AARP Rewards eGift Cards

[Steelers36]

On 6/8/2023 at 5:08 AM, Nightowl11 said:

If you buy the $500 at $450 and add it to your onboard account, what happens if you don't spend it all?  Is it put back on the gift card?  Can you cash it out at the casino? Can you apply it to a future cruise? And what happens if you cancel that future cruise? 

GC money is yours, so GC money on account is Refundable OBC.  You would get it back via the normal refund process unless invested in the gambling den.  I am thinking you would receive a check several weeks later and it won't go back to the GC.

[Thrak]

Just picked up another 5 of the $500 cards. Immediately went to the Princess site and checked to make sure the balance showed up and all 5 cards checked out fine. I "should" only need one more purchase like this one to finish paying off the 3 cruises this fall. Then I can get some more for our cruise next April but there's lots of time for that. So glad AARP fixed their issue and has these back in stock.

[pppatpc2]

Thanks for all this.  Just dove in with the rest of you!  10% baby.

[pppatpc2]

BTW - do you know if my husband and I each had a separate account, can we each get 5?  Timing is short so we can't wait the extra month.

[Ken the cruiser]

18 minutes ago, pppatpc2 said:

BTW - do you know if my husband and I each had a separate account, can we each get 5?  Timing is short so we can't wait the extra month.

That’s what we do. My DW has a AARP membership account and I have the free AARP Rewards account. We each use separate credit cards to purchase our 10 GCs each month, to help pay for the 11 Princess cruises we have currently booked over the next couple of years. This is an awesome perk!

[Calnev1]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That’s what we do. My DW has a AARP membership account and I have the free AARP Rewards account. We each use separate credit cards to purchase our 10 GCs each month, to help pay for the 11 Princess cruises we have currently booked over the next couple of years. This is an awesome perk!

+1 

My wife and I have a joint AARP membership but separate AARP Rewards accounts.  So we can get up to ten Princess GCs a month (five on each account).  Actually, my wife's sister and her husband also have an AARP membership and allow us to use their AARP Rewards accounts.  So we can technically get up to 20 GCs per month.  And we do take advantage of this, because we routinely buy discounted grocery store GCs and discounted Uber GCs in addition to discounted Princess GCs.

[HBDave]

Question...   What is the current turnaround time for receiving the cards. We have a cruise booked with a final payment date of 7/1. We bought our monthly allotment for June and would like to buy more in July. The ones we bought in June were delayed 4-5 days. I think it was related to a  AARP / Princess system issues. Now that the issue appears to be resolved, are you receiving the cards at the time of purchase? Thanks!

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, HBDave said:

Question...   What is the current turnaround time for receiving the cards. We have a cruise booked with a final payment date of 7/1. We bought our monthly allotment for June and would like to buy more in July. The ones we bought in June were delayed 4-5 days. I think it was related to a  AARP / Princess system issues. Now that the issue appears to be resolved, are you receiving the cards at the time of purchase? Thanks!

Every time we’ve purchased them since Feb, we had the associated emails for each card within 10-15 minutes from when we submitted the order.

[Thrak]

8 minutes ago, HBDave said:

Question...   What is the current turnaround time for receiving the cards.

 

For the 5 I bought today I had to wait maybe 1 minute or so before all 5 emails came in. When I click the big red button to get the cards I then print them to a pdf and save that file. Then I "snip" them using the "snip" function in Windows 10 and paste them into a Word document. I also have an email file folder that I save all of the emails for the cards into. Then, because I'm a total dork, I also print the Word doc and stick it in the safe. I also go to the Princess site and check each card to make sure it actually shows the value on the card. When it's time to give the cards to my TA I give him the hard copy I printed out and he deals with Princess. We're saving almost $2,200 on our B2B2B this fall due to the 10% discount on these cards. Well worth the effort.

