NCL Mastercard FAQ

[Lyman713]

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!

 

I had to laugh as I read... "other than more (oh, no...) grocery gift cards"!

 

We have a large stack of gift cards - grocery store, gas, home depot, lowes, costco, etc. I thought I had enough gas cards for about 4 months, but that was when gas was much more expensive... I think there are enough cards for 7-8 months now!

 

One of our cards just reached the 1000 point max. The next card will, like yours, have the max charges this month and then will need about 110 points to get to the 1000 point limit before the end of the year.

 

I was disappointed to see the new and improved card's rewards... I'm leaning toward the 2% capital one card, but will watch for offers over the coming weeks.

 

Out of curiosity, I would really like to see the books on charges on the BOA NCL card - compare July -Dec 2008 with Jan - June 2009!

[c breeze]

I've purchased close to $50,000 of these coins through the Mint and havent had any issues yet. My next cruise is paid for entirely due to the purchasing of them. :)

 

Wow! How long have you had your BOA card or do you have several? Do you put anything else on them, since there is a max # of points you can earn each year?

 

Maybe y0u shoud be the new "card czar"!

[lumofny]

Wow! How long have you had your BOA card or do you have several? Do you put anything else on them, since there is a max # of points you can earn each year?

 

Maybe y0u shoud be the new "card czar"!

 

 

My wife and I each have a card, as does my brother and my mother. I've managed to max out (1000 points on each) all 4 cards in less than 6 months. There are ways to get around the 2 boxes per customer limit, but I'd rather not go into them here. If you're desperate for points before the end of the year, if you order today chance are good that you're coins will post before the end of the year. Email or PM me if you need the info.

Edited December 12, 2008 by lumofny

[c breeze]

My wife and I each have a card, as does my brother and my mother. I've managed to max out (1000 points on each) all 4 cards in less than 6 months. There are ways to get around the 2 boxes per customer limit, but I'd rather not go into them here. If you're desperate for points before the end of the year, if you order today chance are good that you're coins will post before the end of the year. Email or PM me if you need the info.

 

That's okay. I am just about at my max for this month, and my cutoff date is in less than a week. If I wait until after the cutoff, so that it bills in the next cycle, it may not ship/post until after the end of the year - and that would be cutting it a bit close. I have things I can charge in the third week in December, which are due, but I will pay a fee for charging them. Do you think if I charged coins again and billed them to the same card/address that they would ship them? I don't want to order utiil Dec 15/16/17, if I do this? Last time it took ten days for them to ship/bill.

[lumofny]

That's okay. I am just about at my max for this month, and my cutoff date is in less than a week. If I wait until after the cutoff, so that it bills in the next cycle, it may not ship/post until after the end of the year - and that would be cutting it a bit close. I have things I can charge in the third week in December, which are due, but I will pay a fee for charging them. Do you think if I charged coins again and billed them to the same card/address that they would ship them? I don't want to order utiil Dec 15/16/17, if I do this? Last time it took ten days for them to ship/bill.

 

I would order sooner than later. We are faced with a 12/31 deadline and if the charges dont post before then, its futile to even place the order (unless you're happy with the new and improved 1%). The Mint will be getting an increase of orders due to the holiday and may experience delays of longer than a week to get your order processed. To be safe as I said, put the order is now.

 

Youre billing address does not need to match that of your credit card. The zip codes MUST match, but not the street address. Not like the billing address matters anyways, the only thing that does is the shipping address. Also, orders placed with the same credit card number will be cancelled, regardless of billing address. BoA offers a SafePay thing which generates a one time use credit card number for your use online. So... ask your neighbor to use their address as your billing address, Ship the coins to your house address (all my orders have the same shipping address). Generate a new account number and place the order. I place an order, wait until its 'in process' then place another. By the time the first order ships usually the second is in processing. Then place the third order. If you order $2500 at a time, you need about $7500 floating around at all times ($2500 on hold, $2500 being shipped, and $2500 to use to free up the first $2500 charge). Hope this makes sense, and hope you'll be able to earn youre free cruise because of it :)

 

My wife, my brother and my mother all will be enjoying Bermuda this summer thanks to BoA and the US Mint... :)

[c breeze]

I would order sooner than later. We are faced with a 12/31 deadline and if the charges dont post before then, its futile to even place the order (unless you're happy with the new and improved 1%). The Mint will be getting an increase of orders due to the holiday and may experience delays of longer than a week to get your order processed. To be safe as I said, put the order is now.

