Transcription
Everyone knows you can redeem your credit card points and miles for amazing value at flights and hotels, but did you know you can actually redeem them for really good value at high-end cruises as well? Today, we're going to talk about that. My name is Sean, and I'm here with my co-host.
Hi everyone, I'm Sherwin. This is the Credit Card BS podcast. Today's topic is about Virgin Voyages, how to get free cruises using points, and whether it's worth it or not. So, the cruise line we're talking about is Virgin Voyages. It's very new, has very unique branding. It really only started sailing after the COVID pandemic. Uh, it is an adults-only, 18-plus cruise, and it's geared more toward young adults, uh, rather than family travel. Now, they have routes in the Caribbean, uh, Europe, as well as the transatlantic. I'd say they don't have as many routes as some of the more, the older, more established cruises. However, the ones that they do have are very high quality.
Now, why are we talking about this cruise on a credit card podcast? Now, it turns out there are certain opportunities that will allow you to transform your credit card points into an entirely free cruise. I actually did one of these a few months ago, and I'm super happy to kind of share my experience with you guys, uh, some things I've learned, how, how I redeemed for it, and I think it'll be really useful information for many of you. So, now, what's the big catch with this, Sean?
So, I mean, the way you do this, right, is you book this through Virgin Red points. Now, Virgin Red points are essentially the same thing as Virgin Atlantic miles. So, you can actually transfer from pretty much any of the major credit card programs, right? So, you can transfer from Amex, Capital One, City, Chase, and Bilt. And so, you know, you're able to earn the points really easily. Virgin frequently has transfer bonuses as well, so you can stack even higher value on that. And when they offer one of these promotions, the pricing has varied, but like the most recent one we've seen was you could get a seven-night, uh, cruise in Europe in the Mediterranean, uh, usually for about like 160,000 points, Virgin points, and that included two guests in a central Terrace or Terrace room. So, you're not booking some base loser interior room, you're booking a nice room that has an actual terrace, so you don't feel claustrophobic and cramped if that's something you're worried about.
And what's really interesting about the way that the Virgin redemption works is a lot of times, if you've seen quote-unquote free cruises, maybe you've gotten a free cruise offer from your casino loyalty card, you've taken Caesar's Diamond, matched it for a free cruise, you're still on the hook for the port taxes and fees and all that. But not the case with Virgin Voyages redemptions. So, if you actually redeem points on one of these cruises, it's going to be entirely free in the sense that you're not paying any extra, extra charge, no extra gratuities, no extra port taxes and fees. I, it's really nice in that sense because that's not something you usually see in cruises. Like, even like high roller, you know, if you have high roller casino status and you match it over to a cruise to get a free cruise, you're still on the hook for the port taxes and fees. So, like to not have that here is very interesting.
Yes, and also, unlike one of those cruise offers, you're not forced to gamble if that's not what you're into. Uh, another thing to keep in mind is that these Virgin Red offers for these free Virgin Voyages cruises are not year-round. They, uh, these offers are seasonal and promotional. I usually, we'll see a batch of them pop up around summertime or the months preceding it to prepare for those summer months. As Sean mentioned, most recently, uh, we saw as low as 115,000 points for two people in one room, uh, including all food, all, uh, room service, uh, entertainment, everything. And, uh, the one I actually did was 160,000 points for two people for seven nights. Now, that might seem like a lot of points, but think about it this way: that's 80,000 points per person. Since 160k will get you two people for seven nights, that's very few points per night, uh, compared to even like a basic hotel redemption. And not to mention, this is all-inclusive.
And what was even more amazing about my particular redemption is that I did it when American Express was offering a 30% transfer bonus. So, that 160k came down to around 120k for two people, uh, so really like 60,000 points per person for seven nights. Uh, I mean, I think that's really amazing value. If you think about it, like, like Sean, what do you think? I feel like if I'm flying first or business class, I'm sometimes spending anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 miles one way for a good redemption. Um, I mean, that's over and done in anywhere from 10 to 14 hours, whereas this, I get to enjoy it for a whole week. So, I, I, I think in terms of value per dollar, this may even be more enticing than one of those flights. I wonder if you have an opinion.
