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NCL Mastercard FAQ

Host CMLA

By Host CMLA,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Preds

Preds

Posted
Posted

Your FICO score will be negatively impacted by closing available credit (thus reducing your debt to credit ratio).

 

Also, the longer you have a credit line the better it is according to FICO. I have a citi card with over 20 years of history, I never use it, but if I closed the account, it would have a significant impact on my score. Instead I recommend to consolidate newer lines into older accounts if they share the same bank and you want to reduce the number of cards you have.

 

Also, if this is your only credit card, do not close it and leave yourself with no revolving credit, that will also negatively impact your score.

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*Wink*

*Wink*

Posted
Posted
Leasve it open with a zero balance...when you go to purchase another home it will reflect well on your credit report (score) because your amount of "available" credit is higher and your debt/credit ratio looks better. If you pay all balances off every month then perhaps it won't affect the score because then it's a "zero/debt to "whatever credit available balance" anyway....but me. I'd keep it open JMHO...

Good advice. Just to give a heads up to you credit card jugglers (like me.) I had a Chase credit card that had a credit limit of $19,500 but I haven't used it in 2 years. They cancelled it on me without a notice stating that since it hadn't been used in so long, they decided to close the account. That was my highest limit, which is a card you should keep open. Moral to this story, charge something if you want to keep your card open. I knew that advice, but didn't heed it.

Banks are closing cards left and right.

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chezbo99

chezbo99

Posted
Posted

I just had a credit card cancelled yesterday for 24 months nonuse, too! That's the first time this ever happened to me---maybe something with credit card companies trying to reduce how much they could potentially go into debt? Do you think my credit score will be negatively impacted even though the company closed it?

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*Wink*

*Wink*

Posted
Posted
I just had a credit card cancelled yesterday for 24 months nonuse, too! That's the first time this ever happened to me---maybe something with credit card companies trying to reduce how much they could potentially go into debt? Do you think my credit score will be negatively impacted even though the company closed it?

If it was the credit card with your highest limit, then it could "perhaps" affect your credit score.. But I doubt it. Hopefully the big 3 credit companies are taking into account that WE are not the ones closing the accounts!

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KINGBOBOFTHENORTH

KINGBOBOFTHENORTH

Posted
Posted
And for those of you wondering: Yes! The new program is far superior to the old Compass Rewards program. With the old program $30k in spending would get you $500 off your cruise. With the NEW and IMPROVED program, you now get FOUR tickets to see Smuckers on Ice. Which would you rather have???

 

Hmmm, very tempting!

 

 

Here's a question for you: If you call and request your certificates now, will they still have the extended expiration date of 2010, or will they reflect the regular "year from the date of issue"? I'm now just over my 500 points, but I don't want to call and request them if they will be need to be used in a year.

 

If you request certificates now, they will almost for sure have the 1 year expiration on them. Those that get automatically issued at the end of the program will have the 2-year expiration.

 

BobK/Orlando

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Preds

Preds

Posted
Posted (edited)

Sigh, the Worldpoints program is about as bad as we expected.

 

5,000 $50 on–board credit

 

10,000 Up to a 2–category upgrade on a 7–day cruise

10,000 $100 on-board credit

10,000 $100 off any cruise

 

20,000 Up to a 4–category upgrade on a 7-day cruise

20,000 $200 off any cruise

 

25,000 $250 on-board credit

50,000 $500 off any cruise

50,000 $500 on-board credit

100,000 $1000 on-board credit

 

3- or 4–day Bahamas cruise for two:

70,000 Inside Stateroom

90,000 Outside Stateroom

25,500 Balcony Stateroom

60,000 3rd – 8th additional guest

 

7-day Caribbean or Mexican Riviera cruise for two:

157,900 Inside Stateroom

227,900 Outside Stateroom

137,900 Balcony Stateroom

40,000 3rd – 8th additional guest

 

Terrible value as compared to Compass Rewards. Oh well. Edited by Preds
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MSUcruisers