[cruzsnooze]

On 6/9/2023 at 11:49 PM, Steelers36 said:

GC money is yours, so GC money on account is Refundable OBC.  You would get it back via the normal refund process unless invested in the gambling den.  I am thinking you would receive a check several weeks later and it won't go back to the GC.

It goes back on the gift card so save them after you use it because you need to access the funds again. If you tell them you threw the gift card away after you used it they will issue you a new GIFT card, they don't send a check. Been there, done that.

Edited June 15, 2023 by cruzsnooze

[DJ Cruisers]

Has anyone had favorable experience using a credit card that gives rebates to buy these gift cards?.

I've read the fine print on some of my credit cards and some exclude purchases of gift cards as qualifying for a rebate and some are silent on the issue.  Ideally, I would like to use a card that touts itself as a "travel credit card" as that would give the best rebate.

[Redwing55]

6 hours ago, DJ Cruisers said:

Has anyone had favorable experience using a credit card that gives rebates to buy these gift cards?.

I've read the fine print on some of my credit cards and some exclude purchases of gift cards as qualifying for a rebate and some are silent on the issue.  Ideally, I would like to use a card that touts itself as a "travel credit card" as that would give the best rebate.

We've gotten the points or whatever.  But it isn't considered travel.  We just made a purchase on our AMEX Hilton (trying to spend to get bonus points as a new user) and it qualified.  I think it's because it goes in as an AARP and not a gift card purchase.  Not sure if it works for every card out there though.

[DJ Cruisers]

20 minutes ago, Redwing55 said:

We've gotten the points or whatever.  But it isn't considered travel.  We just made a purchase on our AMEX Hilton (trying to spend to get bonus points as a new user) and it qualified.  I think it's because it goes in as an AARP and not a gift card purchase.  Not sure if it works for every card out there though.

OK, thanks for the info.

[Calnev1]

21 hours ago, DJ Cruisers said:

Has anyone had favorable experience using a credit card that gives rebates to buy these gift cards?.

I've read the fine print on some of my credit cards and some exclude purchases of gift cards as qualifying for a rebate and some are silent on the issue.  Ideally, I would like to use a card that touts itself as a "travel credit card" as that would give the best rebate.

We buy many AARP gift cards and have used different credit cards to pay for them.  One readily available no annual fee credit card  is the Bank America Cash Rewards credit card.  You pick a purchase category for the card and then you get three percent cash back on all purchases in that category for up to $2,500 in purchases each quarter.  The BA category you want to use for AARP gift card purchases is "online purchases."  (Note:  If you have certain bank or investment accounts at Bank America you can get greater than three percent cash back).  There are also some credit cards that give you two percent cash back on purchases, such as the no annual fee Citi Doublecash, and we have used that for some AARP gift card purchases.  We also have another Chase credit card that gives us eight percent back on AARP GC purchases(!), but Chase no longer offers that card to new applicants so not worth discussing here.  

Edited June 16, 2023 by Calnev1

[theloo]

15 minutes ago, Calnev1 said:

We also have another Chase credit card that gives us eight percent back on AARP GC purchases(!), but Chase no longer offers that card to new applicants so not worth discussing here.  

Can you say what kind of Chase card you have?  I have at least one and would like to know if mine qualifies.

[DJ Cruisers]

3 hours ago, Calnev1 said:

We buy many AARP gift cards and have used different credit cards to pay for them.  One readily available no annual fee credit card  is the Bank America Cash Rewards credit card.  

Thanks for your detailed reply.  I've read that if the Merchant Category Code goes in as 4411, as shown on your monthly statement, this means it was processed as a "cruise line" item and not as a gift card and you get the rebate associated with a travel expense.  I guess the best way to proceed is to just buy one with a certain card and see what happens.  The card I hope works for me is a CitiBank card that gives 5% back for whatever category expense is the biggest for each monthly billing; so with a little bit of keeping track of things you can maximize your rebates.  The limitation is that, if you want the 5%, you can only buy $500 worth each month.