No, I mean, I totally agree on it, actually, because I think, yeah, you're, a lot of the times, like, yes, like to get 20,000 points a night, that's like pretty similar to what you'd get for a hotel redemption. But when you're doing a normal hotel redemption, remember, you're not getting like a high-quality all-inclusive for that price, right? Like, even if you're redeeming, let's say, like Hyatt points, is the closest case you would be able to get of, you know, that that redemption rate for an all-inclusive hotel. There's like no, no good Hyatt all-inclusives for 20,000 points a night. And so, from what I've also heard on these, you know, Virgin Voyages, and you, you obviously took one, but I've heard the, you know, the food is really good, the service is good. It's not like, you know, with a lot of people imagine cruises, you imagine this just big party boat of people and everyone's going to the buffet to just trough and stuff themselves, and it's just not a, you know, a very nice, classy experience, especially at these like really big, you know, mega cruise lines. But, you know, from what I've heard on Virgin Voyages, it's, it's a lot more of a refined experience. The food offerings, right? There's no like buffet buffet where it's like you're getting all your meals. It's like all like mostly like sit-down restaurants. There is grab-and-go stuff, but it's not even like buffet style. And the level of quality of the food, as well, is significantly higher than what you would find on a typical cruise line. And so that's the part to me that's really appealing, because like, if you're saying like, sure, like if I could go 14 nights on some mid-cruise line in an interior room and the only, you know, inclusion is the buffet, like, yes, it stretches a really long time, but it wouldn't be that good. But when you're saying like for Virgin Voyages, right, I'm getting 20,000 points a night essentially, and I'm getting great, you know, quality food, I'm getting a terrace room, I can accommodate two people, I don't have to pay any fees, you're getting like off, you know, off all-in vac. And you're also, what's interesting about cruises, like compared to a hotel, right, is you're getting that hybrid experience of like lounging around, yet also seeing sights, where a lot of times you don't, you know, with a hotel, you won't get that experience because it's either the case that I'm in my hotel lounging around, or I'm out in the city seeing stuff. But it's like, you kind of have to decide which one you want to do. But on a cruise, like, yes, there's some port stays, there's some sea days, it's all kind of like taken care of for you, and it's not that, like, you know, I'm going to hop on a tour bus for eight hours, stuff where it's like, man, I really don't want to be doing this. I don't want to wake up at like 5:00 AM to get on the tour bus. You're in a comfortable experience, you're in a nice environment, you you arrive to port, you know, in the morning, you go see the city, you come back at night, your dinner's taken care of, you come back to a comfortable room, and then the next day you wake up in a new place. That's what I think is like really interesting as well, just about cruising in general.
I think that's a super awesome point. I completely agree. And not to mention, a lot of times when you use points to book hotel rooms, you're really only going to get the base room, like probably some crappy parking lot view. And then of course, you might be upgraded if you have status, but that's not guaranteed. Whereas when you book using Virgin Voyages points, you're not getting a base interior room, you're not even just getting an ocean view room, you're getting a couple categories above that, which is the central terrace or the terrace rooms. And those can actually cost quite a lot of money if you're paying cash. And the fact that you can book into these rooms guaranteed is pretty amazing.
Also, as Sean mentioned, the food is very good. Many cruise lines will charge you extra money to dine at their more fun dining restaurants. Otherwise, you only have basic options or the buffet. Whereas in Virgin, everything really is included. Every single restaurant. There is a delicious Italian place that I really liked. They have Korean barbecue, uh, there's a Mexican place, there's one that's sort of like fine dining, they serve you six courses with it's a little more exotic take on, um, fine dining. There's one called Razzle Dazzle, which is like classic American fare, which I really enjoyed. And, you know, you can really order whatever you want, like appetizers, main courses, desserts. And then if you're still hungry, you go up to the galley, which is their take on a buffet, but it's not a buffet because each stand has a more premium selection of food that you directly order from. So, it's not just like everyone grabbing stuff and putting it on their plates. I think it's a much more refined experience.
Additionally, from my experience, I thought the service was really good. The entertainment was really, really excellent in my opinion. I don't think it's going to conform to everyone's tastes. It's a little more non-traditional. As I said, it's 18-plus, adults-only cruise, and it's definitely not geared toward family travel. But in my view, all the performers on there were extremely talented and passionate. And they have this group of people called the Happenings Cast, and I think they did such an excellent job considering that, you know, most people probably pay the same amount of money regardless of whether the entertainment is super good or just mediocre. The fact that they maintained it in a way that made it super good really impressed me.
Another overall, um, impression I had of Virgin Voyages is they don't really try to upsell you very hard. I've never had someone approach me to ask for a tip, for example. You know, they have these shore excursions that you can choose to book or you can choose not to book and explore yourself. You know, again, all the food, including the fine dining establishments, is included. I really do not feel like I'm being nickel and dimed, unlike some other cruise lines. You know, when you purchase a ticket on here, even if you're using points, everything is truly included. For example, if you go onto a, um, a particular shore excursion and you don't purchase any excursion, many cruise lines will just leave you at the port, and it's up to you to find taxi or other transportation to get to the main site. What Virgin actually does is they provide these shuttle buses or other forms of transportation such that you can get to, like, for example, the center of the city or the actual sites, even if you did not purchase any shore excursion. I thought this was a super awesome, you know, perhaps small detail, but really made the experience feel actually all-inclusive.
