When you’re wanting to embark on a cruise and have amassed factors, you may not need to pay in your subsequent journey.
On this information, we’ll discover methods that will help you optimize your points and miles to scale back the price of your cruise trip. We’ll talk about leveraging loyalty applications and one of the best methods to unlock financial savings in your cruise fare.
Listed below are the highest methods to make use of your factors and miles for a cruise.
Associated: A beginners guide to picking a cruise line
Must you guide a cruise with factors and miles?
Whereas numerous choices can be found for redeeming your factors and miles towards a cruise, you will need to be aware that the worth you obtain may not all the time be optimum (i.e., lower than TPG’s monthly valuations). Within the realm of journey rewards, there are sometimes extra profitable alternatives to leverage your factors and miles for flights or resort stays, the place the worth and adaptability are typically larger.
In case you have American Express Membership Rewards points, Capital One miles or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you would possibly be capable of get a redemption worth of 1 to 1.5 cents per level for cruises. On this case, you’d get $100 or $150 off your cruise fare by redeeming 10,000 factors. Whereas this may appear excessive, it falls brief in comparison with the worth some vacationers get when redeeming factors for luxurious inns or business-class flights.
Some cruise strains have their very own bank cards, however just a few have shaped partnerships with different manufacturers. For instance, Marriott Bonvoy members can redeem points on Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection cruises at a price of 180,000 factors for a $1,000 financial savings. Nonetheless, these associate choices are sometimes restricted and would possibly require loyalty to a particular journey model.
You possibly can all the time use factors to scale back journey bills for any cruise trip. For instance, you need to use Amex Membership Rewards factors, Bilt Rewards Points, Capital One miles, Chase Final Rewards factors, Wells Fargo Rewards points and Citi ThankYou Rewards points to cowl prices related to airfare, inns or rental vehicles in your cruise. This typically proves to be a greater use of your rewards.
Nonetheless, if you wish to use your amassed factors to scale back your cruise prices, listed here are numerous choices for reserving a cruise with factors and miles.
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E-book a cruise with bank card factors
You should utilize sure bank card factors to guide a cruise. Usually, you may be required to make the reservation by means of the portal offered by your bank card issuer, however some require calling a reserving middle. You may additionally be capable of cost the cruise to your card after which redeem your rewards for an announcement credit score in opposition to some (or all) of that buy.
This is learn how to guide a cruise on factors with a number of main bank card firms.
American Specific Membership Rewards
In case you have an eligible American Express card that earns Membership Rewards factors, you need to use these factors to cowl the price of your cruise by means of the Pay with Points program. With this program, you possibly can redeem Membership Rewards factors at a worth of 0.5 to 0.7 cents per level for many journey purchases. Nonetheless, TPG values Membership Rewards factors at 2 cents every (per our January 2025 valuations) whenever you maximize the program’s transfer partners, so you’d use them at a decrease worth when you use Pay with Factors.
The Amex Travel portal has a user-friendly search function that means that you can discover totally different cruises primarily based on particular filters corresponding to date, vacation spot, cruise line and journey length even earlier than you log in.
To guide a cruise utilizing Pay with Factors, log in to the journey portal and do the next:
- Choose your most popular cruise itinerary and cabin.
- Enter your passenger info.
- When it is time to take a look at, enter your Membership Rewards-enrolled American Specific card info and choose “Sure” to find out what number of Membership Rewards factors your account has.
- You possibly can pay for all the cruise utilizing Pay with Factors or erase a portion of the associated fee and pay the remaining with money.
Alternatively, you possibly can search for the cruise you need and name 800-297-5627 to guide immediately with the Amex Journey crew over the telephone.
Associated: The best credit cards for booking cruises
Chase Final Rewards
The Chase Travel℠ portal is much like Amex Journey, however the redemption worth is larger.
When reserving by means of Chase, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card factors might be redeemed for 1.25 cents every towards journey, whereas Chase Sapphire Reserve® factors might be redeemed for 1.5 cents every.
Sadly, Chase’s reserving system would not allow you to guide cruises by means of Chase’s on-line journey portal. You will need to name the reserving hotline and speak to somebody within the cruise reservations division as an alternative.
To guide a cruise and pay with Chase Final Rewards factors:
- Discover the cruise itinerary and availability you need by means of the cruise line’s website. In case you have a particular cabin in thoughts, have that info useful. Sadly, reviews point out that you simply can’t guide Disney Cruise Line sailings with Chase Final Rewards.
- Name a Chase journey specialist immediately at 855-234-2542, and be ready to stroll the adviser by means of the cruise line reserving web page on their finish to allow them to discover and guide the cabin and choices you need. Cruise advisers can be found Monday by means of Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Jap time and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to five p.m. Jap time.
- Your cruise adviser will arrange the itinerary for you and, upon checkout, will ask you what number of factors you need to apply in opposition to your closing stability.
Citi ThankYou Rewards
The Citi ThankYou portal doesn’t presently permit cardholders to make use of their ThankYou factors as credit score for a cruise.
Capital One miles
Capital One provides extra flexibility and a extra simple redemption course of than Amex and Chase. Until you switch your miles to an airline or resort associate, every mile is value a flat 1 cent towards journey.
