Here at TPG, we love a good cruise — and so do thousands of our readers.
Whether you’re a first-time cruiser or a longtime veteran, touring solo or along with your prolonged household, planning your fiftieth anniversary journey of a lifetime or only a fast weekend getaway from actuality, there’s a route, expertise or vacation spot to swimsuit you.
If you’re able to hit the excessive seas and have a stash of factors saved up, it’s possible you’ll not need to pay in your subsequent cruise out of pocket. Here are the perfect methods to cruise on factors and miles.
How to guide a cruise utilizing factors and miles
We often encourage vacationers to make use of their factors and miles for outsize award redemptions. But when reserving cruises on factors, outsize redemption alternatives have traditionally been restricted.
Transferable currencies usually have restricted redemption worth for cruises to 1-1.5 cents per level. While that’s actually excessive at face worth, it’s just a little low in comparison with what some vacationers get for redeeming factors for luxurious inns and first-class flights.
Many cruise traces situation branded bank cards, though some have begun branching out into cobranded partnerships. For occasion, Hyatt companions with Lindblad Expeditions, so World of Hyatt members can earn and redeem Hyatt factors when reserving Lindblad cruises — and vice versa (extra on that under). Similarly, Marriott Bonvoy members can earn and redeem factors on Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection cruises.
That mentioned, many of those companion choices are restricted in scope and should require you to keep up loyalty with a single journey model.
You can nonetheless use factors to decrease bills in your subsequent cruise from any cruise line. For occasion, you may simply use your American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou factors towards airfare, resort or rental automobile prices related to attending to and out of your cruise port. And you can even guide cruises instantly by the issuer’s journey portal.
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Below, we’ll introduce every main bank card program and break down the cruise reserving course of, step-by-step.
Related: You can guide this thrilling cruise ship on factors
Amex Pay with Points
If you maintain an eligible American Express card that earns Membership Rewards factors, you may use these factors towards your cruise reserving price by using the Pay with Points program.
Amex permits you to redeem Membership Rewards factors at a price of 0.5-0.7 cents per level towards most journey purchases. However, TPG values Membership Rewards factors at 2 cents every, so that you’re dropping out on greater than half the estimated worth by going this route.
The Amex Travel portal affords nice search performance, permitting you to browse for the cruise of your alternative utilizing filters for date, vacation spot, cruise line and journey length even earlier than you log in.
To guide a cruise utilizing Pay with Points, log in to the journey portal and do the next:
- Select the cruise itinerary and cabin of your selecting.
- Enter your passenger data.
- When it’s time to take a look at, enter your Membership Rewards-enrolled American Express card data and choose “Yes” to find out what number of Membership Rewards factors are in your account.
- You can choose to pay for the complete cruise utilizing Pay with Points or erase a portion of the associated fee and pay the remainder with money.
Alternatively, you may search for the cruise you need and name 800-297-5627 to guide instantly with the American Express Travel staff over the telephone.
Related: Wave season cruise offers
Extra cruise perks for Amex Platinum cardholders
If you’ve got The Platinum Card® from American Express, you’re eligible for a number of further perks and advantages beneath the Amex Cruise Privileges Program.
Even if you happen to use your Membership Rewards factors to defray your cruise bills, you’ll have the ability to benefit from a slew of Platinum perks, together with as much as $300 in stateroom credit score on cruise traces similar to Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and others.
Additional Amex Platinum perks differ by the cruise line. Reports point out that earlier advantages included a $200 shore tour credit score on Crystal Cruises and a bottle of premium Champagne or wine on Royal Caribbean.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
The Chase Ultimate Rewards journey portal is much like Amex Travel, however the redemption worth is increased.
Points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card are value 1.25 cents every towards journey booked by Chase, whereas factors from the Chase Sapphire Reserve are value 1.5 cents.
