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AARP Carnival Gift Cards


helene109
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Cards haven't returned yet.

 

So for those of you who've used the gift cards and had your cruise cancelled because of COVID, did they send you a new gift card for any of the refundable items? I know that's usually the way it goes, but wasn't sure if anything changed with this cancellation process.

 

We lost our Jan. 4 cruise and will be opting to re-book + OBC. But we used gift cards for FTTF and Cruise Cash. Since FTTF is refundable, I'm assuming it'll come in the form of a new gift card. Our PVP said we have to officially choose one of the options first (refund or re-book) to trigger the process.

 

Cruise Cash is typically non-refundable, but I'm hoping they're refunding it given the circumstances. Anyone have any experience there? I didn't think to ask our PVP about it.

 

Edited to add: I just reread the email response from our PVP a week ago and he did mention that the Cruise Cash would be refunded along with the FTTF. I hope he's right about that.

Edited by Organized Chaos
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32 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

Cards haven't returned yet.

 

So for those of you who've used the gift cards and had your cruise cancelled because of COVID, did they send you a new gift card for any of the refundable items? I know that's usually the way it goes, but wasn't sure if anything changed with this cancellation process.

 

We lost our Jan. 4 cruise and will be opting to re-book + OBC. But we used gift cards for FTTF and Cruise Cash. Since FTTF is refundable, I'm assuming it'll come in the form of a new gift card. Our PVP said we have to officially choose one of the options first (refund or re-book) to trigger the process.

 

Cruise Cash is typically non-refundable, but I'm hoping they're refunding it given the circumstances. Anyone have any experience there? I didn't think to ask our PVP about it.

 

Edited to add: I just reread the email response from our PVP a week ago and he did mention that the Cruise Cash would be refunded along with the FTTF. I hope he's right about that.

We were returned our leftover amount on new cards after the price of a new cruise was lower than the original. 

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1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

Cards haven't returned yet.

 

So for those of you who've used the gift cards and had your cruise cancelled because of COVID, did they send you a new gift card for any of the refundable items? I know that's usually the way it goes, but wasn't sure if anything changed with this cancellation process.

 

We lost our Jan. 4 cruise and will be opting to re-book + OBC. But we used gift cards for FTTF and Cruise Cash. Since FTTF is refundable, I'm assuming it'll come in the form of a new gift card. Our PVP said we have to officially choose one of the options first (refund or re-book) to trigger the process.

 

Cruise Cash is typically non-refundable, but I'm hoping they're refunding it given the circumstances. Anyone have any experience there? I didn't think to ask our PVP about it.

 

Edited to add: I just reread the email response from our PVP a week ago and he did mention that the Cruise Cash would be refunded along with the FTTF. I hope he's right about that.


New gift cards for refunds. I got one last week. I have one set to arrive New Year’s Eve. And I should have another coming after that.

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14 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

Cards haven't returned yet.

 

So for those of you who've used the gift cards and had your cruise cancelled because of COVID, did they send you a new gift card for any of the refundable items? I know that's usually the way it goes, but wasn't sure if anything changed with this cancellation process.

 

We lost our Jan. 4 cruise and will be opting to re-book + OBC. But we used gift cards for FTTF and Cruise Cash. Since FTTF is refundable, I'm assuming it'll come in the form of a new gift card. Our PVP said we have to officially choose one of the options first (refund or re-book) to trigger the process.

 

Cruise Cash is typically non-refundable, but I'm hoping they're refunding it given the circumstances. Anyone have any experience there? I didn't think to ask our PVP about it.

 

Edited to add: I just reread the email response from our PVP a week ago and he did mention that the Cruise Cash would be refunded along with the FTTF. I hope he's right about that.

Why not just put up a gift card against your OBC? Then you dont have to worry about buying the cruise cash

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2 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

TUNEUP2020

Thanks Megan!

 

As somebody here pushed me to check AARP out again, thought I would make a couple of observations.

 

First, about the Carnival gift cards.  They are located in the "members only" section, which I presume means you have to be an AARP member to buy them.  They are offered at a ten percent discount, and you don't need any points to get the discount.  The website says you are limited to five transactions a month.

