I may have outsmarted myself

[Saukkey1]

So a few weeks ago, I purchased several Princess gift cards from Allstate and saved 10%, which I was so excited about.  I also purchased $3000 gift cards from Princess and earned a bonus $150. If I do cancel my July cruise,  I know the gift cards don’t expire, (except the bonus $150) but I will have so much money tied up in them and  the fine print says no resale.  Anyone else in the same situation? 

[Thrak]

19 minutes ago, Saukkey1 said:

So a few weeks ago, I purchased several Princess gift cards from Allstate and saved 10%, which I was so excited about.  I also purchased $3000 gift cards from Princess and earned a bonus $150. If I do cancel my July cruise,  I know the gift cards don’t expire, (except the bonus $150) but I will have so much money tied up in them and  the fine print says no resale.  Anyone else in the same situation? 

 

I purchased $5,000 in gift cards and applied the $250 in bonus e-cards as OBC for an upcoming cruise. I currently have 5 Princess cruises booked and plan on taking all of them. I'm hoping they run the Mother's Day deal again this year and, if the do, I plan to purchase another $5,000 in gift cards. I owe more that the combined $10,000 on just one of the cruises I have booked.

 

My cruises aren't until November/December of 2020 and the not again until May of 2021. I'm of the opinion that this virus scare will have settled down by then and the cruises will go off as planned.

 

Hold onto your cards and use them for a future cruise. Go ahead and book one now for a year or two from now. If you cancel your current cruise ask Princess to use the $150 bonus e-cards as OBC for the new cruise you book.

Edited March 11, 2020 by Thrak

[CynCyn]

36 minutes ago, Saukkey1 said:

So a few weeks ago, I purchased several Princess gift cards from Allstate and saved 10%, which I was so excited about.  I also purchased $3000 gift cards from Princess and earned a bonus $150. If I do cancel my July cruise,  I know the gift cards don’t expire, (except the bonus $150) but I will have so much money tied up in them and  the fine print says no resale.  Anyone else in the same situation? 

Same here.  Not quite as much. I’m not cruising until August but not buying any more gift cards from Allstate.  I still owe about $900 so $90 is a safe bet to get cash back instead of credit on a gift card in case something awful happens.  And the kicker is....when I purchased, they were out of $500 cards, so I have 13 $100 cards.  UGH!

[cruzsnooze]

I also have a very significant amount of gift cards used for my July Cruisetour to JAPAN!! I asked Princess about this because I also had to buy $100 cards since they were out of $500 denominations. Princess told me (for what it's worth) that if it's after final payment I will be issued a FCC for the full amount and not have to deal with all the gift cards. We are aware that we don't always get the same answer when we call Princess but this answer seems consistent with what's been posted about what happens when Princess cancels a cruise and what happens if one cancels on their new cancel policy is. 

[DeeTO]

12 hours ago, Saukkey1 said:

So a few weeks ago, I purchased several Princess gift cards from Allstate and saved 10%, which I was so excited about.  I also purchased $3000 gift cards from Princess and earned a bonus $150. If I do cancel my July cruise,  I know the gift cards don’t expire, (except the bonus $150) but I will have so much money tied up in them and  the fine print says no resale.  Anyone else in the same situation? 

Yes, I also have $3000 tied up in gift cards from cancelled Cruise (remaining fare returned to credit card) and I am sure many others do as well. Was a sensible idea Pre CV fears. Haven’t booked another cruise so lost the bonus $150, although Thrak had an interesting suggestion asking for equivalent OBC on future cruise.

[Steelers36]

12 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I purchased $5,000 in gift cards and applied the $250 in bonus e-cards as OBC for an upcoming cruise. I currently have 5 Princess cruises booked and plan on taking all of them. I'm hoping they run the Mother's Day deal again this year and, if the do, I plan to purchase another $5,000 in gift cards. I owe more that the combined $10,000 on just one of the cruises I have booked.

 

My cruises aren't until November/December of 2020 and the not again until May of 2021. I'm of the opinion that this virus scare will have settled down by then and the cruises will go off as planned.

 

Hold onto your cards and use them for a future cruise. Go ahead and book one now for a year or two from now. If you cancel your current cruise ask Princess to use the $150 bonus e-cards as OBC for the new cruise you book.

Me too.  I bought $7000 worth on Valentine's special.  Am looking forward to another similar offer.  If Princess cancels our fall cruise on which I applied the bonus amounts, then I would think to ask about getting the bonus as a FCC since not my fault I cannot cruise and the bonuses will be expired by then.  Never hurts to ask nicely.

 

[RebeccatheGeek]

I'm in a similar boat. I've paid over $6,000 in gift cards for a July cruise. Got 5% off via Target, but I'm really regretting not just paying with a card in case the cruise is cancelled. 

 

To be fair, at the time we booked "There's no way we won't go on this cruise!". Sigh. This would be our first Princess cruise as well. 

