AARP Gift Cards

[mcrcruiser]

We will buy $800  AARP  gift cards to pay gratuities for our 18 day Hawaii cruise & some OBCs for speciality restaurants . Our question is should we have our TA apply the Gift Cards for on board credit or to take the gift cards numbers & pin numbers & when on board go to customer relations  & have them apply the gift cards ?

[crystalspin]

Probably easier and less chance of error for the TA to do it from shoreside. If you e-mail her the  confirmation, she can cut and paste and not transcribe AND you won't have to stand in line at the Front Desk on board.

[mcrcruiser]

5 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Probably easier and less chance of error for the TA to do it from shoreside. If you e-mail her the  confirmation, she can cut and paste and not transcribe AND you won't have to stand in line at the Front Desk on board.

thanks Crystal . We will send the TA the e-mail as we get closer in to the Jan 28 ,2025 Hawaii cruise . Your 35 day cruise to Hawaii & Tahiti  follows us . Wish we could have done that cruise but ,after die consideration Iwe came to the conclusion our ages would not work for such a distant cruise if in the event od illness how would we get back . you will have a grand time on that ctuise .I followed the one earlier this year on the board here & people had a wonderful time . toy certainly will enjoy your cruise 

Cliff

[Real NHDOC]

Never had an issue applying GC balances to our onboard account during a cruise.  You can time your visit to Guest Services to be when there is no line and they can do it in just a couple of minutes.  If you are in a Neptune Suite the concierge can do it for you too. 

 

They all seem to be very familiar with the process now.  So either way would be fine.  I would personally choose to do it on the ship myself rather than put it in the hands of a TA and hope that it shows up on the folio once aboard...but that's me. 

Edited April 17 by Real NHDOC

[CNSJ]

Since you are using the gift cards for gratuities and other OBC expenses, you can add them to your account yourself as long as it's a week or so before you sail.  Just logon to HAL website, select 'my account', 'my bookings,' 'extras', and then "On Board Credit.' Buy OBC in any amount in increments of $5, $25, $50, or $100.  You would buy eight $100.  Then checkout using your gift card to pay.  You can see your OBC purchase just like other pre-cruise purchases.

 

If you cancel cruise, they refund back to your gift cards.

Edited April 17 by CNSJ
typo

[Sea42]

3 minutes ago, CNSJ said:

Since you are using the gift cards for gratuities and other OBC expenses, you can add them to your account yourself as long as it's a week or so before you sail.  Just logon to HAL website, select 'my account', 'my bookings,' 'extras', and then "On Board Credit.' Buy OBC in any amount in increments of $5, $25, $50, or $100.  You would buy eight $100.  Then checkout using your gift card to pay.  You can see your OBC purchase just like other pre-cruise purchases.

 

If you cancel cruise, they refund back to your gift cards.

The OP is asking about using gift cards that are sold by AARP to be used for HAL. They can be purchased for a 10% discount.

[CNSJ]

6 hours ago, Sea42 said:

The OP is asking about using gift cards that are sold by AARP to be used for HAL. They can be purchased for a 10% discount.

Yes.  This is what I am talking about.  You can use the AARP purchased HAL Gift Cards on HALs website to buy/pay for just about anything, cruises, specialty dining, internet access, spa time, and just plain old OBC. No need to wait until on ship or go through your TA, unless you are paying for cruise fare.

[Real NHDOC]

As a side note to this - be sure you bring all of the email confirmation of anything you "prepurchase" with you on the cruise because I personally have experienced situations where these items did not show up on our account and had to present the emails as proof. And it still took several days for them to find and apply them correctly.

 

This happened as recently as last month on Nieuw Statendam with some prepurchased spa services but I have had it in the past with OBC, gratuities and wine packages prepurchaed.  That's why I recommend just doing it onboard.  If you apply the GC onboard they show up the instant the Guest Services representative enters them.

[YourWorldWithBill]

On 4/17/2024 at 1:48 PM, CNSJ said:

Yes.  This is what I am talking about.  You can use the AARP purchased HAL Gift Cards on HALs website to buy/pay for just about anything, cruises, specialty dining, internet access, spa time, and just plain old OBC. No need to wait until on ship or go through your TA, unless you are paying for cruise fare.

Previously I used the AARP gift cards to purchase casino chips before boarding; these were then on my account and could be picked up. I was advised to use this method, as there was a problem buying OBC with the AARP and then using that OBC to purchase chips.

 

That method of purchasing chips online is no longer available.

If I use the AARP gift card to purchase OBC, does anyone know whether there would be a problem buying chips with that credit? I don't imagine there would be, because OBC is just OBC, but...

[POA1]

2 hours ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Previously I used the AARP gift cards to purchase casino chips before boarding; these were then on my account and could be picked up. I was advised to use this method, as there was a problem buying OBC with the AARP and then using that OBC to purchase chips.

 

That method of purchasing chips online is no longer available.

If I use the AARP gift card to purchase OBC, does anyone know whether there would be a problem buying chips with that credit? I don't imagine there would be, because OBC is just OBC, but...

Not at all. We just did it on the Rotterdam earlier this month.

 

(1) We set aside some OBC that we earmarked for the casino.

 

(2) We went to the the casino cage and got cash for our OBC.

 

(3) We took the cash to the table.

 

(4) Turned the cash into chips.

 

(5) Turned the chips into losses.

 

It was slightly slower than lighting the money on fire, but not by much.

