aarp gift cards

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

We filled out all the information for the AARP card  on Holland America's web site  then they say send a picture . Surely they don't explain how that is done . Do they really think we old timers know all this tech stuff ?  Do we wait for our adult grand children to come & help us  ? 

 

 We do not sail Princess any longer because of what you need to know to dull out on line a bording pass electronically .  I am sure that they have lost business do to the difficulties some of us have with that new system

 

If you cannot deal with change in technology, perhaps you should not be cruising? What happens when you encounter technology while traveling? (Such as those of us who went through early post-Covid overseas sailings and had to deal with multiple countries' websites requiring us to fill in forms and upload our vaccine cards, etc.)?

 

Anyway, here are some simple instructions for attaching a document (such as a photo of your AARP card to an online form:

 

 

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

Chrome is my default, but it was giving me errors when I tried, so I moved to Edge and it worked there.  

Edge didn't work, either. Only one (that I'm aware of) I haven't tried is firefox, so I'll do that next.

Even had a friend try it, that didn't work, either. Ugh

[BermudaBound2014]

59 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

My Chase Financial Advisor and the head "Banker" at our branch, say that you are wrong. (I'm not on conversation-terms with the president!) AARP and even HAL gift cards will not be reimbursed on a claim.

 

Probably you need to wait for your grandchildren to visit.

 

Drats, I had networking plans 🙂 😄 

[Haljo1935]

3 hours ago, Sea42 said:

One problem I've seen lately is that some sites will not accept auto fill credit card entries. It may not be your issue but I thought I would mention it.

Appreciate it; I did try entering payment details myself and even tried using PayPal,  did not work. 

[bluesplayer]

18 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

HELP please! No matter what browser or equipment I am using, I cannot get the AARP HAL gift card purchase to go through.

I get a message that an error occurred & it can't be completed. Has a note to call AARP w/a phone number.

Of course, AARP could not provide assistance and said they would "send it up..."

My bank doesn't see the transactions have even been attempted  - they say the transaction is not even making it to Visa.

I've read numerous posts on the AARP site from users w/same issue going back to at least early last year.

I've used both Android & Apple phone, laptop & tablet - no go.

Used Chrome, Edge, Safari & Silk - no go.

I've turned pop up blockers off, tried w/it on - no go.

Used incognito mode - no go.

Manually entered payment details & also tried letting it auto populate - no go.

Used MC, Visa and PayPal  - no go.

Tried to buy as few as 1, as many as 3; as little as $100, as much as $500 - no go.

I've tried at 2am and 2pm and many times in between - no go.

They do show to be available and at the top is the message I've purchased 0 of 5.

What did I not try? What is the trick? What am I missing. All help and suggestions are appreciated. 

Sign out of the account.  Clear your browser.  Close your browser and sign back in.  I had the same issue.  Thanks to all that have shared info on these gift cards.  I purchased 5 and so did my husband.   SWEET

[Haljo1935]

14 minutes ago, bluesplayer said:

Sign out of the account.  Clear your browser.  Close your browser and sign back in.  I had the same issue.  Thanks to all that have shared info on these gift cards.  I purchased 5 and so did my husband.   SWEET

Thanks, I'll try again.

[Djb.zville]

I was able to get the AARP cards a few days ago.  Had some issues with the website, so call HAL, and the personal cruise consultant was able to apply them over the phone.  

[Vict0riann]

4 hours ago, Nickelpenny said:

Here you go:  https://www.aarp.org/rewards/redeem/#sort-by=default  It is down the page a bit.

 

Thanks.  That was the page I had been looking at, but I don't see anything about gift cards.  Just the AARP rewards.

[mcrcruiser]

3 hours ago, crystalspin said:

My Chase Financial Advisor and the head "Banker" at our branch, say that you are wrong. (I'm not on conversation-terms with the president!) AARP and even HAL gift cards will not be reimbursed on a claim.

 

Probably you need to wait for your grandchildren to visit.

Crystal ,so even of you can prove that the money on your chase Sapphire credit card was used to but the gift cards to save $50 each & apply it to a cruise you would not be reimbursed if had to cancel for medical or death or on the trip you were ill & had to leave .Seems to me that that would be rather a harsh punishment .nit saying you did not get info on this however it apparently has never been challenged in a court . Here in Calif a person can bring a case before a magistrate under $10,000  & no attorneys can be present on either side ,  Additionally ,how would a person know this ? Id that in the rules for the Chase sapphire credit card ;which we have not seen in print ,.It just seems pretty harsh 

 

 PS perhaps our TA will be able to get HAL to accept my AARP number .so I gave it to my TA to get one $200   on board credit ro apply to a new cruise just booked doe 18 days in 2025 .will see .Personally ,if HAL makes it too hard for people then that marketing idea will flop .  for me it is not worth going crazy got $200 if it takes too much time to learn a new trick .We asked the TA ti deal with it , I haven't heard back yet 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by mcrcruiser

[Haljo1935]

7 hours ago, WriterOnDeck said:

Works for me on Safari, not Firefox.

