AARP e-gift card

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

Yes, exactly the same.  

@Shelly97060 Would you know if the agent’s commission is affected whether using Princess egift cards, either purchasing directly through Princess or through AARP?  They are both Princess egift cards.  TIA

[Shelly97060]

20 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

@Shelly97060 Would you know if the agent’s commission is affected whether using Princess egift cards, either purchasing directly through Princess or through AARP?  They are both Princess egift cards.  TIA

@PacnGoNow no, the agent commission is not affected by the use of any Princess gift cards. -Shelly 

[PacnGoNow]

8 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

@PacnGoNow no, the agent commission is not affected by the use of any Princess gift cards. -Shelly 

Thank you for the reply.  As I thought!  Some TA’s just don’t want to bother.

 

Or, they have to call PCL to enter the numbers, and don’t want to.  I’d just

change my TA.

 

[Jersey42]

I appreciate everyone's responses to my question about TAs accepting the gift cards from AARP.  I have not heard anyone having a problem with their TA accepting them, so that is good.  As I said in my initial post, my regular TA has always accepted them for 100% of the fare including and taxes and fees.

 

Based on everyone's input, I still have no idea why a different recommended TA told me he would unconditionally accept cruise line issued cards, but would only take the gift cards from AARP with restrictions such as limited number and at less than face value?  It makes no sense.  Maybe I should take this as a big Red Flag and no longer consider using him.

 

FYI - Here was part of his explanation when I asked about why he treated the cards from AARP differently from cards issued directly from the cruise line.

On the AARP gift cards, many cruise lines do not pay agency commission. So if an agency is accepting the cards, they lose the commission on the gift card portion. They accept the gift cards to keep the client and make some money. 

 

If this were true, my current TA would make virtually no commission on my cruses, as I usually pay my entire fare (except for an FCD) with gift cards.  He is a very nice guy, but he can't afford to work for free.  

[dreams_of_travel]

5 hours ago, Jersey42 said:

FYI - Here was part of his explanation when I asked about why he treated the cards from AARP differently from cards issued directly from the cruise line.

On the AARP gift cards, many cruise lines do not pay agency commission. So if an agency is accepting the cards, they lose the commission on the gift card portion. They accept the gift cards to keep the client and make some money. 

 

This still makes no sense to me.  How do they distinguish between an actual Princess gift card, and a Princess gift card bought from AARP? I am not arguing with you, but the logic (in my brain) is not following a clear line of "if this, then that" progression.

[Bgwest]

1 hour ago, dreams_of_travel said:

How do they distinguish between an actual Princess gift card, and a Princess gift card bought from AARP? 

They don't.

[SKCruiser007]

My thoughts on why a TA may not accept gift cards purchased through AARP: While there is almost flawless redemption of gift cards at Princess, it is not always easy for travelers to set up the online account at AARP, then purchase the cards. Sometimes, everything works fine, many times it does not. The TA is quite powerless, and has to rely on AARP and the traveler to figure it out. Sometimes, it never gets fixed. So, the client is unhappy, and the TA can't do a thing about it. The commission is not affected by the use of gift cards, no matter where they are purchased, though.

[dreams_of_travel]

28 minutes ago, SKCruiser007 said:

My thoughts on why a TA may not accept gift cards purchased through AARP: While there is almost flawless redemption of gift cards at Princess, it is not always easy for travelers to set up the online account at AARP, then purchase the cards. Sometimes, everything works fine, many times it does not. The TA is quite powerless, and has to rely on AARP and the traveler to figure it out. Sometimes, it never gets fixed. So, the client is unhappy, and the TA can't do a thing about it. The commission is not affected by the use of gift cards, no matter where they are purchased, though.

 

I kind of disagree.  Anyone who wants to buy these AARP gift cards should be fully aware of the steps when buying/using.  This includes checking the balances before they send them off to their travel agent. And troubleshooting if there is an error.  

 

FWIW I had an issue with buying a Princess gift card from Princess' site a couple years ago.  I followed the info found on the website to correct that issue.  Problems can even happen when you go to the grocery store and buy gift cards.  If people don't understand how any of this works, then they shouldn't participate. 

 

/end of my probably unpopular comment

[cruzsnooze]

7 hours ago, Jersey42 said:

 

On the AARP gift cards, many cruise lines do not pay agency commission. So if an agency is accepting the cards, they lose the commission on the gift card portion. They accept the gift cards to keep the client and make some money. 

