Refundable OnBoard Credit???

[MicroBeta]

This is a bit confusing.  RCI says onboard credit is non-refundable.  Yet, I've seen discussions and blogs that say third party OBC is refundable.  IIUC, the OBC from a TA may be refundable but the terms & conditions from our TA specifically said it's non-refundable.

The other problem is we can get OBC on our RCI rewards credit card.  What category does this fall into?  The TOC for converting points ot OBC doesn't say either way.

Google and forum searches haven't turned up any definitive answers and there doesn't seem to be anything official on refundable/non-refundable....except RCI's FAQ does say non-refundable.

The question is where does rewards card OBC fit into this and what conditions determine whether a travel agent's OBC is refundable?

Mike

[StephanieH]

It depends on the type of On-board credit.  On-board credits from Travel Agents are Refundable.  On-board credits as part of a promotion (Ship Credit sales, WOW sales, On-board bookings) are usually non-refundable.

Hope this helps!

[MicroBeta]

5 minutes ago, StephanieH said:

It depends on the type of On-board credit.  On-board credits from Travel Agents are Refundable.  On-board credits as part of a promotion (Ship Credit sales, WOW sales, On-board bookings) are usually non-refundable.

Hope this helps!

It appears that OBD from a travel agent is not always refundable.  I'm also wondering about rewards card OBC.

Mike

[mworkman]

@MicroBeta OBC from rewards cards are refundable, especially if your talking about the BOA card.

[MicroBeta]

1 hour ago, mworkman said:

@MicroBeta OBC from rewards cards are refundable, especially if your talking about the BOA card.

That's the card. Thanks 

Mike

[Flacruiser99]

Refundable or non-refundable I do my best to spend it a'll.

[ChessE4]

3 hours ago, MicroBeta said:

This is a bit confusing.  RCI says onboard credit is non-refundable.  Yet, I've seen discussions and blogs that say third party OBC is refundable.  IIUC, the OBC from a TA may be refundable but the terms & conditions from our TA specifically said it's non-refundable.

The other problem is we can get OBC on our RCI rewards credit card.  What category does this fall into?  The TOC for converting points ot OBC doesn't say either way.

Google and forum searches haven't turned up any definitive answers and there doesn't seem to be anything official on refundable/non-refundable....except RCI's FAQ does say non-refundable.

The question is where does rewards card OBC fit into this and what conditions determine whether a travel agent's OBC is refundable?

Mike

My Royal visa OBC in September was refundable, but I ended up spending it rather than cashing it out at the casino (you can take a charge to your seapass).

[MicroBeta]

2 minutes ago, ChessE4 said:

My Royal visa OBC in September was refundable, but I ended up spending it rather than cashing it out at the casino (you can take a charge to your seapass).

Thanks for the info.  Much appreciated.

Mike

[Mr. Candyman]

13 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

My Royal visa OBC in September was refundable, but I ended up spending it rather than cashing it out at the casino (you can take a charge to your seapass).

Is it only refundable that can be cashed out in the casino?

[ChessE4]

5 hours ago, Mr. Candyman said:

Is it only refundable that can be cashed out in the casino?

I've never had an occasion to request a refund at check-out (a credit back to my credit card).  Something usually comes up along the way.  I mentioned the casino as I sometimes play there and taking an advance from my seapass is more convenient than carrying around a lot of cash on the ship.  I would check with Guest Services on the ship if you anticipate having a positive balance at the end of the cruise.  The nonrefundable credit gets wiped out if not used, but the refundable should go back to your credit card, as I've been told.

[MO & LO on the go!]

We must be doing something wrong (or right) because we NEVER get a refund!  We even had almost $700 in OBC once and we still had to pay at the end (albeit very little)!  Refund?  What is that?!?!  

[Mr. Candyman]

6 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

I've never had an occasion to request a refund at check-out (a credit back to my credit card).  Something usually comes up along the way.  I mentioned the casino as I sometimes play there and taking an advance from my seapass is more convenient than carrying around a lot of cash on the ship.  I would check with Guest Services on the ship if you anticipate having a positive balance at the end of the cruise.  The nonrefundable credit gets wiped out if not used, but the refundable should go back to your credit card, as I've been told.

I don't ever plan on having that much OBC left over, if anything, because with 6 of us $600 always goes towards gratuities.  I know they use non-refundable first so I was just curious if that was able to be taken out via the slots in the casino like the refundable can be.  The refundable OBC does go back to the card as you mentioned.  

[Clear Laker]

On 11/9/2019 at 3:37 PM, mworkman said:

@MicroBeta OBC from rewards cards are refundable, especially if your talking about the BOA card.

We usually go to Guest Services the night before departure and cash out our refundable credit before the lines get long.  Then whatever incendentials we have gets charged to our credit card on file.

[ChessE4]

13 hours ago, Mr. Candyman said:

I don't ever plan on having that much OBC left over, if anything, because with 6 of us $600 always goes towards gratuities.  I know they use non-refundable first so I was just curious if that was able to be taken out via the slots in the casino like the refundable can be.  The refundable OBC does go back to the card as you mentioned.  

All I can tell you about nonrefundable is that if it is split up among your party, each person must use his/her seapass to spend the allotted amount.  We had a guest who didn't use her seapass, and even though her stateroom had charges from another guest, her own OBC didn't get charged.  Therefore, it was wiped out at the end of the cruise.

[MO & LO on the go!]

28 minutes ago, ChessE4 said:

All I can tell you about nonrefundable is that if it is split up among your party, each person must use his/her seapass to spend the allotted amount.  We had a guest who didn't use her seapass, and even though her stateroom had charges from another guest, her own OBC didn't get charged.  Therefore, it was wiped out at the end of the cruise.

If using the points from the Royal Credit Card make sure you select the option for redemption that says "shared" rather than "individual" and that would prevent one person from having to use the card, if the OBCs are from the credit card (they would have to have shared charging privileges with you though).  If they aren't, then make sure everyone is spending the $$$$$$ as @ChessE4  said!  Don't lose free money 

[AshleyDillo]

13 hours ago, Mr. Candyman said:

I don't ever plan on having that much OBC left over, if anything, because with 6 of us $600 always goes towards gratuities.  I know they use non-refundable first so I was just curious if that was able to be taken out via the slots in the casino like the refundable can be.  The refundable OBC does go back to the card as you mentioned.  

All charges are lumped together for your ending balance.  Then they apply the non-refundable OBC as a credit first.  But yes, you can take out non-refundable OBC through the casino because of the way they process it.

[Michele 2of7]

Unless things have changed since March 2023, OBC from the Bank Of America rewards program is REFUNDABLE.  On our last 3 cruises, we walked away with cash in hand at the end of our cruise.  That is after paying for gratuities, excursions, and any purchases made on the ship.  On our last cruise, we had about $900.00 OBC.  A few days before the end of our cruise we went to guest services and said we wanted cash for our balance of OBC and they gave us cash on the spot.  Our final bill will be the last few days of gratuities.  Once we get the money we try not to spend any more on the ship.  We earn lots of reward points throughout the yearby charging everything on Visa and paying the entire balance each month.  2 weeks before our cruise we redeem as many points as possible as shared points.  That way we can offset the price of the cruise on the backend.

If anyone knows if the rewards policy has changed since 2023 please let us know.