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Royal One Plus Visa Review: Rich Bonus, Underwhelming Rewards
The Bottom Line
3.5
If you and Royal Caribbean are 'shipped' for life, this card's rich bonus, straightforward rewards and useful benefits could come in handy. But it'll take time to rack up significant rewards, and you'll get more flexibility out of a general rewards credit card.
Rates, fees and offers
Rates, fees and offers
Annual fee
$99
Rewards rate
1x-4x
Bonus offer
Get 70,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening, redeemable for $700 in onboard credit or cruise discounts.
Intro APR
N/A
Ongoing APR
APR: 17.49%-27.49% Variable APR
Cash Advance APR: See Terms
Penalty APR: 29.99%, Variable
Balance transfer fee
5% of the amount of each transaction
Foreign transaction fee
None
More details from Bank of America
More details from Bank of America
- Limited-time online offer - 70,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening, redeemable for $700 in onboard credit or cruise discounts.
- Earn 4x points on eligible Royal Caribbean®, Celebrity Cruises® and Silversea® purchases.
- Earn 2x points on eligible airline, hotel, dining, grocery, gas and EV charging station purchases.
- Earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Receive a $200 cruise discount after spending $20,000 on purchases within the prior anniversary year.
- Embark with priority suite boarding and priority luggage.
- Redeem your points for cruise discounts or onboard credit to use toward cruise favorites like specialty dining, beverage packages, Wi-Fi, shore excursions and more on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea.
- Get up to $120 in Global Entry/TSA Precheck® statement credits every 4 years.
- Enjoy benefits like Visa Signature® Concierge, emergency cash worldwide, common carrier travel accident insurance and more with the Visa Signature card.
- Low annual fee of $99 and no foreign transaction fees.
- This offer may not be available elsewhere if you leave this page. You can take advantage of this offer when you apply now.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Welcome bonus
Priority boarding
TSA PreCheck/Global Entry credit
Cons
Annual fee
No 0% intro APR
Limited redemption options
Detailed Review
The $99-annual-fee Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card could be a decent pick for brand loyalists, thanks to its lucrative welcome offer, uncomplicated rewards and useful perks. But as a card for daily use, it underwhelms at its price point.
It does offer rewards on spending outside of the Royal Caribbean brand, but the scope and rates are limited, meaning it'll take time to build up a pile of points through everyday spending alone. And while it does offer an anniversary bonus that can easily defray its annual fee and then some, you'll have to hit a pretty high spending threshold to earn that perk.
And as with most co-branded travel cards, the rewards you earn won't be of much use on trips booked outside of the company. Depending on your spending and goals, other general travel credit cards will likely provide more value, perks and flexibility.
Here’s what to know before jumping on board.
» MORE: Best credit cards for cruises
Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card: Basics
Card type: Travel.
Annual fee: $99.
Rewards:
4X points on purchases with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea.
2X points on grocery, gas, EV charging, plus air, hotel, and dining.
1X point on all other purchases.
Points are worth 1 cent each and do not expire.
Options for redeeming points:
Cruise discounts in the form of dollars off the total price of a cruise purchase.
Onboard credits for experiences like specialty dining, shore excursions and WiFi, to name a few.
Points are worth 1 cent a piece and do not expire as long as the account remains open and active.
Sign-up bonus: Get 70,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening, redeemable for $700 in onboard credit or cruise discounts.
Foreign transaction fee: None.
APR: The ongoing APR is 17.49%-27.49% Variable APR.
Other perks:
Priority suite boarding for Royal Caribbean.
Priority luggage handling with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises.
A $200 anniversary reward after meeting a $20,000 spending requirement.
A $120 TSA PreCheck/Global Entry credit (every four years).
Visa Signature travel protections.
How it compares to the other Royal Caribbean card
The Royal ONE™ Visa Signature® credit card is one of two Royal Caribbean cards issued by Bank of America®. There’s also the $99-annual-fee Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card, which as you might expect offers more perks than its annual-fee-free sibling. Here’s a quick look at how the cards compare:
$0
$99
Get 45,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening, redeemable for $450 in onboard credit or cruise discounts.
Get 70,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening, redeemable for $700 in onboard credit or cruise discounts.
3X points on purchases with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea.
2X points on grocery, gas, and EV charging.
1X point on all other purchases.
4X points on purchases with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea.
2X points on grocery, gas, EV charging, plus air, hotel, and dining.
1X point on all other purchases.
Priority boarding for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises.
A $100 anniversary reward after meeting a $10,000 spending requirement.
Visa Signature travel protections.
Priority suite boarding for Royal Caribbean.
Priority luggage handling with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises.
A $200 anniversary reward after meeting a $20,000 spending requirement.