 

 

It sounds like Princess is loosing both the 10% discount from the AARP cards AND the commission they give the TA which is unaffordable to the company

Edited June 8, 2023 by cruzsnooze

[Calnev1]

2 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

It sounds like Princess is loosing both the 10% discount from the AARP cards AND the commission they give the TA which is unaffordable to the company

Another factor at play here is gift card breakage.  That is, all gift card issuers expect that a certain percentage of purchased gift cards will never be used, whether because they are lost or forgotten, or in the case of a cruise the cruise is cancelled and never rebooked so the card never used.  Particularly for Princess gift cards that are actually given as gifts, I wouldn't be surprised if the aggregate breakage exceeds ten percent of the all the gift cards given.

[beg3yrs]

8 hours ago, Calnev1 said:

Another factor at play here is gift card breakage.  That is, all gift card issuers expect that a certain percentage of purchased gift cards will never be used, whether because they are lost or forgotten, or in the case of a cruise the cruise is cancelled and never rebooked so the card never used.  Particularly for Princess gift cards that are actually given as gifts, I wouldn't be surprised if the aggregate breakage exceeds ten percent of the all the gift cards given.

I have been told that "breakage" for gift cards in general is like 25%. I suspect it's lower for these big ticket cards but it's my opinion that you are spot on and this is why Princess, through AARP, can sell 10% discounted gift cards and still make money. If they weren't making money, they would stop.

[jwattle]

On 6/7/2023 at 11:16 AM, Jersey42 said:

I appreciate everyone's responses to my question about TAs accepting the gift cards from AARP.  I have not heard anyone having a problem with their TA accepting them, so that is good.  As I said in my initial post, my regular TA has always accepted them for 100% of the fare including and taxes and fees.

 

Based on everyone's input, I still have no idea why a different recommended TA told me he would unconditionally accept cruise line issued cards, but would only take the gift cards from AARP with restrictions such as limited number and at less than face value?  It makes no sense.  Maybe I should take this as a big Red Flag and no longer consider using him.

 

FYI - Here was part of his explanation when I asked about why he treated the cards from AARP differently from cards issued directly from the cruise line.

On the AARP gift cards, many cruise lines do not pay agency commission. So if an agency is accepting the cards, they lose the commission on the gift card portion. They accept the gift cards to keep the client and make some money. 

 

If this were true, my current TA would make virtually no commission on my cruses, as I usually pay my entire fare (except for an FCD) with gift cards.  He is a very nice guy, but he can't afford to work for free.  

As a TA I can tell you that what he said is blatantly false as far as the cruise lines not paying commission on the AARP cards. ( retired from public service a while back and enjoy being a TA now 🙂 )

[CruizinSusan70]

Have used the 10% off gift cards with Carnival for years and now are using them on Princess.  Sailed for 14 days last year on the Discovery and 14 this year on the Majestic.  Paid for everything with the gift cards.  Have used them for deposits on the Enchanted as well as 4 sailings on the Sun.  And of course will pay the balance on these cruises with the cards.  Used the cards on excursions in Alaska as well.  Have saved thousands over the years.

[brisalta]

On 6/7/2023 at 6:59 PM, dreams_of_travel said:

 

I kind of disagree.  Anyone who wants to buy these AARP gift cards should be fully aware of the steps when buying/using.  This includes checking the balances before they send them off to their travel agent. And troubleshooting if there is an error.  

 

 

They are not AARP Gift Cards. They are Princess Gift Cards sold by AARP. 

In fact the title of this Topic is incorrect

[Roberto256]

4 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

They are not AARP Gift Cards. They are Princess Gift Cards sold by AARP. 

In fact the title of this Topic is incorrect

 

If you are buying them to use for your own cruise, they are not really 'gift' cards.

Where does it end?!?!?

 

[Musky Ike]

1 hour ago, Roberto256 said:

 

If you are buying them to use for your own cruise, they are not really 'gift' cards.

Where does it end?!?!?

 

It is a gift to myself.

[Steelers36]

On 6/6/2023 at 6:29 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

@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

My cards used in 2022 to partially pay for our Fall 2022 voyages were purchased a long time back from Princess website link (so directly) when they used to have Mother's Day, etc promotions.  They all began with the same 8 digits you mentioned.