Unfortunately, Chase’s reserving system does not allow you to guide cruises by Chase’s on-line Ultimate Rewards portal. You’ll need to name the Ultimate Rewards reserving hotline and speak to somebody within the cruise reservations division as a substitute.
To guide a cruise and pay with Chase Ultimate Rewards factors:
- Find the cruise itinerary and availability you need instantly on the cruise line’s web site. If you’ve got a particular cabin in thoughts, have that data helpful. Unfortunately, studies point out that Disney Cruises can’t be booked with Chase Ultimate Rewards.
- Call a Chase journey specialist instantly at 855-234-2542, and be ready to stroll the adviser by the cruise line reserving web page on their finish to allow them to discover and guide the cabin and choices you need. Cruise advisers could be reached Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. EST, and on Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. EST.
- Your cruise adviser will arrange the itinerary for you and, upon checkout, will ask you what number of factors you need to apply towards your ultimate steadiness.
Exclusive perks for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders
While the Chase Sapphire Reserve doesn’t provide cruisers practically as many perks because the Amex Platinum does, the cardboard does provide an annual $300 assertion credit score towards any travel-related buy, together with cruise bookings.
Citi ThankYou
The Citi ThankYou portal permits cardholders to make use of their ThankYou factors as credit score towards a cruise. Some cardholders can redeem factors at a price of 1 cent apiece.
Finding your cruise inside the Citi ThankYou portal could be irritating for the reason that search performance isn’t as sturdy as one would hope. Travelers can solely seek for cruises by vacation spot or cruise line, not by obtainable dates.
To guide a cruise utilizing Citi ThankYou factors:
- Log in to the journey portal by navigating by your Citi account (or instantly at thankyou.com) and clicking on “Cruises” on the journey reserving web page.
- You can’t seek for cruises by a particular date, however you may filter by cruise line or vacation spot.
- Once you’ve recognized the cruise you need to guide, name 800-842-6596 to talk instantly with a Citi ThankYou journey specialist, who will can help you apply Citi ThankYou factors towards the ultimate price at checkout.
Note that you should utilize Citi ThankYou factors to guide a Disney Cruise if you happen to so need.
Fixed-value factors
Fixed-value factors provide very easy redemption potentialities when reserving a cruise. The premise is easy: Each level is value a delegated worth — often 1 cent — off your journey buy.
For occasion, Capital One permits you to pay in your journey nevertheless you need, whether or not you guide on-line, name the cruise line or undergo a journey agent. This means you may stack a number of affords or reductions for additional financial savings, similar to utilizing a purchasing portal when reserving or including a promo code at checkout.
If your buy falls beneath the journey class, you should utilize your stash of factors to offset the quantity you owe in your assertion. If you pay $1,000 for a cruise on a bank card that gives a 1:1 point-to-cent ratio, you’ll want 100,000 factors to offset the associated fee.
Related: How to triple stack offers to get the final word financial savings in your subsequent cruise
Capital One miles
Capital One affords extra flexibility and a extra easy redemption course of than Amex, Chase and Citi. Unless you switch your miles to an airline or resort companion, every mile is value a flat 1 cent towards journey.
Redeeming factors doesn’t require reserving by a portal, thus liberating you as much as guide your cruise instantly with the corporate or by way of a journey agent to get further perks. This possibility additionally permits you to pursue promotional bundle charges or reductions that is probably not obtainable by the Amex, Chase or Citi portals.
The award redemption course of is easy: Use the cardboard when paying in your cruise bundle, then log in to your account and use the “cover your travel purchases” possibility to use your mileage steadiness as a credit score towards the whole quantity you owe in your bank card assertion.
You can earn Capital One miles with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Each has various charges and options, so learn our comparability article for extra data.
Related: The simple route: How to redeem Capital One miles at a set worth
Book utilizing airline miles
You can use airline miles to guide cruises. But once more, like different choices, the worth per mile typically isn’t nice.
