Princess Cruises Visa Review: Seaworthy, but Hard to Navigate
The Bottom Line
3.5
If you want to save on cruises, a general travel card can earn you higher rewards without having to keep track of varying redemption values.
Rates, fees and offers
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1x-2x
Bonus offer
Earn 20,000 Bonus Points after spending $500 in qualifying purchases within the first 90 days - that's enough to redeem for $200 in onboard credit.
Intro APR
0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 15 billing cycles
Ongoing APR
APR: 19.49%-29.99%, Variable APR
Cash Advance APR: 29.99%, Variable
Balance transfer fee
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Foreign transaction fee
0% of each transaction in U.S. dollars.
More details from Barclays
- Earn 20,000 Bonus Points after spending $500 in qualifying purchases within the first 90 days
- Earn 2 points per $1 spent on all Princess purchases
- Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Redeem points for onboard credit and amenities, gift cards, and more. Or redeem for statement credits toward purchases on Princess and eligible airfare purchases
- $0 annual fee
- Travel Coverages provide eligibility for Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption coverage, Baggage Delay Reimbursement, Travel Emergency Services, and Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
Pros and Cons
Pros
No annual fee
New cardholder bonus offer
Intro APR period
Cons
Low rewards rate
Complicated redemptions
High minimum redemption requirement
Detailed Review
Whether you're planning a once-in-a-lifetime cruise or it's the only way you ever travel, costs can add up. The Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card might help brand loyalists get their travel-reward sea legs, but it's not necessarily the smoothest sailing.
The card, issued by Barclays, offers frequent Princess passengers some decent perks, including a sign-up bonus and a $0 annual fee. But plenty of other travel credit cards offer higher rewards rates, richer bonuses and more straightforward redemption rules. Some of these other options do charge an annual fee, but some will waive that fee for the first year — and there are no-annual-fee travel cards to choose from, too.
Even if 100% of your travel budget goes toward cruises, you might be better off charting a different course for a travel rewards credit card.
Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card: Key features
Card type: Travel.
Annual fee: $0
Sign-up bonus: Earn 20,000 Bonus Points after spending $500 in qualifying purchases within the first 90 days - that's enough to redeem for $200 in onboard credit.
Rewards:
Earn 2 points per $1 spent on all Princess purchases, including onboard purchases.
Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Points can be redeemed for statement credits, starting at 5,000 points for a $50 statement credit toward an eligible Princess Cruise Line purchase. But what makes this card different, and confusing, is that the amount of points needed to redeem will vary by transaction because redemption value is tied to the amount of your Princess Cruise Line purchase:
$50 - $499.99: You'll get a statement credit redemption value of 1%.
$500 - $2,000.99: Statement credit redemption value of 1.25%.
$2,001 - $4,000.99: Statement credit redemption value of 1.5%.
$4,001 and up: Statement credit redemption value of 2%.
You can also redeem points for statement credit toward several other cruise lines, plus:
Onboard amenities (when available).
Gift cards/certificates. You'll need a minimum of 3,300 points for a $25 gift card, meaning points are worth less than a penny each when used this way.
Merchandise. Point values will vary.
Intro APR: 0% intro APR balance transfers for 15 billing cycles, and then the ongoing APR of 19.49%-29.99%, Variable APR.
Ongoing APR: 19.49%-29.99%, Variable APR.
Balance transfer fee: 5% (min $5).
Foreign transaction fee: 0%.
Compare to Other Cards
Benefits and Perks
No annual fee
Many travel cards charge annual fees, meaning you'll have to figure out whether you're earning enough in rewards and perks to outweigh the yearly cost of card ownership. Not an issue with the Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card.
Flexible redemption options
When you're ready to cash in points, you're not limited just to Princess cruises. You can also redeem points for statement credits toward Holland America Line, Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia, Aida and Fathom. Other travel-related redemptions are available, too, not to mention gift cards.
Good terms for balance transfers
If you have credit card debt, the Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card can help you save money on interest. The issuer phrases the offer this way: 0% intro APR balance transfers for 15 billing cycles, and then the ongoing APR of 19.49%-29.99%, Variable APR. But you will have a balance transfer fee of 5%.
Drawbacks and Considerations
Redemption complexity
With many travel cards, points are often worth a penny each. But the Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card has a tiered system of varying statement credit redemption values, which can make it tough to know what exactly your points are worth. When you erase a $50 Princess purchase by redeeming points for statement credit, you get a penny a point. But when you erase a purchase over $4,000, you get 2 cents per point.
If you're looking for a little more simplicity, a general cash-back card could be a better option. The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card earns an unlimited 2% back on purchases, and you can redeem rewards for a statement credit, a mailed check or a direct deposit (if you bank with Wells Fargo).
The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card also comes with a solid sign-up bonus: Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months.
There's no 0% intro APR for purchases
The ongoing APR for purchases kicks in on Day One. If you're planning to spend a few thousand dollars on a cruise and pay it off over several months, for example, the Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card isn't your best option.
For a better introductory 0% period, consider the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card. You'll get 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days. After the Intro APR offer ends, a Variable APR that’s currently 18.49%-28.49% will apply.
An added perk: This $0-annual-fee card also earns 1.5 points on purchases and comes with a great sign-up bonus: 25,000 online bonus points after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening - that can be a $250 statement credit toward travel purchases.
How To Decide If It's Right For You
The Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card can offer some benefit to Princess Cruises fans who spend a lot with the cruise line, and its flexible redemption options are a plus. But its complicated redemption tiers can be confusing.
Even if you do take to the sea on a regular basis, other travel cards offer more lucrative sign-up bonuses and point-earning programs that are easier to understand and potentially better fits for everyday spending. Research these options to make sure the Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card is seaworthy for you.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® also has no annual fee, but it earns much richer rewards on a much wider variety of spending. You get 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase; 3% back at restaurants and on drugstore purchases; and 1.5% cash back on other purchases. Technically, that cash back comes in the form of points, which can also be used toward travel.
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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.