 

AARP is selling the same PCL gift cards.  A TA isn't going to know the source of provider.  

[Steelers36]

On 6/7/2023 at 2:16 PM, Jersey42 said:

I appreciate everyone's responses to my question about TAs accepting the gift cards from AARP.  I have not heard anyone having a problem with their TA accepting them, so that is good.  As I said in my initial post, my regular TA has always accepted them for 100% of the fare including and taxes and fees.

 

Based on everyone's input, I still have no idea why a different recommended TA told me he would unconditionally accept cruise line issued cards, but would only take the gift cards from AARP with restrictions such as limited number and at less than face value?  It makes no sense.  Maybe I should take this as a big Red Flag and no longer consider using him.

 

FYI - Here was part of his explanation when I asked about why he treated the cards from AARP differently from cards issued directly from the cruise line.

On the AARP gift cards, many cruise lines do not pay agency commission. So if an agency is accepting the cards, they lose the commission on the gift card portion. They accept the gift cards to keep the client and make some money. 

 

If this were true, my current TA would make virtually no commission on my cruses, as I usually pay my entire fare (except for an FCD) with gift cards.  He is a very nice guy, but he can't afford to work for free.  

Two things:

 

There was no reason to tell the TA where you purchased the PCL GC's.

The ones purchased from AARP are the same as ones purchased from Princess.  

 

If an agency accepts GC's (and no logical reason not to), then there should be no issue.

[dreaminofcruisin]

On 6/6/2023 at 4:37 PM, billco said:

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?

 

Your question got buried. I responded to the same question by another poster in the other thread, but if you didn't see it, here is my response:

 

I had to cancel a cruise in January that I had partially paid with gift cards. I used 5 - $500 gift cards. Each gift card ended up with $500 again, except one that ended up with MORE than $500....which was weird. The balance had been paid by credit card and that also got a credit. The Math all worked, so it was fine. I had printed off paper copies of the gift card numbers/pins when I got them which turned out to be a good idea as it helped me keep track of them until I then applied them to another cruise. It's good to be aware that this will happen since one would need to take another Princess cruise to use the gift cards and if you don't cruise often, you have to keep track of them until the next time you cruise.

 

[Steelers36]

32 minutes ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

Your question got buried. I responded to the same question by another poster in the other thread, but if you didn't see it, here is my response:

 

I had to cancel a cruise in January that I had partially paid with gift cards. I used 5 - $500 gift cards. Each gift card ended up with $500 again, except one that ended up with MORE than $500....which was weird. The balance had been paid by credit card and that also got a credit. The Math all worked, so it was fine. I had printed off paper copies of the gift card numbers/pins when I got them which turned out to be a good idea as it helped me keep track of them until I then applied them to another cruise. It's good to be aware that this will happen since one would need to take another Princess cruise to use the gift cards and if you don't cruise often, you have to keep track of them until the next time you cruise.

 

Your answer matches what I would have said - refunds go back to the original form of payment, so hang onto the GC details until they are the voyage used on is completed and you are back home.

[Jersey42]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Two things:

There was no reason to tell the TA where you purchased the PCL GC's.

The ones purchased from AARP are the same as ones purchased from Princess.  

 

If an agency accepts GC's (and no logical reason not to), then there should be no issue.

Maybe you are right, but there is no way I am willing to purchase thousands of dollars worth of gift cards and then find out the TA will not take them.  In that case, I either must charge my final payment to my CC for several more thousand dollars, or I cancel and attempt to rebook with Princess or another TA.  Based on all of the responses here (including at least two from people who appear to be TAs), a TA will never know where I got the cards, and the source of the card has no bearing on the agency commission.  So if this TA is lying to me about one thing, is he lying about other things as well?  I have already decided not to use him.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Here is a recap , if anyone is interested.  I have already moved on.

 

A passenger on our recent cruise told me about a TA he uses that always saves him money.  The savings were usually in cruise fare, but sometimes there were OBCs as well.  There were a few quirks in how they operated, but it sounded like a good fit for us.