For instance, this seven-night Disney cruise out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, prices 156,714 United MileagePlus miles per particular person for an inside cabin — value $1,896 by TPG’s present valuation for United miles.
In distinction, the identical room and identical crusing dates price simply $1,097 per particular person when paid for with money — clearly a greater worth than paying with United miles.
Proprietary cruise line membership applications
We often stress that cruise line cobranded bank cards is probably not your best choice for incomes and redeeming factors.
That mentioned, there are some cruise-specific bank cards on the market. For instance, the Royal Caribbean Visa Signature affords a bonus of 25,000 MyCruise Rewards factors — value $250 in onboard credit score — to make use of in your subsequent cruise.
If you earn 15,000 MyCruise Rewards factors, you may redeem them for a $150 low cost on any Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises ship and itinerary.
The data for the Royal Caribbean Visa Signature has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Related: These are the bank cards to make use of to maximise your subsequent cruise trip
Book a Lindblad Expeditions cruise with World of Hyatt factors
In 2019, World of Hyatt and Lindblad Expeditions introduced a partnership the place cruisers can earn Hyatt factors and qualifying nights that depend towards Hyatt elite standing.
On the incomes facet, vacationers earn 5 base Hyatt factors per greenback spent on Lindblad cruises and customary elite member bonuses. Plus, the World of Hyatt Credit Card earns a further 4 factors per greenback spent on eligible Lindblad Expeditions bought by Hyatt.
Lindblad is the cruise line that companions with National Geographic on a few of its extra adventurous sailings, so it’s significantly thrilling that among the world’s most memorable cruise experiences could be booked with factors as a substitute of chilly onerous money.
Related: Why the National Geographic Endurance is 1 of essentially the most thrilling new cruise ships
Booking a Lindblad voyage by Hyatt means you’ll additionally obtain $250 in onboard credit score per reservation. To guide a paid cruise or redeem your factors for a voyage, go to this web site or name 866-537-5099.
TPG priced out a number of totally different cruises for a check run. In every case, a Hyatt level was value 1.6 cents. For instance, take this seven-night Wild Galapagos Escape expedition cruise. The money worth begins at $9,790 per particular person or 611,875 Hyatt factors.
Similarly, an eight-night Costa Rica cruise additionally priced out at 1.6 cents per level.
TPG values Hyatt factors at 1.7 cents every, so redeeming for a Lindblad cruise will get you very near that mark. These voyages get rave critiques, so if in case you have tons of Hyatt factors, this feature deserves a great look.
Redeem Marriott Bonvoy factors
In 2021, Marriott introduced that the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection will take part within the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. Members can earn and redeem factors on Ritz-Carlton cruises and revel in elite standing perks on voyages. However, the incomes and redemption charges aren’t nice.
You’ll earn 5 factors per greenback spent on cruise fares and the resort bundle charge for collaborating Marriott Bonvoy inns booked by the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. Your cruise fare additionally counts towards the $23,000 spending requirement for Marriott’s Ambassador Elite standing. Additionally, you will earn elite nights in your cruises.
On the redemption facet, you may redeem a minimal of 180,000 factors towards a flat $1,000 financial savings on the cruise fare. After that, you may redeem increments of 90,000 factors towards a $500 financial savings, as much as the complete cruise fare. This redemption charge equates to about 0.56 cents per Marriott level, properly under TPG’s valuation of 0.84 cents per level.
Related: 17 methods to earn plenty of Marriott Bonvoy factors
Additionally, Marriott Bonvoy’s Cruise with Points program lets you money in Marriott factors for credit score towards any cruise that’s bookable on the Cruise with Points web site.
You will pay for a cruise with a full or partial factors fee, beginning at 63,000 Marriott factors for a $250 credit score towards your cruise.
Unfortunately, your worth per Bonvoy level is even worse when redeeming for cruises by this technique. The worth maxes out at simply 0.4 cents per level.
