Princess Gift Cards, $500 will get you $550 total

[Ombud]

13 hours ago, Ombud said:

 

 

 

 

13 hours ago, Ombud said:

13 hours ago, MarinerBoy said:

Absolutely, I been telling people its a huge mistake to pay for a gift card as they cant be used for Casino cash, so its not like cash its just a gift card.

You are mislead. I buy OBC with the extra gift card amounts. Then I add funds to my casino account onboard. Apparently I'm not the only one who uses just 1 account for the bar, gratuities, and casino. However I could buy casino credits with it if desired. No need to, but I could have my PVP apply them there. Check these threads:

Have you actually been to a casino onboard any cruise ship? 

 

Oops. I messed up again. Paid for Alaska ziplining with gift cards. In fact, I've only spent FCC, Gift cards, and $22 on my visa since 2019.

 

I have an email into my PVP to pay for internet + 30 obc tomorrow. That internet will result in 35 non-refundable obc that I'll probably play with. 

 

I can post tomorrow if it goes thru as expected 

 

 

Because you don't believe me @MarinerBoyI am including a screenshot from my PVP who did turn my promo gift card into cash for casino or Vines

Edited July 6, 2021 by Ombud

[suzyed]

6 hours ago, rodndonna said:

 

I think the chance of that is extremely low as I truly believe the intent as other have stated of the 'expiry' is "we want that bonus cash back before the expiry date" which seems logical.

 

If somehow they decide to redefine or clarify expiry to be 'must be used for a cruise departing before date X' I can't imagine they will invalidate those payments that they had accepted. Legally since they were accepted as payment, if they decide in Dec 2022 they weren't valid, it is their error to have accepted them and be obliged to re-issue new cards.

 

Hope you're right!

[Steelers36]

16 hours ago, Nadia83 said:

I'm Canadian and I had put a hold on a cruise leaving in 2022 (had until tonight to leave a deposit and haven't yet, now has been extended for a few more days). I called Princess tonight to set my fare to American, the first person I spoke to didn't know how to do it and send me to another department. 

This person told me I would have to cancel my current fare and quoted me the price in American for the new fare. When I entered the American price at www.xe.com to convert to Canadian, it's actually 200 dollars more then my original fare.  

 

so no gift cards for me 😞

 

Missed this post yesterday.  I can imagine you might have got someone unfamiliar.  Best to get a true sales rep or consultant in this case I am thinking. 

 

It should not have cost you anything if you just made a new booking on hold - unless a price increase just occurred in the short interim???? 

 

What was your CAD price and the USD price?  xe.com isn't useful for this.  Princess is currently using a conversion rate of 1.20.  A $1,200 CAD cruise fare is $1,000 USD.  IDK what the person you had was doing, but this is the current situation.  Perhaps it appeared more costly because the current market rate is closer to 1.25.  Princess may well change again soon.

[ICUQT]

I bought $3000 in gift cards received $300 in bonus cards. My plan is to use it all on July 16th when the 2023 Europe schedule comes out. Now the cruise I am interested in is in November 2023 which is a long ways off. My plan is to buy more gift cards with a promo as they are offered in the future. I figure the total bill from Princess will be around 10K and I will have $1000 in bonus funds. I apply it all to the balance of the cruise so instead of 10k it's costing me 9k. Got to pay it anyways so little by little over time/promo I will get to the 10k figure. On a side note" Used two (2) different CC's and both were declined with same error message. I knew my cards were good. Called up Princess Gift Card. She stated Princess uses a third party gift card company and the problem was verification of personal data between CC Card and that company. I had to call up my CC Fraud Unit and they released a hold on them and have now cleared my account.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, ICUQT said:

On a side note" Used two (2) different CC's and both were declined with same error message. I knew my cards were good. Called up Princess Gift Card. She stated Princess uses a third party gift card company and the problem was verification of personal data between CC Card and that company. I had to call up my CC Fraud Unit and they released a hold on them and have now cleared my account.

This happens all the time.  IDK why it seems to be such an issue with whomever they use.  I have had this happen in the past as well.  PITA for sure when I thought at the time needed to have separate purchases and have different people getting gifts.

[Astro Flyer]

Today we ordered cards & it limited me to a maximum of $2,000 per order so we bought $2,000 in my name and $1,000 in my spouse’s name. Immediately received those gift cards & all 6 of our $50 promotional cards. All cards have a 16 digit card number & PIN.

