AARP Carnival Gift Cards

[Joe817]

7 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

Also for 1,000 PTSONLY4FEB2020

Thanks bmas! 👍

[bury me at sea]

5 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Thanks bmas! 👍

 

You're welcome.  I'm still working toward enough to pay for two bookings - one is covered.

 

Also still working on accumulating enough cash to buy the gift cards I still need!

 

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by bury me at sea

[Joe817]

5 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

 

You're welcome.  I'm still working toward enough to pay for two bookings - one is covered. Also still working on accumulating enough cash to buy the gift cards I still need!

Ditto! I never thought I'd be able to pay for a cruise with g.c.'s, but it's a reality, and a great way to save some money! 

 

 

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, bury me at sea said:

Also for 1,000 PTSONLY4FEB2020

 

There it is. I knew there would be one more variation worth 1,000 so I was rearranging parts here and there, changing 2020 to just 20, but couldn't come up with it. I was leaving the number 4 on the front. Is that the one they sent to your email?

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, Joe817 said:

Ditto! I never thought I'd be able to pay for a cruise with g.c.'s, but it's a reality, and a great way to save some money! 

 

You can say that again. Including the total cost of our next cruise, plus things like internet plans, an excursion, and some Cruise Cash, we saved over $550 using the gift cards.

[bury me at sea]

21 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

There it is. I knew there would be one more variation worth 1,000 so I was rearranging parts here and there, changing 2020 to just 20, but couldn't come up with it. I was leaving the number 4 on the front. Is that the one they sent to your email?

 

Yes it was in this morning's e-mail.  I came here to post it immediately after using it and saw the interesting variation provided by Saint Greg.  They are getting creative.

[biomedbob]

Just used 4FEB2020PTSONLY for 2,000.

[Organized Chaos]

2 hours ago, bury me at sea said:

Yes it was in this morning's e-mail.  I came here to post it immediately after using it and saw the interesting variation provided by Saint Greg.  They are getting creative.

 

I've always wondered why they send one code to some people and a variant of that code to others. Why not just send the same one to everyone? I'm not complaining, because it gives us more points, but I just never understood the point from their perspective. Yep, I've noticed some of the codes lately have begun to change a little bit. It used to be that a vast majority of them came in variations that totaled 3,000 points. Maybe a 1,000 and a 2,000 or three 1,000. Not always, but usually. That's how I knew there was probably still one more from this morning. Lately, we've seen a lot of variations that total 4,000 points, so that's kind of new. Or, like today's code, ones that we can't simply change the year. They're evolving. Allstate is becoming self-aware. 😲

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

2 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I've always wondered why they send one code to some people and a variant of that code to others. Why not just send the same one to everyone? I'm not complaining, because it gives us more points, but I just never understood the point from their perspective. Yep, I've noticed some of the codes lately have begun to change a little bit. It used to be that a vast majority of them came in variations that totaled 3,000 points. Maybe a 1,000 and a 2,000 or three 1,000. Not always, but usually. That's how I knew there was probably still one more from this morning. Lately, we've seen a lot of variations that total 4,000 points, so that's kind of new. Or, like today's code, ones that we can't simply change the year. They're evolving. Allstate is becoming self-aware. 😲

My guess is so they can more easily track which marketing emails brings people shopping.  I would bet the different codes get different advertising promos in the email. 

[scliq]

Question:

What can you do with GCs that have just $5 left on them?

 

I did not know there was a $10 min and last month used a 100gc to make a 95 payment towards cruise (95 is amount need to pay each mo to be paid off by due date) so this month I tried to use the $5 on old gc and $90 off new one and it would not let me with error message min 10 required. I will adjust my payment amount for future now that i know but what can be done with $5 on the one gc?

Thanks!

Lisa

 

[ULCajunCruiser]

2 minutes ago, scliq said:

Question:

What can you do with GCs that have just $5 left on them?

 

I did not know there was a $10 min and last month used a 100gc to make a 95 payment towards cruise (95 is amount need to pay each mo to be paid off by due date) so this month I tried to use the $5 on old gc and $90 off new one and it would not let me with error message min 10 required. I will adjust my payment amount for future now that i know but what can be done with $5 on the one gc?

Thanks!

Lisa

 

Hi Lisa,  I sure hope you're mistaken.   Carnival just sent me a $6.80 gift card as a refund for something or other.   (My most recent cruise was delayed due to fog, so its possibly a refund from the wifi package for the first day??)   Anyway, seems unlikely they would send me a refund that I couldn't use.    

 

I plan on just adding it to my S&S account on my next cruise.

[Organized Chaos]

13 minutes ago, scliq said:

Question:

What can you do with GCs that have just $5 left on them?

 

I did not know there was a $10 min and last month used a 100gc to make a 95 payment towards cruise (95 is amount need to pay each mo to be paid off by due date) so this month I tried to use the $5 on old gc and $90 off new one and it would not let me with error message min 10 required. I will adjust my payment amount for future now that i know but what can be done with $5 on the one gc?

Thanks!

