Gift cards

[woodman]

:confused: Hi all I have never used gift cards so I am curious how they work. I read that they can save you up to 10%. Also there are only a few that can save you money. Thanks for any replies. :)

[teknoge3k]

Carnival gift cards work like any other gift card you would buy. You buy the gift card (at a 10% discounted rate), and put the gift card toward your cruise balance, S&S balance or whatever you want to apply it toward.

[Organized Chaos]

Carnival gift cards sold directly by Carnival are sold at face value, no 10% discount. You can buy $100 and $200 cards, or choose an "open value" and buy them for anywhere between $100-$1,000. For more info on those, or to purchase from Carnival, go here: https://www.carnivalgiftcards.com/

 

The gift cards that offer a 10% discount are sold through AARP, Allstate insurance, and Verizon. You join their rewards programs and use points you earn to get $100 or $500 Carnival cards for 10% off (i.e. $90 or $450). For AARP, you do not have to be a paid member of the organization, you just have to sign up for their free rewards program called Rewards for Good. For Allstate, you do not have to be a policy holder. Again, sign up for their rewards program for free. But non-Allstate customers have to register a rewards account through the Allstate Drivewise smartphone app instead of from their website. And finally, for Verizon, you do have to be a Verizon customer to participate in their rewards program.

 

Do a search on this forum for threads regarding each rewards program to find out how to sign up. You can join just one or more than one to earn more points. Currently, AARP only sells physical Carnival gift cards that are mailed to you (if you purchase less than $500 worth). If you buy $500 or more, they send them via UPS and they must be signed for. The cards aren't always available with the AARP program. Someone usually posts to one of the AARP threads here when they're available. If you join the Allstate rewards, they're usually almost always available and sell cards in both physical form and e-cards sent right away via email. Hope that helps. :)

[woodman]

:D O.C. Thanks for the reply and yes it helps a lot. It explains all.(y)

[doxie2cruise]

I have not saved 10% off when I buy my Carnival gift cards but I save it in gas. I buy gift cards at Kroger's when they offer 4x the fuel points for a $500. gift card I get 2000 fuel points. for every 100 point it is 10 cents off a gallon. So I get 1000 points and can fill up for a $1.00 per gallon up to 32 gals. Which is both mine and DH's car filled up at same time. So we have been spending about $35.00 to fill up both cars and gas can for the lawnmower. Beats $70.00 to fill up both cars and gas can. I usually get $1.00 off twice a month. Sometimes more depending on what I'm buying. Like right now if you buy travel gift cards you get 4x fuel points so I bought Delta gift cards to buy our flights. We save a little more than 10% by getting the fuel points.

[CHMan00]

I have not saved 10% off when I buy my Carnival gift cards but I save it in gas. I buy gift cards at Kroger's when they offer 4x the fuel points for a $500. gift card I get 2000 fuel points. for every 100 point it is 10 cents off a gallon. So I get 1000 points and can fill up for a $1.00 per gallon up to 32 gals. Which is both mine and DH's car filled up at same time. So we have been spending about $35.00 to fill up both cars and gas can for the lawnmower. Beats $70.00 to fill up both cars and gas can. I usually get $1.00 off twice a month. Sometimes more depending on what I'm buying. Like right now if you buy travel gift cards you get 4x fuel points so I bought Delta gift cards to buy our flights. We save a little more than 10% by getting the fuel points.

 

 

This is the way to go. 2000 fuel points equals $2.00 off per gallon. We just filled up both cars, 35 gallons total, for $0.04 a gallon. Total savings of $70.00. We have done that for the entire cost of the cruise, buying one or two a month for the last six months. Total savings on this cruise is over $700.00 in gas. So basically, our whole cruise was discounted 14% off. Now going to buy a few more to pay for excursions and use for on-board credit.