Two Cruise Booking Strategies No One Talks About: How to Earn More Points or Use Points to Pay

Planning a cruise? Before you book, there are two strategies that could help you EARN thousands of extra points or USE points you already have to reduce your cost.

I regularly share tips on how to book hotels and flights with credit card points.  But one topic that doesn’t get nearly as much attention is how to save money on cruises.  

In this article, I will show you two strategies that can help you save significantly on your next cruise.  

Cruising is more popular than ever.  Worldwide cruise revenue is estimated at over $78 billion annually, yet few travelers know how to maximize the rewards they earn or use points to reduce the cost.

By the end of this post, you’ll know how to book your next cruise in a way that can earn you thousands of extra points or help pay for the cruise with points you already have.  

WAYS TO SAVE ON A CRUISE

There are plenty of ways to save on a cruise, including:  

• Open a bank account offering a cash bonus
• Open a credit card with a cash back welcome bonus
• Pay with a credit card that allows you to use points to get a statement credit for cruise expenses put on the card 
• Transfer credit card points to Virgin Red to book a cruise with Virgin Voyages
• Open a credit card and use that cruise expense to earn a welcome bonus you can use to save on future travel expenses.

In this article, we’ll focus on two Chase-specific strategies:

➜ EARNING maximum rewards on a cruise

➜ USING Chase Ultimate Rewards® to pay for a cruise

EARNING maximum rewards on a cruise

The fastest way to earn a large amount of points is through a credit card welcome bonus.  When you open a new card your spending can effectively earn 20x points or more when you factor in the value of a welcome bonus.  If you use a card you already have you’re likely earning just 1-2x points.

These are the four Chase cards I would consider using to book a cruise.  

• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business®
• Chase Sapphire Preferred®
• Chase Ink Business Preferred® 

Each of these four cards includes travel insurance and protections that could protect your cruise vacation.

The rewards you earn depend on both the card you use and how you book your cruise.

As you can see, for most of these cards you will earn a higher rate if you book your cruise through Chase Travel®.

If you open one of these cards and use it to pay for the cost of your cruise, not only will you earn the applicable 1x-8x points, but that expense will also go toward the spend requirement for the card bonus.

💡 PRO TIP:

If you're planning to open a new credit card, consider doing so before paying for your cruise. That purchase alone may satisfy much or all of the spending requirement needed to earn the welcome bonus.

Let’s use the Chase Sapphire Reserve personal card as an example:

Let’s assume you open the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and the welcome bonus is 100,000 points if you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months.

If you put your $5,000 cruise on the card AND book that cruise through Chase Travel® you will earn:

• Regular spending:  5,000 x 8x = 40,000 points
• Welcome bonus:  100,000 points
• Total earned: 140,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards®

If you redeem those 140,000 points as cash, they are worth $1,400.

If you transfer those same 140,000 points to airline and hotel partners, it is possible to get $2,800 or more in travel value.

That’s a pretty incredible return!  

Any concerns booking through Chase Travel®?

In general, I recommend booking directly with airlines and hotels whenever possible. It is easier to resolve issues directly with the travel provider and hotel bookings made through third-party portals often don’t earn hotel loyalty benefits. 

However, we booked our recent Royal Caribbean cruise through Chase Travel® and had a fantastic experience.  The Chase Travel advisor will assist you with your booking and send you any reminders as your cruise approaches.  

Here is a screenshot of the services provided through your Chase Travel advisor

I have found cruise prices on the Chase Travel® website to be identical to the prices on the cruise line website and the cancellation policies and payment schedule has been the same. 

In our experience, booking through Chase Travel® felt no different than booking directly with the cruise line or another travel advisor. Our reservation appeared immediately in our Royal Caribbean account, giving me full access to excursions and cruise planning, and we still received our Crown & Anchor loyalty credit. The only meaningful difference was earning substantially more Chase points.

💡 PRO TIP:

Cruises are one of the few travel purchases where redeeming Chase points through Chase Travel® can be advantageous.

USING Chase Ultimate Rewards® to pay for a cruise

Let’s turn the tables and talk about how you can USE Chase points to pay for your cruise.

Chase updated its rewards program on October 26, 2025. 

Any Ultimate Rewards® you had in your Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred account on October 26, 2025 were grandfathered into the previous redemption rates below for a limited time.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve® –  1.5x on Chase Travel (10,000 points = $1,500 in travel)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® – 1.25x on Chase Travel (10,000 points = $1,250 in travel)
• Chase Ink Business Preferred®  – 1.25x on Chase Travel (10,000 points = $1,250 in travel)

After October 26, 2027 your points will be worth 1x on Chase Travel®.

You can see how many points you have that qualify for the higher rates when you tap on the “See what’s changed” link under your account information.

Here is an example of the information provided on a Chase Sapphire Reserve card which has the 1.5x redemption rate.

NOTE: IF YOU MOVED POINTS FROM OTHER CHASE CARDS TO YOUR TRANSFERRABLE ACCOUNT RIGHT BEFORE THIS CHANGE WAS MADE YOU MAY SEE A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF POINTS ELIGIBLE FOR THE HIGHER RATE – THE NUMBER ABOVE IS CORRECT.

And here is an example of the information provided on a Chase Sapphire Preferred card which has a 1.25x redemption rate.

To receive the higher redemption rates, BOTH of these conditions must be true:

➜ The points must have been in your Sapphire Reserve or Preferred account BEFORE October 26, 2025

➜ They must be redeemed through Chase Travel® BEFORE October 26, 2027

If you’ve been following me for while you know that I don’t typically recommend booking travel in the Chase Travel portal because you can get 2x – 4x the value on your points when you transfer those points to travel partners for flights and hotels.  However, a cruise doesn’t have the same transfer strategies making Chase Travel an option worth considering.

Booking travel through Chase Travel® may not be the highest redemption rate, but it can be a valuable use of your rewards – especially if you have points available to use at the higher rates before October 26, 2027.

Let’s use the Chase Sapphire Reserve personal card as an example once again:

If you book your $5,000 cruise with Chase Travel® and decide to pay the entire cost with points, you will need to have 333,333 points in your Chase Sapphire Reserve account which were earned prior to October 26, 2025.

You can choose how many points you’d like to apply to your cruise.  So if you only have 100,000 points at the 1.5x rate that will save you $1,500 off the cost of the cruise.

If you charge the remaining balance of $3,500 to a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you will earn 8x points = 28,000 points 

💡 PRO TIP:

Even if you don't have enough points to cover the full cruise, you can apply a partial amount and still earn rewards on the portion you pay with your credit card.

NOTE:

One limitation to be aware of is that Chase Travel® only allows you to apply points to one payment on a cruise reservation. If you’re making a deposit now and paying the balance later, you’ll need to decide which payment you want to cover with points. If you’d like to redeem points toward the full cruise fare, consider paying the entire balance upfront.

If you want to use points earned prior to October 26, 2025 that needs to be done before October 26, 2027 when the redemption rates drop (within Chase Travel® specifically).

SUMMARY

There’s no single “best” way to use your credit card rewards.  The right strategy depends on your travel goals, budget and how many points you have available. Understanding your options allows you to decide whether earning more points or redeeming existing points will provide the greatest value for your situation.  

Our experience booking a cruise through Chase Travel® was positive and I wouldn’t hesitate to use it again in the future.  

Holly (@onpointwithholly) participates in affiliate programs and may earn a commission if you choose to support her work – at no cost to you. Those commissions help keep her travel tips, resources, and one-on-one guidance free. If you’d like help choosing the best credit card for your travel goals, send her a DM.  She’s happy to help!