Q – Really appreciate all of this information – but one thing I wish you would address is which credit card we ought to be using for new cruise bookings where conditions aborad may make it impossible to sail. After reading on cruisetruth about all of the problems with Crystal refunds, I wonder if one card seems to generate refunds quicker than another? Thanks so much and stay safe.
A – Credit cards are plastic bank symbols and all banks have different policies. But that said, we have seen a significant difference in the manner in which American Express has approved refunds for Crystal guests while Mastercard and Visa not. Now we mustn’t read too much into this because Crystal has contracts with specific portions of Visa and Mastercard and you can’t assume their policies are universal. But all things considered, we generally recommend that you own and use an Amex card exclusively for travel purchases. Insist on a type of Amex card, there are dozens, that specifically allow you to move points into airline mileage accounts. That is a great feature.
Amex will, in our experience, fight harder for their cardholders when payments or refunds are in dispute. But we do not recommend using Amex when traveling abroad as they are still not accepted as widely worldwide as Visa or Mastercard. Make sure your traveling card does not charge you any FTF 9Foreiugn Transaction Fee.
Be careful taking CC advice online as almost all of those who give credit card advice to travelers accept payment from the cards they are recommending. We don’t – because we’re just not smart enough.