Redeeming factors doesn’t require booking through a portal, liberating you as much as guide your cruise immediately with the corporate or by way of a journey agent to get further perks. This feature additionally permits you to pursue promotional package deal charges or reductions that may not be accessible by means of the Amex or Chase portals.
The award redemption course of is simple: Use the cardboard when paying in your cruise package deal, then log in to your account and use the “Cowl your journey purchases” possibility to use your mileage stability as a credit score towards the overall quantity you owe in your bank card assertion.
You possibly can earn Capital One miles with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Every has various options, so perform some research to resolve which card is greatest for you.
Associated: Capital One Venture Rewards vs. Capital One Venture X: Worth the extra $300 in annual fees?
E-book a cruise with airline miles
You may as well guide cruises utilizing airline miles. Nonetheless, like different choices, the worth of your journey rewards is usually underwhelming. The next journey suppliers supply cruise portals that permit you to redeem rewards:
For instance, within the United Cruises portal, this seven-night Disney cruise out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, prices 239,143 United Airlines MileagePlus miles per particular person for an inside cabin — value $3,228 by TPG’s January 2025 valuation of United miles.
In distinction, the identical room and crusing dates price simply $1,674 per particular person when paid for with money — a greater worth than with United miles.
Use factors from cruise line cobranded bank cards to guide
With cruise line cobranded credit cards, you possibly can earn factors for purchases you can then use to offset the price of your cruise reserving. Nonetheless, this may not be your best choice for incomes and redeeming factors.
Right here, you will need to be certain you need to use your factors towards the cruise fare as an alternative of solely onboard purchases. For instance, the Royal Caribbean Visa Signature® Credit Card provides a welcome bonus of 30,000 factors after you spend $1,000 or extra on purchases inside 90 days of opening your account. Your redemption decisions range.
For example, you possibly can redeem 25,000 factors towards your companion’s cruise fare on a three- or four-night Royal Caribbean cruise (sure circumstances apply, e.g., might not exceed $500 in worth). Or, you possibly can redeem 30,000 factors for a $300 low cost on a Celebrity Cruises voyage. To study extra about learn how to redeem MyCruise Rewards factors, try this PDF.
The data for the Royal Caribbean Visa Signature card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Redeem Marriott Bonvoy factors
In 2021, Marriott introduced that the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Assortment would take part within the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. Members can redeem factors on Ritz-Carlton cruises and luxuriate in elite status perks on voyages. Nonetheless, the redemption charges aren’t nice.
You possibly can redeem a minimum of 180,000 factors towards a flat $1,000 financial savings on the cruise fare. After that, you possibly can redeem increments of 90,000 factors towards $500 in financial savings, as much as all the cruise fare. This redemption price is about 0.56 cents per Marriott level, nicely under TPG’s January 2025 valuation of 0.85 cents per level.
Associated: Best ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy points: From hotel stays and credit card spending to travel partners
Moreover, Marriott Bonvoy’s Cruise with Points program means that you can money in Marriott factors for credit score towards any cruise that is bookable on the Cruise with Factors web site.
You possibly can redeem factors within the following denominations, all valued at 0.4 cents per level:
- 63,000 factors for $250 off your cruise fare
- 125,000 factors for $500 off
- 250,000 factors for $1,000 off
- 625,000 factors for $2,500 off
- 1,250,000 factors for $5,000 off
To redeem Marriott factors for a cruise, name 800-596-0452.
Use factors and miles for precruise inns and flights
You would possibly maximize your factors and miles by redeeming them for flights to your departure port and precruise and postcruise resort stays as an alternative of the cruise fare itself. You possibly can typically get greater than 1 or 1.5 cents per level with flights and resort stays.
For instance, you possibly can switch your Chase Final Rewards factors to United MileagePlus and get an amazing redemption worth by reserving a flight to Miami Worldwide Airport (MIA). When you’re an elite member or have a United credit card, you would possibly even have entry to special member award pricing.
Or you possibly can use 12,000 to 18,000 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 Worldwide Airport (a Class 4 resort) in Florida earlier than heading to Port Canaveral the following day.
Associated: How (and why) you should earn transferable credit card points in 2025
Backside line
It is not all the time simple to get nice worth in your factors and miles whenever you use them towards cruise redemptions — a minimum of, not the best way you possibly can with business-class flights. Nonetheless, redeeming your factors without cost or discounted cruise journey is feasible.
That mentioned, to redeem your rewards for optimum worth, you must keep away from utilizing airline miles or resort factors for cruises. These are higher used on flights and in a single day stays.
It is a comparable story for bank card currencies. Capital One provides probably the most flexibility of all the foremost issuers as a result of you possibly can book your cruise directly or through a travel agent. With a number of reserving choices, you possibly can make the most of further perks and entry promotional charges from journey brokers and on-line retailers that are not accessible by means of bank card portals. You possibly can even stack these offers for extra financial savings by booking via an airline portal to earn miles.
As soon as booked, the Capital One award redemption course of is simple: Apply your mileage stability as a credit score towards your complete bank card assertion. Every mile is value a flat 1 cent towards journey, so that you all the time know the worth for comparability functions.
That is how we would guide a cruise with factors and miles to get one of the best worth.
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