AARP Rewards eGift Cards

[Uncle Sugar]

Went to AARP Rewards website today to purchase Princess digital eGift cards (as I have done several times previously), but was unable to locate. Subsequently contacted AARP Rewards customer service via Chat and was advised the following: "Princess Cruise Gift Cards are usually available through the AARP Rewards program, but there was an issue with them yesterday and they were removed until further notice."

 

Has anyone else encountered this inability to purchase over the past two days? The AARP Chat agent was unable to furnish a date when these gift cards would be available again. Plus, does anyone know what the yesterday's issue was that resulted in AARP suddenly pulling from their website?

[Ken the cruiser]

I just checked and the Princess Gift Card purchase options are definitely gone. Thanks for the heads up and for letting us know the why.  😁
 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[dreams_of_travel]

Whelp, that's sad news.  😞  I was waiting for payday to buy this month's allotment. Hope they come back at some point.  

[PacnGoNow]

27 minutes ago, Uncle Sugar said:

Went to AARP Rewards website today to purchase Princess digital eGift cards (as I have done several times previously), but was unable to locate. Subsequently contacted AARP Rewards customer service via Chat and was advised the following: "Princess Cruise Gift Cards are usually available through the AARP Rewards program, but there was an issue with them yesterday and they were removed until further notice."

 

Has anyone else encountered this inability to purchase over the past two days? The AARP Chat agent was unable to furnish a date when these gift cards would be available again. Plus, does anyone know what the yesterday's issue was that resulted in AARP suddenly pulling from their website?

Thanks for telling us. I was afraid with all the advertising on CC, they may pull them.  Too bad.  
Still available for CCL, HAL and RCCL.

 

They may have met their quota and will offer later?  Let’s hope.

 

 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

I bought my last 2 available to me for last month on 5/31.  Bummer!  I really hope they bring them back soon!  I've got a bit more to pay on an upcoming TA.

[theloo]

Darn, was just about to buy them after learning about them here 😧

[Thrak]

Hope they bring them back soon. I need another $5,100 worth to pay off the final amount on my fall cruises and I haven't bought any to help cover our cruise in May.  Thanks for the notice. If they aren't there when I go to look for them at least I now know it's not just me.

[Cobber76]

A few months ago, there was some type of glitch at AARP, and the Princess Gift Cards were unavailable for many days . . . And then they suddenly reappeared.  I was planning on buying many of them for our Alaska 2024 cruise, so fingers crossed they come back soon—and with the same terms.  

[JerrySueW]

I don't know if my issue precipitated the cards being pulled, but it certainly seems to me that there is a theft involved somewhere (and I read of a similar issue encountered by another CC member), so perhaps they are investigating.

 

I purchased 5 gift cards on May 30 and immediately went to apply the cards to my cruise balance. Four cards worked just fine, the last did not and subsequently showed a $0 balance. I spent the next four hours on the phone with AARP, Princess Customer Service and the 3rd party Gift Card Support. My second call to the Gift Card support people resulted in the discovery that the card had been redeemed by PCL almost 7 hours before I purchased it.

 

I then called Princess CS for the 3rd time and finally got a somewhat helpful person in Guest Services who could see every transaction on my account, including the numbers of the Gift Cards that were applied, but she said that she could not search the entire system to see if the $0 card had been redeemed on another account. No offer was made to pursue this at a higher level, so I called AARP again and was told that they would investigate the issue and that because the card was redeemed before I purchased it, I should expect to receive a replacement gift card in 3-5 business days. I hope to hear something on Monday. AARP was genuinely concerned and helpful. Princess not so much. 

 

[PacnGoNow]

7 minutes ago, JerrySueW said:

I don't know if my issue precipitated the cards being pulled, but it certainly seems to me that there is a theft involved somewhere (and I read of a similar issue encountered by another CC member), so perhaps they are investigating.

 

I purchased 5 gift cards on May 30 and immediately went to apply the cards to my cruise balance. Four cards worked just fine, the last did not and subsequently showed a $0 balance. I spent the next four hours on the phone with AARP, Princess Customer Service and the 3rd party Gift Card Support. My second call to the Gift Card support people resulted in the discovery that the card had been redeemed by PCL almost 7 hours before I purchased it.

 

I then called Princess CS for the 3rd time and finally got a somewhat helpful person in Guest Services who could see every transaction on my account, including the numbers of the Gift Cards that were applied, but she said that she could not search the entire system to see if the $0 card had been redeemed on another account. No offer was made to pursue this at a higher level, so I called AARP again and was told that they would investigate the issue and that because the card was redeemed before I purchased it, I should expect to receive a replacement gift card in 3-5 business days. I hope to hear something on Monday. AARP was genuinely concerned and helpful. Princess not so much. 

 

When you received the ecard from Aarp, did you go on PCL website to check the balance, per chance?

 

I’ve heard of this happening once  before and that person suggested if you

buy them, immediately check the balance. TIA

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-gifts-celebrations/overview/gift-cards/

Edited June 4, 2023 by PacnGoNow

[Thrak]

36 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

When you received the ecard from Aarp, did you go on PCL website to check the balance, per chance?

 

I’ve heard of this happening once  before and that person suggested if you

buy them, immediately check the balance. TIA

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-gifts-celebrations/overview/gift-cards/

 

I purchased a ton of them to apply to our fall cruises and then (laboriously) checked the balance on every dang one of them. Fortunately I had no issues. So far the 10% discount has saved me $1,550. I still need to purchase another $5.1k worth of cards to pay off the rest of the cruises and flights. Hopefully I can get the cards because that amount represents an additional $510 in savings.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Thrak

[JerrySueW]

You can verify the balance on the card right on the egift card link itself. Much easier than having to type in the numbers on the PCL page. 

