Gift Card Question

[Negril60]

As stated earlier it’s been almost 6 yes since I’ve cruised. Something now popular is Gift Cards. I’ve been  purchasing them at Krogers to earn gas points. I paid for our cruise and an excursion with them. If I take them onboard are they used like cash for gift shops or the bill at the end of cruise. 

[bury me at sea]

You apply them to your S&S account.  Unspent funds will be refunded as gift cards.

 

I apply them the last night when billing is complete so that a refund isn't necessary.

[ChosenOne]

at some point during your cruise, go to guest services desk (NOT the first day, it is too busy) and have them put your gift cards on to your account.  Your sail & sign card is what is used to pay for items in the gift shop.  The gift card $ will be deducted first from your on board sail & sign account before your on file credit card is used.  If you have $10 or more left over in your account at the end of the cruise, a Carnival gift card will be mailed to you with the remaining balance.

[Djptcp]

Just off the Paradise this week and used $400 worth of Carnival gift cards. We had $500 on board credit and waited to use the gift cards on the last day, so very little charged to our cc. They are added to credits on your account and for us, went to off set casino charges.

[Organized Chaos]

You can also log in to your Carnival account and buy Cruise Cash from the online Fun Shops. Cruise Cash will be on your account when you get on board instead of having to add the gift cards at some point. The only downside is, Cruise Cash is non-refundable, use it or lose it. But to get around that, if you have any left you can go to a slot machine, transfer it into your player's bank, spin once or twice, then cash out.

[Green Boy]

I do the same thing with the gift cards from Kroger... 4 X the gas points,  I usually go a few days into the cruise to add the

gift card to my S&S account... I usually only have a very small amount actually going to my credit card that's attached to my account....

 

[mdin]

Speaking of gift cards, I found Carnival gift cards available on my Amex rewards page. I used 5000 points to get a $50 card. They have higher denominations available if you have more points saved up.

[Negril60]

This is great. Thanks for the good info.

[desiree741]

Do gift cards ever expire? Being a single mom and government employees its really hard paying for cruise up front. I told my daughter she can pick whatever cruise she wants for graduation (she just started high school this month) so I have plenty of time but I would like to start picking up gift cards here and there when I get my incentive checks so when she tells me where she wants to go I’ll have a good head start.

 

 

[Joe817]

2 minutes ago, desiree741 said:

Do gift cards ever expire? Being a single mom and government employees its really hard paying for cruise up front. I told my daughter she can pick whatever cruise she wants for graduation (she just started high school this month) so I have plenty of time but I would like to start picking up gift cards here and there when I get my incentive checks so when she tells me where she wants to go I’ll have a good head start.

 

That's the nice thing about Carnival gift cards. They have no expiration date. Nada. Go for it. They will be good 4 years from now.

 

 

[Organized Chaos]

13 hours ago, desiree741 said:

Do gift cards ever expire? Being a single mom and government employees its really hard paying for cruise up front. I told my daughter she can pick whatever cruise she wants for graduation (she just started high school this month) so I have plenty of time but I would like to start picking up gift cards here and there when I get my incentive checks so when she tells me where she wants to go I’ll have a good head start.

 

No expiration date, but I have heard instances of some cards going into a type of inactive state after a long period of time. I haven't heard many cases of this, but then again, I think most people on this forum use them within a year or two after buying. If you're going to be holding them for 4 years, there's always a chance this could happen to some of those older cards. If it does, from what I've heard, it does not lose its value, but you have to contact Carnival and they'll either reactivate the card or maybe issue a new card with the same amount. Just something to be aware of.

 

Target stores sell Carnival gift cards and you get can 5% off if you buy them with a Target Red Card.

Kroger offers points towards their gas when you buy the gift cards (if you have one in your area).

 

AARP has a rewards program that sells Carnival gift cards at a 10% discount. But here's the thing right now...their are currently revamping their rewards system and the new one will not be up and running until Sept. 24th. Their old program is/was called Rewards for Good, but it will change to AARP Rewards. We don't know if they'll continue to sell Carnival cards when they change to the new program, but we sure hope so. I suspect that they will. What happens is, you sign up for their rewards (you do not have to be an AARP member) and earn points by taking short, easy quizzes on their website. You then cash in those points for a 10% discount on the gift cards. 1,000 points will get you a $100 Carnival card for $90. 5,000 points gets you a $500 Carnival card for $450. That 10% discount really does add up. We have two cruises booked right now and those cards have saved us about $450 total so far, just on the cruise fares alone. The gift cards can be used to pay for the cruise, buy the Cheers package, things from the online Fun Shops, an internet plan, excursions, just about everything. Using these cards gets you 10% off everything you buy with them. And they can be taken on board with you and added to your S&S account for onboard spending. I don't know if they're letting new people sign up right now since their getting ready to change over to the new program. If not, then you can come Sept. 24th. Just google AARP Rewards for Good to check it out.

 

Allstate insurance offers the same discounted Carnival cards. In fact, the same third-party company runs both Allstate and AARP's programs. With Allstate, you do not have to be an Allstate customer, but non-customers have to create an Allstate Rewards account through their smartphone app. Here's a link to the Allstate Rewards thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2363984-allstate-drive-wise-cards-too/

[DramaQueen22]

On 8/28/2019 at 11:23 AM, bury me at sea said:

 

I apply them the last night when billing is complete so that a refund isn't necessary.

Great idea!  Thanks for the tip...will handle my gc like this when I sail soon.

[JuliaMS]

In the past I have got gift cards from AARP and CitiBank. They no longer offer e-gift cards. Only mailed cards (10 days). Does anyone still offer discounted gift cards with e-mail delivery?

 

[Organized Chaos]

45 minutes ago, JuliaMS said:

In the past I have got gift cards from AARP and CitiBank. They no longer offer e-gift cards. Only mailed cards (10 days). Does anyone still offer discounted gift cards with e-mail delivery?

 

The last time I saw e-cards on AARP was back in March. They were available for maybe a week, then sold out. Other than that, they haven't stocked them for quite a long time. Same goes for Allstate. But since the same outside company runs both the AARP & Allstate rewards programs, that's probably why neither of them have sold the e-cards.