Lisa

 

When you click on Make a Payment, do you then use the option to "Choose Another Amount," or something like that? With an empty box to enter your own amount. Will that let you enter $5.00, then put in the gift card info.? If it won't let you use it to pay on the balance, then maybe it'll let you use it for other purchases, like internet, Cheers, buying water or other drinks, whatever. If all else fails, then just take it onboard with you and add it to your S&S account.

[Joe817]

15 minutes ago, scliq said:

Question:

What can you do with GCs that have just $5 left on them?

 

I did not know there was a $10 min and last month used a 100gc to make a 95 payment towards cruise (95 is amount need to pay each mo to be paid off by due date) so this month I tried to use the $5 on old gc and $90 off new one and it would not let me with error message min 10 required. I will adjust my payment amount for future now that i know but what can be done with $5 on the one gc?

Thanks!

Lisa

 

Since you are wanting to make a balance payment on your cruise, perhaps there is a $10 minimum payment. That's the only thing I can think of. And if it were me, I'd hold on to that g.c. with a $5.00 balance on it and apply it to your S&S account at guest services when you get on board. That's what I plan on doing. 

[Organized Chaos]

5 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

When you click on Make a Payment, do you then use the option to "Choose Another Amount," or something like that? With an empty box to enter your own amount. Will that let you enter $5.00, then put in the gift card info.? If it won't let you use it to pay on the balance, then maybe it'll let you use it for other purchases, like internet, Cheers, buying water or other drinks, whatever. If all else fails, then just take it onboard with you and add it to your S&S account.

 

Now that I think about it, if it absolutely won't let you make a balance payment, then I'm almost sure it'll let you use it to buy something from the Fun Shops, internet, an excursion, or whatever, because when you get to the checkout, it lets you enter multiple gift cards if one doesn't cover it. I did that a couple times recently for our upcoming cruise. Granted, I didn't have one as low as $5, but it should still work.

[Joe817]

This is kind of on topic, since we are talking about g.c.'s with balances left on them. I have a couple but didn't know what the balance was on each card so I went digging, and found a website where you can check to see what your balance is(if any). Thought it might come in useful:

 

https://carnival.ourgiftcards.com/checkbalance

[Saint Greg]

38 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

When you click on Make a Payment, do you then use the option to "Choose Another Amount," or something like that? With an empty box to enter your own amount. Will that let you enter $5.00, then put in the gift card info.? If it won't let you use it to pay on the balance, then maybe it'll let you use it for other purchases, like internet, Cheers, buying water or other drinks, whatever. If all else fails, then just take it onboard with you and add it to your S&S account.

I had this come up recently where I had a card with $8 left on it and it wouldn’t allow me to use it for a payment on a cruise. It did allow me to put it towards an internet package on a cruise.

[Organized Chaos]

2 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I had this come up recently where I had a card with $8 left on it and it wouldn’t allow me to use it for a payment on a cruise. It did allow me to put it towards an internet package on a cruise.

 

Awful silly, if you ask me. Why does it need at least $10 to work towards the balance, what's the big deal? I wonder if they'd allow it over the phone?

[creef1014]

They most likely do it to cut down on payment processing costs. Otherwise they would find themselves processing 42 gift card for a total of $9.72 towards someones cruise. 

 

Everything else's markup is so ridiculous it benefits them heavily to push the spending on board. Not to mention with the GC you have to spend it with them anyway, or lose it, so the policy bears no risk of them losing out. The GC business is very shrewd; both sides have opportunities to win if they play it right. 

[scliq]

I was trying to make a $95 payment using 2 gift cards. $5 on one & $90 on other. It was one transaction and let me enter it it showed 1st card $5 and 2nd as $90 but would not let me submit it.

[Saint Greg]

5 minutes ago, scliq said:

I was trying to make a $95 payment using 2 gift cards. $5 on one & $90 on other. It was one transaction and let me enter it it showed 1st card $5 and 2nd as $90 but would not let me submit it.

Think that’s the same I got. It said $8 wasn’t enough for a payment. Try to combine cards and it gives some different error. But it should let you use it on something else.

[mbarker10]

Does anyone know if you can book a cruise on a credit card, then on embarkation day, swap to paying with a gift card?

[Organized Chaos]

24 minutes ago, mbarker10 said:

Does anyone know if you can book a cruise on a credit card, then on embarkation day, swap to paying with a gift card?

 

If you're talking about funding your S&S account, then yes. You can set it up as a credit card during online check-in, then switch to depositing gift cards. Or you can simply wait until the last night of your cruise and pay off your S&S balance with the gift cards, because they don't actually charge your credit card until the last day.

[helene109]

Does everyone still buy their once a month card through AARP? I like that it is an e-card 

[bury me at sea]

5 minutes ago, helene109 said:

Does everyone still buy their once a month card through AARP? I like that it is an e-card 

 

I don't buy them anymore because I don't want an e-card.

 

I bought one when they started accepting credit cards rather than forcing the use of Pay Pal.  As soon as I got signed up to All State it was adios to AARP.

[helene109]

Just now, bury me at sea said:

 

I don't buy them anymore because I don't want an e-card.

 

I bought one when they started accepting credit cards rather than forcing the use of Pay Pal.  As soon as I got signed up to All State it was adios to AARP.

Gotcha I am just paying off my cruise so card type doesn’t matter. Then I will use my cards for cruise cash