 

I'm envious of your 8% rebate card; I'm sure you'll want to hang on to that one.

[Thrak]

My Capital One card shows the transaction as "AARP Rewards" and I get my usual points. I also bought a batch for $2,250 using a new Wells Fargo card in order to fulfill the "new cardholder" amount to receive points for that. I just got a notice that the points were applied and I can use them for multiple things including a simple cash deposit of $222.50 to my account. I only got the card to have a backup travel card. There's no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. The cash for making the purchase is just an extra "bonus".

[Calnev1]

4 hours ago, theloo said:

Can you say what kind of Chase card you have?  I have at least one and would like to know if mine qualifies.

Sure.  Its the Chase Ink Business Plus.  While Chase still issues some types of Ink Business cards to new applicants, I am pretty sure they don't issue the type of Ink card I have. 

[Thrak]

On 6/4/2023 at 9:04 AM, 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. 

 

I don't have to type in the numbers. Because I not only saved images of the cards but also chose the "print card" option and printed them to pdf files I can simply click on the numbers in the pdf and it highlights them. I then simply Ctrl+c to copy the number and Ctrl+v to paste the number into the balance checker. I can either type the 4 digit PIN or do the same copy and paste. It works quite well and I get peace of mind regarding the value of the card.

[Calnev1]

19 hours ago, DJ Cruisers said:

Thanks for your detailed reply.  I've read that if the Merchant Category Code goes in as 4411, as shown on your monthly statement, this means it was processed as a "cruise line" item and not as a gift card and you get the rebate associated with a travel expense.  I guess the best way to proceed is to just buy one with a certain card and see what happens.  The card I hope works for me is a CitiBank card that gives 5% back for whatever category expense is the biggest for each monthly billing; so with a little bit of keeping track of things you can maximize your rebates.  The limitation is that, if you want the 5%, you can only buy $500 worth each month.

I took a look at the description of one of my AARP Carnival Gift Card purchases on my Bank of America Cash Reward monthly statement.  Unfortunately,  it did not give me a merchant code like you described for AARP.  This is what it did give me:

 

Transaction type:  Purchases

Merchant description:  CHARITABLE AND SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

Merchant information:  866-451-6305 , DC

Reference number:  1942

Merchant Name:   AARP 

Transaction Category:   Giving: Giving

Online Purchase:   Y

 

I also have the Citi Custom Cash card you describe that gives 5% cash back on up to $500 in max spend per month in one of several limited categories.  None of the Custom Cash categories seem to fit AARP, and the Citi card has no generic “online purchase” category like the BA cash rewards card has.  So I use my Custom Cash to buy Gift of College gift cards at my local grocery store (where the GC purchase codes as groceries) to fund the grandkids’ 529 plans.  

 

If you do try your Custom Cash back at AARP, please post whether or not it gave you the five percent back. 

[DJ Cruisers]

21 hours ago, Thrak said:

My Capital One card shows the transaction as "AARP Rewards" and I get my usual points. I also bought a batch for $2,250 using a new Wells Fargo card in order to fulfill the "new cardholder" amount to receive points for that. I just got a notice that the points were applied and I can use them for multiple things including a simple cash deposit of $222.50 to my account. I only got the card to have a backup travel card. There's no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. The cash for making the purchase is just an extra "bonus".

Thanks for your reply.  It looks like the transaction goes through as either AARP or gift card - not as a travel purchase; so the transaction would not qualify for any special rebate associated with travel but does count towards getting the cash bonus from signing up for a new credit card.

