years? That likely means the 5,000 they were removing were the ones you got just for signing up for the card.

 

There are a lot of better options out there if you don't put much on a card. We have used ours for free cruises or OBC's, and would not go five years without a cruise, so we would not let any expire. Just a couple thousand points till our next free cruise, then we may look at other cards.

[bouhunter]

As in other areas, RCL is behind the times, our Delta sky miles are now good forever after changing recently, we imagine RCL will change soon also!:)

 

Most other airlines do not follow this policy, they place an expiration on their miles.

 

I wouldn't say RCCL is "behind the times" and woudn't expect it to change. In most cases with airline/hotel/cruise points/miles the companies devalue them occasionally, it's rare that changes are beneficial to the consumer:(

Edited November 25, 2014 by bouhunter

[avlski]

Good Day to ALL!

Thank you for great info on other credit cards to consider with superior benefits and better visibility on tracking points to prevent expiration. Also, I was glad to see that this message inspired some fellow cruise critic readers to check status of their points!

Thank you avlski

[scottrn7]

Yes, you discovered and put into a plan what we did and use our points on a regular basis to apply towards the purchase of cruises. Can't get out there enough and four booked and looking at more! :D

 

We have had our BOA RCCL credit card for several years. We cruise almost every year and Royal is our cruise line of choice. We farm in the Midwest and use this card for everything from irrigation electricity to semi truck fuel. We are cruising in January and have just applied $1000 credit to cost of the cruise and $900 to OBC. Love love love the card and have never had a problem with it.

[Big_G]

Kind of impractical to post expiration dates seeing how it's a fluid amount don't you think? We use the last cash out date to keep track.

[marci22]

Kind of impractical to post expiration dates seeing how it's a fluid amount don't you think? We use the last cash out date to keep track.

 

My point in posting was that all points do not expire at once.

 

Not everyone uses all their points on a particular cash out date. I usually calculate how much obc I will use on a particular cruise and redeem for that. So sometimes I will only cash out $100 or whatever amount I want to use and leave the rest on the card.

 

I don't use it to pay for the cruise, as I often change cruises. I wait until the last minute to get my obc.

[FLACRUISER99]

Kind of impractical to post expiration dates seeing how it's a fluid amount don't you think? We use the last cash out date to keep track.

Why is it impractical?

[Big_G]

I guess you could post a warning of the next expiration. I was thinking the points expire at varying times. We just never get close to letting them expire so it's a moot issue for us.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Big_G]

My point in posting was that all points do not expire at once.

 

Sorry Marci, my comment wan't directed at you. My point was how many expiration dates should they post. I agree they could at least post the next expiration.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[marci22]

It would be nice if there was some way they could post points expiring, but if they can't, and I can't keep track, it's time for me to get rid of some cards.

 

We got 2 when they were offering the 10,000 points bonus, and we only used them to pay for RC stuff, but I'm using other rewards programs more now.