Firefox is the only one (I think) that I haven't tried; Safari did not work. Will do that - fingers crossed.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Haljo1935
Typo

[mcrcruiser]

1 hour ago, Djb.zville said:

I was able to get the AARP cards a few days ago.  Had some issues with the website, so call HAL, and the personal cruise consultant was able to apply them over the phone.  

Ah do there is a away around the high tech stuff of take a picture & send it lol

[Destiny0315]

5 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

We filled out all the information for the AARP card  on Holland America's web site  then they say send a picture . Surely they don't explain how that is done . Do they really think we old timers know all this tech stuff ?  Do we wait for our adult grand children to come & help us  ? 

 

 We do not sail Princess any longer because of what you need to know to dull out on line a bording pass electronically .  I am sure that they have lost business do to the difficulties some of us have with that new system

Here you go Cliff, looks like you need to renew though.😉

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Destiny0315

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

Crystal ,so even of you can prove that the money on your chase Sapphire credit card was used to but the gift cards to save $50 each & apply it to a cruise you would not be reimbursed if had to cancel for medical or death or on the trip you were ill & had to leave .Seems to me that that would be rather a harsh punishment .nit saying you did not get info on this however it apparently has never been challenged in a court . Here in Calif a person can bring a case before a magistrate under $10,000  & no attorneys can be present on either side ,  Additionally ,how would a person know this ? Id that in the rules for the Chase sapphire credit card ;which we have not seen in print 

I believe that @BermudaBound2014, Cheryl, did supply the policy in print:

"Look at the disclosure in the Chase Sapphire travel portal and you will find the following language. A gift card is not considered a payment or deposit and therefore is not eligible to be reimbursed under the CSP travel insurance...

[Mary229]

4 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

I believe that @BermudaBound2014, Cheryl, did supply the policy in print:

"Look at the disclosure in the Chase Sapphire travel portal and you will find the following language. A gift card is not considered a payment or deposit and therefore is not eligible to be reimbursed under the CSP travel insurance...

I am pretty sure Cliff was actually part of that discussion a while back.  Besides my annual health policy this is my only form of insurance and I am not going to put that in jeopardy.  

[crystalspin]

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

I am pretty sure Cliff was actually part of that discussion a while back.  Besides my annual health policy this is my only form of insurance and I am not going to put that in jeopardy.  

Yes, Chase protection is worth more than 10%. We pretty much self-insured our last B2B (it was mostly phantom COVID-cash anyway), but I will not use discounted giftcards to pay for any more cruises. I may do as Cheryl does and buy one for on board expenses, if I get around to it!

[Mary229]

10 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Yes, Chase protection is worth more than 10%. We pretty much self-insured our last B2B (it was mostly phantom COVID-cash anyway), but I will not use discounted giftcards to pay for any more cruises. I may do as Cheryl does and buy one for on board expenses, if I get around to it!

I use gift cards exclusively for all refundable expenses including those shore excursions you are booking.  Onboard if I need more I simply buy them while cruising, load the card into my apple wallet and bring my phone down to the desk. 

[BermudaBound2014]

37 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I use gift cards exclusively for all refundable expenses including those shore excursions you are booking.  Onboard if I need more I simply buy them while cruising, load the card into my apple wallet and bring my phone down to the desk. 

Exactly this ^
 

59 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I am pretty sure Cliff was actually part of that discussion a while back.

Sad. 
 

[Nickelpenny]

5 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

 

Thanks.  That was the page I had been looking at, but I don't see anything about gift cards.  Just the AARP rewards.

You have to click on "redeem" on the left side and then "all rewards". The HAL cards are about 5 or so rows down.  If you figured it out, disregard this!  🙂 

 

[islandwoman]

On 7/26/2023 at 7:36 PM, crystalspin said:

Yes, Chase protection is worth more than 10%. We pretty much self-insured our last B2B (it was mostly phantom COVID-cash anyway), but I will not use discounted giftcards to pay for any more cruises. I may do as Cheryl does and buy one for on board expenses, if I get around to it!

I found this on both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve websites:  "If your trip is cancelled or cut short by sickness, severe weather or other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours and hotels."

So I would think that if your cruise trip is going to cost more than $10,000 per person, there would be no reason not to use gift cards to pay for the over $10,000 cost.  Does anyone have other information or conclusions? I can't find anything about whether the entire trip has to be paid with the Chase card in order for the insurance to apply, have you?

[prescottbob]

Regarding the perception that using gift cards are useless / lost $ if one needs to cancel / interrupt their cruises (after final payment date) if using the AARP cards to make payments towards a cruise I received this from Steve D., the Insurance Guy:

 

"I can't speak for all companies, but all my plans will reimburse your prepaid non-refundable trip costs if you are cancelling or interrupting your trip for a covered reason.

 

However, if the cruise line is giving you your money back to the gift card, then there's no financial loss that needs reimbursing." Steve.

 

We often self-insure but, on some trips, i.e., Africa, Asia, we do get a minimal travel policy that covers the medical transport & medical which is our priority at this point in our life's.