 

Youre billing address does not need to match that of your credit card. The zip codes MUST match, but not the street address. Not like the billing address matters anyways, the only thing that does is the shipping address. Also, orders placed with the same credit card number will be cancelled, regardless of billing address. BoA offers a SafePay thing which generates a one time use credit card number for your use online. So... ask your neighbor to use their address as your billing address, Ship the coins to your house address (all my orders have the same shipping address). Generate a new account number and place the order. I place an order, wait until its 'in process' then place another. By the time the first order ships usually the second is in processing. Then place the third order. If you order $2500 at a time, you need about $7500 floating around at all times ($2500 on hold, $2500 being shipped, and $2500 to use to free up the first $2500 charge). Hope this makes sense, and hope you'll be able to earn youre free cruise because of it :)

 

My wife, my brother and my mother all will be enjoying Bermuda this summer thanks to BoA and the US Mint... :)

 

We only have one BOA/NCL card, so I suppose it doesn't matter, but thanks for the info.....

[lumofny]

We only have one BOA/NCL card, so I suppose it doesn't matter, but thanks for the info.....

 

You would still be able to do this. Generate a one time use number from BoAs website and use your nieghbors address as your billing address (with their permission, of course...). If you need the points before the end of the year its worth a shot. If they don't show up by the 28th or so, I'd run to the store and buy $2500 worth of gift cards just to make sure you get your needed points posted by 12/31.

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Don't rule-out airline affinity cards. I've decided to go with the Continental Airlines Mastercard by Chase. I figure $50,000 spent = 50,000 miles = a round trip to Europe. During the summer high season a return ticket to Europe is worth $1000+. At $1000 that equals a 2% return. Airline cards do have a fee though. However the CO card gives you 25,000 free miles to start plus another 5,000 if you get a 2nd card for someone else.

 

BobK/Orlando

[lumofny]

Don't rule-out airline affinity cards. I've decided to go with the Continental Airlines Mastercard by Chase. I figure $50,000 spent = 50,000 miles = a round trip to Europe. During the summer high season a return ticket to Europe is worth $1000+. At $1000 that equals a 2% return. Airline cards do have a fee though. However the CO card gives you 25,000 free miles to start plus another 5,000 if you get a 2nd card for someone else.

 

BobK/Orlando

 

At this point in time I would recommend everyone NOT to go with a branded card, especially one that reward you in points. NCL could go out of business any day and the points would be worthless. While an airline card might sound good at 2%, who's to say that tomorrow they won't go under? You'll have a credit card with 50,000 points on worth nothing and redeemable for a ticket on a bankrupt and out of business airline. While the NCL credit card is just like any other, I'm probably going to stick with it just for the 1% cash back. Although the government is pretty close to closing down, so maybe the cash back isn't a good idea either... And BoA is laying off 35000 people, so maybe they'll be out of business themselves soon. Maybe I should go back to paying for everything in cash.

 

This reminded me of something. When my wife and I flew back from Maui from on jobs on the Pride of Aloha we flew on Aloha Air. During the flight the inflight crew came through with credit card applications where every point earned was redeemable toward airfare. Good deal at the time, but only a month or two after we got back, Aloha went out of business. if we had their card, what would we get for our points? Nothing. Point is, while you back get a better return on a hotel or airline card, I'd play it safe and stick to a strickly cash back card.

[c breeze]

You would still be able to do this. Generate a one time use number from BoAs website and use your nieghbors address as your billing address (with their permission, of course...). If you need the points before the end of the year its worth a shot. If they don't show up by the 28th or so, I'd run to the store and buy $2500 worth of gift cards just to make sure you get your needed points posted by 12/31.

