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Cruises can be one of the best family vacations out there: multiple destinations, nonstop activities, dining that works for picky eaters and adults, and yes—unlimited soft serve 🍦.

But when it comes to points and miles, cruises can feel confusing. Unlike flights or hotels, there isn’t always a clear “award chart” or easy way to book entirely with points.

The good news? With the right strategy, you can use points and miles to cover cruises — or at least dramatically offset the cost — while earning a ton of rewards along the way.

This guide walks through:

• The best ways to use points for cruises
• Next-level tricks to reduce out-of-pocket costs
• How to earn the maximum points when paying cash for a cruise

Can You Book a Cruise Entirely With Points?

Sometimes — but not usually in the same way you book flights or hotels. Well, that’s not entirely true – you can book the adults only Virgin Voyages with points. But if you’re traveling with your family, you’ll need some other options. Keep reading.

Most cruise lines don’t have traditional award programs where you redeem points directly for a sailing. Instead, the most reliable strategies involve flexible travel rewards, statement credits, and earning massive points on the purchase itself.

The Best Ways to Use Points & Miles for Cruises

Use Flexible Points to “Cover” Cruise Purchases

(My favorite strategy)

Some travel credit cards allow you to redeem points as a statement credit against travel purchases, including cruises booked directly with the cruise line. This is my most recommended and beginner friendly way to use points to offset the cost of a cruise!

Capital One miles are especially powerful here.

How it works:

• Pay for your cruise with your Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• After the charge posts, redeem miles to cover (or partially cover) the purchase
• Each mile is typically worth 1¢ toward travel

💡 Example:
A $2,500 cruise → redeem 250,000 miles to wipe it out

Why this works so well:

• You can book directly with the cruise line
• You still earn points on the original purchase
• No blackout dates or award availability to worry about

This is one of the simplest and most flexible ways to use points for cruises.

I’d recommend the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. They allow you to transfer miles to other cardmembers – so if you’re spouse earns the welcome bonus too, you’ll have double the miles!

Read more about these cards here!

Use Aeroplan’s “Pay Yourself Back” Feature for Cruise Purchases

While Aeroplan is best known as an airline loyalty program, it also allows members to redeem points for statement credits on eligible travel purchases — including cruises in many cases.

How it works:

• Pay for your cruise using a credit card that earns Aeroplan®points
• Once the charge posts, use Pay Yourself Back to redeem points for a statement credit
• Points are redeemed at a fixed value of 1.25¢ for travel, helping offset the cost of the cruise

Aeroplan’s Pay Yourself Back feature was extended through the end of 2026 – meaning, at least for the remainder of the year, this is a great way to get slightly outsized value from your points and cover the cost of a cruise at the same time!

Use Cash-Back Business Cards to Offset Cruise Costs

Another powerful — and often overlooked — way to reduce cruise costs is by using cash-back business credit cards, especially those from U.S. Bank.

Compare U.S. Bank business cards

Unlike points that need to be transferred or redeemed through travel portals, these cards earn straight cash back that can be used to offset cruise expenses in a very flexible way.

How this works:

• Meet the minimum spend requirement to earn the welcome bonus.
• Earn cash back
• Redeem rewards as a statement credit, or in some cases, directly deposited into your US Bank checking account.

This is super simple and is a nice way for families to drum up some extra cash to offset the cost of cruises – or any other incidentals you can’t use points for! They don’t add to your 5/24 count either.

Cash earned from the card can then be used to:

• Offset the cruise fare itself
• Cover gratuities, excursions, drink packages, or onboard spending
• Reimburse yourself after the fact

Next-Level Cruise Savings (Beyond Points)

If you really want to reduce cruise costs, points are only part of the equation.

Here are a few extra strategies savvy cruisers use:

Cashback & Shopping Portals

Shopping portals such as Rakuten and Capital One Offers sometimes offer additional cash back (or points!) on cruise lines.

Rakuten allows you to choose between earning cash back or points such as American Express Membership Rewards or Bilt points. But if you choose cash, it could go toward the cruise cost. (Though I’d probably keep it as points 😉). My Rakuten Referral link will give you BONUS cash back (or points back!) when you register.

Alternately, Capital One Offers (found when you’re logged into your Capital One account) also allow you to earn additional miles on your cruise line purchases. You can use those miles earned to help cover the cost of the cruise!

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a website that allows you to get paid to complete various online tasks. It can act as a shopping portal but it also has various tasks that you can complete to earn Swagbucks. You can then redeem your Swagbucks for a number of gift cards – or to your PayPal account. I send mine to my PayPal account to help cover the cost of cruises.

I don’t use Swagbucks often, but the program has always been reliable when I find a relatively easy task to complete.

Sign up for Swagbucks here. (Referral link)

How to Earn the Most Points When Paying Cash for a Cruise

Best Cards to Use for Cruise Purchases

I often like to put cruise purchases on whichever card that I’m currently working on a sign up bonus for. (I also typically purchase additional travel insurance for cruises instead of relying on credit card travel insurance but that’s a post for a different day.)

But if I’m not working on a sign up bonus, these are some of my preferred cards for cruise purchases. I prefer to have them earn flexible points if possible.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

• Earns 2x miles on everything
• Simple, flexible, and perfect for cruises
• Miles can later be used to cover travel purchases (including cruises)

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

• Earns 2X on all travel purchases (well 5x on travel booked through Chase Travel^SM)
• Earns Chase Ultimate Rewards – which are extremely popular for points and miles enthusiasts!
• Strong travel protections

American Express Green Card

• Earns 3x Membership Rewards points on all travel
• Has Clear Credit as a perk to the card

American Express® Gold Card

• Earns 2x Membership Rewards points when booking in Amex Travel

American Express Platinum Card®

• Earns 2x Membership Rewards points when booking in Amex Travel + also often includes perks such as onboard cruse credits.

Don’t Forget Pre- and Post-Cruise Travel

While cruises, themselves, can be slightly harder to use points for, keep in mind that pre and post cruise travel is a great way to use points!

Use your favorite airline programs to fly to and from the cruise. (I’m looking at you Southwest!)

And use your favorite hotel points for a pre or post cruise stay. Actually, annual free night certificates that come with many hotel branded credit cards are a great use for pre cruise hotel stays!

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress is one of my FAVORITE uses of the annual free night certificate that comes with the World of Hyatt Credit Card! We stay here whenever we cruise out of Port Canaveral.

Pro Tip: Cruises Can Be a Points Goldmine

A single cruise can:

• Trigger a welcome bonus
• Earn thousands of points on the purchase
• Generate bonus earnings on flights, hotels, and dining
• Be partially or fully covered with flexible points later

When done right, one cruise can fuel multiple future trips.

Conclusion: Cruises + Points = A Powerful Combo

Cruises may not always be bookable with traditional award charts, but they’re far from a lost cause in the points and miles world!

With the right strategy, you can:

• Use points to cover cruise costs
• Stack earnings on large purchases
• Reduce out-of-pocket expenses
• Turn one family cruise into years of future travel

And if unlimited ice cream doesn’t seal the deal… I’m not sure what will. 🍦😉