That's really to hear. And I think that's very, it's really nice that they have like so much included because I think that's very indicative of like a premium brand or what a premium brand is supposed to be. I think a lot of times, like we've kind of seen this in like the luxury hotel market where like for for some reason, a lot of people associate like being stingy with like luxury. Like, for example, Ritz Carlton's not providing elite breakfast right for Marriott, for Marriott elites, and it's like, oh, because it's such an exclusive brand, they're not supposed to do that. But it's like, no, it's kind of the opposite, right? If you're paying more money for something, that's kind of like what you're paying for. You're paying for a premium experience. You want things to feel included. That's part of it, right? So the fact that they're including all that really is good because it means that, you know, yes, you're paying on points, you're not, I understand you're not giving them like direct cash revenue, but it makes the experience just feel nicer and more premium, where especially on something like a cruise, where kind of the point of a cruise is to relax a lot, right? You don't want to worry about things. They're taking you to the ports, you want the food to be included, you don't want to start thinking about, oh my God, how much money, you know, I want to go try this nice dinner, how much is this going to cost me? Oh, I got to tip this guy, I got to tip that guy, you know? So having it all included, I feel like is just, if I'm correct, right, it really enhances your experience because you just don't have to worry about any of that stuff.
Oh yeah, and these were like awesome meals that are all included at like fine, basically fine dining restaurants. Like they have a steakhouse, for example. You order those appetizers, you order those those main entrees, right? You order those premium desserts. If, you know, each of those dinners would probably have cost us our table like $125 at like a normal restaurant, at least where I'm from in the Bay Area, where everything's really expensive. So I really felt like I got my money's worth in that sense.
Yeah, you're making, I know I had some, I had some, uh, I had the cruises booked. I booked two of them, but we'll talk about this in a second. But, you know, you don't actually book the cruise, you book like an access key, right? And they give you the key, but it's a shame because I bought a little late, and so my access keys expire, you know, pretty much when we're recording this, end of August. And so I, I'm, you know, I'm not going to be able to use them. I'm going to have to get them refunded. But it's a shame because originally, when they were offering it for the summer, they went to the end of September. And it's such a shame because I would have actually been able to perfectly time one of these at like near the end of September if I had gotten the key in time. But so now, because I, you know, I got one of the later keys, I'm going to have to refund it, not use it. That, that is a thing that's really cool with this though, is that when you actually buy the cruise, you don't actually directly redeem points for the cruise, which is, you know, how normal redemptions work. What you instead do is you buy an access key to the cruise, essentially like a really good coupon code, and they're going to send you that coupon code. But the coupon code is not redeemed until you actually redeem it on a cruise. And so what's cool about this though, is that if you haven't redeemed your code on a cruise yet, it means it is refundable. At least, you know, at the time of recording of how they currently have the, how it works. And so, like for me, I never ended up booking the cruise. I was able to reserve two cruises, or, you know, two access keys. I never used them, and I'm going to get a full refund of Virgin points, which is really nice. Because if you, you know, let's say, you know, you might want to do this, but you're not sure, like, oh, which cruise to take yet, or if the plans would work out, you can, you know, buy it first and then decide later. And it, that's a really, really cool feature. Now, once you actually do redeem the key, it becomes fully non-refundable the moment you redeem it. So that is something you have to consider. But up until that point, you do have a fully refundable key, which is, you know, really cool. I feel like because you're just able to to make almost like make the redemption before making it. It's like, you know, imagine if I was able to buy the right to buy an an airline first-class seat or something like that without having to pick a specific date yet.
Yes, and let me clarify a few things for people who are interested in this redemption, okay? First of all, you get the access on the Virgin Red website. However, most credit card points transfer to Virgin Atlantic. So, if for, if you have Amex, City, Chase, Bilt points, those transfer to Virgin Atlantic miles, and then you can create a free Virgin Red account along with the Virgin Atlantic. You link them together, those points miles, uh, become equivalent, right? Then you use the Virgin Red, uh, points to get the access key. Then you go to the Virgin Voyages website, which is distinct from the Virgin Red website, and you find the cruise that it qualifies for. You find any available Terrace or Central Terrace room that is selling for a cash price. You go to checkout, you enter the access key, boom, price becomes zero since you just redeemed. Okay. And what's amazing about this is, as long as they're selling any Terrace or Central Terrace room for any amount of money, it's redeemable if you have that code, assuming it's a qualifying cruise. And it's not like, like, you know, business class or first class on airlines where they only reserve a certain number of seats for people who use points and the rest are revenue-only tickets. Not to my understanding for Virgin Voyages. If they're selling the room for any amount of money and you have a key that qualifies, you can use it. And then, as Sean mentioned, if you haven't used a key, so once redeemed a key, that's that reservation is non-cancelable. But if you haven't used the key, you can contact Virgin Red for a refund. But know that you won't get your points back until the whole booking window is closed. So, just keep that in mind.
