Aarp gift cards!!!!!!!!!!

[teknoge3k]

For those of you that use the gift cards...do you buy cruise cash with them so that you don't have to bother with bringing the cards with you, or do you save them, bring them and have them put onto your account once you are on the ship?

I have already paid for my cruise. I don't know how much to buy, I have no idea how much we will spend and if we will do ship excursions or independent ones.

 

I just save the numbers to a file on my phone then at the end of my cruise I go to GS and pay off my on-board spending. I don't do anything with them before the cruise. That way I don't have to guess how much to put on my account or worry about "cashing out". I usually buy $1,000 worth to take with me and if I have any left, I just use them on my next cruise.

[blarko]

Now that they are going to the cards in the mailboxes you will need to stand in an additional line to do so. I want to skip it and find the fastest way is by using Cruise Cash. You can still cash out via the casino the same way as you can with the gift cards.

 

 

 

Thanks for the tip. I haven’t been on any ship that puts the cards in the mailboxes yet, so didn’t even think about that. I used to buy cruise cash for every cruise , before I found the discounted gift cards, so have no problem going back to buying cruise cash again.

[BookDragon]

For those of you that use the gift cards...do you buy cruise cash with them so that you don't have to bother with bringing the cards with you, or do you save them, bring them and have them put onto your account once you are on the ship?

 

I bought GC, then cruise cash. I’ve read issues with applying GCs while on the cruise (limits to how many can be used and/or waiting hrs to a day for the clearance/antifraud process). So initially my husband &I will have about $400 in cruise cash already on our S&S account prior to boarding & will apply cash if necessary while on board. Our excursions and tips are already paid for. We will use the cruise cash for: specialty dining, a few drinks, bingo card(s), & maybe a photo. We are not into purchasing souvenirs.

[gochina]

I also see RC gift card for sale so I wonder if they ever offer Holland America card?

[Bulzie]

Not clear still on how best to use the GC. We do not cruise often, going in May 7day on Dream, will have 2 cabins(adult and kids in each). We plan to buy 1 Cheers package and go on maybe 2 excursions. So if I buy say a $500 card, I can add that as credit to my S&S card before the cruise and use that once I am on the ship to buy the Cheers program or anything else we want to buy extra? In putting it on the SS card is that what Cruise Cash is? Also can you use the GC to prepay for excursions? But they are not just pre-paid debit cards right so you cannot use them to say book an excursion that is not with Carnival for example?

[teknoge3k]

Not clear still on how best to use the GC. We do not cruise often, going in May 7day on Dream, will have 2 cabins(adult and kids in each). We plan to buy 1 Cheers package and go on maybe 2 excursions. So if I buy say a $500 card, I can add that as credit to my S&S card before the cruise and use that once I am on the ship to buy the Cheers program or anything else we want to buy extra? In putting it on the SS card is that what Cruise Cash is? Also can you use the GC to prepay for excursions? But they are not just pre-paid debit cards right so you cannot use them to say book an excursion that is not with Carnival for example?

 

You use them literally the exact same way you would use any other gift card you would ever purchase.

 

If you have a cruise balance of say, $3,000 then you would buy 6 of the $500 gift cards for $2700 and apply them toward

your cruise balance to pay it off. If you want to buy the Cheers package for your cruise, you buy another $400 worth of gift cards for each person in your cabin over 21 to pay for that.

If you want to do excursions through Carnival you would buy another $X in gift cards for the cost of your excursions.

If you want to get Cruise Cash for some reason then get $X in gift cards for your cruise cash.

 

Personally I pay off the cruise and gratuities in gift cards then take another $1000 or so in gift cards with us on board to pay our cruise spending at the end. I don't buy cruise cash, we do independent excursions so we don't need to pay Carnival for excursions and it's just my wife and I and I am not spending $800 to drink on a ship. I'll buy individual drinks, we don't drink that much.

 

If you buy $5,000 in gift cards (for $4500) then you have that amount of money to spend on anything that Carnival sells.

