AARP Carnival Gift Cards

[ab19902]

1 hour ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

I'm venting more than asking a question.   But I am trying to buy some Carnival Gift Cards from AARP.  I've done this many times before, but for some reason it's not allowing the transaction to go through. Called them up and they say try this and try that, which I understand is procedure, but every time I try and it bombs, it's adding $1800 to my pending credit card bill!!   Tried 8 ties and boom that's nearly $15,000 in pending charges.  They can't remove them and my credit card company says they can't remove them.  I only hope that there's no emergency in the next 30 days cause my credit card is now all but useless!!!   More frustrated than anything, thanks for listening!!

I've had something similar happen before when I tried getting some using one of my credit cards. I don't remember if it was on AARP, but I want to say that it was (back before they changed how they do things and you had to be a member to purchase the Carnival cards). It would just never go through, but would be pending on my credit card. However, if I used another card, it would go through just fine. Not sure why I had that issue, and I never contacted them about it.

 

Is there a way you can use another card to purchase the gift cards? I know sometimes you want to maximize and get points on your card, so I figured I would ask.

[ninjacat123]

@ULCajunCruiser I just purchased a $100 Carnival GC at AARP and uploaded it to my Apple Wallet. I hope things work out for you!!

[wareaglefan444]

how much of a discount are these carnival gc on ARP

[n6uqqq]

2 minutes ago, wareaglefan444 said:

how much of a discount are these carnival gc on ARP

10 percent off and if you use the right credit card you can parlay that some more. I use my BofA cash rewards card to bump it up another 3 percent off for online purchases. 

[wareaglefan444]

Just now, n6uqqq said:

10 percent off and if you use the right credit card you can parlay that some more. I use my BofA cash rewards card to bump it up another 3 percent off for online purchases. 

Thanks for letting me know, i will look into this

[ULCajunCruiser]

1 hour ago, ab19902 said:

Is there a way you can use another card to purchase the gift cards? I know sometimes you want to maximize and get points on your card, so I figured I would ask.

If I can't get them in another day or so I will have to.  But you're right, I'm trying to maximize the points I get by using it for everything on this trip

[n6uqqq]

11 minutes ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

If I can't get them in another day or so I will have to.  But you're right, I'm trying to maximize the points I get by using it for everything on this trip

Did you make sure everything matches completely.... billing address, 3 digit code etc. I had a problem when I tried to buy some for my daughter and use her credit card. AARP wouldn't allow a transaction to go through where the AARP account name didn't match the credit card name. Another time I had trouble because my Google auto fill had changed my billing address slightly. 

[ULCajunCruiser]

11 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

Did you make sure everything matches completely.... billing address, 3 digit code etc. I had a problem when I tried to buy some for my daughter and use her credit card. AARP wouldn't allow a transaction to go through where the AARP account name didn't match the credit card name. Another time I had trouble because my Google auto fill had changed my billing address slightly. 

Yes checked and double checked.  Cleared cookies, turned off ad blocker, tried different browsers, went line by line (twice) with the AARP service rep!!!  It just wasn't letting me!!  Who knows, it hates me!!!   I'll try again tomorrow

[ChinaShrek]

On 1/19/2024 at 6:21 PM, tw67 said:

I took an NCL cruise last weekend, and I missed gift cards! I missed knowing that I had gift cards already on my account! I also spent less money on board than I do on a Carnival ship. 

 

I don't have another cruise planned until Labor Day weekend, but I will be stocking up on my cards to pay down my three booked cruises!  

My theory is that people will spend more with gift cards then they would if paying with cash. With gift cards, they "think" they are saving 10% so they spend more. 

[tw67]

2 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

My theory is that people will spend more with gift cards then they would if paying with cash. With gift cards, they "think" they are saving 10% so they spend more. 

I understand that reasoning, but we cruise anywhere from 2-4 times a year. We know what we spend money on. The cost of the cruise is the cost of the cruise. I don’t say to myself I am saving 10% so I will do a balcony instead of an inside. We do at least one specialty dining. We get 10% off that. We will do CHEERS, so another 10% there. We don’t buy a lot on the ship, but we do gamble. Plus we can withdraw through a slot machine what we don’t use. I spent less on the NCL ship because we didn’t gamble much because we went with a large family group.

