30 Days of Boat Drinks – Barclays Arrival Miles and Ultimate Rewards

30 Days of Boat Drinks – Introduction

30 Days of Boat Drinks – Getting Informed

30 Days of Boat Drinks – Credit Card Plays

30 Days of Boat Drinks – Barclay Arrival Miles and Ultimate Rewards

30 Days of Boat Drinks – Membership Rewards and Cruise Privileges

30 Days of Boat Drinks – Shopping Strategies and Getting Booked

30 Days of Boat Drinks – Backup Plan

30 Days of Boat Drinks – Onboard Spending Strategies and Life On Board

30 Days of Boat Drinks – Conclusion

I thought I’d start this 30 Days of Boat Drinks post by relaying a conversation I had aboard Majesty of the Seas a couple weekends ago. I met a gentleman on board who was a retired state policeman. He had boarded the ship on September 16th. The day we met was October 27th, and he was leaving the ship on November 1st. He wasn’t paying with points, but one retired person pulling off so many nights on board is inspiration for our goal of 30 days at sea on points. Also, note the time of year which I will cover in the next post.

Now, it’s worth noting that most of what I intend to cover in this post has been covered on this blog before. However, that was in the days before 30 days of boat drinks was a glimmer in my eye. There are four cards that will be my primary focus:

• Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
• Chase Ink Bold (No longer available for new accounts)
• Chase Ink Plus

Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®

This is currently my favorite “walking around” card, primarily because you earn 2 miles for every dollar spent on purchases. If you redeem those miles for travel purchases, you will earn a 10 percent rebate on your miles. Here are the specifics on this card.

• Earn 40,000 bonus miles when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days — that’s enough to redeem for a $400 travel statement credit
• Earn 2X miles on all purchases
• Miles don’t expire as long as your account is open, active and in good standing
• Chip card for increased confidence and convenience to pay abroad as easily as you do at home
• Book the travel you want — airfare, hotels, cruises and more and earn miles on your purchase
• Get 10% miles back to use toward your next redemption every time you redeem for travel statement credits
• No foreign transaction fees on anything you buy while in another country
• Complimentary online FICO® Score access for Barclaycard Arrival cardmembers

I just shopped for a 4-night Bahamas cruise from Miami and found this.

Granted, we’ve got 26 more nights (plus taxes) to pay for, but with prices like these, it’s possible to start envisioning how we can make this happen. Assuming your fare is $230, you’ll redeem 23,000 points to cover it, and you’ll get a 2,300 point rebate on that. Cost in points – 20,700. The Arrival card happens to be my favorite substitute for the myriad of cruise line credit cards out there with one exception. Click here to apply for theBarclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®.

(Information below was current as of November 2013)

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Ultimate Rewards are among my favorite points currencies out there. The flexibility of them is phenomenal. If you carry the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you earn 2 points per dollar for all travel and dining purchases, and 1 point per dollar for all other purchases. Currently, the CSP is offering the following for new accounts:

• 40,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening – that’s $500 in travel rewards!
• 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
• No foreign transaction fees
• 1:1 point transfer to leading frequent travel programs with no transfer fees – that means 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points equal 1,000 partner miles/points
• Get 20% off airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises when you redeem through Ultimate Rewards^SM
• 24/7 direct access to dedicated advisors
• Introductory Annual Fee of $0 the first year, then $95

To leverage the travel value of Ultimate Rewards, you will need to book your cruise through Ultimate Rewards Travel. You’ll receive a 20 percent discount when doing so. In other words, a $250 cruise fare will cost you 20,000 Ultimate Rewards. Or another way to look at it is that when redeeming for travel, Ultimate Rewards are worth 1.25 cents. 250 / .0125 = 20,000 points.

Ink Bold® Business Card (This product is no longer available for new accounts)

I can think of no better card to keep track of your small business expenses. I like the Ink Bold so much, that I carry it all the time and charge all of my business expenses to this card. The basics of the card are as follows:

• Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
• No interest charges because you pay your balance in full each month.
• Earn 5X points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually at office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Direct access to a live service advisor anytime.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading frequent travel programs with no transfer fees.
• $0 Intro Annual Fee for the first year, then $95.

The logistics of redeeming Ultimate Rewards for a cruise are the same as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you must do so through Ultimate Rewards travel. The math is the same too. $250 in cruise fare = 20,000 points.

Ink Plus® Business Card

I do not carry the Ink Plus. Not because I don’t think it’s a great card, but because I prefer to pay my business expense in full each month. The Ink Plus, unlike the Ink Bold, is a credit card with the option to pay over time. I think there is a legitimate case to be made for carrying both depending on your needs, I just haven’t seen fit to do so yet. The basics of this card are as follows:

• Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Flexibility to pay your balance over time or in full.
• Earn 5X points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually at office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services.
• Earn 2X points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually at gas stations and for hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading frequent travel programs with no transfer fees.
• $0 Intro Annual Fee for the first year, then $95.

As you might imagine, using Ultimate Rewards to pay for your cruise works the same as the other Ultimate Rewards cards I’ve mentioned in this post. In other words, Ultimate Rewards travel is going to figure heavily in helping book your cruises.

Now What?

Assuming successful applications and meeting minimum spend over a logical period of time, we have at least 200,000 points to play with. Could be more depending on whether you capitalized on the travel and other spending bonuses of the Chase cards. And as I’ve said before, paying for cruises with points is an act best left to those who have plenty of points to spend already….and I know some of you have just that. Now that you’ve acquired the points, you have to ask yourself if you really want to do this? 🙂 One last time – there are better values in spending your points out there, at least until the new MileagePlus partner award chart hits. After that…. well, YMMV. OK, I’m kidding about United’s big devaluation, but only a little. Not to mention – this series is based on a reader question/bet if spending 30 days aboard a cruise ship on points is possible. This will be the last time I mention that there are better values out there.

Coming next – Membership Rewards and Amex Cruise Privileges.

-MJ, November 8, 2013