[Ombud]

Do I hold the (unlucky) record? 20 gift cards but total amount only $8325 + 1925 FCC once / if March 29th Grand cancels. Still owe 4k on ship that hasn't even sailed yet 🤮 (Enchanted), unfortunately only owe peanuts on the Sky TA

[cruzsnooze]

46 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Do I hold the (unlucky) record? 20 gift cards but total amount only $8325 + 1925 FCC once / if March 29th Grand cancels. Still owe 4k on ship that hasn't even sailed yet 🤮 (Enchanted), unfortunately only owe peanuts on the Sky TA

Sorry to surpass you, I have $8,000 in mostly $100 cards, what a headache if they have to reload them vs a FCC. 

[Ombud]

Just now, cruzsnooze said:

Sorry to surpass you, I have $8,000 in mostly $100 cards, what a headache if they have to reload them vs a FCC. 

OMG!!

[cruzsnooze]

3 hours ago, Ombud said:

OMG!!

I bought them through AARP because they were 10% off so I thought what a bargain. Then when Princess had their sale I bought 2 with that extra $50 bonus. It would be a night mare to reload them BUT I was told to save them all and I did in a big canvas envelope so I'm organized if nothing else. 

[13cheermom]

4 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Sorry to surpass you, I have $8,000 in mostly $100 cards, what a headache if they have to reload them vs a FCC. 

So in the same situation, about $8,000 worth, but some were used to pay for ship excursions about $1,500 worth, those should be put back on gift cards correct?  At this point not sure which is better (gift cards or FCC).  Although gift cards don't expire, and if I am before penalty amount but after final payment I should get them returned in the form in which they were paid.  Doe this make sense?

[Ombud]

25 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I bought them through AARP because they were 10% off so I thought what a bargain. Then when Princess had their sale I bought 2 with that extra $50 bonus. It would be a night mare to reload them BUT I was told to save them all and I did in a big canvas envelope so I'm organized if nothing else. 

I have all the digital ones saved BUT I just tried to use $325 bonus gift cards (5 @ $25 & 4 @ $50) to make a deposit on a replacement cruise and I can't, my Princess Planner can't, the hot-line (#8) can't.  Frustrated

[cruzsnooze]

1 hour ago, 13cheermom said:

So in the same situation, about $8,000 worth, but some were used to pay for ship excursions about $1,500 worth, those should be put back on gift cards correct?  At this point not sure which is better (gift cards or FCC).  Although gift cards don't expire, and if I am before penalty amount but after final payment I should get them returned in the form in which they were paid.  Doe this make sense?

Good point about the cards not expiring vs the FCC is only for the end of next year. Since I will be after final payment the FCC is better then loosing my entire fare and air. I have a cruise for Aug 2021 booked that I would move the FCC over to and will ask if that would expire if cancelled. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by cruzsnooze

[cruzsnooze]

59 minutes ago, Ombud said:

I have all the digital ones saved BUT I just tried to use $325 bonus gift cards (5 @ $25 & 4 @ $50) to make a deposit on a replacement cruise and I can't, my Princess Planner can't, the hot-line (#8) can't.  Frustrated

I called Princess yesterday and got right through. The problem is that the info you get might not be accurate as we all know. Those bonus cards expire next month so you need to keep pursuing getting them applied.  

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

I have all the digital ones saved BUT I just tried to use $325 bonus gift cards (5 @ $25 & 4 @ $50) to make a deposit on a replacement cruise and I can't, my Princess Planner can't, the hot-line (#8) can't.  Frustrated

 

3 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I called Princess yesterday and got right through. The problem is that the info you get might not be accurate as we all know. Those bonus cards expire next month so you need to keep pursuing getting them applied.  

Can bonus cards be used for a booking deposit?

[cruzsnooze]

54 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

 

Can bonus cards be used for a booking deposit?

Call Princess and try it because they expire next month. If the person you talk to says no call back in a half hour because they are very inconsistent.

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

 

Can bonus cards be used for a booking deposit?

 

When you call and try don't say anything about "bonus cards" or "expiration date". Just try to use them without confusing the Princess person.

[Ombud]

Umm. I called the Princess Gift Card line and very helpful lady went through all. I now have 8 paying off most of 1st TA (Sky Sept 4, 2020), 1 buying OBC on 2nd TA (Enchanted April 4, 2021), found out 11 are on Grand March 29th voyage (oops .... inc $125 that expired in January. She said to have my PVP transfer if cruise is canceled), and 1's going back to PayPal (that's when I got confused as that should not happen). I had actually forgotten about that last one. It's unwound. But it took a call to the Princess Gift Card line to resolve

 

I was very upfront and asked if she needed the screenshots  .... but we persevered 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Ombud
Added: SF just banned gatherings over 1000 attendees. Not good for getting on a ship

[Ombud]

On 3/11/2020 at 1:52 PM, Steelers36 said:

 

Can bonus cards be used for a booking deposit?

They can if booking through the personalizer, I'm sure a TA can do it too