Extra miles when cruising
 

Some friends of mine just got back from a cruise last week and shared with me their mileage "scheme".

When you get onboard you are given an id card that is linked to a credit that you give the cruise line before you board. Any charges that are accrued onboard from this ID are charged then to the credit card at the end of the cruise.

What they decided to do was to link their US Airways Dividend Miles credit card to their ID and everyday would withdraw cash from casino via their ID card. At the end of the cruise they had amassed a stack of cash and miles. Once they got home, they deposited the cash into the bank (to pay their credit card bill) and used the miles to top off their account.

I would feel uneasy hording such sums of cash but I guess if you feel comfortable enough, its a good way to get some extra miles.

I've heard the same thing too, where cruise ship casinos let you charge casino chips, and then you can cash them out at the end of your cruise for full value. I guess their reason is they expect you to gamble with them, and statistically lose at the tables, so they make loads of money on this. But if you can refrain from losing money at the tables, miles can be earned.

the last cruise we took, there was a 3% fee for the cash, so i used my own money in the casino & fortunately broke even.

sorry, wrong thread.

[This message has been edited by Leona Helmsley (edited Dec 24, 2003).]

For more information on this subject, do a search in the cruise forum (and the MilesBuzz forum as well). There was a pretty good thread in one of those forums that discussed how each of the cruise lines handled this type of thing.

I remember it well - great way to get a bunch of miles:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/006440.html

Regarding the juice on cash advances, I'd be curious to know if anyone has an update on specific cruise lines.

Each cruise line does it differently, some don't let you charge casino charges to the room charge, some treat them as cash advances and not purchases, others tack a service fee on them. In most cases, it's explained someplace on the cruise line's website.

I just took a Royal Caribbean cruise last month and did this exact thing with $2,000. There was no service fee at all. (BTW, I could have taken more cash but was uncomfortable to carry any more cash than that.)

RCL still allows pax to charge chips to a credit card without a fee; the charge posts as a purchase rather than a cash advance and therefore earns miles. However -- BE CAREFUL. If you hand the cashier a credit card, then you are really asking for a cash advance, and there will be a service fee and no miles earned. To avoid the fee and to earn miles, you need to hand the cashier your onboard RCL charge card (which I think they call a "Seapass" card), which in turn is linked to your credit card. There is also an ATM machine in the casino, which you definately do not want to use (high fee, no mileage). The best method for mileage earning is to buy chips with your RCL card, and then redeem them for cash at the end of the cruise. In theory, on a long cruise you could earn many thousands of miles this way if you are willing to carry aroung a large roll of cash. However, in practice, I suspect that the casino might crack down if someone seems to be buying large amounts of chips but not spending any time gambling (although this is just speculation on my part).

BAD NEWS. I was the person who started one of the threads on this topic quite some time ago. I am writing this post from my laptop right now while I am aboard Royal Caribbeans (RCL)brand spanking huge Mariner of the Seas. This "loophole" has been closed by RCL They will no longer issue cash and will issue special casino chips that are different from the normal chips that you can bring to the cashier for cash. These chips issued from your sea pass will only be credited back to your seapass account. So unless you are a gambler their is no way around this new system by RCL. Yes I have recieved thousand and thousands of free miles in the past with no cash advace fees and I know the loop hole well but the jig is up. End of story

Not necessarily. There was an old scam in the days when Vegas used to give special chips as a part of tour packages (they may still do for all I know). You take the chips and bet them on roulette taking both sides of the even money bets (odd/even, black/red, over/under). The losing bets are collected in the special chips and the winning bets are paid in chips that are cashable (this may or may not be the way that RCL now works). The only time you lose is when 0 or 00 comes up, and that is the "cost" of buying the miles earned. Haven't done the math, but it would seem that there might still be a worthwhile points play here (if that was what you wanted to do while you were on a cruise).



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Oh Canada!
Standing on guard for thee...

Like I said you have to gamble. I am on the biggest ship in the industry right now, mariner and I can assure you will not get away with your senerio because of the size of the casino which is not that large. If you are working thousands they know you. The loop hole is closed unless you gamble and I mean gamble and if you read this board you are a smart person who knows the odds of getting a upgrade are better than winning on a ship

The house advantage in double-zero Roulette is 5.4%. Most shipboard casinos these days have good Blackjack rules that bring the house edge down to about 0.5% with basic strategy. Another possibility is betting the Don't Pass with full odds on craps.

When casinos have this type of chip there is often a way to change them into slot tokens as well.

I'll be on the Voyager of the Seas on the 18th for the World Poker Tour so I'll report back what I find.

QL

I had no problem getting $2000 from the cage on the RCCL Voyager of the Seas last week. You have to tell them you play slots and they will give you cash.

QL

Thought I'd see if there was any update or new experiences on this. I have a cruise on RCCL in August in Europe, and am trying to figure out the best way to get cash while I'm cruising. If there aren't any fees, and if in fact I'm able to get cash, then I'll use this method.

Also, for anyone who has done a cruise on RCCL to the mediterranean, do the casinos operate with Euros or USD? I emailed RCCL with a few questions regarding this, and will post their response if it's useful.