Need opinions-Should I get an NCL credit card?

[Wayward Son]

2 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

On another note, I had an NCL credit card that expired back in 2017. 

 

Most reward cards need to be actually cancelled for certain amount of time. Your expired card may still be "active" (although you should have received a new one) which wouldn't allow you to re-up on the bonus points. But, check it out. If it has been cancelled, it's certainly been long enough that you should be able to open a new account.

 

[The Traveling Man]

18 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

On another note, I had an NCL credit card that expired back in 2017.  Would I be eligible to apply again, pay the $1000 toward my booked cruise, get the 20,000 credits and then use it either as statement credit toward final payment on the same cruise? Never knew you can use it to upgrade.  I'm booked with a TA so does she have to contact NCL to upgrade?

I'm not sure whether BOA would simply reinstate your old account or set you up with a new one.  If you want to start a new account to get the bonus points, though, you might try signing up under your spouse's name.  They might still match your address info to find your old records, but it's worth a try, I suppose.  Since you booked through a TA, your TA should be your contact with NCL rather than you reaching out directly to NCL.  Assuming you apply for the credit card and are approved prior to the final payment date for your cruise, yes you can use the NCL BOA World Points Master Card to pay for the balance of your cruise and earn the triple points for those charges.  The points will post to your account (or your spouse's account) at the end of the billing cycle in which they are incurred.  Once they have posted, if you have a total of at least 30,000 points, you can ask for an upgrade.  Since you are using a TA, that probably will mean a four way conference call with you, your TA, an NCL reservations clerk, and an NCL World Points specialist.  It may be a bit convoluted, but you should be able to get it done.  I would recommend doing some research first to learn which staterooms in your preferred upgrade category may still be available.  We usually have been able to get them to assign a room of our choice, but they do reserve the right to make an arbitrary room assignment in the new category.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

On 6/7/2024 at 12:03 PM, zqvol said:

Never understood why anyone would ask a cruise message board about a personal financial decision. That’s what your financial planner is for. 

If you need a financial planner’s insight over a credit card with no annual fee, you’ve got way bigger problems than that.

[zqvol]

17 minutes ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

If you need a financial planner’s insight over a credit card with no annual fee, you’ve got way bigger problems than that.

But asking on a cruise message board????????

[Distinctive-Destinations]

4 minutes ago, zqvol said:

But asking on a cruise message board????????

At least that is free.

 

[Wayward Son]

56 minutes ago, zqvol said:

But asking on a cruise message board????????

 

I've forgotten more about financial planning than my late father, a CFP, ever knew. I'm also a CPA, but you wouldn't want me doing your business taxes.

 

Things aren't always as a few letters behind a name would lead you to believe.

 

[slidemaster5]

4 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

 

I've forgotten more about financial planning than my late father, a CFP, ever knew. I'm also a CPA, but you wouldn't want me doing your business taxes.

 

Things aren't always as a few letters behind a name would lead you to believe.

 

 

I'm a CPA who has worked in corporate taxes for 40 years so here I am, lol.

 

I may be biased, but I am not fond of the financial planner arena. I understand why people use them but thankfully I don't need one and have to find out the hard way if they are competent. I take the leap of faith when I need an electrician or a plumber.....

[Distinctive-Destinations]

36 minutes ago, slidemaster5 said:

 

I'm a CPA who has worked in corporate taxes for 40 years so here I am, lol.

 

I may be biased, but I am not fond of the financial planner arena. I understand why people use them but thankfully I don't need one and have to find out the hard way if they are competent. I take the leap of faith when I need an electrician or a plumber.....

I’m a mortgage underwriter and look at people’s taxes basically every day.

 

I too do not understand the appeal/need for financial planners, especially since a generic S&P fund beats nearly every managed fund over time.

[Wayward Son]

39 minutes ago, slidemaster5 said:

 

I'm a CPA who has worked in corporate taxes for 40 years so here I am, lol.

 

 

Well, I am (was) the financial / management accountant that gave you all your numbers. 😄

 

[slidemaster5]

4 hours ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

I’m a mortgage underwriter and look at people’s taxes basically every day.

 

I too do not understand the appeal/need for financial planners, especially since a generic S&P fund beats nearly every managed fund over time.

 

Bingo.

 

"We have people who know nothing about stocks being advised by stockbrokers who know even less" - C. Munger

[slidemaster5]

5 hours ago, Wayward Son said:

 

Well, I am (was) the financial / management accountant that gave you all your numbers. 😄

 

 

True.