• Geared to cruisers who know what they want as opposed to needing advice from a TA
• Online only for booking and payment
• No phone support, only email. But they respond quickly.
• Good discounts on all cruises and great discounts on many agency group bookings

 

I was not yet ready to book another cruise, but I did a few mock bookings on the website and I liked what I saw.  I emailed the agency with a few of my typical questions - agency cancelation fees, re-faring before final payment etc. Because most online payment systems are not set up for gift cards, I also asked "Do you accept cruise line gift cards for payment?"  I never mentioned AARP.

 

They responded very quickly to my inquiry on a Sunday afternoon.  All of the responses were positive except for the gift card question. The initial answer was:

Yes, we do except Cruise Line issued gift cards with some exceptions.

(Example: The AARP program looks like, smells like a gift card, but it is not.)

 

I then sent a follow-up and explained that I have never had a problem using AARP issued cards with other TAs as well as directly with the cruise line.  They appear just like any other gift card on the cruise line balance inquiry site. I ended my email with the question "You say these are not actual gift cards.  Does that mean you can't accept them?"   

 

Again I received a very quick response that I partially posted before: 

On the AARP gift cards, many cruise lines do not pay agency commission. So if an agency is accepting the cards, they lose the commission on the gift card portion. They accept the gift cards to keep the client and make some money. 

  

That's what prompted my initial post (231) on this thread a few days later.  It has been enlightening.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Jersey42

[Bgwest]

23 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

Maybe you are right, but there is no way I am willing to purchase thousands of dollars worth of gift cards and then find out the TA will not take them.  In that case, I either must charge my final payment to my CC for several more thousand dollars, or I cancel and attempt to rebook with Princess or another TA.  Based on all of the responses here (including at least two from people who appear to be TAs), a TA will never know where I got the cards, and the source of the card has no bearing on the agency commission.  So if this TA is lying to me about one thing, is he lying about other things as well?  I have already decided not to use him.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Here is a recap , if anyone is interested.  I have already moved on.

 

A passenger on our recent cruise told me about a TA he uses that always saves him money.  The savings were usually in cruise fare, but sometimes there were OBCs as well.  There were a few quirks in how they operated, but it sounded like a good fit for us.

• Geared to cruisers who know what they want as opposed to needing advice from a TA
• Online only for booking and payment
• No phone support, only email. But they respond quickly.
• Good discounts on all cruises and great discounts on many agency group bookings

 

I was not yet ready to book another cruise, but I did a few mock bookings on the website and I liked what I saw.  I emailed the agency with a few of my typical questions - agency cancelation fees, re-faring before final payment etc. Because most online payment systems are not set up for gift cards, I also asked "Do you accept cruise line gift cards for payment?"  I never mentioned AARP.

 

They responded very quickly to my inquiry on a Sunday afternoon.  All of the responses were positive except for the gift card question. The initial answer was:

Yes, we do except Cruise Line issued gift cards with some exceptions.

(Example: The AARP program looks like, smells like a gift card, but it is not.)

 

I then sent a follow-up and explained that I have never had a problem using AARP issued cards with other TAs as well as directly with the cruise line.  They appear just like any other gift card on the cruise line balance inquiry site. I ended my email with the question "You say these are not actual gift cards.  Does that mean you can't accept them?"   

 

Again I received a very quick response that I partially posted before: 

On the AARP gift cards, many cruise lines do not pay agency commission. So if an agency is accepting the cards, they lose the commission on the gift card portion. They accept the gift cards to keep the client and make some money. 

  

That's what prompted my initial post (231) on this thread a few days later.  It has been enlightening.

Enter dead horse. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Yep! I have been taking great advantage of the AARP Princess gift cards for several months now. 

[Roberto256]

On 12/6/2022 at 2:38 PM, Steelers36 said:

So wrong.  More fake news from a Princess employee.

 

In 2016, fake news was over-used to mean anything I disagree with.

Now, I call things I disagree with wok.   I don't know what it mean, but it doesn't matter, as no one else does either.

Maybe next year, wok fake news.

 

This post in the AARP forums says that the gift cards are available to all.

https://community.aarp.org/t5/Redemption/Three-Exciting-New-AARP-Rewards-Cruise-Line-Gift-Cards/m-p/2448318

 

As another poster mentioned, you do have to join AARP rewards.  But, I don't think you have to be an actual AARP member.

 

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

As another poster mentioned, you do have to join AARP rewards.  But, I don't think you have to be an actual AARP member.

True.