WARNING—re NCL Gift Cards///read fine print

[Maere]

We just found out the reason our 2 gift cards (Expiration dates of 12/2023) totaling $100 were not accepted on the ship (Escape—-this past week) was because after a certain amount of non use the card loses $3 a month...so even though I have been on 3 NCL cruises in 2.5 years, I didn’t use the cards until this cruise and we have lost $100. Please learn from us.🤯🤯🤯🤯

[ColeThornton]

Good reminder.

 

https://www.ncl.com/giftcard/faq

[Maere]

Agreed....we never detached the cards from the letter they came with until we tried to use them......it never occurred to us that they would not retain full value until 12/2023.....live and learn....and help others not to be screwed 👍👍

[ColeThornton]

To throw something else in here, it's not just NCL gift cards that have dormancy fees.   Many, many gift cards from stores, restaurants, etc also have that.  It's actually covered by federal law.   However, there are a handful of U.S. states that override that.  One should check the fine print for the state they live in.

[Maere]

Thank you for the suggestion...NJ does allow the charge...but good to know...

[jingle5616]

Legal theft on the part of NCL.  

[sanger727]

Wow. Businesses still do this? I thought they outlawed that years ago. What a sham. You could buy hundreds of dollars of gift cards and lose the whole value before the expiration date.

[PTC DAWG]

I don’t understand gift cards...CASH....why give it up for a card that the business may or may not honor fully, or even be in business when you want to use it.  

 

I will consider a gift card that has a bonus attached...$100 for $125 in credit...our local Ted’s Montana Grill does that some time...

 

or the Cruise Next Certs that NCL says...basically doubles your $$$

 

 

[mjkacmom]

I decided to go through all of our gift cards and find out balances, several had nothing left. It appears a lot of companies do this.

[Oakman58]

What a crock of poop.  I too thought a dormancy fee had been outlawed years ago.  I guess it's a good thing you tried to cash the gift card in when you did, had you hung onto it much longer I guess you would have owed NCL money.

[ColeThornton]

Not only do many businesses have dormancy fees on them but depending on the type of establishment you may not even be able to use them.   For instance, most gas stations when you use a VISA gift card pre-authorize at the pump for $75, so if the card is worth less than that you won't be able to use it.

[Mira28]

Thanks for posting this. I would not have known. Not sure what NY law is on this. 

I guess it’s best to buy them very close when you might use them. Seems unfair to the consumer.

 

[sprint180]

Thanks for the heads up

 

[mianmike]

Wow!  We purchase gift cards ALL the time.  Never seen anything like this.  Good to know NCL uses this underhanded business practice so we can avoid.  Thanks for the warning. 

[ziggyuk]

Wow, how underhanded, especially considering the limited opportunities to use the cards, it's not like you can pop down to the local store or restaurant to spend the balance!

[Gershep]

I hate when companies do this with their gift cards. Just another way for a company to rip you off.

[PTC DAWG]

It’s a huge money maker for companies...y’all keep turning your hard earned money for plastic. 

[Maere]

I’m glad/sad this is news to so many of us...I posted to help.....sad some have found old gift cards are worthless....good point on not being able to use on a whim....will never tell my SILaw her $100 was wasted.....🤯🤯🤯

Edited October 28, 2019 by Maere
Clarity

[ray98]

14 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

It’s a huge money maker for companies...y’all keep turning your hard earned money for plastic. 

 

When you step back to take a look it is baffling.  People rush to turn their money into other forms that are locked to one company that always come with terms and restrictions.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

I don't call them 'gift cards'; I call them 'no interest commercial loans'. But, better than that, for the companies, they get too keep the principal also, under certain conditions.

[dbrown84]

20 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

Not only do many businesses have dormancy fees on them but depending on the type of establishment you may not even be able to use them.   For instance, most gas stations when you use a VISA gift card pre-authorize at the pump for $75, so if the card is worth less than that you won't be able to use it.

you get around the pre-authorization by going in and paying the exact amount you want.  this is how I sometimes get rid of gift cards that have a little left on them.  Say the balance is $3.79, then I'll go inside and get #3.79 on pump 5.  

[esm54687]

22 hours ago, jingle5616 said:

Legal theft on the part of NCL.  

This type of gift card was issued under Stuart's  watch........ where are all the St Andy worshippers to deflect and place blame on FDR for this too? ☺ 

[PTC DAWG]

35 minutes ago, SouthLyonCruiser said:

I don't call them 'gift cards'; I call them 'no interest commercial loans'. But, better than that, for the companies, they get too keep the principal also, under certain conditions.

Close to one out three gift cards are never used...

[phillyguy31]

20 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

Wow, how underhanded, especially considering the limited opportunities to use the cards, it's not like you can pop down to the local store or restaurant to spend the balance!

Why would anyone buy a cruise gift card for someone who wasn't already going on a cruise? Secondly, many if not the majority of the cards have inactivity fees associated with them so don't make it seem like a NCL money grab it's not. Gift cards are a great way to give something a little more personal than cash, at least it makes it look like you made an effort.

[ziggyuk]

8 minutes ago, phillyguy31 said:

Why would anyone buy a cruise gift card for someone who wasn't already going on a cruise? Secondly, many if not the majority of the cards have inactivity fees associated with them so don't make it seem like a NCL money grab it's not. Gift cards are a great way to give something a little more personal than cash, at least it makes it look like you made an effort.

 

Here is a perfect example of someone who received a gift card as a present form family too late to use, based on the warning in this thread they probably lost the full value by the time they got to use them.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2348096-ncl-gift-cards/

Edited October 29, 2019 by ziggyuk