Hal Gift Card Promotion

[silversneakers]

On 4/19/2022 at 10:45 PM, Ready2go11 said:

Ugh… on a larger purchase, it is not ideal for them to give them all to you in $25 increments. 

 

I opened a few of my $25 cards and it says to show the web page on your mobile device or click on the button to display on your mobile device (both would require Internet access to open the e- card from your email. The third option is to print them out and show them. 
 

From these three options I presume the person you are presenting it to would then have to key in the card number that displays and the PIN included. 
 

Since Internet is not always reliable on board (if you apply to these a shipboard account while on a cruise) i would take a screenshot or photo of the display of the card including the account number and PIN and save to my photos to show the person I am presenting it to. 
 

I guess you would have to read off the card number and PIN to someone on the phone to make a payment pre cruise. 

 

I applied my "bonus" card to my payment online.  You have the option of gift card or credit card. Very easy!

[kochleffel]

I'm going to let the HAL offer pass, only because the payment date for my only booking is more than a year away and I don't want to have the funds tied up for that long. I was really excited to see that AARP has Royal Caribbean gift cards, because the final payment for an RC cruise is soon, but RC only accepts gift cards for new bookings. HAL also accepts them for payments on existing bookings.

[kangforpres]

I've also used them to pay off an "over indulgent" On board account during a cruise. You can do this at the front desk with the Gift Card email receipt and it's barcode #. Which is usually on the email receipt.

 

-Paul

[Hygge!]

Anyone ever have an issue with purchasing the gift card? My husband tried yesterday and got an email saying that the purchase had been rejected and to call the help desk.  I was able to purchase yesterday but not today and got the say email. 
 

———-

This e-mail is to notify you that we were unable to authenticate and complete your recent online Gift Card order xxxxxx. As such, your order has been cancelled.

A temporary hold was placed on your payment method. This is not a charge and will disappear from your card in 2-3 business days.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Prior to attempting another purchase, please contact our Holland America Line Gift Card Support Team:

Holland America Line Gift Card Support Contact Information Toll Free and SMS in North America at 1 833-907-3080

Please note that this process is in place to ensure the protection and security of all of our customers and their credit card information.

Thank you for your cooperation.

[vinonme2]

I would seriously consider purchasing these cards for my upcoming Hal cruises however, the cards are only good for Hal and not eligible for a cash refund. I am the only one in my family that cruises and if I were to no longer cruise, the cards would not be worth anything.  Even though the 10% bonus on each card is extremely tempting, the thought of not getting a cash refund makes the offer very iffy for me.  

[Lido - Lanai]

50 minutes ago, Hygge! said:

Anyone ever have an issue with purchasing the gift card? My husband tried yesterday and got an email saying that the purchase had been rejected and to call the help desk.  I was able to purchase yesterday but not today and got the say email. 
 

 

I purchased several gift cards (separate transactions) and received that message on just one of the transactions. I called the support number and they were able to validate the transaction after I answered several identity related questions. I received the gift card via email within 24 hours, which was the timeframe they told me to allow to receive the gift card email.

[Hygge!]

Thank you!

[ron57nie]

Thank you to the OP, i have been waiting for this and 10% is a real bonus. the only thing I don't like is $25 gift cards will be a nightmare to cash in.

[silversneakers]

7 hours ago, ron57nie said:

Thank you to the OP, i have been waiting for this and 10% is a real bonus. the only thing I don't like is $25 gift cards will be a nightmare to cash in.

I used my bonus gift cards as part of my cruise payment and it was easy: just select gift card, put in the number and pin number and apply!!

[ron57nie]

I booked through a agency and when I tried that on HAL website it came back and said I had to pay through the the agency.

A 45 day cruise so very expensive and sooooo many $25 cards...like 64 of them. I feel like I will owe her something when she's done

[silversneakers]

50 minutes ago, ron57nie said:

I booked through a agency and when I tried that on HAL website it came back and said I had to pay through the the agency.