[DJ Cruisers]

3 hours ago, Calnev1 said:

I took a look at the description of one of my AARP Carnival Gift Card purchases on my Bank of America Cash Reward monthly statement.  Unfortunately,  it did not give me a merchant code like you described for AARP.  This is what it did give me:

 

Transaction type:  Purchases

Merchant description:  CHARITABLE AND SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

Merchant information:  866-451-6305 , DC

Reference number:  1942

Merchant Name:   AARP 

Transaction Category:   Giving: Giving

Online Purchase:   Y

 

I also have the Citi Custom Cash card you describe that gives 5% cash back on up to $500 in max spend per month in one of several limited categories.  None of the Custom Cash categories seem to fit AARP, and the Citi card has no generic “online purchase” category like the BA cash rewards card has.  So I use my Custom Cash to buy Gift of College gift cards at my local grocery store (where the GC purchase codes as groceries) to fund the grandkids’ 529 plans.  

 

If you do try your Custom Cash back at AARP, please post whether or not it gave you the five percent back. 

Thanks again for your reply.  It looks like the transaction goes through as either AARP or gift card - not as a travel purchase; so it would not qualify for any special rebate associated with travel but does count towards getting the cash bonus from signing up for a new credit card.

 

 Thanks for the tip regarding purchase of gift cards through the grocery store; Citi's Custom Cash at least has that category listed so I can get some kind of 5% rebate on something.  It's a shame the grocery stores don't sell the cruise line discounted cards so we could "double dip" for 10% off the purchase price coupled with 5% rebate from the credit card.  

[bjkTX]

On 6/15/2023 at 1:02 PM, DJ Cruisers said:

Has anyone had favorable experience using a credit card that gives rebates to buy these gift cards?.

I've read the fine print on some of my credit cards and some exclude purchases of gift cards as qualifying for a rebate and some are silent on the issue.  Ideally, I would like to use a card that touts itself as a "travel credit card" as that would give the best rebate.

Not quite the same as what I think you are asking - but I have played the travel credit card game for years - getting a new one almost every year to get whatever bonus we are after.  Earlier this year when I realized I needed to get another $5,000 in gift cards my DW signed up for a hotel card from a chain we normally use - used that card to buy the gift cards saving 10% and she got 170,000 hotel points.  I always have to look because I have seen the "gift cards" don't count warning.  But the way AARP lists the sale it hasn't been an issue (and I have been able to go into our credit card account while the charge was pending and change the category of the purchase to travel when needed 🙂

[DJ Cruisers]

9 hours ago, bjkTX said:

Not quite the same as what I think you are asking - but I have played the travel credit card game for years - getting a new one almost every year to get whatever bonus we are after.  Earlier this year when I realized I needed to get another $5,000 in gift cards my DW signed up for a hotel card from a chain we normally use - used that card to buy the gift cards saving 10% and she got 170,000 hotel points.  I always have to look because I have seen the "gift cards" don't count warning.  But the way AARP lists the sale it hasn't been an issue (and I have been able to go into our credit card account while the charge was pending and change the category of the purchase to travel when needed 🙂

Wow.  I'm impressed.  As a relative newbie at the game I was ready to be satisfied with just getting a purchase to go toward the sign-up bonus.  You've taken it to a new level by being able to change the category of purchase.  This would be handy for the Citi Custom Cash card where your highest category each billing period gets a 5% rebate; but you probably know all of this already and are doing it.  Maybe you should give seminars on board our cruise.  Anyway, thanks a lot for your post.

[Ken the cruiser]

Today, to make a long story short, we learned if you cancel a Celebrity cruise before or after final payment, any Gift Card funds posted to the associated booking will neither be refunded nor reposted back to the Gift Card from which it came. In other words, Celebrity keeps the GC funds IF you cancel the cruise for any reason. 

 

My question is this with regards to AARP GCs posted to a Princess booking. Does anyone have personal knowledge from actual experience that the GC funds posted to a booking that you subsequently canceled prior to Final Payment actually go back on the original Gift Card?

 

For the long story regarding the new "unlimited" Celebrity Gift Card rules, here's the link to the thread over on the Celebrity forum.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2946333-gift-card-limit/

 

Edited June 26, 2023 by Ken the cruiser