Almost every guide tells you how to book a cruise with points. Almost none tell you the price: points cashed out against a fare are worth a fraction of what they're worth on a flight. Here is the arithmetic on a real-sized cruise.
Reviewed September 2026 · Justin RasmussenAlmost every "cruise redemption" is a fixed-rate cash-out, not an award booking. The card issuer converts your points into a dollar credit at a set rate, so the number is the same whether the fare is $600 or $6,000. Here are the published rates.
| Program | Value toward a cruise fare | Typical value on a transferred award |
|---|---|---|
| Amex Membership Rewards (Pay with Points) | 0.5 to 0.7 cents | About 2 cents |
| Chase Ultimate Rewards (travel portal) | 1 cent; 1.25 to 1.5 cents if you applied before June 23, 2025 (rate depends on card) | About 2 cents |
| Capital One miles | 1 cent, flat | About 2 cents |
Sources: The Points Guy, "How to book a cruise using points and miles," April 16, 2026. The ~2 cent figure is The Points Guy's own valuation for Amex points transferred to partners, used here as a reasonable benchmark for transferable points generally. Your rate depends on your card and application date.
Take a $6,000 fare for a family cruise. The first column shows the points it takes to cover the fare at each rate. The last column shows what the same points would be worth at a 2-cent award-flight valuation. Real award prices vary, so read the last column as an illustration, not a quote.
| Redemption rate | Points to cover $6,000 | Same points at ~2 cents |
|---|---|---|
| 0.6 cents (Amex Pay with Points, mid-range) | 1,000,000 | About $20,000 |
| 1 cent (Chase portal, Capital One) | 600,000 | About $12,000 |
| 1.5 cents (older Chase Sapphire Reserve rate) | 400,000 | About $8,000 |
Arithmetic: $6,000 divided by the rate per point. Flight value is points times 0.02. Illustrative only.
Put plainly, covering the fare with Amex points burns a million points that could plausibly fly a family to Europe or Asia in a premium cabin. If you paid the cruise in cash, you would spend $6,000 and keep the points.
Sometimes. If you are holding a small balance that you will never use, are about to lose it to inactivity, or need to cover a gap in cash flow, one cent per point beats letting it expire. Just make that a deliberate choice, not the default, and check the current rate for your specific card before you book.
No. The fare is the same one you would find yourself, because cruise lines already build a commission for whoever books into the price, including their own call center. When you book through an advisor, that commission goes to the advisor instead. On many sailings the advisor can also attach amenities such as onboard credit, specialty dining or a cabin upgrade, though what is available varies by sailing and I tell clients upfront when nothing is.
Disclosure: I am an independent travel advisor booking through Fora Travel, so I earn that commission if you book with me. That is a conflict of interest worth naming, which is why every number on this page is sourced, and why the plan below works whether or not you book through anyone. See the full disclosure.
Spend them where they are worth the most: the flights to your departure port and the hotel night before you sail. For a family, those are often the biggest cash costs of the trip after the fare, and award seats and hotel points cover them well. Here is how to do it and not miss the ship → A cruise from a port you can fly to for free turns a $6,000 vacation into one where you pay only for the fare, the extras, and the taxes on the flights.
If you want help with either half, the cruise is booked free through me, and the flights are an award search I run for a flat fee.
About 1,000,000 Amex points at roughly 0.6 cents each, 600,000 Chase or Capital One points at 1 cent each, or 400,000 points at the older 1.5-cent Chase rate. The number depends entirely on your card's redemption rate for cruises.
Generally no. Major cruise lines are not transfer partners of the big bank programs, so cruise redemptions go through a portal or a statement-credit style cash-out at a fixed rate. The real value of transferable points is on airlines and hotels.
Usually yes. Airfare to a departure port is a good use of transferable points, because award flights are typically valued near 2 cents per point, roughly double what a cruise portal returns, and the flights are often a large share of the trip's cash cost.
No. The advisor is paid a commission by the cruise line out of a fare that already includes it, so the price you pay is the same as booking direct. Amenities such as onboard credit vary by sailing.
One points move a week, from someone who books both halves of the trip. Free.
Have a sailing in mind? Send it to me and I will price it, tell you what perks it qualifies for (or that it qualifies for none), and line up the award flights to the port. Cruise booking costs you nothing.
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