AARP Carnival Gift Cards

[disfan13]

3 hours ago, Mysticalbama said:

still no carnival gift cards today?

 

nope 

[Organized Chaos]

48 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

None 😞 I’m wondering since RC is giving away a cruise, they are holding out on the carnival cards in solidarity, loyalty, or something?! Just a thought 

 

I wouldn't think so. Carnival cards have always been in high demand, so I wouldn't think they'd pass up the opportunity to sell as many as they do. I think this is just how it's going to be after the influx of all the AARP users. I've know I've said it before, but in years past, we often waited a couple weeks for more, so I'm kind of using that as a forecast of what's to come. I sure don't want to go back to that, but by the looks of it, it might be the case. I went back and looked and the last time the cards were available was one week ago today ($100 & $1,000).

 

We've got a cruise in March and still want some cards. We'll go ahead and use AARP to get two this month and two next month (one for each of our accounts), then just hope Allstate comes through.

[MeganGC1983]

11 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I wouldn't think so. Carnival cards have always been in high demand, so I wouldn't think they'd pass up the opportunity to sell as many as they do. I think this is just how it's going to be after the influx of all the AARP users. I've know I've said it before, but in years past, we often waited a couple weeks for more, so I'm kind of using that as a forecast of what's to come. I sure don't want to go back to that, but by the looks of it, it might be the case. I went back and looked and the last time the cards were available was one week ago today ($100 & $1,000).

 

We've got a cruise in March and still want some cards. We'll go ahead and use AARP to get two this month and two next month (one for each of our accounts), then just hope Allstate comes through.

We cruise the end of Feb. hoping to get at least $1300 worth for Cheers, Internet and tips. 

[Organized Chaos]

2 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

We cruise the end of Feb. hoping to get at least $1300 worth for Cheers, Internet and tips. 

 

I'm optimistic that they'll be back within the next week, give or take, but no telling which denominations. The hardest part will be catching them before they're gone again.

[cmptrwiz]

I’m just throwing this out.  Today we had to cancel one of our three cabins for our Panorama cruise in March.  My MIL suffered a stroke a few days ago.  We paid for part of the cruise with Carnival Gift Cards so that is how they will refund that part of the money.  I know they don’t expire and I don't mind holding on to them, but my wife will be pushing me to get rid of them once I receive them.  I was just wondering if anybody here would be interested in purchasing them from us?  Carnival said it might take a month to get the refund on the gift cards.

[jbethel11]

19 minutes ago, cmptrwiz said:

I’m just throwing this out.  Today we had to cancel one of our three cabins for our Panorama cruise in March.  My MIL suffered a stroke a few days ago.  We paid for part of the cruise with Carnival Gift Cards so that is how they will refund that part of the money.  I know they don’t expire and I don't mind holding on to them, but my wife will be pushing me to get rid of them once I receive them.  I was just wondering if anybody here would be interested in purchasing them from us?  Carnival said it might take a month to get the refund on the gift cards.

You could sell them here, for a more "secure" transaction. I know it's ironic for me to suggest using that service, but it is specifically designed to vend gift cards. eBay also is another good option.

[cmptrwiz]

10 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

You could sell them here, for a more "secure" transaction. I know it's ironic for me to suggest using that service, but it is specifically designed to vend gift cards. eBay also is another good option.

I just thought since it was becoming so difficult to pick up gift cards from Allstate maybe somebody would like to buy direct from me.

[Petersonfcu]

10 minutes ago, cmptrwiz said:

I just thought since it was becoming so difficult to pick up gift cards from Allstate maybe somebody would like to buy direct from me.

Unfortunately, there is a trust issue in what involves an exchange of cash for an (almost) cash equivalent.  There are some protections from fraud or mistake when you use a third party like Ebay.

[Petersonfcu]

In looking for the ephemeral carnival/princess gift cards on Allstate I am of course also looking at their other gift card offerings.   Some of the gift cards are available for a whopping 25% discount, like Blimpies. I like Blimpies, but unfortunately there aren’t any near where I now live!