 

 

Thanks for all the info. My son's spring semester rent is due by Dec 19 and that is $2,800, so I think I will just charge that to the card, even though a small fee will be charged, since I have to pay that anyway. I already have $1,500 in grocery cards, and there are ususally only two of us here, so that is a lot of groceries!

 

Maybe I will order the coins again after I get my new credit card(s) from Capital One/Amex!

[c breeze]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28181980/

[weloverunning]

And all of us didn't even stop using our cards yet:eek:

[weloverunning]

My last account closed yesterday leaving me with 506 points. I just called and ordered my last $500 certificate. BooHoo. I ordered two from our other card last week and are waiting for them to arrive. I lost track but I think with this $1500 we have saved about $7000-$8000. I will keep the one card as it has a $36,600 credit line but the other two will be gone. Boy, it was great while it lasted.:( We definitely won't be NCL exclusive any more.

 

P.S. BOA website is not working completely today. I wonder if we are already feeling the effects of the 35,000 job cuts.:rolleyes:

[alkotik]

Does anybody know if BofA would let to combine points from two cards? One card is mine onother is my wife's but I am an authorized user on her.

[Preds]

I just finished squeezing 1 last $500 certificate out of the program before it dies. My statement closed yesterday with 250 points earned for the month, and I just made my final 2 charges ever on these cards for another $8,330+ to net the final 250 points for the $500 certificate. That's it, the new program is a waste and BOA won't get my business. Too bad as I like their website and instant posting of pending charges.

 

I'm going to really miss this program, and pulling out a pic of the Dawn every time I paid for something. Just having a Starwood AMEX, Hhonors AMEX, and US Airways MC looks so different in my wallet!

 

Oh well, it was a fun ride while it lasted. With this final certificate, in the end I'll have netted $16,000 in savings over the past 4 years. I'm REALLY going to miss this program!

Edited December 12, 2008 by Preds

[OceanDreaming2]

Does anybody know if BofA would let to combine points from two cards? One card is mine onother is my wife's but I am an authorized user on her.

 

You can try it. We called a couple of months ago and they said they would gladly combine the points - if we had something like 25,000! :eek:

[*Wink*]

Does anybody know if BofA would let to combine points from two cards? One card is mine onother is my wife's but I am an authorized user on her.

As a rule, they will not combine the points. I guess exceptions are made so a call to ask would be worth it.

[OceanDreaming2]

Today I received the much anticipated WorldPoints card APPLICATION. It appears I have to apply for this card even though I have held the BOA CompassRewards card for a couple of years.

 

Here's what the application has to say about redemption of points:

 

5,000 - $50 toward hotel stay

10,000 - $100 shipboard credit on the cruise of your choice

12,000 - $100 gift card

25,000 - $250 cash

25,000 - Fly anywhere in the continental 48 states.

 

They are also offering 3x points on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases for the next 12 months. It is a no-annual fee card.

 

However, I'm extremely disappointed this is a VISA card and not a MasterCard. I've already applied for a CapitalOne MC which offers 2 points for every $1 spent.

[c breeze]

Today I received the much anticipated WorldPoints card APPLICATION. It appears I have to apply for this card even though I have held the BOA CompassRewards card for a couple of years.

 

Here's what the application has to say about redemption of points:

 

5,000 - $50 toward hotel stay

10,000 - $100 shipboard credit on the cruise of your choice

12,000 - $100 gift card

25,000 - $250 cash

25,000 - Fly anywhere in the continental 48 states.

 

They are also offering 3x points on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases for the next 12 months. It is a no-annual fee card.

 

However, I'm extremely disappointed this is a VISA card and not a MasterCard. I've already applied for a CapitalOne MC which offers 2 points for every $1 spent.

 

Wow! that is a bit confusing, since the ncl link http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=CompassRewardsFAQ#NeedToGetCert says that we will keep the same card (until they provide the new one) and the number will remain the same.

Will my account number change?