 

Poor woman two cabins away from us was spending part of the cruise this week doing the monthly close. I have no idea how she was getting anything done with the slow Wi-Fi. 

[FirmBeliever]

We opened the card onboard in February and used it to buy our CruiseNext certificates, which got us nearly all the way to the 30,000 points (maybe the promo was 25,000 points?).   We booked our next cruise within a few weeks of being home, a 14 day Prima trip for January 2025.  I booked Large Ocean View.  Used the Cruise Next certificates for the deposit.  Charged some other stuff we would be buying anyway, plus our Vibe pass to get to the 30,000 points.  As soon as the monthly statement processed we did the points upgrade to Balcony.  Easy peasy.  Saved about $2500 in fare difference.  I think its a great deal if you are willing to book far in advance when there are lots of cabins available.  Also great for combining with Cruise Next.  We will see moving forward how long it takes to build points back up for a next upgrade - but just paying for final bill plus the Vibe plus gratuities with 3x points is about 17,000 points so halfway to another upgrade.  

[FranciscoFamily]

My last question on the topic and then I will make my decision, thanks for all the feedback!

Here's the question, are there ever promotional opportunities to get a better bonus than the 20,000 points if you spend $1000 in 90 days?  I know sometimes cards run specials if someone refers you or other types of promotions, just thought I would check and see if there's any better deals out there for this specific card than what google finds...which is the same thing as on the ncl website

 

[The Traveling Man]

6 minutes ago, FranciscoFamily said:

My last question on the topic and then I will make my decision, thanks for all the feedback!

Here's the question, are there ever promotional opportunities to get a better bonus than the 20,000 points if you spend $1000 in 90 days?  I know sometimes cards run specials if someone refers you or other types of promotions, just thought I would check and see if there's any better deals out there for this specific card than what google finds...which is the same thing as on the ncl website

 

You may want to check some of the recent posts on the thread dedicated to the subject of the NCL Master Card. That thread is pinned near the top of the first page of this NCL forum.  There have been some recent posts there about a temporary offer of 25,000 bonus points.  I'm not sure if that offer is still current, but it has been made several previous times. 

[FranciscoFamily]

2 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

You may want to check some of the recent posts on the thread dedicated to the subject of the NCL Master Card. That thread is pinned near the top of the first page of this NCL forum.  There have been some recent posts there about a temporary offer of 25,000 bonus points.  I'm not sure if that offer is still current, but it has been made several previous times. 

Thank you!

[slidemaster5]

45 minutes ago, FranciscoFamily said:

Thank you!

 

It is currently shown as 20,000 on both NCL and Bank sites. It was 25,000 earlier this year so it may get boosted again.

 

 

[vswan]

On 6/9/2024 at 1:53 PM, slidemaster5 said:

I may be biased, but I am not fond of the financial planner arena. I understand why people use them but thankfully I don't need one and have to find out the hard way if they are competent. I take the leap of faith when I need an electrician or a plumber.....

My husband passed away just over a year ago. He was a very careful, fanatic saver who didn't feel the need to "pay" someone else to manage the money. Yes, we put money into an IRA with a local agent at tax time and some of his retirement savings was invested through his employment with a company. I've been thinking that I should contact a "professional" to help me make decisions on investing. Thank you for confirming that I don't need to do that. I felt that I was making some pretty good choices for my age and level of risk I'm willing to take.

 

I got the NCL card a couple of years ago. I pay it off every month and carry no balance, and there is no annual fee. I have been storing up the points to use on a double meta upgrade - from inside to balcony - 60,000 points. Have now booked a cruise for my daughter and I using the upgrade. Even though I could have gotten the "cash" applied to something else, this is worth a lot more than the $600.

[slidemaster5]

36 minutes ago, vswan said:

My husband passed away just over a year ago. He was a very careful, fanatic saver who didn't feel the need to "pay" someone else to manage the money. Yes, we put money into an IRA with a local agent at tax time and some of his retirement savings was invested through his employment with a company. I've been thinking that I should contact a "professional" to help me make decisions on investing. Thank you for confirming that I don't need to do that. I felt that I was making some pretty good choices for my age and level of risk I'm willing to take.

 

I got the NCL card a couple of years ago. I pay it off every month and carry no balance, and there is no annual fee. I have been storing up the points to use on a double meta upgrade - from inside to balcony - 60,000 points. Have now booked a cruise for my daughter and I using the upgrade. Even though I could have gotten the "cash" applied to something else, this is worth a lot more than the $600.

 

Sorry for your loss.

