Why buy gift cards?

[netingirl]

I see a lot of people are buying gift cards in the $1000's to pay for future cruises and onboard spending etc...  Currently HAL is offering 10% bonus on gift card purchases.  Is the only reason to buy gift cards the 10% savings when there is a sale?  Or is there another reason I'm missing?  Not that 10% discount isn't a great incentive on it's own.   I have learned a ton of tips on this board (shareholder benefits, status matching...) so just making sure I wasn't missing any other benefits to gift card purchases.

Thanks!

 

[FlaMariner]

59 minutes ago, netingirl said:

Is the only reason to buy gift cards the 10% savings when there is a sale?

 

That's the only reason we buy them.....and that is a big 10% off the price of the cruise reason.

 

We've got a $5000 final payment due in December and so the gift cards will save me $500.....That is real money to us. 

[iflyrc5]

24 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

That's the only reason we buy them.....and that is a big 10% off the price of the cruise reason.

 

We've got a $5000 final payment due in December and so the gift cards will save me $500.....That is real money to us. 

Same here - we are saving about $1000 by using the Gift cards for our Rotterdam cruise in 2023

[crystalspin]

3 hours ago, netingirl said:

I see a lot of people are buying gift cards in the $1000's to pay for future cruises and onboard spending etc...  Currently HAL is offering 10% bonus on gift card purchases.  Is the only reason to buy gift cards the 10% savings when there is a sale? 

Most of us would jump at an investment that delivered 10%. I have saved $500 buying AARP 10% less cards and paid off the second leg of our upcoming B2B on the HAL promotion -- with $149 bonus cards for OBC. I wish were flush enough to pay down the $15,000 outstanding on our 2024 cruise! But will hope for another gift-card promotion and/or go back to AARP now that they seem to have the process smoothed out.

[pmjnh]

We saved $650 on the price of our upcoming cruise by buying the gift cards in advance. That is one airfare. worth it to us.

[Mary229]

There are downsides of course.  Gift cards are not refundable so even if you were to cancel the cruise before the pre penalty date the money would be placed back into a gift card not cash.  Also my credit card insurance would not be valid if I paid my entire cruise in gift cards and that has a value also.   I do use the gift cards for onboard expenditures such as internet, shore excursions, flowers and some of the fare but only if it is a near term cruise.  I find there is a gift card sale at least once a year, for cruises less than a year away I will use the gift card.  I have never paid off an expensive cruise with gift cards, it just causes me pause to buy $10000:or more of gift cards.  Kudos to those who do

[kazu]

10 hours ago, netingirl said:

I see a lot of people are buying gift cards in the $1000's to pay for future cruises and onboard spending etc...  Currently HAL is offering 10% bonus on gift card purchases.  Is the only reason to buy gift cards the 10% savings when there is a sale?  Or is there another reason I'm missing?  Not that 10% discount isn't a great incentive on it's own.   I have learned a ton of tips on this board (shareholder benefits, status matching...) so just making sure I wasn't missing any other benefits to gift card purchases.

Thanks!

 

 

It looks like you are Canadian as I am.  When the U.S. exchange seemed pretty good the last time they had the sale I bought some.  Even though I book in Canadian dollars most times, they helped pay for OBC or certain purchases I knew I would need.

 

However, right now (for me) the exchange rate is horrible.  I have no crystal ball on rates and have to check the forecasts but the foreign exchange risk appears too high to make it worthwhile for me right now.

 

It would be nice if we could see into the future. 😉 

[Derbie]

On 10/6/2022 at 10:51 PM, crystalspin said:

Most of us would jump at an investment that delivered 10%. I have saved $500 buying AARP 10% less cards and paid off the second leg of our upcoming B2B on the HAL promotion -- with $149 bonus cards for OBC. I wish were flush enough to pay down the $15,000 outstanding on our 2024 cruise! But will hope for another gift-card promotion and/or go back to AARP now that they seem to have the process smoothed out.

Is there a way to get notice from AARP on the cards?  We are members.  First cruise on HAL; although, we have probably been on 15-20 cruises with other lines.  I am also thinking of buying Carnival stock.  Getting geared up for retirement in the next year or so.  Money, will not be as plentiful.  Looking for all ways to save a dollar.  Also, we purchase gift cards when our local Kroger store has 4 times the fuel points.  Purchase $500 in cards, and save $2.00 per gallon on gas.  That works on our end as well.  Thanks.  I look forward to your reply.

 

[richwmn]

1 hour ago, Derbie said:

Purchase $500 in cards, and save $2.00 per gallon on gas.  That works on our end as well.  Thanks.  I look forward to your reply.

 

I have done that as well, but here there is a limit of $1 per gallon using fuel points.

[alyssamma]

Does anyone know if the gift cards can be used to pay for the air portion of your cruise (if purchased through HAL, of course)?

[rodndonna]

2 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Does anyone know if the gift cards can be used to pay for the air portion of your cruise (if purchased through HAL, of course)?

 

yes

[alyssamma]

1 minute ago, rodndonna said:

 

yes

Yes you know or yes you can use them?

 

🙂

 

[rodndonna]

9 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Yes you know or yes you can use them?

 

🙂

 

 

Both - yes I know - yes - you can use them 😃

 

 

[crystalspin]

5 hours ago, Derbie said:

Is there a way to get notice from AARP on the cards?  We are members.  First cruise on HAL; although, we have probably been on 15-20 cruises with other lines.  I am also thinking of buying Carnival stock.

The cards are always available (not counting last month when the Check Out was not working for at least three weeks!). Go to AARP.org -- log in (may have to set up your login if you have not used it before). 

 

Click on AARP Rewards (next to the star in top banner). Scroll down to where you see the first cards-for-points; click See All Rewards> at the right edge. Scroll. It may say "Featured Rewards" -- if so click V Skip to All Rewards on the right edge. Scroll down until you see the Princess and HAL cards! 

 

You can buy 5 cards per calendar month. Any combination of $100 cards for $90 or $500 cards for $450. There are also Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity cards which are marked Members Only; the Princess and HAL cards are not so marked. 

 

There is a long discussion of buying Carnival stock at this time, on-going on this Board.

[crystalspin]

5 hours ago, Derbie said:

Getting geared up for retirement in the next year or so.  Money, will not be as plentiful.  Looking for all ways to save a dollar.  

PS Derbie, if you are ready to buy now, HAL has a limited time deal on Gift Cards, $250-$2000 and get a 10% bonus card. Until the 11th of October only. Scan this board to find discussion. I have posted the tricks for those cards to that discussion.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by crystalspin

[iflyrc5]

I just saved $900 by using gift cards as final payment for our B2B2B2B cruise on the Rotterdam in Jan/Feb

[Mary229]

So consider this analysis if you use Chase Sapphire insurance to cover your trips.  The average percentage insurance cost for those over age 60 is near 10%.  https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-insurance/average-travel-insurance-cost/
 

So before you pay for an entire trip with gift cards ask yourself: exactly how much Chase expects you to pay directly with their card to achieve coverage and secondly do you want to  a,r the legal argument with Chase that buying gift cards is in fact paying for the trip.  I do not know the answers to these questions.  If anyone has first hand experience I would love to hear it.  

[Derbie]

On 10/8/2022 at 8:01 AM, richwmn said:

I have done that as well, but here there is a limit of $1 per gallon using fuel points.

that is a shame!  My husband has often taken the full amount of our points, and paid literally a couple of dollars to fill his tank.  We are in the Nashville, TN area.