 

Last time we needed to use some travel insurance was during COVID travel (2022). The cruise line, Viking River in that case, reimbursed us for the unused days on one cruise and insurance took care of the 5-day isolation in Paris, etc. when one of us tested positive. 

 

I realize one isn't allowed to recommend businesses on the CC board, but I would look at the Insurance Man subject line (3rd one down) on the forum main page and ask a specific question or just call Steve. He'll be glad to answer your queries without any sort of sales pressure.

 

Be well &Safe travels. 

Bob

[islandwoman]

DH and I each just bought 5 AARP HAL gift cards at aarp.org.  The purchases went through without any problems. 

The restriction is 5 per person per month.  Is that per calendar month or per 30 days?

[richwmn]

4 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

DH and I each just bought 5 AARP HAL gift cards at aarp.org.  The purchases went through without any problems. 

The restriction is 5 per person per month.  Is that per calendar month or per 30 days?

Calendar month

[BermudaBound2014]

7 hours ago, prescottbob said:

Regarding the perception that using gift cards are useless / lost $ if one needs to cancel / interrupt their cruises (after final payment date) if using the AARP cards to make payments towards a cruise I received this from Steve D., the Insurance Guy:

 

"I can't speak for all companies, but all my plans will reimburse your prepaid non-refundable trip costs if you are cancelling or interrupting your trip for a covered reason.

 

However, if the cruise line is giving you your money back to the gift card, then there's no financial loss that needs reimbursing." Steve.

 

We often self-insure but, on some trips, i.e., Africa, Asia, we do get a minimal travel policy that covers the medical transport & medical which is our priority at this point in our life's.

 

Last time we needed to use some travel insurance was during COVID travel (2022). The cruise line, Viking River in that case, reimbursed us for the unused days on one cruise and insurance took care of the 5-day isolation in Paris, etc. when one of us tested positive. 

 

I realize one isn't allowed to recommend businesses on the CC board, but I would look at the Insurance Man subject line (3rd one down) on the forum main page and ask a specific question or just call Steve. He'll be glad to answer your queries without any sort of sales pressure.

 

Be well &Safe travels. 

Bob

 

Thank you for sharing. I also spoke to Deana at Tripinsurance store (when Steve was ill). We have received mixed messages. We agree that if the cruise line is giving back the money to the gift card there is no financial loss.  My question was pertaining specifically to what happens if you are in penalty period and the cruise line is not refunding to the giftcard (specifically relating to travel insurance thru a cruise insurance policy).  I do trust Steve, and have used him for over a decade, but at this point I HIGHLY recommend is that anyone  purchasing a gift card for the purpose of paying cruise fair (or anything that incurs penalty if cancelled), please both call your insurance carrier and carefully read the terms and conditions of the policy once purchased.

 

Last week I also spoke directly to Linda who represents the insurance company that Chase Sapphire Preferred trip insurance runs thru. She was very specific that gift cards would not be reimbursed in the event I needed to enact the trip insurance coverage thru Chase Sapphire Preserve.  This is the number to chase travel insurance is1-800-356-8955. If you are planning on using Chase Sapphires trip insurance, please please please call this number and also carefully read the terms and conditions. They will forward to you a 45 page document titled "Guide to Benefits ~ Sapphire Preferred". That's a start. You will also need to read the actual binding contract once purchased. Typically insurance policies  allow for a several day grace period after purchase to give you ample time to read the technical contract. Perhaps @crystalspin can chime in with what she was told directly from chase branch. 

 

Finally, while I do realize that the likelihood of insolvency is minimal; Chase Sapphire Preferred travel insurance specifically excludes insolvency of the carrier, agent, or operator. In today's financial environment, I think this is reasonable to note.

 

I have enough information to elect to pass on the 10% discount on AARP gift cards for purchases of cruise fare that becomes non-refundable after final payment. I will use the gift cards for things like shore excursions, gratuities, and purchasing OBC. Another Caution to note regarding OBC purchased thru the gift card. There was recently a reviewer who used gift cards to purchase a beverage cards for on board beverage purchases. He did not use all the funds but lost the remaining balance as that purchase was non-refundable via the terms of the gift cards. Gift cards can be great, but they do have specific terms that aren't always pleasant for the consumer. 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by BermudaBound2014

[mcrcruiser]

On 7/26/2023 at 11:41 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

If you cannot deal with change in technology, perhaps you should not be cruising? What happens when you encounter technology while traveling? (Such as those of us who went through early post-Covid overseas sailings and had to deal with multiple countries' websites requiring us to fill in forms and upload our vaccine cards, etc.)?

 

Anyway, here are some simple instructions for attaching a document (such as a photo of your AARP card to an online form:

 

 

Oh Really  just because we are not technological  in  jow to ,we should not be cruising . Well how would you like to hear that id if were to refer to you ?

[mcrcruiser]

Just now, mcrcruiser said:

Oh Really  just because we are not technological  in  jow to ,we should not be cruising . Well how would you like to hear that id if were to refer to you ?