[krissyj89]

8 hours ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

I'm venting more than asking a question.   But I am trying to buy some Carnival Gift Cards from AARP.  I've done this many times before, but for some reason it's not allowing the transaction to go through. Called them up and they say try this and try that, which I understand is procedure, but every time I try and it bombs, it's adding $1800 to my pending credit card bill!!   Tried 8 ties and boom that's nearly $15,000 in pending charges.  They can't remove them and my credit card company says they can't remove them.  I only hope that there's no emergency in the next 30 days cause my credit card is now all but useless!!!   More frustrated than anything, thanks for listening!!

I had this same issue a couple months ago. Couldn't buy any gift cards, no matter what I did or how many credit cards I used. I contacted them through chat, they asked all the usual questions, and eventually told me they would send my complaint to their "elevated team". After a week, they emailed me and said they fixed the issue. The email said if I had any issues, to contact them:  "If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email (consumercare@aarp.org) or telephone a member of the Consumer Care Ombudsman team at (877) 634-8313." But I haven't had any issues since.

[ULCajunCruiser]

1 hour ago, tw67 said:

I understand that reasoning, but we cruise anywhere from 2-4 times a year. We know what we spend money on. The cost of the cruise is the cost of the cruise. I don’t say to myself I am saving 10% so I will do a balcony instead of an inside. We do at least one specialty dining. We get 10% off that. We will do CHEERS, so another 10% there. We don’t buy a lot on the ship, but we do gamble. Plus we can withdraw through a slot machine what we don’t use. I spent less on the NCL ship because we didn’t gamble much because we went with a large family group.

Exactly!!  I save 10% off of the stuff I buy.  It's not an incentive to buy more stuff!!!

[ULCajunCruiser]

1 minute ago, krissyj89 said:

I had this same issue a couple months ago. Couldn't buy any gift cards, no matter what I did or how many credit cards I used. I contacted them through chat, they asked all the usual questions, and eventually told me they would send my complaint to their "elevated team". After a week, they emailed me and said they fixed the issue. The email said if I had any issues, to contact them:  "If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email (consumercare@aarp.org) or telephone a member of the Consumer Care Ombudsman team at (877) 634-8313." But I haven't had any issues since.

Well great, I hope that happens for me.  Thanks for the encouraging news, and for the contact info if they drag their feet!!

[ninjacat123]

I’m not buying more “stuff” because I got 10% off, or am I??? Good question because perception is what it is, and numbers can be skewed to make one think they are getting a deal. Vacations are hard to keep a rein on budget-wise with or without a discount.

[Petersonfcu]

15 hours ago, krissyj89 said:

I had this same issue a couple months ago. Couldn't buy any gift cards, no matter what I did or how many credit cards I used. I contacted them through chat, they asked all the usual questions, and eventually told me they would send my complaint to their "elevated team". After a week, they emailed me and said they fixed the issue. The email said if I had any issues, to contact them:  "If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email (consumercare@aarp.org) or telephone a member of the Consumer Care Ombudsman team at (877) 634-8313." But I haven't had any issues since.

+1  I had exactly the same problem, with the exact same resolution, over the course of the last few months.  When every one of my credit card stopped  workinging  on AARP, I had  to get ahold of a live AARP customer service rep, then had to convince them that all my credit card data matched my AARP membership data, and then they "elevated" the issue,  and then my credit cards started working again to buy AARP gift cards.  It took over two months though from problem to solution.

Edited March 12 by Petersonfcu

[Petersonfcu]

23 hours ago, wareaglefan444 said:

Thanks for letting me know, i will look into this

I do exactly what n6uqq does:  buy the Carnival GCs with my BofA Cash Rewards card where it codes as an "online purchase."  You can get an even better return if you keep $100k in an account at BofA (in my case, I have a no fee self-directed IRA with Merrill Lynch, which is owned by BofA), and then all your BofA credit card cash back is bumped up 75%.  So I get 5.25% cash back on my BofA Cash Rewards purchases of Carnival Gift Cards.  10% discount plus 5.25% cash back. . . what is not to like about AARP Carnival Gift Cards!

[ULCajunCruiser]

I have not heard back from AARP, but I went ahead and tried again.   No problem, did exactly what i did yesterday and it went straight thru without any issues!  Go figure???

