Before you pack your swimsuit and sunscreen, you may want to consider how you’ll pay for this vacation.
Do you have a rewards credit card that will get the most out of your upcoming purchase? Will this card protect you if something goes wrong with your booking?
And, once you’re on the boat, will you have a card capable of making all the purchases you desire while on excursions?
Picking the best credit card for a cruise may require some critical thinking before heading off for fun in the sun.
But don't fret. Team Clark is here to help.
In this article, we'll answer some of your most pressing questions about using a credit card to pay for a cruise and we'll offer some suggestions for best credit cards for a cruise based on our analysis of the market. You can read more about our methodology here.
Best Credit Cards for Cruises Right Now
|
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Best for: Cruise Benefits
|
|
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Best for: Travel Insurance and Protection
|
|
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Best for: Travel Benefits
|
|
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Best for: Low Annual Fee Welcome Bonus
|
|
Wells Fargo Autograph Card
Best for: No Annual Fee and 0% Intro APR
|
5 Things To Consider Before Picking a Credit Card for Your Cruise
Here are five things to consider before picking your credit card for a cruise:
- You're probably going to want to avoid the cruise line's credit card. Many of the top cruise lines flood customers with enticing offers for their own credit cards, but use caution. These can come with lackluster non-cruise rewards and high APR rates. In the long term, most customers are going to be better served by a generic travel or rewards credit card.
- A properly used welcome bonus could effectively be a huge discount. If you're signing up for a new credit card solely for the purpose of purchasing cruise tickets, you may want to pay special attention to welcome bonus offers. Some cards offer $500 or more, and you may be able to hit the spending requirements with your cruise purchase.
- Remember: Annual fees matter in the long term, too. While the previous bullet point may have you excited to hunt down the best welcome bonus available, I wanted to remind you that some of those bonuses come from cards with large annual fees. That may help you in the short term, but paying that annual fee year after year on a card you don't love may erode the value.
- Foreign transaction fees are something to consider. Once you're on your trip, you'll want to make sure you have a credit card that avoids these fees. While many cruise lines will allow you to run a tab on a card while sailing and then charge you upon return to avoid international charges, you still will need a card that avoids these fees for any purchases you make at a non-U.S. port.
- Some cards also offer travel protection benefits. Oftentimes travel credit cards will offer benefits that are specific to travel. That means costs for things like lost luggage and trip cancellation can be defrayed by making your travel purchase with that card. You'll need to read the fine print on your card benefits to see how they treat cruises though.
Best for Cruise Benefits: The Platinum Card® from American Express
|
Annual Fee:
$695 (See Rates & Fees)
Card Processor:
American Express
Foreign Transaction Fee:
None
Bonus Offer:
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points
Bonus Offer Disclaimer:
after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
Intro APR Period on New Purchases:
N/A
Rewards Program Details:
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
|
|
|
Terms apply |
Why This Card Could Work for a Cruise
This travel card has a high annual fee, but there are some cruise-specific perks included that you won’t find with other credit cards.
American Express offers exclusive perks for Platinum card holders through its Cruise Privilege Program (CPP).
The highlight of those perks: Depending on the cruise line you book, you may be eligible for between $100 and $300 per stateroom for shipboard credit. To qualify, your cruise needs to be 5 nights or longer and you need to pay for the cruise with the Platinum card.
You can also get extra rewards points by booking your cruise through American Express travel.
This card also boasts high-end travel perks, like lounge access at many airports and annual spending credits for purchases at hotels, airlines and with Uber.
The card isn't for everyone, though. You need to be an extremely frequent traveler to make the annual fee worth paying. I don't recommend this card for a one-time cruise purchase for infrequent travelers.
Best for Travel Insurance and Protection: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
|
Annual Fee:
$550
Card Processor:
Visa
Foreign Transaction Fee:
$0
Bonus Offer:
Earn 60,000 bonus points
Bonus Offer Disclaimer:
after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Intro APR Period on New Purchases:
N/A
Rewards Program Details:
Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
|
Why This Card Could Work for a Cruise
This is another high annual fee travel credit card, but it can offer some peace of mind when booking your travel.
Widely considered one of the best cards for travel insurance and protection, the Sapphire Reserve offers coverage that is specific to cruises.
I dug into the cardholder benefits for the Sapphire Reserve, and I found cruises specifically mentioned for coverage in the following policies:
- Lost baggage
- Baggage delay
- Trip cancellation
- Trip interruption
In addition to these benefits, you may also get coverage for various flights, hotels or car rentals that may be required for this trip.
You’ll also be getting one of the better travel rewards cards on the market, which includes airport lounge access, annual travel credits and more.