 

With a final payment due soon this worked good for us. 👍

[shel003]

Does anyone know if you buy the gift cards with your princess Visa card if you still get 2 points for every $1 spent?  As my statement doesn’t shoe that it was bought through princess (says e-gift card) wasn’t sure if I’d still get the right amount of points.

[Steelers36]

48 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Today we ordered cards & it limited me to a maximum of $2,000 per order so we bought $2,000 in my name and $1,000 in my spouse’s name. Immediately received those gift cards & all 6 of our $50 promotional cards. All cards have a 16 digit card number & PIN.

 

With a final payment due soon this worked good for us. 👍

I believe I recall reading some posts of similar vein a couple of years back where the first people in scored big-time and then later on, others were finding it difficult to purchase extras.

[rabin1]

12 minutes ago, shel003 said:

Does anyone know if you buy the gift cards with your princess Visa card if you still get 2 points for every $1 spent?  As my statement doesn’t shoe that it was bought through princess (says e-gift card) wasn’t sure if I’d still get the right amount of points.

Wouldn't it be simpler to just call and ask???

[shel003]

1 minute ago, rabin1 said:

Wouldn't it be simpler to just call and ask???

I did contact them and got a vague answer about extra points on princess purchases.  They did not directly tell me yes or no.

[Jadn13]

14 minutes ago, shel003 said:

Does anyone know if you buy the gift cards with your princess Visa card if you still get 2 points for every $1 spent?  As my statement doesn’t shoe that it was bought through princess (says e-gift card) wasn’t sure if I’d still get the right amount of points.

Yes, I checked my statement from the Mother's Day promotion so I can confirm that you get 2X

[shel003]

Just now, Jadn13 said:

Yes, I checked my statement from the Mother's Day promotion so I can confirm that you get 2X

Thank you!

[cr8tiv1]

6 hours ago, ICUQT said:

I bought $3000 in gift cards received $300 in bonus cards. My plan is to use it all on July 16th when the 2023 Europe schedule comes out. Now the cruise I am interested in is in November 2023 which is a long ways off. My plan is to buy more gift cards with a promo as they are offered in the future. I figure the total bill from Princess will be around 10K and I will have $1000 in bonus funds. I apply it all to the balance of the cruise so instead of 10k it's costing me 9k. Got to pay it anyways so little by little over time/promo I will get to the 10k figure. On a side note" Used two (2) different CC's and both were declined with same error message. I knew my cards were good. Called up Princess Gift Card. She stated Princess uses a third party gift card company and the problem was verification of personal data between CC Card and that company. I had to call up my CC Fraud Unit and they released a hold on them and have now cleared my account.

 

I believe in the same financial philosophy.  Either I pay them now (in installments) or later.  They are going to get my money.  Hedging against inflation.  No saving account will give you this kind of return over time.  

 

Also experienced the same order cancellation.  It seems as though my email addresses did not sync.  Called customer service and within a few minutes, everything was cleared and vouchers sent.  

 

I'm not quite the risk taker you are.  Placing credits toward cruises that are coming up for final payment in a few months.  Hope your next batch of cards come with a bigger incentive.  

[rabin1]

I bought $5000 today because I am going to owe $9500 for my B2B payment in September. The extra $500 is for me to get massages etc during the 24 days on the ship

[suzyed]

24 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I believe in the same financial philosophy.  Either I pay them now (in installments) or later.  They are going to get my money.  Hedging against inflation.  No saving account will give you this kind of return over time.  

 

Also experienced the same order cancellation.  It seems as though my email addresses did not sync.  Called customer service and within a few minutes, everything was cleared and vouchers sent.  

 

I'm not quite the risk taker you are.  Placing credits toward cruises that are coming up for final payment in a few months.  Hope your next batch of cards come with a bigger incentive.  

Sounds about right to me.  It was funny..I used my Princess cruise card and both hubby and I got a verification text.  We just hit "1" for verify and it went through. Immediately I got the bonus ecards with the pins and messages that my physical cards were being sent.
It's rare that you get a 10% return on your money...nothing wrong with that!

[Therese S.]

Never bought Princess gift cards but ready to jump on the offer.  A few stupid questions for everyone please

 

1.  If I purchase $2000 in gift cards can I apply $1000 against my balance due and $1000 against my husbands balance?  Or only allowed to apply against the name of the person who bought them?  Final payment due this October.  

 

2.  Can I use the  $200 in bonus cards (50x4) and purchase onboard credit?  $100 under my booking and $100 under husbands?   Tried to test what would happen purchasing OBC and it only asks for credit card or paypal account, not gift card numbers?