Leverage on line casino applications
If you’ve got standing with MGM Rewards, you might have entry to cruise perks and even free cruises.
While you aren’t eligible without cost cruises on Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises till you hit Platinum standing with MGM, onboard credit start on the Gold stage.
The phrases point out that if you happen to earn Platinum or Noir standing by gameplay, you may get a free cruise for 2 on Royal Caribbean or Celebrity.
If you match your solution to standing or related (similar to by way of Hyatt), it’s possible you’ll be eligible for perks even when your standing wasn’t earned by gameplay.
Related: A learners information to cruise line loyalty applications
Pay for a cruise in money and earn factors
It’s all the time enjoyable to earn a “free” journey with factors and miles. But there are a number of occasions when it makes extra sense to pay money somewhat than spend your rewards.
While these components will differ by particular person, the next eventualities could assist information your determination:
Pay money when your dates, routes or cruise line are fastened
If you’re touring with prolonged household or a bigger group, they could not have the identical entry to the points-based portals you do. Or if in case you have youngsters whose schedules solely can help you journey between particular dates, it’s a lot more durable to gamble on the chance that your required route can be obtainable by these portals. You also needs to consider the opportunity of utilizing fixed-value factors from a program like Capital One to “erase” a portion — or the whole money price outright — of your journey.
Pay in money when a superb money fare comes up
As with airline tickets, there’s zero level in enjoying the factors and miles recreation if you happen to don’t take full benefit of gross sales. If you discover a cruise reserving that prices much less in money than your factors’ worth, pay for it outright and save your factors for an additional journey. You can use TPG’s month-to-month valuations information that can assist you calculate what your factors are value.
Related: What are your factors and miles value? TPG’s valuations information helps you determine
You would possibly solely have the ability to pay with money when reserving a uncommon itinerary
If you’re hoping to go to Antarctica by way of Ushuaia, Argentina, or to discover Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, you’re prone to discover that these locations are solely obtainable to cash-paying cruisers.
If you anticipate needing to make any adjustments to your reservation
Award redemptions booked by bank card issuers like Chase and Amex are thought-about third-party journey bookings, so your cruise line is probably not ready or inclined to indicate any flexibility if you happen to want any adjustments made to your dates, itinerary or cabin.
This is the place redeeming Capital One miles for cruises shines, as a result of redeeming your stash of factors doesn’t require reserving journey by the issuer’s portal. Instead, you’ll guide the journey instantly with the cruise line, log in to your account and use your miles steadiness to “wipe out” the cost.
If there’s an Amex Offers deal obtainable for the cruise line you want to sail
From time to time, American Express affords particular limited-time bonus factors offers to cardmembers who guide cruises.
These Amex Offers have let cardholders earn 15,000 to 35,000 bonus Membership Rewards factors for placing a cruise buy on their bank card.
A 25,000-point provide is value $500 at present TPG valuations. In the previous, affords have included numerous cruise traces similar to Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, Seabourn, Cunard and Crystal Cruises. Amex Offers are focused and topic to alter at any time. To see if you happen to’re focused for a particular provide — and to enroll within the provide — log in to your American Express account. Scroll right down to “Amex Offers and Benefits” and see what offers are offered.
Related studying: Your final information to Amex Offers
Book cruises by way of an airline portal
If you’re paying money and need to earn miles concurrently, airways can help you earn bonus miles by reserving cruises by way of their websites. For instance, there are United Cruises, American Airlines Cruises, Delta SkyMiles Cruises and extra.
The cruises we priced out by way of United Cruises had been largely the identical worth as reserving instantly with the cruise traces. The solely distinction is that you’d earn bonus United miles per greenback spent for reserving by way of the United website.
On our Royal Caribbean cruise reserving check, United bank card holders can earn as much as 10 miles per greenback spent on the cruise cabin’s base charge for reserving by way of the airline’s cruise portal. These elevated accruals are just for balcony and suite rooms. If you are a MileagePlus cobranded card holder, your earnings are capped at 60,000 MileagePlus miles per buy, and there is a one-time bonus for two,500 miles per cruise reserving.
