AARP e-gift card

[PacnGoNow]

13 minutes ago, Lilz said:

I just looked on the AARP site, and I am a member, but I can no longer find the Princess gift cards. I have used them in the past since they are such a great deal. Anyone know if they are gone for good? I logged out and back in with no luck. 

 

Aarp does not know.  They were pulled on June 1, 2023.  No idea they said this morning.

 

We have another thread on this subject on the forum.

Edited June 5, 2023 by PacnGoNow

[PacnGoNow]

15 minutes ago, Lilz said:

I just looked on the AARP site, and I am a member, but I can no longer find the Princess gift cards. I have used them in the past since they are such a great deal. Anyone know if they are gone for good? I logged out and back in with no luck. 

 

 

[jjack413]

There is another chat going on about the gift cards. I was able to purchased 5 on June 1st but from this chat they are gone now.

 

[Calnev1]

21 hours ago, jjack413 said:

There is another chat going on about the gift cards. I was able to purchased 5 on June 1st but from this chat they are gone now.

 

The Princess egift cards are back on AARP now after a five day hiatus.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, Calnev1 said:

The Princess egift cards are back on AARP now after a five day hiatus.

Thanks for the heads-up! 

 

AARP Rewards: Explore Ways to Reward Yourself

 

[Jersey42]

Has anyone ever had a problem getting their TA to accept the AARP gift cards?

 

I have used them successfully on several cruises both with my regular TA and once when I booked directly with Princess.  I have also used them onboard as well with no problems.

 

I just recently found a TA recommended to me by someone on my last cruise.  They offer better discounts than my regular TA, and it is often as significantly lower cruise price instead of OBCs or other credits.  However they will not accept AARP gift cards as full payment for the cruise because they said most cruise lines do not pay a commission on payments made with the AARP cards. We did not specifically discuss Princess. The TA will compromise a bit on a portion of the payment for goodwill, but I still end up giving up most of the AARP discount. 

 

In the future I will compare total cost after any discounts to see who offers the better deal. I have a feeling my regular TA's small discount + OBCs + 10% AARP discount will usually be better, unless the other one has a great group booking price.

[Jadn13]

10 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

Has anyone ever had a problem getting their TA to accept the AARP gift cards?

 

I have used them successfully on several cruises both with my regular TA and once when I booked directly with Princess.  I have also used them onboard as well with no problems.

 

I just recently found a TA recommended to me by someone on my last cruise.  They offer better discounts than my regular TA, and it is often as significantly lower cruise price instead of OBCs or other credits.  However they will not accept AARP gift cards as full payment for the cruise because they said most cruise lines do not pay a commission on payments made with the AARP cards. We did not specifically discuss Princess. The TA will compromise a bit on a portion of the payment for goodwill, but I still end up giving up most of the AARP discount. 

 

In the future I will compare total cost after any discounts to see who offers the better deal. I have a feeling my regular TA's small discount + OBCs + 10% AARP discount will usually be better, unless the other one has a great group booking price.

AARP Gift Cards are the same as Princess cards, does the TA just not take gift cards? 

[Ken the cruiser]

10 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

Has anyone ever had a problem getting their TA to accept the AARP gift cards?

 

I have used them successfully on several cruises both with my regular TA and once when I booked directly with Princess.  I have also used them onboard as well with no problems.

 

I just recently found a TA recommended to me by someone on my last cruise.  They offer better discounts than my regular TA, and it is often as significantly lower cruise price instead of OBCs or other credits.  However they will not accept AARP gift cards as full payment for the cruise because they said most cruise lines do not pay a commission on payments made with the AARP cards. We did not specifically discuss Princess. The TA will compromise a bit on a portion of the payment for goodwill, but I still end up giving up most of the AARP discount. 

 

In the future I will compare total cost after any discounts to see who offers the better deal. I have a feeling my regular TA's small discount + OBCs + 10% AARP discount will usually be better, unless the other one has a great group booking price.

Our TA has not expressed any reservations with posting the Princess GCs to our various cruises.

[Jersey42]

2 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

AARP Gift Cards are the same as Princess cards, does the TA just not take gift cards? 

He said they will take cruise line issued gift cards without a problem, but the AARP gift cards are treated differently for commissions, so the policy is different. 

 

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Our TA has not expressed any reservations with posting the Princess GCs to our various cruises.

Neither has mine, so I am not sure why this TA is specifically excluding the AARP cards, unless what he is telling me is true.  But if it is true, why are other TAs accepting them without issue?

[theloo]

20 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

Has anyone ever had a problem getting their TA to accept the AARP gift cards?

 

I have used them successfully on several cruises both with my regular TA and once when I booked directly with Princess.  I have also used them onboard as well with no problems.