 

No, your card will remain exactly the same and you can continue to use your NCL MasterCard as usual. On January 1, 2009, you will just begin earning NCL WorldPoints rather than Compass Rewards.

 

Also, there is already a link posted to the World Point MC on the NCL site: http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=WorldPoints

 

I think, perhaps, we will all be automatically enrolled in the new MC program, but they may also be offering a Visa card as well, and since you (and all of us) are on the NCL/BOA mailing list, we will get this offer as well.

 

In any case, it does not change the fact the the World Points program is sub par!

[OceanDreaming2]

So, the WorldPoints offer I received in the mail isn't the same WorldPoints as stated on the NCL website??? What a mess!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Introducing the Freestyle

way to earn great rewards.

 

Open yourself up to a whole new world of opportunity with the new NCL WorldPoints® MasterCard® that rewards you with exciting travel, merchandise, gift certificates and Freestyle Cruising®. And right now, you´ll receive 5,000 points after you make a qualifying transaction.

Apply Now

 

 

Redeem your rewards for:

 

• Exclusive redemption opportunities for last minute sailings, stateroom upgrades, travel discounts, and even NCL cruises
  
• Any of the other rewards available exclusively to WorldPoints cardholders.
  
• Car rentals, hotel stays, name brand merchandise or gift certificates to over 100 top retailers - you choose the rewards that matter most to you
  

Use your card for everyday

purchases & receive:

 

• A low introductory APR offer and no annual fee†
  
• Double points for every qualifying dollar you spend with NCL
  
• One point for every dollar you spend in net retail purchases
  
• Concierge service for hard to find sports, theatre and concert tickets, dining reservations, and more
  
• Auto Rental Insurance
  

 

RewardsPoints$50 on–board credit5,000Up to a 2–category upgrade on a 7–day cruise10,000$100 on-board credit10,000$100 off any cruise10,000Up to a 4–category upgrade on a 7-day cruise20,000$200 off any cruise20,000$250 on-board credit 25,000$500 off any cruise50,000$500 on-board credit 50,000$1000 on-board credit100,0003- or 4–day Bahamas cruise for two:Inside Stateroom

Outside Stateroom

Balcony Stateroom

3rd – 8th additional guest 60,000

70,000

90,000

25,500 7-day Caribbean or Mexican Riviera cruise for two:Inside Stateroom

Outside Stateroom

Balcony Stateroom

3rd – 8th additional guest 137,900

157,900

227,900

40,000 Apply Now

† For information about rates, fees, other costs and benefits associated with the use of this credit card, please see Terms and Conditions.

This credit card program is issued and administered by FIA Card Services, N.A.

[OceanDreaming2]

And right now, you´ll receive 5,000 points after you make a qualifying transaction.

 

Will we all receive the 5,000 points bonus after making that initial transaction?

[mpk218]

Does anybody know if BofA would let to combine points from two cards? One card is mine onother is my wife's but I am an authorized user on her.

 

They will not combine points from different cards unless you are transfering a MINIMUM of 2500 points .

( I know, absurd ) . This is the policy for all of there rewards cards . ( per boA rep. )

 

matt

[gtalum]

Wow, that redemption chart is awful. I got $2000 worth of credits for less than $67,000 in spending uner the old program. Under the new program, I would need to spend $200,000 for the same reward. I don't think so.

[Alvarado]

Thank you to whomever pointed out that you could go on line and check your statement before it arrived. I was planning to keep using the card till the end of the month but I'm over the 500 hump so to speak. If I keep going can I use some of the points for obc, I think someone said travel insurance (which is terrible from NCL) is there anything else? I know this has already been answered but I just read through 50 pages to get ideas for a new credit card please don't make me do it again. I don't have a better card yet and might as well get more if I can from this one.

[antsnanny]

Take a look at this http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/?action=directShip. You can buy $1 coins for face value and they have no shipping. After you receive the coins, take them to your bank and deposit them into your account. Then pay your BoA bill with the deposited coins. All you're left with is NCL BoA points. :D

 

 

Thats brilliant. Thanks.