[PacnGoNow]

15 minutes ago, JerrySueW said:

You can verify the balance on the card right on the egift card link itself. Much easier than having to type in the numbers on the PCL page. 

Did you check the one with a 0 balance this way?  If so, did it say 0 balance instead of verified?

TIA

When you went to add the ecards, did you add them to your booking online yourself, or have a TA/CVP enter them?

Edited June 4, 2023 by PacnGoNow

[BURNSMN]

15 hours ago, JerrySueW said:

I don't know if my issue precipitated the cards being pulled, but it certainly seems to me that there is a theft involved somewhere (and I read of a similar issue encountered by another CC member), so perhaps they are investigating.

 

I purchased 5 gift cards on May 30 and immediately went to apply the cards to my cruise balance. Four cards worked just fine, the last did not and subsequently showed a $0 balance. I spent the next four hours on the phone with AARP, Princess Customer Service and the 3rd party Gift Card Support. My second call to the Gift Card support people resulted in the discovery that the card had been redeemed by PCL almost 7 hours before I purchased it.

 

I then called Princess CS for the 3rd time and finally got a somewhat helpful person in Guest Services who could see every transaction on my account, including the numbers of the Gift Cards that were applied, but she said that she could not search the entire system to see if the $0 card had been redeemed on another account. No offer was made to pursue this at a higher level, so I called AARP again and was told that they would investigate the issue and that because the card was redeemed before I purchased it, I should expect to receive a replacement gift card in 3-5 business days. I hope to hear something on Monday. AARP was genuinely concerned and helpful. Princess not so much. 

 

I was one who this happened to also and it took me over a month to get it resolved. Princess was at fault and they told me the problem happens on occasion when you try to redeem more than one card at a time against an existing reservation. Basically, they said that the computer can’t keep up with multiple card entries and accidentally zeros one out. They recommended putting one card in then signing out of your reservation, then signing back in and entering the next card until you use all your cards.

[PacnGoNow]

3 minutes ago, BURNSMN said:

I was one who this happened to also and it took me over a month to get it resolved. Princess was at fault and they told me the problem happens on occasion when you try to redeem more than one card at a time against an existing reservation. Basically, they said that the computer can’t keep up with multiple card entries and accidentally zeros one out. They recommended putting one card in then signing out of your reservation, then signing back in and entering the next card until you use all your cards.

You had a booking online that you booked yourself, as opposed to a TA/CVP?

[PacnGoNow]

4 minutes ago, BURNSMN said:

I was one who this happened to also and it took me over a month to get it resolved. Princess was at fault and they told me the problem happens on occasion when you try to redeem more than one card at a time against an existing reservation. Basically, they said that the computer can’t keep up with multiple card entries and accidentally zeros one out. They recommended putting one card in then signing out of your reservation, then signing back in and entering the next card until you use all your cards.

Who finally resolved this?  Customer service?  TIA

[BURNSMN]

Just now, PacnGoNow said:

You had a booking online that you booked yourself, as opposed to a TA/CVP?

Yes, I did.

[BURNSMN]

2 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Who finally resolved this?  Customer service?  TIA

This was finally resolved by Princess Customer Service.

[PacnGoNow]

I rechecked the website rewards and PCL is not shown, but something interesting…

HAL is still there, anyone can purchase, as WAS the same for PCL egift cards.

 

However, CCL, RCCL and Celebrity are all members only purchase.  Did this just change?  IDK

 

If PCL comes back with that restriction…

it is relatively inexpensive to join AARP.

 

We shall see.

[Cruise Raider]

15 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I purchased a ton of them to apply to our fall cruises and then (laboriously) checked the balance on every dang one of them. Fortunately I had no issues. So far the 10% discount has saved me $1,550. I still need to purchase another $5.1k worth of cards to pay off the rest of the cruises and flights. Hopefully I can get the cards because that amount represents an additional $510 in savings.

Like you, I was going to pay off some fall cruises I have booked and was going to buy more GCs this month from AARP.  They are really a great savings.  
I may have to put some future plans on hold.  

[lennythenose]

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

 

However, CCL, RCCL and Celebrity are all members only purchase.  Did this just change?  IDK

I know that CCL has been members only since they switched from the old points based system. I do not know about the others. 

[voljeep]

our AARP renewal

1 yr - $16

3 yrs - $43

5 yrs - $63  Best Deal! 

 

"Plus receive a 4-Piece Luggage Organizer Set - absolutely FREE with your renewal"

[JerrySueW]

2 hours ago, BURNSMN said:

I was one who this happened to also and it took me over a month to get it resolved. Princess was at fault and they told me the problem happens on occasion when you try to redeem more than one card at a time against an existing reservation. Basically, they said that the computer can’t keep up with multiple card entries and accidentally zeros one out. They recommended putting one card in then signing out of your reservation, then signing back in and entering the next card until you use all your cards.

Interesting because it happened to me on the first card that I tried. I did the other four immediately after and tried again on the first one a couple of times before checking the balance. 

[JerrySueW]

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Did you check the one with a 0 balance this way?  If so, did it say 0 balance instead of verified?

TIA

When you went to add the ecards, did you add them to your booking online yourself, or have a TA/CVP enter them?

Yes, I did after a couple of attempts at applying the card to my balance. It shows the face value initially, then when I clicked on "Verify balance" it went to $0.

 

I added these cards to my booking myself. If you use a TA to book your cruise you cannot make payments directly.

[Jadn13]

Chase  credit cards often have a discount on AARP for new members, if it comes to that. (It’s online in your card discount section)