[ninjacat123]

41 minutes ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

I have not heard back from AARP, but I went ahead and tried again.   No problem, did exactly what i did yesterday and it went straight thru without any issues!  Go figure???

Yay!!

[KaiBlue]

On 3/5/2024 at 4:25 PM, ski_mom said:

I see AARP sells Princess cards as well (they just have an 8% discount though) - can they be used basically like the Carnival - to pay on your booking, while on board, etc?

 

 

In my very limited knowledge of how Princess does things (working up to our first Princess cruise next year and starting to do some early planning), you can't use their cards for extras (no option to use them for excursions, wifi, gratuities that I wanted to pay now to lock in the rate).  Seems like you can only pay the cruise portion itself with gift cards.   But I do find the entire Princess online/app experience to be completely nonintuitive so perhaps I'm missing something.  

[mfs2k]

I’m buying all the gift cards I need, to apply to payments when due, for my cruise final payment, beverage and WiFi packages. I’ll save $500 plus earn credit card points. 
I think the $9 a year AARP membership is worth it. 

[Mangrove Snapper]

On 3/11/2024 at 5:01 PM, ChinaShrek said:

My theory is that people will spend more with gift cards then they would if paying with cash. With gift cards, they "think" they are saving 10% so they spend more. 

 

I buy the gift card(s) and apply the amounts right away for whatever is needed so, no, I'm not spending more.

 

I just booked on Monday and the deposit came to $576.  I bought a $500 card and $100 card which came to $540 and used them to pay for the deposit.  I have $26 left which will later be applied to the balance or to a Wi-Fi or Bottomless Bubbles package.  I would have spent more if I just paid $576 using a credit card. 

 

I found out about the AARP cards after I had already paid the balance on our first Carnival cruise.  I could have saved $500.  But I was able to use them for our internet and drink packages and shore excursions.  I'm buying these anyway so why not save 10% while doing so?

[ChinaShrek]

48 minutes ago, Mangrove Snapper said:

 

I buy the gift card(s) and apply the amounts right away for whatever is needed so, no, I'm not spending more.

 

I just booked on Monday and the deposit came to $576.  I bought a $500 card and $100 card which came to $540 and used them to pay for the deposit.  I have $26 left which will later be applied to the balance or to a Wi-Fi or Bottomless Bubbles package.  I would have spent more if I just paid $576 using a credit card. 

 

I found out about the AARP cards after I had already paid the balance on our first Carnival cruise.  I could have saved $500.  But I was able to use them for our internet and drink packages and shore excursions.  I'm buying these anyway so why not save 10% while doing so?

Yes, that makes perfect sense but it doesn't always work that way. For example, one day I realized that I had spent $500 in the casino but in my mind I kept saying to myself that I only spent $450, so I can actually spend more than that because of my 10% savings. I ended up spending $600 ($540 after the discount) in the casino because of the 10% "savings." If gift cards didn't exist, I would have only spend $450.

[Mangrove Snapper]

1 minute ago, ChinaShrek said:

Yes, that makes perfect sense but it doesn't always work that way. For example, one day I realized that I had spent $500 in the casino but in my mind I kept saying to myself that I only spent $450, so I can actually spend more than that because of my 10% savings. I ended up spending $600 ($540 after the discount) in the casino because of the 10% "savings." If gift cards didn't exist, I would have only spend $450.

 

I see what you mean.  I haven't used them in that way (yet) but I can see how that could happen.  I've definitely done the "2 for a price" sales in supermarkets when I haven't actually needed two of the item, so I get it. 

[ninjacat123]

4 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

Yes, that makes perfect sense but it doesn't always work that way. For example, one day I realized that I had spent $500 in the casino but in my mind I kept saying to myself that I only spent $450, so I can actually spend more than that because of my 10% savings. I ended up spending $600 ($540 after the discount) in the casino because of the 10% "savings." If gift cards didn't exist, I would have only spend $450.

And that is where my brain goes as well! I love saving 10% on practically everything Carnival but a little voice in my head says "now you have more money to spend, muahhhh (evil laugh)". 🤣

[ChinaShrek]

2 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

And that is where my brain goes as well! I love saving 10% on practically everything Carnival but a little voice in my head says "now you have more money to spend, muahhhh (evil laugh)". 🤣

Yes, that's my point! I don't know how to avoid it.