A 45 day cruise so very expensive and sooooo many $25 cards...like 64 of them. I feel like I will owe her something when she's done

Yep, when you book through an Agency they have to do the work.  So are all the $25 gift cards bonus cards or did you buy them individually?

[Lido - Lanai]

28 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

Yep, when you book through an Agency they have to do the work.  So are all the $25 gift cards bonus cards or did you buy them individually?

All the 10% bonus cards are issued in $25 denominations. A real pain for the TA's because they have to call HAL and apply them over the phone.

[dobiemom]

On 4/21/2022 at 10:08 AM, Hygge! said:

Anyone ever have an issue with purchasing the gift card? My husband tried yesterday and got an email saying that the purchase had been rejected and to call the help desk.  I was able to purchase yesterday but not today and got the say email. 
 

———-

 

On 4/21/2022 at 11:03 AM, Lido - Lanai said:

I purchased several gift cards (separate transactions) and received that message on just one of the transactions. I called the support number and they were able to validate the transaction after I answered several identity related questions. I received the gift card via email within 24 hours, which was the timeframe they told me to allow to receive the gift card email.

I tried on my phone and iPad. Got the reject email both times. Called the support number. He couldn’t figure it out so he elevated it. Got an email they STILL could not verify something. Tried my laptop and it went through with no problem. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[jl88]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:54 PM, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

I don’t think so. Where our US friends are seeing the gift card promotion, I’m seeing the ‘Canada at par’ promotion.

Hmmm... I would read the "at par" to mean purchase in Canadian dollars and receive same amount of  US dollars gift card.  So pay 100 Canadian to get 100 US denominated gift card?   

[ChinaShrek]

On 4/21/2022 at 1:31 PM, vinonme2 said:

I would seriously consider purchasing these cards for my upcoming Hal cruises however, the cards are only good for Hal and not eligible for a cash refund. I am the only one in my family that cruises and if I were to no longer cruise, the cards would not be worth anything.  Even though the 10% bonus on each card is extremely tempting, the thought of not getting a cash refund makes the offer very iffy for me.  

You could easily resell them on Ebay and still make a handsome profit.

[love_the_sea]

On 4/21/2022 at 1:31 PM, vinonme2 said:

I would seriously consider purchasing these cards for my upcoming Hal cruises however, the cards are only good for Hal and not eligible for a cash refund. I am the only one in my family that cruises and if I were to no longer cruise, the cards would not be worth anything.  Even though the 10% bonus on each card is extremely tempting, the thought of not getting a cash refund makes the offer very iffy for me.  

Thanks for sharing this thought! You make a good point. If my final payment was due very soon it would make sense to purchase these cards and use them for that. But my final payment is about 3 months away. These days it seems like a lot can happen in 3 months! 

[rodndonna]

49 minutes ago, jl88 said:

Hmmm... I would read the "at par" to mean purchase in Canadian dollars and receive same amount of  US dollars gift card.  So pay 100 Canadian to get 100 US denominated gift card?   

 

That "Canadian at par" doesn't show up any more, but it was flagged across some cruises. I don't think the pricing really reflected "at par" as that would have been quite a good deal, but that promo seems to be gone now.

 

To the Canadians on the board that like myself do not see the gift card promo (without changing your VPN to U.S.), I did change our VPN so I could see the ad and bought this morning, HOWVEVER, as a test, I reverted back to our Canadian VPN and although I then did not see the ad for the promo anymore, I did a dummy purchase of a gift card, and it applied the promo. Just note that is is only on denominations of $250 and $500, but the bonus cards will automatically be added to those denominations (all in $US) regardless of whether you are Canadian or US VPN.

[love_the_sea]

1 minute ago, ChinaShrek said:

You could easily resell them on Ebay and still make a handsome profit.

I thought I saw that they could not be resold?

[ChinaShrek]

2 minutes ago, love_the_sea said:

I thought I saw that they could not be resold?

Yes, it does say "unauthorized resale prohibited."

