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Leana and I both enjoy cruising with our families (see reviews of Leana’s recent cruise and my recent cruise). While it is possible to use miles and points to pay for a cruise, it’s not always feasible for every cruise.
So, if you can’t use miles and points to book every cruise, you may as well earn as much miles as possible when booking a cruise. Here are some ways to increase your miles balances when paying for a cruise.
Open a New Credit Card with a High Sign-up Bonus
The easiest way to earn miles for booking a cruise is to pay with a new credit card that has a high sign-up bonus. It’s not uncommon for cards to have sign-up bonuses of 50k-100k miles and points after spending $3000-$4000 in the first three months. See this month’s best credit card offers.
With this option, you can use a travel agent of your choice who gives on-board credit.
Amex Offers
If you have an Amex credit card, keep an eye out for Amex offers that award extra points for booking a cruise. Amex currently has an offer for Celebrity cruises that expires on 12/31/19: Get 15,000 Membership Rewards points for spending $500. See this post for more details on this offer as well as offers for other cruise lines.
One of our readers just told me that he got 45,000 points (15k X3) out of this deal. His family purchased a cruise for $1500 through a travel agent. He paid $500 with his Amex, $500 with his wife’s Amex and $500 through an authorized user card. What a great score!
Airline and Bank Cruise Portals
Some of your current credit cards offer bonus points for booking a cruise through their travel or cruise portal. One example is United Cruises. This site has a current special for United MileagePlus card members. You can earn up to 45k miles for booking a cruise through the site:
Discover also regularly offers 5% cashback for cruises booked through them.
Keep in mind that for these deals, you must book through the portal, which acts as your travel agent. You are not booking directly with the cruise line, and you can’t use your regular travel agent. You may be forgoing benefits from your travel agent (like on-board credit).
What About Cruise Company Credit Cards?
Many cruise lines have their own credit cards. However, they rarely have sign-up bonuses worth anything. Usually, you can get a higher-value bonus from a number of other credit cards.
Don’t Settle for 1X Points
If the above methods are too much work, just be sure you’re earning more than 1X points on your cruise payments. Using a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve will earn you 3X points on travel expenses, and many other cards (like the Capital One Venture Rewards card) will net you 2X points.
Cruisers, what card do you use to book your cruises? Have you ever scored a great deal through a portal?
CLICK HERE TO VIEW VARIOUS CREDIT CARDS AND AVAILABLE SIGN-UP BONUSES
Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
I have often used United Cruises. The 45K is click bate in a way as you have to spend the most on that cruise to get the 45K. About the best I have done is 35K and that is OK with me. I put some on the Chase Reserve to get the insurance stuff, alot on that United Card to max points.
Also, most cruise lines have stock on the exchange market. Owning their stock will give you onboard credit.
NCL will sell a cruise next deposit, where you pay about $0.5 and then get $1 of credit on a cruise you choose over the next 4 years. You redeem in $250 credits. This is a great deal.
Sometimes we do cruisecompete.com and have travel agents compete for our business. They throw in all kinds of credits sometimes, and sometimes not.
Finally, book your excursion prior to the cruise and book through private companies. Only use the top companies on TripAdvisor. We have saved thousands over what cruise companies charged and typically 12 or less people on our excursions. We have never had a problem getting back to the ship.
Never, never, did I say Never, book an excursion on the dock after you have left the ship. NEVER do this. The one time you are lucky will be the one time out of ten.
We have done over 25 cruises.
@John Wow, over 25 cruises?!?! Thank you for sharing your wisdom!
I would caution that some cruise ship branded gift cards are really restrictive as in they can only be used for payment through cruise line directly or can’t be used for OBC, etc. I think Celebrity is an example of that last time I checked. Also if you have a BofA card, AMEX cards, Chase cards you should check your offers. For example Crystal Cruise lines has a targeted offer at BofA where you save $400 or $450 towards a cruise booked with them.
Yes, definitely read the fine print! I’ve only ever used Mastercard/Visa gift cards and Disney gift cards from office supply stores to pay for cruises.