But much like the Platinum card detailed above, you’ll need to be a frequent traveler beyond booking your cruise to make this annual fee worth paying each year.
Best for Travel Benefits: Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
|
Annual Fee:
$395 (See Rates & Fees)
Card Processor:
Visa
Foreign Transaction Fee:
None
Bonus Offer:
Earn 75,000 bonus miles
Bonus Offer Disclaimer:
when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Intro APR Period on New Purchases:
N/A
Rewards Program Details:
2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. 10 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. 5 Miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel.
|
Why This Card Could Work for a Cruise
This card is in Clark's wallet, and it is his favorite travel credit card. As such, you may find this to be the right pick if you're looking for a long-term travel card that will serve you beyond the booking of this cruise.
There’s a good welcome bonus that could be achieved by using the card to book the cruise, and then you’ll earn at least 2% back in miles on all purchases and as much as 10% back in miles on travel that is booked through Capital One’s portal.
It will also net you lounge access, help you avoid foreign transaction fees, and will cover the cost of your TSA PreCheck or Global Entry membership.
You may be concerned by the $395 annual fee, but there is an easy-to-redeem annual $300 travel credit available that effectively makes it a $95 per year card.
Best for Low Annual Fee Welcome Bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
|
Annual Fee:
$95
Card Processor:
Visa
Foreign Transaction Fee:
$0
Bonus Offer:
Earn 60,000 bonus points
Bonus Offer Disclaimer:
after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Intro APR Period on New Purchases:
N/A
Rewards Program Details:
Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, and 2x on all other travel purchases, and $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, plus more.
|
Why This Card Could Work for a Cruise
If you’re looking for a lower-cost travel credit card with a nice welcome bonus, you may prefer the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for booking your cruise.
Not only can your spending earn you a bonus that could be worth up to $750 in redemption value, but you can also earn 2% back on the travel purchase.
There are no foreign transaction fees with this card, and you shouldn’t have issues with international acceptance of this Visa card. So, this card should be good for your wallet during port excursions as well.
This card’s annual fee can be effectively slashed in half each year by utilizing the annual $50 Ultimate Rewards hotel credit.
Best for No Annual Fee and 0% Intro APR: Wells Fargo Autograph Card
|
Annual Fee:
$0.00
Card Processor:
Visa
Foreign Transaction Fee:
None
Bonus Offer:
Earn 30,000 bonus points when you spend $1,500 in purchases in the first 3 months.
Intro APR Rate on New Purchases:
0%
Intro APR Period on New Purchases:
12 months
Variable APR:
18.74%-28.74% based on your creditworthiness.
Rewards Program Details:
Earn unlimited 3X points on the following: Restaurants: dining in, take-out, catering, delivery and more Plus, earn 1X points on other purchases. |
Why This Card Could Work for a Cruise
If you're looking for a card that will handle your cruise needs with no annual fee, I believe the Wells Fargo Autograph Card could be a smart choice.
It offers a welcome bonus, gives you a 0% introductory APR period for the purchase and will earn you 3x points on the cruise purchase.
In addition to 3x points on travel, you also can earn that rate of return on popular spending categories like restaurants, gas, streaming and phone plans. So, it could be a useful card beyond your trip.
Oh, and this is one of the somewhat rare no-annual-fee cards that has no foreign transaction fees, so you’ll be good to use this card as an international spender while your cruise ship is docked at port.
Methodology for Credit Card Analysis
For the purposes of determining which credit cards are “best,” we got input from Clark Howard and sought to find cards that fit his credit card strategy best.
Team Clark spent many hours reviewing the rewards credit cards on the market, assessing them for several factors including:
- Annual fees
- Rewards programs
- Welcome offers
- Length of introductory APR periods
- Balance transfer introductory periods
- Additional fees (transaction or otherwise)
- Perks offered to cardholders
- Reputation of the financial institution issuing the card
We did not factor in non-introductory APR as a part of the evaluation, because interest rates are going to vary based on your financial circumstances. Clark recommends never carrying a balance on credit cards, so the non-introductory interest rate shouldn’t matter for your card anyway.
We also did not include offerings from local or regional banks or credit unions because they’re not available to everyone. Often, local institutions will have desirable cards, so we recommend that you compare your local bank or credit union’s cash back credit cards to the ones that made this list.
Are you going to take a cruise soon? Have experience using a credit card for cruises? Which credit card is your top choice? We’d love to hear from you in the Clark.com community.
To see the rates and fees for the American Express cards featured, please visit the following link: The Platinum Card® from American Express: See Rates and Fees.
The post Best Credit Cards for Cruises in 2024 appeared first on Clark Howard.