There is currently a very attractive American Express offer available when spending at least $1500 with Royal Caribbean Cruises in order to get a credit of $500 cash back.
The offers is available on several U.S. based Amex cards (non-co-branded) when booking and paying for a Royal Caribbean cruise by 12/31/2021.
The cruise can take place beyond this date but keep in mind that many cruises only take a small deposit for the initial payment and in order to get the offer bonus you must charge a full $1500 or more to the card which can be in several purchases.
You can find this offer in your Amex (U.S.) online account and have to manually add it to your list.
For me it was available under my Amex Platinum charge card account as well as Amex Everyday account as well. My Bonvoy Amex did not have this offer available. I decided to add it to my Platinum card just in case as booking cruises through the card also comes with additional credits as benefit.
This is one of the more generous offers I’ve come across. Previously there were similar promotions such as spending $500+ on Celebrity Cruises (which also belongs to Royal Caribbean) and get 10,000 Membership rewards points in return.
Receiving $500 back is substantial and as always the spend can be split up in multiple transactions. For example one could book a cruise and then prepay for certain extras and activities through the cruise planner to get over the $1500 required to trigger this offer.
Previously I have always received the credit rather quickly, short after the qualifying transaction has posted.
Unfortunately this is only valid for the Royal Caribbean main brand, the subsidiaries such as Celebrity Cruises do not qualify for this campaign.
Conclusion
American Express cardholders who are interesting in cruising with Royal Caribbean should check their account for this particular offer and add it to the list.
In order to receive the $500 back for the purchase(s) a cumulative amount of $1500+ has to be charged to the enrolled card until December 31, 2021.
These are the Terms & Conditions for this offer:
Enrollment limited. Must first add offer to Card and then use same Card to redeem. Only U.S.-issued American Express® Cards are eligible. Limit 1 enrolled Card per Card Member across all American Express offer channels. Your enrollment of an eligible American Express Card for this offer extends only to that Card. Offer valid on bookings made online at royalcaribbean.com or by calling 1-866-562-7625 or your Travel Professional. Reservations must be booked on US website only. Valid only on purchases made in US dollars. Excludes onboard purchases, e-gift card and physical gift card purchases made online, transfers/transportation to the ship, Royal Caribbean/Universal Resort Joint Vacation, MGM Resort International Joint Vacation and Royal Wedding Packages. Excludes Celebrity Cruise, TUI Cruises and Silversea brands. Please note that hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines do not accept prepaid cards for charges authorized in advance, although prepaid cards may be used to settle the final bill. Check to make sure prepaid cards are accepted before attempting to use your prepaid card to take advantage of offers for these merchants. Offer is non-transferable. Limit of 1 statement credit per Card Member. The enrolled Card account must not be cancelled or past due to receive statement credit. Any benefit earned from this offer is in addition to the rewards (i.e. Membership Rewards or cash back) earned as part of your existing Card benefits, but your ability to earn spend-based rewards for the purchase will be based on the amount after any statement credit or other discount is applied. Statement credit will appear on your billing statement within 90 days after 12/31/2021, provided that American Express receives information from the merchant about your qualifying purchase. Note that American Express may not receive information about your qualifying purchase from merchant until all items from your qualifying purchase have been provided/shipped by merchant. Statement credit may be reversed if qualifying purchase is returned/cancelled. If American Express does not receive information that identifies your transaction as qualifying for the offer, you will not receive the statement credit. For example, your transaction will not qualify if it is not made directly with the merchant. In addition, in most cases, you may not receive the statement credit if your transaction is made with an electronic wallet or through a third party or if the merchant uses a mobile or wireless card reader to process it.