MSUcruisers

Posted
Posted

$50 on–board credit-5,000 points

Up to a 2–category upgrade on a 7–day cruise-10,000 points

$100 on-board credit-10,000 points

$100 off any cruise-10,000 points

Up to a 4–category upgrade on a 7-day cruise-20,000 points

$200 off any cruise-20,000 points

$250 on-board credit -25,000 points

$500 off any cruise-50,000 points

$500 on-board credit-50,000 points

$1000 on-board credit-100,000points

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Preds

Preds

Posted
Posted (edited)

As expected, the Worldpoints program blows. I'll be consolidating down to one card and probably then change that card to a different program with BOA (though they all pretty much suck now). BOA/NCL just lost $165k+ in annual charges from my business. That $165k used to net me $5k in Compass Rewards points per year. Now it'd get me a measly $1,650 or an outside Caribbean or Mexican Riviera cruise (woo hoo). They gutted the value of the program by 2/3s.

 

Most of my CC charging has already moved over to the Starwood and Hilton Hhonors AMEX's. I'm going to explore some cash back cards like the Schwab Visa which gives 2% cash back into a Schwab brokerage account, which you can later cash out fairly easily I believe.

Edited by Preds
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c breeze

c breeze

Posted
Posted

 

Thank you.

 

So let's recap: Right now, we can earn $500 off any NCL cruise by charging $16,666 to our Compas Rewards card. As of January 1, 2009, with tne " exciting, new and improved" World Points program, we can earn $500 off any NCL cruise by charging $50,000 to our World Points card.

 

So, unless you cruise on NCL a lot - several times a year - and can earn double ponts on those cruises, why would anyone want this card??? If a card is basically offering 1% rewards, then doesn't make sense to just use cash back cards?

 

Has anyone found a card that offers more than 1% travel rewards, and allows you to use those points on ANY cruise line for any cruise? It looks like Amex Blue Sky provides this flexiblity but still earns 1% (plus the bonus for sign-up), but Amex is not accepted everywhere. HAS ANYONE FOUND A MASTERCARD OR VISA THAT OFFERS MORE THAN 1% IN TRAVEL REWARDS, AND ALLOWS YOU TO USE THOSE POINTS FOR ANY CRUISE LINE FOR ANY CRUISE? I am not interested in using points for hotel stays, car rentals, or airline tickests.

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Preds

Preds

Posted
Posted
Thank you.

 

So let's recap: Right now, we can earn $500 off any NCL cruise by charging $16,666 to our Compas Rewards card. As of January 1, 2009, with tne " exciting, new and improved" World Points program, we can earn $500 off any NCL cruise by charging $50,000 to our World Points card.

 

So, unless you cruise on NCL a lot - several times a year - and can earn double ponts on those cruises, why would anyone want this card??? If a card is basically offering 1% rewards, then doesn't make sense to just use cash back cards?

 

Has anyone found a card that offers more than 1% travel rewards, and allows you to use those points on ANY cruise line for any cruise? It looks like Amex Blue Sky provides this flexiblity but still earns 1% (plus the bonus for sign-up), but Amex is not accepted everywhere. HAS ANYONE FOUND A MASTERCARD OR VISA THAT OFFERS MORE THAN 1% IN TRAVEL REWARDS, AND ALLOWS YOU TO USE THOSE POINTS FOR ANY CRUISE LINE FOR ANY CRUISE? I am not interested in using points for hotel stays, car rentals, or airline tickests.

The Charles Schwab Signature VISA is a card I'm seriously considering.

 

https://investing.schwab.com/secure/cc/products/banking_lending/credit_card?cmsid=P-2013298&lvl1=products&lvl2=banking_lending&

 

It gives 2% cash back into a SchwabOne Brokerage account (which I already have). You can then transfer the cashback into the Schwab HY Checking and do with it what you want. Plus according to posts on FlyerTalk, like Capital One, it has no foriegn transaction fees... which can save you 2-4% on purchases made outside the US.

 

It's still not the 3-4% we used to get on NCL, but 2% back on all purchases is the best I've seen so far.