 

One other interesting note.  Interesting to me, anyways.   The AARP website "members only" section is offering gift cards to numerous grocery stores, among them Albertsons, Safeway, Kroger, Ralphs, Shaws, and Food4Less.   The gift cards are in various denominations, and the discount is 12 %.   I bought one of these for Albertsons.  It came as an ecert in three minutes to my email.   I printed it and took it shopping, and the cashier knew what to do with  it so it was eazy peazy to redeem.  Since we shop a lot at Albertson's, this is an absolute no brainer.   I am trying to decide whether to stock up on these since I have no idea if these are a permanent AARP feature or what.

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a couple of concurrent deals right now for those of you interested in joining AARP for the members only gift card deals.   

 

you can use a shopping portal called swagbucks to purchase your membership.   You get 1500 points back which is enough for $15 in various gift cards (the membership costs $12)

 

you can also stack with a current chase offer.   If you have any chase debit/credit cards you can activate an offer for $8 off your membership.    

 

in total you pay $12 for the membership, get $8 as a statement credit from chase and $15 worth of gift cards from swagbucks 

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21 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

We were returned our leftover amount on new cards after the price of a new cruise was lower than the original. 

 

We're not going to get that, unfortunately. We booked this one back in April when they were running some good sales. So in addition to being off-peak season, we got a really good deal on it. That was great at the time, but now it's going to bite us in the butt because everything's more expensive. LOL Even the exact same ship/itinerary. Not to mention we're getting into peak season once they return, so everything's higher.

 

I had really hoped to go on one of their first cruises back, but that's hard to predict at this point. That and my wife fears her work isn't going to let her go on a cruise during all these spikes (if they start up again). They think the mere act of leaving the country makes it more dangerous. We were on the Horizon's last cruise before the shutdown. Our itinerary had a total of 6 cases back then, spread out over 4 ports of call. Zero cases onboard. We came back to, and drove through, states that had 100+ cases. We were less exposed on the cruise, and in our ports, but they still made her quarantine. Yet they let one of their managers go to FL on vacation in July when FL was experiencing their most cases ever at the time, and they didn't even make him quarantine when he got back. Just because we left the country and that freaked them out. So she doesn't think they'll let her go anytime soon. I told her it doesn't hurt to ask and if they say no, fight it. Tell them they let the manager go to FL with thousands of cases and never had to quarantine. We'll be going on a cruise that has more safety measures than any business around here, by far. Ships that had to jump through dozens of CDC hoops to prevent exposure. We'd go to countries with far fewer cases than any state in the U.S., plus Carnival will have measures in place to decrease exposure there, too. They wouldn't have a problem with her going on vacation in the U.S. where there's a much bigger chance of exposure, yet they might be against a cruise where we'll have much less of a chance. Just because we'd leave the country. It just shows their ignorance.

 

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21 hours ago, bury me at sea said:

OC, cruise cash WILL be refunded in the form of a gift card since that is how you paid for it. 

 

Once you are on board it becomes non-refundable.  Use it or lose it at that point.

 

Cool. I didn't know we had to be onboard first before it became non-refundable. Makes sense though. Thank you.

 

8 hours ago, Galatz said:

Why not just put up a gift card against your OBC? Then you dont have to worry about buying the cruise cash

 

I like the convenience of Cruise Cash and not having to go deposit funds. I've always used a cash S&S account, but if I use gift cards, I'd still have to go to Guest Services (I can never get gift cards to work at the kiosks). A few cruises ago, they started forcing me to deposit funds at the Guest Services counter in the terminal and wouldn't let me wait until I got onboard. No matter what I said, they made me do it. I don't have a credit card, just a debit card, and I've never bothered to add that to my S&S. I've always been a cash guy. So I started buying Cruise Cash. My thought was, with funds already on the account, they'd let me skip that step at the terminal, but even that didn't work. They still made me do it. So at this point I think I'm just going to put my debit card on there and that'll definitely prevent them from making me do it at the terminal. I feel like Carnival is secure, and I'm not the type who overspends, so I don't worry about my debit card. I just rarely use it.

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4 hours ago, Calnev1 said:

As somebody here pushed me to check AARP out again, thought I would make a couple of observations.

 

2 hours ago, Dangjr213 said:

you can use a shopping portal called swagbucks to purchase your membership.   You get 1500 points back which is enough for $15 in various gift cards (the membership costs $12)

 

We've been members for almost 3 years now. The nice thing is, you don't have to be 50 anymore. We're not (quite yet). We got a good deal on our renewal during the 2019 Black Friday sales. 3 years for $10/year.