 

Amongst the remaining travel gift cards I noticed a new one: “Brightline” cards, also selling for 25% off.  Out of curiosity, I googled Brightline. Its a privately owned rail line that currently serves only three locations:  Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm beach. Brightline gets some rave reviews (https://onemileatatime.com/brightline-train-review/) but is not of much interest, I guess, unless you live in South Florida or, maybe, fly into Fort Lauderdale on occasion to cruise out of Miami as I do.  Not sure it would actually work in the latter situation, but the Fort Lauderdale train stop is close to the airport.

[Organized Chaos]

18 minutes ago, cmptrwiz said:

I just thought since it was becoming so difficult to pick up gift cards from Allstate maybe somebody would like to buy direct from me.

 

I appreciate the thought considering the current shortage of Allstate cards, but I could never buy them off of an individual. It's just too risky. About two years ago, Carnival was having trouble with some fraudulent gift cards making their way onto the ships. They never went into detail, but I believe it wasn't so much fraudulent cards as it was people being cheated after purchasing them from individual sellers online. I think they were buying cards that had already been emptied. There's no way to know until you get the card in hand. I don't know if they came from eBay, Raise, some other site, or a combination, but it caused some headaches. As a result, for a period of time Carnival wouldn't add any gift cards to S&S accounts without first verifying them with Carnival HQ. That process took them 24 hours, so people had to go back to Guest Services the next day. They no longer do that, but the risk is still there. By buying them from an individual seller, there's no guarantee the funds will actually be on the gift card. I'm not accusing you of anything, mind you, just pointing out the risk of this type of transaction. Again, I appreciate the consideration for the people of this thread, but that's a hard pass from me.

[Organized Chaos]

41 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

You could sell them here, for a more "secure" transaction. I know it's ironic for me to suggest using that service, but it is specifically designed to vend gift cards. eBay also is another good option.

 

Boy, you ain't a kiddin'. LOL I had to do a double-take. I thought to myself, I know that ain't jbethel promoting that site. 🤣 I get it, though, it applies in this situation.

[TomCruise48]

7 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I've know I've said it before, but in years past, we often waited a couple weeks for more, so I'm kind of using that as a forecast of what's to come. I sure don't want to go back to that, but by the looks of it, it might be the case.

When we first started buying discounted Carnival gift cards in 2016 it was through Verizon Smart Rewards, which I believe was also handled by Deluxe Rewards.  It was not unusual at that time to wait more than a week to see them available and watch them sell out in a few hours.  We found out that we could buy them through AARP Rewards as well.  It seemed that Verizon and AARP would have the cards available at the same time and sell out at the same time.  After Verizon discontinued their Smart Rewards program in mid 2017, the cards became more frequently available through AARP.  My take on this was that Deluxe Rewards had a quota from Carnival to allocate among their various programs, and when Verizon dropped out, more cards were available for AARP members.  Not sure what is happening now.

[cmptrwiz]

21 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I appreciate the thought considering the current shortage of Allstate cards, but I could never buy them off of an individual. It's just too risky. About two years ago, Carnival was having trouble with some fraudulent gift cards making their way onto the ships. They never went into detail, but I believe it wasn't so much fraudulent cards as it was people being cheated after purchasing them from individual sellers online. I think they were buying cards that had already been emptied. There's no way to know until you get the card in hand. I don't know if they came from eBay, Raise, some other site, or a combination, but it caused some headaches. As a result, for a period of time Carnival wouldn't add any gift cards to S&S accounts without first verifying them with Carnival HQ. That process took them 24 hours, so people had to go back to Guest Services the next day. They no longer do that, but the risk is still there. By buying them from an individual seller, there's no guarantee the funds will actually be on the gift card. I'm not accusing you of anything, mind you, just pointing out the risk of this type of transaction. Again, I appreciate the consideration for the people of this thread, but that's a hard pass from me.

 

Yea I understand all of the risks involved.  I guess I was just trying to help out my fellow cruisers.  If I get the cards before we leave which it sounds like we will I’ll just put them on our sail and sign and cash out at the casino whatever is left over.

[TomCruise48]

18 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

About two years ago, Carnival was having trouble with some fraudulent gift cards making their way onto the ships. 

Also about 2 years ago, someone found out that there was a pattern to the 16-digit code for the gift cards being sold.  If you purchased a few cards at the same time, you could figure out the 16-digit codes of others purchased at the same time by seeing how the last couple of digits incremented.  At that time you did not need to use the 4-digit PIN to redeem a card.  People were finding that their properly purchased card was empty because someone else had guessed the number and redeemed it.