 

3.  If cruise is cancelled by Princess are all amounts refunded?  Original $2000 plus $200 in bounds cards?

 

4.  If cruise is cancelled for a personal reason and covered under Princess insurance are all cards refundable? 

Thank you 

[Jadn13]

4 minutes ago, Therese S. said:

Never bought Princess gift cards but ready to jump on the offer.  A few stupid questions for everyone please

 

1.  If I purchase $2000 in gift cards can I apply $1000 against my balance due and $1000 against my husbands balance?  Or only allowed to apply against the name of the person who bought them?  Final payment due this October.  

 

2.  Can I use the  $200 in bonus cards (50x4) and purchase onboard credit?  $100 under my booking and $100 under husbands?   Tried to test what would happen purchasing OBC and it only asks for credit card or paypal account, not gift card numbers?

 

3.  If cruise is cancelled by Princess are all amounts refunded?  Original $2000 plus $200 in bounds cards?

 

4.  If cruise is cancelled for a personal reason and covered under Princess insurance are all cards refundable? 

Thank you 

Yes to all 4.

You can call Princess and they will apply  the cards to your account  for OBC.

 

Gift cards are returned as gift cards but they will all be returned back to the original cards.

 

[Redwing55]

On 7/5/2021 at 9:40 PM, Astro Flyer said:

Based on their FAQs excursion payments are not allowed:

 

“The Princess Cruises Gift Card can be used for most Princess products and services, with the exception of payment towards Land Excursions and eZAir”.

 

Sorry I wasn't more clear.  I was referring to excursions from the ship and not LAND excursions.  I did use our gift cards to pay for some excursions (non-Land.)

[rodndonna]

5 hours ago, Redwing55 said:

Sorry I wasn't more clear.  I was referring to excursions from the ship and not LAND excursions.  I did use our gift cards to pay for some excursions (non-Land.)

 

So to be clear - because that limitation really threw me an I thought it was an odd one ... We can use gift cards for Princess excursions  (even if they are on land)- and when they say 'Land based' they are just referring to non-Princess based cruises?  That certainly would make more sense.

[Jadn13]

32 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

So to be clear - because that limitation really threw me an I thought it was an odd one ... We can use gift cards for Princess excursions  (even if they are on land)- and when they say 'Land based' they are just referring to non-Princess based cruises?  That certainly would make more sense.

Land Excursions are usually in Alaska and are often geared around Princess Wilderness Lodges. 

https://www.princesslodges.com/princess-alaska-lodges/denali-lodge/

[rodndonna]

30 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

Land Excursions are usually in Alaska and are often geared around Princess Wilderness Lodges. 

https://www.princesslodges.com/princess-alaska-lodges/denali-lodge/

 

Ahh.. that's what they mean. I think Princess would do well to make that distinction a little more clear. Thanks for clarifying!

[muffin]

I am getting ready to order. Question.  I understand the bonus cards have an expiry date on them. If I use them to pay on the fare side - no problem,  If I save them for our trip to add to our folio…..how much time are they allowing us to use up the funds?  We sail in February.  Thx for your help.

[rabin1]

2 minutes ago, muffin said:

I am getting ready to order. Question.  I understand the bonus cards have an expiry date on them. If I use them to pay on the fare side - no problem,  If I save them for our trip to add to our folio…..how much time are they allowing us to use up the funds?  We sail in February.  Thx for your help.

It gives you the exp date on the card and on the princess site

[muffin]

On 7/5/2021 at 2:48 PM, Thrak said:

 

You can often get sushi as a freebie in Vines if you order wine. Sometimes there is a choice of sushi or another offering - whichever you like. With the beverage package it's nice to sit in Vines in the late afternoon or early evening, have a glass (or two) of wine, and partake of whatever freebie food item they are offering. We've actually just sat there a while, had our wine and a nosh, watched the people go by on the ship and watched the sea go by out the window and... ended up skipping dinner.

 

On 7/5/2021 at 6:40 PM, Astro Flyer said:

Based on their FAQs excursion payments are not allowed:

 

“The Princess Cruises Gift Card can be used for most Princess products and services, with the exception of payment towards Land Excursions and eZAir”.

 

 

[muffin]

Sorry, I did not make it clear enough. I want to know how long the bonus cards being given out now are good for.  just in case we didn’t use them on this trip, will they be good on our next one? I need to know their expiry date to know this. Someone said they have extended the usual time period due to people having bonus cards they couldn’t use due to Covid.

 

 

off topic. Sorry for the reply before this. There is a message in the reply spot which I could not get rid of. Where do I go for a tutorial on using this message board? Ie adding quotes, etc etc, you all look like pros!