[fl_couple]

Not clear still on how best to use the GC. We do not cruise often, going in May 7day on Dream, will have 2 cabins(adult and kids in each). We plan to buy 1 Cheers package and go on maybe 2 excursions. So if I buy say a $500 card, I can add that as credit to my S&S card before the cruise and use that once I am on the ship to buy the Cheers program or anything else we want to buy extra? In putting it on the SS card is that what Cruise Cash is? Also can you use the GC to prepay for excursions? But they are not just pre-paid debit cards right so you cannot use them to say book an excursion that is not with Carnival for example?

 

Will try to help (though keep in mind in fairness to the hundreds who get notifications on each and every post from this particular thread, that the purpose of this thread is ONLY to be notified when AARP gift cards for Carnival are available)!

 

AARP gift cards can be used to pay for anything that you can purchase on your particular cruise ONLY through Carnival. That includes paying your cruise, booking excursions, and also paying your Cheers program in advance. Just a hint. Purchase your Cheers program in advance which is discounted by Carnival ONLY in advance. Then pay for it using the AARP gift cards which afford you an addition 10% discount on the total cost.

 

As for excursions booked outside of Carnival (and this is only my experience), many do not accept any credit card payments when walking off a ship and purchasing. If they accept credit cards, they may or may not accept credit card gift cards and certainly not one that is only Carnival specific as the AARP cards are.

 

Hope this helps, but it is helpful and appreciated by all of us who subscribe to this particular thread if you start a new thread with your questions!

[ParrotRob]

Too much effort either way.

 

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I saved $80 on $800 worth of gift cards in literally under 10 minutes. It miust be nice to have ten minutes of your time valued at more than $80.

[westview1900]

I also see RC gift card for sale so I wonder if they ever offer Holland America card?

RC is more restrictive. Be careful before you buy them. Call RC first to learn their conditions.

[2wheelin]

Will try to help (though keep in mind in fairness to the hundreds who get notifications on each and every post from this particular thread, that the purpose of this thread is ONLY to be notified when AARP gift cards for Carnival are available)!

 

AARP gift cards can be used to pay for anything that you can purchase on your particular cruise ONLY through Carnival. That includes paying your cruise, booking excursions, and also paying your Cheers program in advance. Just a hint. Purchase your Cheers program in advance which is discounted by Carnival ONLY in advance. Then pay for it using the AARP gift cards which afford you an addition 10% discount on the total cost.

 

As for excursions booked outside of Carnival (and this is only my experience), many do not accept any credit card payments when walking off a ship and purchasing. If they accept credit cards, they may or may not accept credit card gift cards and certainly not one that is only Carnival specific as the AARP cards are.

 

Hope this helps, but it is helpful and appreciated by all of us who subscribe to this particular thread if you start a new thread with your questions!

Agree it may be time to start a new post (and get criticized for not doing a search) but re the underlined statement above, where in the title is that evident. After 130 pages I don’t think anyone should assume all those posts are just letting people know when they are available.

[billys5764]

RC is more restrictive. Be careful before you buy them. Call RC first to learn their conditions.

 

 

 

This is so true. I booked RCI and then bought Verizon gift “certificates” without reading the fine print. They are NOT like Carnival gift cards. They can only be used for new bookings and must be done through a different system. I had to cancel my first booking, lose my deposit ($50), and rebook. It took forever because no one at RCI knew anything about how they worked. It was not worth the savings.

 

 

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[tatt2ed]

I saved $80 on $800 worth of gift cards in literally under 10 minutes. It miust be nice to have ten minutes of your time valued at more than $80.

I never said the savings wasnt worth it. I said the surveys arent worth it. Either way meaning reading them or just putting in any answer. There are ways to get points without doing surveys. I have 4 accounts that never did even one survey and have thousands of points. I have 1 account with over 70k and just used promo codes to get there. Copy and paste baby ! Get with the times.