 

I just recently found a TA recommended to me by someone on my last cruise.  They offer better discounts than my regular TA, and it is often as significantly lower cruise price instead of OBCs or other credits.  However they will not accept AARP gift cards as full payment for the cruise because they said most cruise lines do not pay a commission on payments made with the AARP cards. We did not specifically discuss Princess. The TA will compromise a bit on a portion of the payment for goodwill, but I still end up giving up most of the AARP discount. 

 

Thanks for the warning.  I was going to buy the GCs to make final payment (first time I've tried to do this), and I just double checked with my TA and they do accept Princess GCs.  It would have been a nasty surprise if I had found out after buying them that I could not use them!

[julie3fan]

7 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

He said they will take cruise line issued gift cards without a problem, but the AARP gift cards are treated differently for commissions, so the policy is different. 

 

How would they even know it was an AARP GC rather than one purchased directly from Princess?  My printouts don't show any branding other than Princess...no AARP logo anywhere.

[Jersey42]

8 minutes ago, julie3fan said:

 

How would they even know it was an AARP GC rather than one purchased directly from Princess?  My printouts don't show any branding other than Princess...no AARP logo anywhere.

Good question, and I don't know.  But I think he is very familiar with what the AARP printouts look like.

 

When I did a little research on the TA, I found out that all cruise payments were made on line and you could not call in with your credit card number.  That is why I asked him about gift cards, because you can not typically enter a gift card number and PIN when a website asks for a credit card, expiration date and CVV.

 

I never asked him specifically about the AARP gift cards.  He just told me cruise line issued cards were fine, but others such as the ones from AARP were not.  He said, they look like a gift card, they smell like a gift card but they are treated differently.

 

My current TA has never asked to see any printouts.  I just gave him the numbers and PINs.

 

Something does not smell right here, I am just not sure what.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

Good question, and I don't know.  But I think he is very familiar with what the AARP printouts look like.

 

When I did a little research on the TA, I found out that all cruise payments were made on line and you could not call in with your credit card number.  That is why I asked him about gift cards, because you can not typically enter a gift card number and PIN when a website asks for a credit card, expiration date and CVV.

 

I never asked him specifically about the AARP gift cards.  He just told me cruise line issued cards were fine, but others such as the ones from AARP were not.  He said, they look like a gift card, they smell like a gift card but they are treated differently.

 

My current TA has never asked to see any printouts.  I just gave him the numbers and PINs.

 

Something does not smell right here, I am just not sure what.

Here's my unofficial and uninformed opinion from over here in the peanut gallery.

 

Let's say a TA gets 16+% commission from a cruise line on the "commissionable" portion of the cruise fare. Then as a perk for booking with the TA, a prospective client gets 8% of the "commissionable" fare taken off the cost of their cruise. BTW here's a link to a definition of what the "non-commissionable portion" of a cruise fare is.

 

What are "non-comm" or "non-commissionalbe" (NCF or NCCF) fees - Sophisticated Travel

 

Here's my scenario. We book a cruise where the base cruise fare adds up to $10,000 for both of us, excluding the non-commissionable portion of the fare, taxes/fees, etc.

 

For the purpose of this example, the TA gets $1600 (or 16%) from the cruise line to manage the booking, and we get $800 (or 8%) discounted off of our cruise, leaving the TA with a net gain of $800.

 

We then choose to pay for our cruise using twenty $500 AARP gift cards, costing us $9000 net. Now the "commissionable" fare (based on your new TA's explanation) would now be $9000. In this example, the TA would now get $1440 (or $160 less) for managing this cruise, and the client's discount for booking the cruise with the TA would drop to $720 (or $80 less). But OTOH the client saved $1000 by buying the discounted AARP Gift Cards.

 

So what does the TA do? Tell the client they won't accept the AARP "Cruise Line" Gift Cards and chance losing them to another TA that will, OR do they accept the GCs without passing on any penalty, or possibly a modest one, to the client? 🤔

 

I already told you what our TA does, but then we book a lot of cruises with them.

 

Again, this is just my unofficial opinion sitting over here in the peanut gallery. 

[theloo]

12 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We then choose to pay for our cruise using twenty $500 AARP gift cards, costing us $9000 net. Now the "commissionable" fare (based on your new TA's explanation) would now be $9000. In this example, the TA would now get $1440 (or $160 less) for managing this cruise, and the client's discount for booking the cruise with the TA would drop to $720 (or $80 less). But OTOH the client saved $1000 by buying the discounted AARP Gift Cards.

How does Princess or your TA know that you only paid $9000 for the gift cards (face value $10,000) reducing the fare and commission?  

If that is how it works, it would seem that the TA would have to absorb the small loss in commission because the price has already been promised to you at the time of booking.  