Up to $120 as a TSA PreCheck/Global Entry credit (every four years).
Visa Signature travel protections.
Benefits and Perks
Generous bonus offer
New cardholders are eligible for a whale of a bonus, which could put a big dent in vacation costs: Get 70,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening, redeemable for $700 in onboard credit or cruise discounts.
Straightforward redemption
With the Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card, points don't expire, and there's no cap on how many you can earn. In addition, the redemption process is fairly easy to follow (which isn't always the case for other co-branded cruise line cards, like the Holland America Line Rewards Visa® Card or the Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card).
The points you earn with the Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card are worth one cent each, and they can be redeemed for cruise-booking discounts or onboard credit for things like dining, shore excursions, Wi-Fi, and more across Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea.
Still, a couple of caveats to know: First, there's a minimum redemption requirement of 5,000 points, and you can't use them to cover taxes, fees and gratuities.
Potential anniversary reward
The card offers the chance to earn an annual $200 cruise discount after spending $20,000 on purchases within the prior anniversary year. It's a steep spending requirement, but if you can meet it without going over your budget, it can be another way to defray your next cruise.
Travel-friendly perks
The Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card makes an excellent travel companion, thanks to its priority suite boarding, priority luggage handling, and a statement credit of up to $120 every four years toward TSA PreCheck or Global Entry applications.
On top of that, because it's a Visa, it'll be widely accepted abroad. And because it doesn't charge foreign transaction fees, it won't cost you extra to use it in international waters or anywhere else.
Drawbacks and Considerations
Annual fee + modest rewards
The Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card charges a $99 annual fee, and while its welcome offer and other perks can help justify that cost, over time it might get more difficult.
Yes, you'll earn 4x back when you use the card to book a Royal Caribbean brand, but those kinds of large purchases are, for most, infrequent at best. Meanwhile, the card's other ongoing rewards are lackluster, topping out at 2x back, and even then only in a handful of categories. (Plenty of cards on the market today earn 2x back on all purchases, and for no annual fee to boot.)
There's also no opportunity to snag outsized value for your points, as you might find with other general travel credit cards that offer valuable transfer partners. With the Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card, points are worth 1 cent each and that's that.
In short, it'll be difficult to rack up points quickly with the Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card, and while the card's potential anniversary reward can more than offset the annual fee, you have to spend $20,000 on the card each year to earn that perk.
If an annual fee is a deal-breaker, you could consider the card's $0-annual-fee sibling, the Royal ONE™ Visa Signature® credit card. Alternately, if you don't mind paying a fee but want more overall value and flexibility, the $95-annual-fee Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card could be the ticket. It earns 5 miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel, and 2 miles per dollar spent on other purchases. Perhaps more importantly, you can use your miles to book a variety of travel options via Capital One, or to offset travel purchases made elsewhere. You can even choose to transfer them to Capital One's multiple travel partners. Regardless, you're not locked into using those miles on one particular travel brand. This card, too, features a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck benefit, not to mention an excellent welcome offer: Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.
Limited redemption options
With the Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card, you can only redeem your rewards for cruise discounts or onboard experiences with Royal Caribbean brands. If that's too limiting for you, consider a card like the $95-annual-fee Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. It earns 5 points per $1 spent on all travel purchased through Chase; 3 points per $1 spent on dining (including eligible delivery services and takeout); 3 points per $1 spent on select streaming services; 3 points per $1 spent on online grocery purchases (not including Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs); 2 points per $1 spent on travel not purchased through Chase; and 1 point per $1 spent on other purchases. There’s also a $50 annual credit on hotel stays purchased through Chase that can defray some of the annual cost. Plus, you can earn bonus points equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous year on each account anniversary. You can redeem your points in a variety of ways, including cash back or statement credit or for travel booked through Chase. Or you can choose to transfer your points to one of Chase's multiple transfer partners. It also comes with a stellar welcome offer: Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
How To Decide If It's Right For You
If you frequently find yourself at sea — and if Royal Caribbean brands are your preferred way to do so — the Royal ONE Plus™ Visa Signature® credit card could make sense. Its generous welcome offer, easy-to-understand rewards and ongoing perks can help defray the costs of future cruises.
But if you tend to travel by land, air and sea, a general-purpose travel credit card will offer more long-term value and flexibility, for a similar annual fee.
More redemption flexibility
Earn 5 points per $1 on hotels booked directly with the hotel, 4 points per $1 on airfare booked directly with the airline, 3 points per $1 on other travel (including cruises) and dining purchases and 1 point per $1 on all other qualifying purchases. Points redeem for past purchases, gift cards and statement credit, to name a few options. It has a $95 annual fee, but it's easy to make it up in value with the card's perks.
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Methodology
NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
About the author
Melissa Lambarena
Senior Writer & Content Strategist