 

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[Organized Chaos]

Just floating this thread back to the top of the boards. A few new discount gift card threads have been created lately by people just starting out, not knowing how to go about finding them or signing up, so thought it'd be good to have this thread in plain sight. :)

 

By the way, e-cards and physical cards are currently available in both denominations.

[gochina]

Why is it that I chose ecard but at check out it asked me to confirm mailing address but no where did I see asking for email address?

[lazyart]

Why is it that I chose ecard but at check out it asked me to confirm mailing address but no where did I see asking for email address?

 

Because you have an AARP.com account which is linked to an email address.

[gochina]

Because you have an AARP.com account which is linked to an email address.

Oh. OK! Just making sure they don't send the card by mail. Separate note: Just had to call about credit card that never made it to our house. Thanks!

[Georgie562]

Why is it that I chose ecard but at check out it asked me to confirm mailing address but no where did I see asking for email address?

 

If you get charged a shipping fee, for sure that means its getting mailed to you.

No shipping fee means you have chosen the electronic option.

[CA_Cruzing]

tried to order e-gift cards a minute ago. both $450 and $90 cards were sold out.

 

anyone know how often or frequently AARP e-gift cards become available?

[gochina]

tried to order e-gift cards a minute ago. both $450 and $90 cards were sold out.

 

anyone know how often or frequently AARP e-gift cards become available?

My says it is available but when I tried to buy $500 one it says my card has been declined?

[CA_Cruzing]

My says it is available but when I tried to buy $500 one it says my card has been declined?

message i received when trying to order the $500 e-card was "out of stock, please remove from basket to continue."

 

the same message was received on the $100 e-card.

[ParrotRob]

message i received when trying to order the $500 e-card was "out of stock, please remove from basket to continue."

 

the same message was received on the $100 e-card.

 

I just purchased a $100 e-gift card literally 5 minutes ago (4:59 eastern).

[Georgie562]

message i received when trying to order the $500 e-card was "out of stock, please remove from basket to continue."

 

the same message was received on the $100 e-card.

 

Yup. Unfortunately waaaaay too many people know about the program now. enroll just for the quizzes (not to become members) and get their points and buy their cards causing a shortage. I would say maybe by the end of the week they will re-stock.

 

As an AARP member, I strongly feel that the quizzes and earning of the points should be strictly for AARP paying members. Here I am with 19K points wanting to buy gift cards for my cruise in 2 weeks but I can't because they are sold out.

[Organized Chaos]

As of 5pm central, both the e-cards and physical cards, in both denominations, are available for me. It is possible that different locations see different availability, but most of us on here see the same. A while back, someone said they saw $50 cards available (with additional restrictions) that I didn't see on mine, so that's why I say there's a possibility that it could vary depending on location.

 

For most of us on here, they have been available for the last month and a half to two months, at least. That's the longest stretch I've seen them in stock since I signed up a little over a year ago. So an influx of non-AARP members hasn't been a factor, at least not in the last couple months. Typically in the past when they sold out, more were in stock within a week or two. AARP allows non-members to participate in their Rewards for Good program, so there's not much anyone can do about it.

[wmwmarmstrong]

Order Complete!

 

Just bought a $500 Carnival Gift Card. No problems at all.

[luckybecky]

I never said the savings wasnt worth it. I said the surveys arent worth it. Either way meaning reading them or just putting in any answer. There are ways to get points without doing surveys. I have 4 accounts that never did even one survey and have thousands of points. I have 1 account with over 70k and just used promo codes to get there. Copy and paste baby ! Get with the times.

 

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Ok, I admit it. I'm not with the times! :o

 

Have been an AARP member for a few years, but just recently found out about this program. Like a week ago. Have already used it to purchase 5 $500 gift cards and save $250 on my upcoming cruise. But I have no idea what you are talking about regarding other ways to earn points. It doesn't take me long to run through several quizzes and earn the 5000 daily limit on points. But what else can I do? I confess I have not read all 133 pages of this thread. Anyone willing to share some tips or tricks?

 

Thanks!