Remember that these bookings are thought-about third-party purchases, so cruise traces usually are not obligated or is probably not inclined to can help you make adjustments.
For this Royal Caribbean crusing for a household of two, that would imply selecting up 11,640 United miles, valued by TPG at $141.
Those with United elite standing may also money in on some perks. Bonuses differ by the cruise line and are primarily based in your elite standing tier, however you could possibly get something from enjoyable spa therapies to complimentary wine or as much as $300 to spend on board.
Paying for onboard cruise bills
Once on board, most of your bills can be lined as a part of your cruise reserving, as virtually all cruise traces embrace leisure and buffet/most important eating room entry as a part of the cruise bundle.
But there all the time can be some alternatives to splurge, together with drinks and eating at one of many fancier eating places in your ship, excursions and spa therapies. You may even pony up on cruise traces to dine on the captain’s desk.
Related: The 1st American girl to captain a cruise ship faculties web troll in viral video
You’ll earn essentially the most factors on cruise bookings by paying with a bank card that gives further incentives for a broad vary of journey purchases — try TPG‘s best credit cards for cruises and find the ones that work best for you.
In the meantime, here is a quick reference chart of the current best credit cards for general travel-related expenses:
Some cruise lines also offer gift cards for sale at retailers such as grocery stores and office supply stores, so it is possible to earn more points per dollar when picking up cruise (or Disney) gift cards at those types of retailers, depending on which credit cards are in your wallet.
Additional cruise money-saving tips and tricks
As vacations go, most cruises don’t come low-cost. The following suggestions could additional enable you get monetary savings or maximize your points-earning alternatives.
Use factors and miles for positioning inns and flights
Flights, rental vehicles and inns can add up fairly rapidly, so don’t overlook to search for your greatest factors and miles choices for these parts of the journey.
For occasion, you could possibly fly Southwest to a cruise port airport similar to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Orlando International Airport (MCO) or William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) close to the port of Galveston, Texas, on factors — and with the Companion Pass — then use resort factors to spend the night time earlier than the cruise close to the port, so that you don’t have to fret a couple of delayed flight resulting in a missed cruise.
For one other instance, you could possibly use 9,000 to fifteen,000 World of Hyatt factors or an annual Category 1-4 award from the World of Hyatt Credit Card to pay for a room on the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport earlier than heading to Port Canaveral the following day.
Related: What to do if you happen to miss your cruise
Look into repositioning cruises
Most cruise traces provide deeply discounted charges on repositioning routes when the corporate wants to maneuver a ship from one vacation spot to a different.
Think of repositioning cruises as one-way journey. Whether from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean, Texas to Puerto Rico or Tokyo to Vancouver, these itineraries are on the market. Even the family-friendly Disney Cruise Line affords repositioning cruises that price barely lower than the common crusing.
Websites similar to repositioningcruise.com can help you seek for repositioning cruises as much as two years upfront. You can kind your search outcomes by date, low cost complete or price complete along with customary standards similar to departure and arrival ports, dates, length and cruise line.
You can then use your airline miles to guide a one-way flight again house as a substitute of doubtless paying extra for a one-way fare utilizing money.
Related: Your full information to utilizing Google Flights for reserving airfare
Bottom line
It isn’t all the time simple to get a fantastic return in your factors and miles towards cruise redemptions — no less than not the best way you may for first-class flights. But this information proves that it is doable, particularly with fixed-value currencies like Capital One miles.
You might even stack that bonus for added financial savings by reserving by way of an airline portal to earn miles or by utilizing a website like cruisecompete.com to provide the greatest offers and perks from journey brokers.
Are you dreaming of a household cruise? Here’s some recommendation:
Additional reporting by Ariana Arghandewal, Benji Stawski and Kyle Olsen.