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Here is a very good reason to NOT get the Royal / Celebrity Rewards VISA card


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Just got off a long call with Bank of America, and I am not happy.

I just had a bunch of refunds applied to my card for the canceled cruise planner purchases I'd made for my now-canceled Vision sailing, along with a refund of the port fees and taxes. All told, the total in refunds is more than my last statement balance.

Every single other credit card I have will apply refunds or other credits against the outstanding statement balance. But this is apparently not B of A's policy. They are telling me that unless I were to receive the remaining cruise fare credit and get my outstanding balance down to zero before the close of this statement on June 13 (which I know won't happen) I must make at least a minimum payment or be assessed a late fee. And if I only make the minimum payment, I will still be assessed interest on the remaining balance. I never pay interest or leave unpaid balances, but even if I did decide to just make a minimum payment (which would more than offset whatever interest charges would accrue), B of A is still forcing me to give them an interest-free loan to avoid penalties, just so they can pay me back at their leisure when my balance goes into credit territory.

I can understand if I had paid off the card months prior and then the cruise was canceled / refunds were issued. But this is all within the same statement cycle and their policy here is total BS when they know they have competition from other card issuers who always apply credits against the statement balance.

If you were thinking about getting this card, this is another big reason to not get it. And you can believe that once this is all settled out and my balance is at zero with everything they'll then owe to me paid back, I'll be canceling this card and I don't give two spits about what it might briefly do to my credit score.

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Not sure why it’s a problem if you pay in full each month and the credits apply to corresponding charges in the same billing cycle.  Those charges have nothing to do with your previous statement balance which you expected to pay in full prior to these charges and credits.  Applying the credits to a previous balance kinda gives YOU an interest free loan.  
I understand that most CC’s do work that way but B of A doesn’t, their card their rules.

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None of my cards count a credit towards a minimum payment. I have a few cash back rewards cards and they don't count that towards minimum payment either. It would still reduce any balance you have going forward. I'm not saying that there are not cards that do allow this, but I don't think it's as unusual as you think.

 

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I carry a zero balance on my card so I keep a close eye on when refunds.  Last year I was concerned when after a billing cycle passed I didn't see my refund.  When I called B of A, I was told it can take up to 3 months for the refund to show.  They intend to get the most of our money.  I only use the card for the points to use for future cruise credits.

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33 minutes ago, Pack02 said:

I lost 100,000 reward points because I booked an Easter 2020 cruise with points, and all I was refunded was taxes, etc. to the card.  No points went back on.  So there's another reason it's less than valuable.

I'm out 25,000 reward points. But on this matter, I called B of A, which had me call Royal, and the rep at Royal confirmed that they still have my OBC redemption on record and will transfer it to a new booking if I make a new one by April 30, 2022 for any sailing through Sept 30, 2022.

Had Royal not all-but-abandoned Cape Liberty and left a ship there to do Bermuda sailings, I'd have easily taken advantage of that. Now I'm probably not going to be able to make a transfer work unless my wife agrees to do a second cruise in September of 2022, almost right after our Mediterranean cruise in late July / early August.

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3 hours ago, JLMoran said:

I must make at least a minimum payment or be assessed a late fee. And if I only make the minimum payment, I will still be assessed interest on the remaining balance. I never pay interest or leave unpaid balances, but even if I did decide to just make a minimum payment (which would more than offset whatever interest charges would accrue), B of A is still forcing me to give them an interest-free loan to avoid penalties, just so they can pay me back at their leisure when my balance goes into credit territory.

Every credit card i have ever dealt with is this same way, credits / refunds DO NOT count towards you minimum payment due, unless it pays off the complete balance.

3 hours ago, CGTLH said:

Great for the sign-up bonus, in the drawer until BOA cancelled for lack of use.

Agree, the main benefit from this type of card, is the sign-up bonus.  Occasionally there are some other interesting benefits, an example is Carnival's branded card give you 10% off all shore excursions purchased with the card and a 6 months interest free on payments of a Carnival cruise.

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3 hours ago, CruiseGus said:

Every credit card i have ever dealt with is this same way, credits / refunds DO NOT count towards you minimum payment due, unless it pays off the complete balance.

But this is exactly why I called them. My statement balance was $X, refunds processed were ~$X+25 (port fees plus airfare refund worked out slightly more than my initial deposit amount). And all refunds applied were for charges made in the prior billing cycle and completely negate that statement’s balance. The remaining cruise fare balance, which is what I’m still waiting to be refunded, was charged in the current billing cycle when I made final payment.

Had this been my Amazon rewards card or my UPromise card, I would owe zero for the prior billing cycle. B of A says that’s bunk and that I owe them for what was already refunded. Purely because I have additional balance from the current cycle’s charges.

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I pretty much could have stopped reading this post as soon I saw that BOA is involved.

I was unfortunate enough to have BOA buy out my previous bank and have my accounts transferred to them. They are the WORST at ALL the "services" they provide.

I will never hold any type of account with them again.

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2 hours ago, SPS said:

I pretty much could have stopped reading this post as soon I saw that BOA is involved.

I was unfortunate enough to have BOA buy out my previous bank and have my accounts transferred to them. They are the WORST at ALL the "services" they provide.

I will never hold any type of account with them again.

Which is why, I tend to work with Credit Unions ... they're more local when it comes to the decisions they make, less restrictive when it comes to services and fees..... just an overall better experience.

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16 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

One reason I don't like product-centric rewards cards. That's why I have an Amazon visa. Always something on Amazon to buy with the points.

I agree, I use my Costco Visa - 4% back on gas, 3% on travel and restaurants - much better thean the RC card.

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5 hours ago, coneyraven said:

Which is why, I tend to work with Credit Unions ... they're more local when it comes to the decisions they make, less restrictive when it comes to services and fees..... just an overall better experience.

+1 for this. I've been a credit union member since my first job out of college and love them. Haven't even thought about switching to a regular bank in 30 years.

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I have a  BoA Visa with Alaska airlines, and have no issues.  But almost always use my Delta Amex.  Get tons of benefits and  never had any problems with them.  I do realize that some places do not take Amex, like Europe or smaller shops, that is why I also always carry the Visa also. Since I travel often for vacations I can always use the airline points, comp tickets, etc.   I flew first class to Europe twice now using Delta points. That's a lot of money if I were to purchase those tickets.  So, for me, these cards are perfect for me.   Also, I put everything on my Amex.  Insurance, property taxes, buy cars with them,  remodel the house, everything.   Plus I pay it off every month.

I love both my BoA Alaska card and Delta Amex!

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