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c breeze

c breeze

Posted
Posted
Capital One has a No Hassle Miles Ultra MasterCard for Professionals. It has a $39.00 annual fee, but it pays 2 points for every dollar spent. Points never expire and for 100 grand placed on the card - you would get a 2,000.00 credit towards a cruise.

 

Yes, I actually made a previous post about this card myself, but then someone else posted that this offer was withdrawn..... I will look into it myself to see if the offer is still available, because that looked like the best option of all, even with the fee.

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OceanDreaming2

OceanDreaming2

Posted
Posted (edited)
Yes, I actually made a previous post about this card myself, but then someone else posted that this offer was withdrawn..... I will look into it myself to see if the offer is still available, because that looked like the best option of all, even with the fee.

 

I think I was the one who posted about a previous CapitalOne card being withdrawn (it gave you 3 points instead of 2).

 

I just applied for this card. My materials should be arriving within the next 7-10 days. I also read you could ask them to waive the $39 annual fee.

Edited by OceanDreaming2
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c breeze

c breeze

Posted
Posted
I think I was the one who posted about a previous CapitalOne card being withdrawn (it gave you 3 points instead of 2).

 

I just applied for this card. My materials should be arriving within the next 7-10 days. I also read you could ask them to waive the $39 annual fee.

 

Thanks! This may be the one for me!!! They also have one without an annual fee, but you earn 2 points for each dollar of monthly purchases ABOVE $500 AND .05 POINTS PER DOLLAR ON ALL OTHER PURCHASES. That means that $12,000/ year earns 1% instead of 2%, so that means you get $120 less in value per year, minus the $39 fee, means that you would get $81 less per year this way, but it is still much better than most of the other cards out there!

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OceanDreaming2

OceanDreaming2

Posted
Posted (edited)
I think I was the one who posted about a previous CapitalOne card being withdrawn (it gave you 3 points instead of 2).

 

I just applied for this card. My materials should be arriving within the next 7-10 days. I also read you could ask them to waive the $39 annual fee.

 

I'll be using our BOA card yet this month. Just 30 points to go til we reach the 1,000 point mark. Might make a payment towards our PC cruise. That'll help out a lot!

 

Thanks to everyone who suggested the coin purchase. Those 75 extra points came in very handy! We received $1000 last week and another $1500 yesterday. Think I'll have DH take that box to the bank. It's heavy!!! :eek: BTW, when I took the $1000 to the bank last weekend, the teller thought it was COOL! She loved the little trays the coins came in and offered to take the small boxes home to burn in their stove. :p

Edited by OceanDreaming2
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c breeze

c breeze

Posted
Posted
I'll be using our BOA card yet this month. Just 30 points to go til we reach the 1,000 point mark. Might make a payment towards our PC cruise. That'll help out a lot!

 

Thanks to everyone who suggested the coin purchase. Those 75 extra points came in very handy! We received $1000 last week and another $1500 yesterday. Think I'll have DH take that box to the bank. It's heavy!!! :eek: BTW, when I took the $1000 to the bank last weekend, the teller thought it was COOL! She loved the little trays the coins came in and offered to take the small boxes home to burn in their stove. :p

 

We too will be using our BOA card until at least Christmas. We are a few hundred short of our max of $8,333 for this month, and our billing date is mid month. We will definitlely have the max by that cutoff. Then we will need an additional 103 points or $3433 before the end of the year. As soon as the new billing cycle starts, we will put my son's spring semester rent ($2800) and a quarter of his spring tuition on the card, and then we should be at the 1,000 point level. Of course there will be a charge to put those items on the card now, but it will still be worth it, and I cannot find anything else to purchase that week, other than more (oh, no...) grocery gift cards to use in 2009. Besides these items are due now anyway. After that I will change all charges over to our new card... which will most likely be a Capital One card.

 

My bank was not as happy about my two coin deposits... I think it caused the teller some additional work!

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c breeze

c breeze

Posted
Posted
Was anybody successful in obtaining a double order? :)

 

Thanks,

 

John

 

 

I did not try a double order. I ordered $3,000 (one president was not available, or I would have ordered $3,500) and they sent them in two seperate shipments of $1,500. Maybe someone else was successful with two orders.

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