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I bought $2500.00 worth of the AARP HAL cards on Thursday for $2250.00 I was pleasantly surprised that the email from them allowed me to add them to my iPhone Wallet. Great place to keep track of them even after I applied to my HAL reservation. Just in case HAL canceled the cruise or I need to cancel those fund go back to the card used. This way I have the card and pin number handy in case that happens. I do not believe buying the cards through HAL they give tat option or at least they did not last year. I had to screen shot each gift card.  The AARP cards state they have a monthly limit to purchase these from them, I bought the max and hoping that May 1st not 30 days from my purchase date that I can purchase a few more.

I am not thrilled that HAL is only giving the bonus cards in $25.00 increments. it is not fare to have travel agents have to call in that many more card numbers especially since HAL's wait time to call in is often an hour or longer. 

[lcand1923]

On 4/20/2022 at 3:48 PM, philjh said:

Does anyone know if these gift cards were to be purchased with a Costco Citi Visa card, would the 3% Travel Cash Reward be applied or would it be only the general 1% Cash Reward? 

Does the gift card purchase show up on the credit card statement as a Holland America purchase or as their cash card second party seller, buyatab.com purchase? 

Thanks!

I used my Amazon Chase VISA to buy these yesterday.  The transaction shows as “E-GIFT CARD PURCHASE” on my online statement.  I doubt that a COSTCO Citi Visa card would classify it as a Travel Cash Reward purchase.

[vinonme2]

2 hours ago, love_the_sea said:

Thanks for sharing this thought! You make a good point. If my final payment was due very soon it would make sense to purchase these cards and use them for that. But my final payment is about 3 months away. These days it seems like a lot can happen in 3 months! 

My sentiments exactly!  My final payment is due early October and another is due same time next year. Both are Grand voyages, and as a solo traveler, both are pricey. 

Retired, great health, but who knows what tomorrow may bring. 

[amoba]

On 4/19/2022 at 5:02 PM, SUESEABE said:

@Red Haired Lady The AARP cards are a 10% discount. They have been available for several months. The Carnival gift cards have been on for at least 3 years that I know of. You must be a member to purchase the Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity gift card.  You don't need to be a member to purchase the Holland America or Princess gift cards. They are all digital and have no expiration noted.I still have some Carnival ones from 3 years ago and no expiration date given. The site says limited time offer and I assume they mean that they will sell them until they run out🤔 Only downside is that you can only purchase max of 5 cards per month.

Is it HAL cards that only 5 per month can be purchased?  Do you know if that means calendar month or 30 days from last purchase of 5?  I keep getting my gift card orders canceled with an email saying my card cannot be "authenticated" yet there is no issue with either of the cards I've used, according to my credit card company, credit limit, etc.  Maybe I should try to find the fine print on the HAL gift card site but any tips on what might be going wrong would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Vicki

[amoba]

On 4/21/2022 at 10:03 AM, Lido - Lanai said:

I purchased several gift cards (separate transactions) and received that message on just one of the transactions. I called the support number and they were able to validate the transaction after I answered several identity related questions. I received the gift card via email within 24 hours, which was the timeframe they told me to allow to receive the gift card email.

Thanks for this info.  Can you provide the support number that you called that was able to validate your transaction?  I've been having this same problem for 2 days now and it is seeming hopeless.  Thanks very much, Vicki

[Nancy&Frank]

22 minutes ago, amoba said:

Is it HAL cards that only 5 per month can be purchased?  Do you know if that means calendar month or 30 days from last purchase of 5?  I keep getting my gift card orders canceled with an email saying my card cannot be "authenticated" yet there is no issue with either of the cards I've used, according to my credit card company, credit limit, etc.  Maybe I should try to find the fine print on the HAL gift card site but any tips on what might be going wrong would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Vicki

I was able to buy $10,000 (in $500 increments) today and $10,000 (in $500 increments) yesterday through HAL and sent them to my agent to apply to World Cruise with no problem on either end.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Nancy&Frank