 

I have to applaud Carnival for their response on this.  In less than two weeks, they modified their system to also require the randomly generated PIN for redemption to stop this fraud.

[Organized Chaos]

17 minutes ago, cmptrwiz said:

Yea I understand all of the risks involved.  I guess I was just trying to help out my fellow cruisers.  If I get the cards before we leave which it sounds like we will I’ll just put them on our sail and sign and cash out at the casino whatever is left over.

 

Here's to hoping you get them before your cruise and are able to cash them out, because I think that's the best way to go. Thanks for the offer though. Hope all goes well.

 

8 minutes ago, TomCruise48 said:

Also about 2 years ago, someone found out that there was a pattern to the 16-digit code for the gift cards being sold.  If you purchased a few cards at the same time, you could figure out the 16-digit codes of others purchased at the same time by seeing how the last couple of digits incremented.  At that time you did not need to use the 4-digit PIN to redeem a card.  People were finding that their properly purchased card was empty because someone else had guessed the number and redeemed it.

 

I have to applaud Carnival for their response on this.  In less than two weeks, they modified their system to also require the randomly generated PIN for redemption to stop this fraud.

 

That must've happened a little more than 2 year ago because I joined AARP Rewards for Good in April of 2017 and Allstate Rewards a month later. They've had PIN's for as long as I've used them. That was one heck of a racket they had going back then.

[TomCruise48]

8 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

That must've happened a little more than 2 year ago because I joined AARP Rewards for Good in April of 2017 and Allstate Rewards a month later. They've had PIN's for as long as I've used them. That was one heck of a racket they had going back then.

It probably was more than two years ago.  The cards always had PIN's, but back then you did not need to use the PIN to redeem them.  Whoever did that had to be really stupid or bold.  The person who legitimately purchased the card could prove they had purchased the card, and the person who illegitimately redeemed the card could be traced.  I hope the fraudster was prosecuted. 

[wantingpj]

On 1/21/2020 at 3:50 PM, E@syPe@zy said:

I'm curious....has anyone won any of the sweepstakes??  Evidently it enters me once every day that I log into my account and you can also "purchase"  entries with your points.

I won a $25 Target gift card.  I received an email.  Thought it was a scam, didn't click on the link but signed into my Allstate account and there it was. I didn't even know you could win things...

[TLC535]

Still no cards 

[Saint Greg]

Still no shipment on my UPS app. From what I've read in the other location there are others in the same boat as me. People who have ordered in the 13th-15th range with no sign of their cards. And others who received them already. I'm not in a huge hurry. I just need them in the next month.

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Saint Greg

[MeganGC1983]

Just now, Saint Greg said:

Still no shipment on my UPS app. From what I've read in the other location there are others in the same boat as me. People who have ordered in the 13th-15th range with no sign of their cards. And others who received them already.

Crap! This doesn’t sound good. 

[jhubba]

2 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Crap! This doesn’t sound good. 

Just a data point.  I ordered 2 x $500 gift cards on the 12th and I received them on the 20th.  Had to sign for them.

[EmmasNana]

I ordered on the 16th and rcvd on the 21st.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

10 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Still no shipment on my UPS app. From what I've read in the other location there are others in the same boat as me. People who have ordered in the 13th-15th range with no sign of their cards. And others who received them already. I'm not in a huge hurry. I just need them in the next month.

 

 

9 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Crap! This doesn’t sound good. 

Actually,  it does sound good.  I'm assuming the order wasn't cancelled for a refund?

 

If so, then it looks like it was sold out... but they will be able to ship it relatively soon, which means they expect to get more in.  Soon. If they didn't expect to get more in soon, they would have cancelled and given a refund.

 

Did you call and ask for a shipping date estimate?

[rukkian]

3 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

 

Actually,  it does sound good.  I'm assuming the order wasn't cancelled for a refund?

 

If so, then it looks like it was sold out... but they will be able to ship it relatively soon, which means they expect to get more in.  Soon. If they didn't expect to get more in soon, they would have cancelled and given a refund.

 

Did you call and ask for a shipping date estimate?

I am guessing you are correct, they oversold the amount they had in stock.

[Ak4n3]

I received mine last night 1/22/2020.  I ordered 1/15.