 

Not providing any advice here but Distinctive Destinations comment on investing in an S&P low-cost index fund is a sound strategy. A professional with tax expertise, including a CPA who specializes in personal taxes, or an Enrolled Agent, can make sure you have a tax minimization strategy. 

 

Back to the subject: when we decided to start cruising for our retirement and that NCL would be a line we expected to frequent than the card made sense to use on NCL cruises. I get 5.25% back on my NCL cruises. Some people also benefit from the upgrade feature. As long as you spend the same as you would as if you didn't have the card then it is worthwhile - unless you have another card that gives you better points.

 

[ngrund]

6 hours ago, FranciscoFamily said:

My last question on the topic and then I will make my decision, thanks for all the feedback!

Here's the question, are there ever promotional opportunities to get a better bonus than the 20,000 points if you spend $1000 in 90 days?  I know sometimes cards run specials if someone refers you or other types of promotions, just thought I would check and see if there's any better deals out there for this specific card than what google finds...which is the same thing as on the ncl website

 

If you are only going to use it to pay for your NCL cruise next year, you have time to wait to see if a better bonus gets offered, but that better bonus might only be an additional 5 or 10K points ($50/$100).

 

Are you planning to just cash in the points or are you trying to get enough points for the cabin upgrade-if looking to get the upgrade, the earlier you get those points the better for cabin availability.

 

Lastly, if you intend to use the card for other spend, the earlier you get it, the more points you can earn sooner.

 

 

[roddy good boy]

We only book the Haven, so my choice is basic. I just use the card to pay for our cruise, any excursions, spa, etc., and get immediate cash back. I consider it a discount on our cruise. I just cashed in $400. Not bad, since it was money we would have spent anyway.

 

My dilemma is usually whether I want to use the cruise fare monies to build up points on my airline card.  That is a major savings when I can book 2 business tickets for international flights by just paying the taxes. 

[FranciscoFamily]

6 hours ago, ngrund said:

Are you planning to just cash in the points or are you trying to get enough points for the cabin upgrade-if looking to get the upgrade, the earlier you get those points the better for cabin availability.

 

Lastly, if you intend to use the card for other spend, the earlier you get it, the more points you can earn sooner.

Just planning to use anything earned for spending money on the cruise.  

I understand that upgrades are another way to use the money with a higher return percentage but that is not my goal for this trip.

[FranciscoFamily]

Perhaps a silly question, but here it is:

 

If I buy onboard credit with my credit card points and then don't spend it all, is it refundable?

[slidemaster5]

1 hour ago, FranciscoFamily said:

Perhaps a silly question, but here it is:

 

If I buy onboard credit with my credit card points and then don't spend it all, is it refundable?

 

You never want to use points to buy anything NCL related - redeem points as cash back. 

 

Example: Say you go on a cruise and have an on-board balance of $1000. You also have $1000 worth in points. You don't want to use the points to pay your balance. Instead, you pay the $1000 with the NCL card and then use the points as cash back to pay off the $1000 you just charged. That way you get points on the $1000 you just spent which is worth at least $30-$50. 

[slidemaster5]

7 hours ago, roddy good boy said:

We only book the Haven, so my choice is basic. I just use the card to pay for our cruise, any excursions, spa, etc., and get immediate cash back. I consider it a discount on our cruise. I just cashed in $400. Not bad, since it was money we would have spent anyway.

 

My dilemma is usually whether I want to use the cruise fare monies to build up points on my airline card.  That is a major savings when I can book 2 business tickets for international flights by just paying the taxes. 

 

My wife has decreed Haven only, so we are in the same boat, in a matter of speaking. Using the card as a discount. Now if we only could get AARP gift cards for NCL like other lines.....

 

 

[FranciscoFamily]

1 hour ago, slidemaster5 said:

 

You never want to use points to buy anything NCL related - redeem points as cash back. 

 

Example: Say you go on a cruise and have an on-board balance of $1000. You also have $1000 worth in points. You don't want to use the points to pay your balance. Instead, you pay the $1000 with the NCL card and then use the points as cash back to pay off the $1000 you just charged. That way you get points on the $1000 you just spent which is worth at least $30-$50. 

Um, didn't know I could get cash back.

Is it paid at the same rate as onboard credit?
Example...say I have $500 that could be used towards onboard credit, are you saying I could alternatively get back $500 in actual cash? like a check/direct deposit?  Or is it a statement credit? I have searched the terms and conditions and I see it says "cash" is a reward but does not give any details

Also, although this gives me more info which I appreciate, it does not answer my question regarding if I DID use the points for onboard credit, would it be refundable if I did not spend it all?

 

Edited June 12 by FranciscoFamily