jakerog

Thank you so much in advance for taking your time to read and respond to my post.

We are a family of 4 (kids 4 and 13) that lives in Atlanta and have accumulated 900k points.

We would like to use some of our points on a cruise family vacation and the other on a getaway for my wife and I. I will try to make another post just for that, to keep it less confusing.

We are thinking sometime in June, for about 5 days (flexible). Ideally on a cruise line with a great program for kids, to give us some alone time. We have sailed on a Norwegian before and Disney. I understand that Disney does not accept the rewards points. We would love to try a new(er) ship Royal Caribbeans, Norwegian or another similar cruise line.

We don't mind driving to save the points.

I would love some help on how to maximize our points and experience.

Jake

thephirm

Can't you just use points at a rate of 1 cent each to pay for any cruise you book with American Express?

gsxsilver

Ever since I got the schwab plat I essentially stopped trying to use points as is. 900k cashed out is well over 10k cash; enough to pay for the cruises of choice plus some. Might be something to consider.

freakflyer

If you are using the card with a 1% or so expected return, why not use a 2% cash back card for your purchases?

uneeq

He might be using bonus categories to generate more than 1 pt/$. Also, personally, getting 1.5 pts/$ with the EDP for 1.875 cents cash or transferring it is worth more than 2 cents straight up for me.

gsxsilver

Opportunity cost of not wanting to carry more then 2 cards.