Wednesday, April 24, 2024

How to book a cruise using points and miles

marriott cruise

That's three times the normal offer of 3 points for every dollar spent. When it comes to actually making the point redemption for the cruise, you have two options. You can redeem your points for a cruise certificate, which can be applied as a partial payment towards your cruise. Alternatively, you can redeem them to cover the entire cost of the cruise. Marriott offers cruise options through their cruise portal, Cruise with Points.

Airline Reward Programs

marriott cruise

Again, the price is based on 2 people, but this time we’ll look at the overall least expensive option available (an interior stateroom). If your goal is to maximize the value you get from your Marriott Bonvoy points, then using them for a cruise isn’t a great idea. While the average value is 0.7 cents, there are definitely opportunities to get even more value from your points. If you ask me, that's how I'd book a cruise with points and miles to get the best value. Finding your cruise within the Citi ThankYou portal can be frustrating because the search functionality isn't very robust. Travelers can only search for cruises by destination or cruise line, not by available dates.

Hotels

It isn't always easy to get great value for your points and miles when you use them toward cruise redemptions — at least, not the way you can for first-class flights. However, redeeming your points for free or discounted cruise travel is possible. Or, you can redeem 30,000 points for a $300 discount on a Celebrity Cruises voyage. To learn more about how to redeem MyCruise Rewards points, check out this PDF.

Credit Card Reward Programs

If you choose to book through Marriott Cruises, you’d earn about 6,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, which has a value of ~$42. So if you are trying to earn more Marriott Bonvoy points and value them highly, it could still make sense to book through Marriott Cruises. If you just want to save the most money, Marriott Cruises won’t be the best option. Let’s look at a 4-night Key West and Bahamas cruise on Celebrity Cruise Line.

How To Book a Cruise Using Marriott Bonvoy Points

If you value cruising more than a hotel stay or really have no plans to use your Marriott Bonvoy points anytime soon, booking a cruise could be a decent option. So, when you book a cruise with Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll get a little more than half of what your points are typically worth. You can redeem points for a cruise certificate to apply as partial payment towards a cruise or you can pay for the entire cruise with Marriott Bonvoy points. Regardless of how many points you use, you’ll get 0.4 cents per point in value.

Citi ThankYou Rewards

Typically, you will be required to make the reservation through the portal provided by your credit card issuer, but some require calling a booking center. You may also be able to charge the cruise to your card and then redeem your rewards for a statement credit against some (or all) of that purchase. As mentioned above, you can maximize your purchase by using a Marriott Bonvoy credit card from Chase, such as the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card. Customers using a Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card get 2 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar spent on cruises booked through Marriott's Cruise with Points program.

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Additionally, Marriott Bonvoy's Cruise with Points program allows you to cash in Marriott points for credit toward any cruise that's bookable on the Cruise with Points website. The Citi ThankYou portal allows cardholders to use their ThankYou points as credit toward a cruise. No, you’ll need to book a Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection cruise directly.

Redeeming points doesn't require booking through a portal, thus freeing you up to book your cruise directly with the company or via a travel agent to get extra perks. This option also lets you pursue promotional package rates or discounts that might not be available through the Amex, Chase or Citi portals. Capital One offers more flexibility and a more straightforward redemption process than Amex, Chase and Citi. Unless you transfer your miles to an airline or hotel partner, each mile is worth a flat 1 cent toward travel.

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection & Marriott Bonvoy Partnership - One Mile at a Time

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection & Marriott Bonvoy Partnership.

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In researching this and other articles about cruising, we have found that the price of cruises tends to be pretty standard across most booking websites — the real difference in value is the extras that come with the cruise. If you decide you’d rather not use your Marriott Bonvoy points for a cruise, you can still book with Marriott Cruises to earn 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 spent. This is in addition to any points you earn from your credit card. Then scroll down the page until you see Travel (Use your points to book cruises, flights, car rental, and more).

While various options are available for redeeming your points and miles toward a cruise, it is important to note that the value you receive may not always be optimal (i.e., less than TPG's valuations). In the realm of travel rewards, there are often more lucrative opportunities to leverage your points and miles for flights or hotel stays, where the value and flexibility tend to be higher. Did you know you can earn or use your Marriott Bonvoy points on a cruise? Using points for a cruise isn’t quite as common as using points for a flight or hotel, but it’s doable. Cruise credit cards don’t have great sign-on bonuses or earning categories, so there’s not much opportunity to earn boatloads of cruise points (pun intended) with credit cards.

However, there are ways to do it and today we are focusing on the Marriott Cruises program, which gives travelers the opportunity to earn or use Marriott Bonvoy points for cruises. We’ll also look at whether or not you’ll get good value from your points by doing some price comparisons. You can redeem a minimum of 180,000 points toward a flat $1,000 savings on the cruise fare.

For example, Marriott Bonvoy members can earn and redeem points on Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection cruises. These partner options are often limited, though, and may require loyalty to a specific travel brand. With cruise line cobranded credit cards, you can earn points for purchases that you can then use to offset the cost of your cruise booking. However, this might not be your best option for earning and redeeming points. If you don't have a Marriott Bonvoy credit card by Chase, it's best to use a card that earns bonus points on cruises. A good option is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which earns 2 points per dollar spent on travel, including cruises.

Unfortunately, Chase's booking system doesn't let you book cruises directly through Chase's online Ultimate Rewards portal. You'll have to call the Ultimate Rewards booking hotline and talk to someone in the cruise reservations department instead. Instead, the Marriott Cruises site acts like an online travel agency to allow you to book cruises through Marriott Bonvoy. Whether or not it’s a good deal to book a cruise through Marriott Cruises depends on how much you value Marriott Bonvoy points. If you need more Marriott Bonvoy points or are a Marriott Bonvoy loyalist, it could be worth it.

We priced out this cruise for 2 adults in the least expensive balcony stateroom available (Deluxe Stateroom Ocean View Veranda). Once you get to the Marriott Cruises website, you can navigate it like any other online travel agency. You’ll be able to search for a cruise using parameters like destination, cruise length, travel dates, cruise line, cruise ship, or departure port. By using points on this given one-night stay, you're getting 2.5 cents per point.

After that, you can redeem increments of 90,000 points toward $500 in savings, up to the entire cruise fare. This redemption rate equates to about 0.56 cents per Marriott point, well below TPG's valuation of 0.84 cents per point. While it’s great to be able to earn Marriott Bonvoy points on your cruise, there’s a big downside — you’ll be charged a non-refundable $24.99 processing fee. However, there could be times when it’s not a bad idea to use your Marriott Bonvoy points on a cruise.

If you're an elite member or have a United credit card, you might even have access to special member award pricing. In 2021, Marriott announced that The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection would participate in the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. Members can redeem points on Ritz-Carlton cruises and enjoy elite status perks on voyages. Here's how you can book a cruise on points with several major credit card companies. As part of a limited-time promotion launching on Friday, Marriott is offering customers who book a cruise through its Cruise with Points program up to 9 Marriott Bonvoy points for every dollar spent on a cruise.

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