[julie3fan]

I would love it if a TA would offer input regarding if it's known what the source of the gift cards is when offered to them for payment.  Or if a poster has in front of them printed out gift cards from both AARP and Princess.com, that could offer a side-by-side comparision.

[billco]

Has anyone who had Platinum Princess Vacation Protection paid for a cruise partly with Gift Cards had to cancel the cruise after final payment? Was the full cost reimbursed as a FCC or just the part paid with a credit card? Was the amount paid with Gift Cards refunded back to the original Gift Cards?

[Ken the cruiser]

13 minutes ago, theloo said:

How does Princess or your TA know that you only paid $9000 for the gift cards (face value $10,000) reducing the fare and commission?  

If that is how it works, it would seem that the TA would have to absorb the small loss in commission because the price has already been promised to you at the time of booking.  

Maybe similar to the way a payment app knows what "type" of credit card you're using when you type the first 4 numbers in? It may very well be in the GC numbering scheme. Again, this is just a guess.

 

As far as what the TA can or should do, that's totally up to them, other than we might start looking for another TA if we didn't like their decision.

Edited June 6, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[no1racefan1]

2 hours ago, Jersey42 said:

He said they will take cruise line issued gift cards without a problem, but the AARP gift cards are treated differently for commissions, so the policy is different. 

 

Neither has mine, so I am not sure why this TA is specifically excluding the AARP cards, unless what he is telling me is true.  But if it is true, why are other TAs accepting them without issue?

How does the TA know you bought it from AARP unless you tell them? 

Edited June 6, 2023 by no1racefan1
Edit: nvm, I see you answered this.

[Ken the cruiser]

42 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Maybe similar to the way a payment app knows what "type" of credit card you're using when you type the first 4 numbers in? It may very well be in the GC numbering scheme. Again, this is just a guess.

 

As far as what the TA can or should do, that's totally up to them, other than we might start looking for another TA if we didn't like their decision.

@theloo FWIW I just checked the numbers on many of the actual AARP Princess gift cards we've purchased since February, and they all had the same leading 8 numbers - 31046900xxxxxxxx

[PacnGoNow]

2 hours ago, Jersey42 said:

Good question, and I don't know.  But I think he is very familiar with what the AARP printouts look like.

 

When I did a little research on the TA, I found out that all cruise payments were made on line and you could not call in with your credit card number.  That is why I asked him about gift cards, because you can not typically enter a gift card number and PIN when a website asks for a credit card, expiration date and CVV.

 

I never asked him specifically about the AARP gift cards.  He just told me cruise line issued cards were fine, but others such as the ones from AARP were not.  He said, they look like a gift card, they smell like a gift card but they are treated differently.

 

My current TA has never asked to see any printouts.  I just gave him the numbers and PINs.

 

Something does not smell right here, I am just not sure what.

They are NOT Aarp gc’s they are Princess GC’s.  
 

You can go on the PCL website and do a balance inquiry. Put in the gc number and pin and a balance will appear.

 

Just tell them it is a princess GC.  Never had an issue with our TA.

 

Some of the TA’s have to call pcl to enter them, which they don’t like to do.  Others, like mine, just enter them in the computer, no problem.

[Bgwest]

2 hours ago, no1racefan1 said:

How does the TA know you bought it from AARP unless you tell them? 

Short answer.......they don't. 

[SKCruiser007]

Just purchased and applied five gift cards. Whew!

[dreams_of_travel]

18 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Maybe similar to the way a payment app knows what "type" of credit card you're using when you type the first 4 numbers in? It may very well be in the GC numbering scheme. Again, this is just a guess.

 

19 hours ago, julie3fan said:

I would love it if a TA would offer input regarding if it's known what the source of the gift cards is when offered to them for payment.  Or if a poster has in front of them printed out gift cards from both AARP and Princess.com, that could offer a side-by-side comparision.

I have two gift cards, one purchased from AARP, and one purchased directly from Princess.  Both start with the same numbers.  I don't know how a travel agent would be able to tell the difference.  It's not like the lead numbers are different like an amex vs. a visa card would be.  And now I see your followup comment @Ken the cruiser. 

 

I think the above mentioned agent is just being difficult.  YMMV 

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

 

I have two gift cards, one purchased from AARP, and one purchased directly from Princess.  Both start with the same numbers.  I don't know how a travel agent would be able to tell the difference.  It's not like the lead numbers are different like an amex vs. a visa card would be.  And now I see your followup comment @Ken the cruiser. 

 

I think the above mentioned agent is just being difficult.  YMMV 

I have to ask, were the first 8 numbers on the card you purchased directly from Princess 31046900?

 

[dreams_of_travel]

11 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I have to ask, were the first 8 numbers on the card you purchased directly from Princess 31046900?

 

Yes, exactly the same.