 

We drive to all of our cruises and rent a car, so between the car rental & hotel, the money we save on those through AARP easily pays for our membership, and then some.

 

There used to be a huge AARP thread here, like this one, but it died off when they switched over to a new rewards company. They used to use the exact same company as Allstate, so everything was the same between the two. The one they went with is much worse, in my opinion, but I have to admit, their e-gift cards are a nice option. There's been times when we were in a pinch and wanted a card right away, so AARP came in handy. With that said, I think it was wrong of them to move the Carnival cards to members only. They know how popular they are, so that was nothing more than a move to try to gain more members. I know it backfired in the beginning because a lot of people refused to renew after the change.

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On 12/30/2020 at 1:52 PM, Calnev1 said:

Thanks Megan!

 

As somebody here pushed me to check AARP out again, thought I would make a couple of observations.

 

First, about the Carnival gift cards.  They are located in the "members only" section, which I presume means you have to be an AARP member to buy them.  They are offered at a ten percent discount, and you don't need any points to get the discount.  The website says you are limited to five transactions a month.

 

One other interesting note.  Interesting to me, anyways.   The AARP website "members only" section is offering gift cards to numerous grocery stores, among them Albertsons, Safeway, Kroger, Ralphs, Shaws, and Food4Less.   The gift cards are in various denominations, and the discount is 12 %.   I bought one of these for Albertsons.  It came as an ecert in three minutes to my email.   I printed it and took it shopping, and the cashier knew what to do with  it so it was eazy peazy to redeem.  Since we shop a lot at Albertson's, this is an absolute no brainer.   I am trying to decide whether to stock up on these since I have no idea if these are a permanent AARP feature or what.

 

I am not as familiar with those grocery stores but just a thought about what works near me. 

 

ShopRite and Stop N Shop/Giant will let you use their store gift cards to buy other gift cards (some cashiers will say no, but in general it will work). SNS/Giant offer 1% back toward grocery purchases and sometimes offer specials of up to 4% back. So if you grocery works the same, you could buy a gift card at 12% off, buy a Carnival gift card there with it, and then get grocery rewards, and save even more.

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A while back this topic floated off into other topics and it's doing so again re Cruise cash, AARP etc. I was asked to keep it on topic so people can find codes. It's either about Allstate cards or its a general thread???

 

Alternatively I can lock this one, start Allstate thread #2 to start the new year and keep it on topic?

 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Host Carolyn said:

A while back this topic floated off into other topics and it's doing so again re Cruise cash, AARP etc. I was asked to keep it on topic so people can find codes. It's either about Allstate cards or its a general thread???

 

Alternatively I can lock this one, start Allstate thread #2 to start the new year and keep it on topic?

 

 

 

Maybe wait a few days?  Carnival gift cards have disappeared from Allstate, but we expect that to be termporary and there is a good chance Allstate will restock them next week.  In that case, the primary purpose of this thread (Allstate codes for Carnival gift cards) will again naturally become the focus.   But if Allstate does not restock Carnival soon then, yes, the focus of this thread will change entirely.  AARP has the Carnival gift cards . . . but you don't need points (or codes) to get them.

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20 minutes ago, Host Carolyn said:

A while back this topic floated off into other topics and it's doing so again re Cruise cash, AARP etc. I was asked to keep it on topic so people can find codes. It's either about Allstate cards or its a general thread???

 

Alternatively I can lock this one, start Allstate thread #2 to start the new year and keep it on topic?

 

 

 

It's my opinion that this valuable thread has been over 95% dedicated to Allstate as a source of Carnival gift cards.

 

Natural offshoots about other sources and about other cards offered by Allstate pop up from time to time.  I believe they do not detract in the slightest from the purpose of this thread.

Edited by bury me at sea
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43 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

It's my opinion that this valuable thread has been over 95% dedicated to Allstate as a source of Carnival gift cards.

 

Natural offshoots about other sources and about other cards offered by Allstate pop up from time to time.  I believe they do not detract in the slightest from the purpose of this thread.

+1

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2 hours ago, Host Carolyn said:

A while back this topic floated off into other topics and it's doing so again re Cruise cash, AARP etc. I was asked to keep it on topic so people can find codes. It's either about Allstate cards or its a general thread???

 

Alternatively I can lock this one, start Allstate thread #2 to start the new year and keep it on topic?

 

 

 

Wow, guess there is no room for conversation.

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