Yeah, that's something super important. And you also have to remember, like, to contact them because, yeah, if you, if you don't, they're just going to expire and they're not going to be able to help you, and now you've just lost a bunch of points. So remember to do that. But I think for a lot of people, this is like a really, really good redemption. And, you know, if, when they open this up again, I'm definitely going to grab a key or two because, just, you know, it's, it's such a unique, I think, experience to be able to do that.
Yes, and I remember when you transfer credit card points to Virgin, they can't go back. So if you cancel, you're just going to hold Virgin miles or points. Fortunately, they don't expire, but just keep that in mind. So make sure like you have some probability of going before you transfer.
I'm going to give you a few insider tips from someone who's just been on this cruise recently. First, stack with a transfer bonus if possible. It can reduce the number of miles or points you need. I already talked about this. Second thing is, the Virgin Voyages app is a super important part of the experience. Fortunately, it can be laggy and it's not super well-designed, but it is what you need to access a few important things. So things like the schedule, but also restaurant reservations open 45 days in advance of your booking. So that means you're able to log into this app as soon as you've made the booking, even if it's way before your voyage. But keep an eye out 45 days before at midnight, the restaurant reservations will open. And I recommend that you grab a reservation at each of the restaurants at least once, even if you're not sure. You can easily modify or cancel the bookings once you're on the ship later, no problem. But those reservations do tend to fill up really quick as soon as you're open 45 days in advance of your voyage. So I do recommend just grabbing them. Again, you can edit and modify them later, and they do allow walk-ins at these places, but sometimes if they get really busy, having these reservations is super key.
Another thing is you want to book things on your app as soon as you get on. So, basically, there's, for my understanding, all the shows now are first come, first serve. You do want to get there early so you have a good seat, especially at some of their smaller venues. But there are certain activities, classes, etc., where you need to book on the app. You won't be able to do so until you've connected to the ship Wi-Fi. But just make sure you keep that in mind as a priority once you board ship. Also, I just mentioned the ship Wi-Fi is actually included. They have a free plan. So, you know, it's slower, you can do emails and web browsing, you probably can't stream music and videos, but it is free and included, which is not what most cruises have. If you have faster internet for streaming, they have a paid plan. But it's super awesome they have free Wi-Fi. And that's what enables the app to work when you're on the ship. So, don't forget to use the app.
And then, oh, also keep in mind that like all the food and general soft, generally soft drinks are included, but, uh, premium beverages such as alcohol or like the coffee bar, those do cost money. Keep that in mind. Another great thing is you don't need to carry your wallet around the cruise because you have that linked up on the app beforehand. You get the small wristband, and you just tap it onto these places whenever you need to spend money, and it will keep track of your folio. It also serves as your room key and your like embarkation and, um, ID. So super awesome. I really like that they are using technology very effectively on this cruise.
And then finally, another kind of tip or hack is that the delivery fee for room service is waived if you purchase some beverage or other paid item. And often times, like, you know, a cup of latte will actually be cheaper than the delivery fee itself. So if you're going to order room service, I strongly recommend that you include a paid beverage, because that will wave the delivery fee that is actually more expensive than the beverage itself. So, yeah, those are some of the tips I had in mind. Sean, is there anything else you think I should add?
No, I think that's good. I really like that tip about the room service. If I go, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take advantage of that.
Yes, I personally didn't end up using room service because all the restaurants were already so good, but it could be really nice for breakfast if you're feeling lazy someday and don't want to go up to the galley. So that's all for today's episode. Hopefully, you found this information, you know, which is I'll be more detailed, informative, and helpful. Leave a comment below if you've been on this cruise or thinking about it, or if you have any questions. And we really would appreciate it if you consider liking this video, subscribing. Greatly helps support the channel. Also, if you're interested in earning points, whether for cruises or any type of redemption, please consider using one of our links below to apply for a credit card. It greatly helps support the channel when you use those links. And Sean, why don't you plug our Discord?
Yes, if you want to connect with an elite group of award travelers and credit card enthusiasts entirely for free, check out the Travel Lane Discord group at the link in the description. You will learn a ton, I promise you. Thank you so much for watching, and we will see you next week.