[YourWorldWithBill]

8 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Not at all. We just did it on the Rotterdam earlier this month.

 

(1) We set aside some OBC that we earmarked for the casino.

 

(2) We went to the the casino cage and got cash for our OBC.

 

(3) We took the cash to the table.

 

(4) Turned the cash into chips.

 

(5) Turned the chips into losses.

 

It was slightly slower than lighting the money on fire, but not by much.

Thanks; I'll be buying some AARP cards soon.

 

About (4) and (5): It's just magic! I wish I had that magic power. I have nothing to with it, the chips just disappear without any effort on my part. One minute they're in front of me, appearing to be real and to have some value, the next minute I'm wondering what went wrong. It's obviously something to do with the chips themselves, and I don't even cruise on Disney.

[BermudaBound2014]

I realize this post is not going to be popular, but I want to offer  a gentle reminder that there are zero consumer protections with gift cards. Should something happen to the company, the gift cards become worthless. As in, zero value. Likely not covered under any CC or insurance policy either as solvency is exempt

 

That isn’t to say that I don’t purchase and use HAL gift cards, but I do so at the very last minute. I have cruises booked in 2025 and 2026 and I wouldn’t dream of purchasing gift cards this far in advance. There are work arounds to the 5 gift card limit per month so that you can purchase all the gift cards needed to pay off a cruise during the month of final payment.

 

As always, feel free to ignore anything I type. Just putting that reminder out there for folks who may not be aware.

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

Edited to add: My point is that no matter how small the risk is, gift cards ALWAYS come with some risk. I’m not necessarily risk intolerant, but in the case of Hal gift cards mediating the risk is fairly simple, so why not? 

[YourWorldWithBill]

40 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I realize this post is not going to be popular, but I want to offer  a gentle reminder that there are zero consumer protections with gift cards. Should something happen to the company, the gift cards become worthless. As in, zero value. Likely not covered under any CC or insurance policy either as solvency is exempt

 

That isn’t to say that I don’t purchase and use HAL gift cards, but I do so at the very last minute. I have cruises booked in 2025 and 2026 and I wouldn’t dream of purchasing gift cards this far in advance. There are work arounds to the 5 gift card limit per month so that you can purchase all the gift cards needed to pay off a cruise during the month of final payment.

 

As always, feel free to ignore anything I type. Just putting that reminder out there for folks who may not be aware.

I purchase about two days before leaving!

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

I purchase about two days before leaving!

That would work if you are just using the AARP gift cards to buy OBC, but I use them to pay my entire cruise. I need to expose myself to the risk at final payment.  10% of a 10,000 trip is $1,000 savings which is worth the risk to me, especially that close to sailing. 

 

I’m sure most people are aware that you can also purchase AARP gift cards while you are physically onboard and walk the virtual cards to guest services where they will be applied immediately :). 

[Ileneilene123]

If we use AARP gift cards to pre purchase internet and still have money left on one card, can we ask our PCC to add this amount to on board credit? Or, take the card on the cruise to do this after we board?
 

Would this need to be added to shipboard credit in increments of $5, $25, etc, or just the total amount that is left to clear the card? 

[POA1]

2 hours ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

I purchase about two days before leaving!

The latest you can make pre-cruise purchases of HAL OBC - or any other secondary flow item is 3 or 4 days before sailing. All the purchase info gets transmitted to the ship a few days before sailing. You can still redeem the cards at guest services on the ship after you board

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I’m sure most people are aware that you can also purchase AARP gift cards while you are physically onboard and walk the virtual cards to guest services where they will be applied immediately :). 

I've been hesitant to do that, as I use my AmEx card to cover insurance for the cruise, and although I asked whether they would cover if I paid for gift cards, I didn't get a clear answer. So, I'm just paying with the card.

 

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

The latest you can make pre-cruise purchases of HAL OBC - or any other secondary flow item is 3 or 4 days before sailing. All the purchase info gets transmitted to the ship a few days before sailing. You can still redeem the cards at guest services on the ship after you board

Thanks for that reminder.

[Dancing Shoes]

That's why I use my Visa to pay for our cruises because of the insurance.  If we took out a policy, then I would buy extra AARP gift cards to pay for the cruise.

Edited April 20 by Dancing Shoes

[TAW1963]

7 hours ago, Dancing Shoes said:

That's why I use my Visa to pay for our cruises because of the insurance.  If we took out a policy, then I would buy extra AARP gift cards to pay for the cruise.

I also worry about using gift cards to pay for the cruise fare and having outside travel insurance (CC, purchased, etc) reimburse if a cancellation has to be made.  Therefore, I purchase the HAL CFAR plan (or Princess CFAR plan for cruises on PCL), and then purchase my AARP gift cards as close to final payment as possible and use them to pay for the cruise fare.  In effect, the 10% reduction in the gift cards, pays for the CFAR protection and I have the comfort of knowing that I can cancel, if needed, right up to embarkation day. 

 

In January, my DW and I had to cancel a cruise with Princess that was paid for with AARP gift cards.  We had purchased the Princess Platinum plan, which reimburses 100% of the cruise, either as future cruise credits or cash depending on whether or not it was canceled for a certain reason (medical, etc).   My father-in-law had open heart surgery with complications.  We could have received our reimbursement as cash since it was a covered reason, but to simplify, I just had them reimburse as future cruise credits.  We had zero loss.  With HAL, we would have had a 10% loss due to their highest level CFAR protection plan only reimbursing 90%.  A note here, they do not reimburse back to the gift cards at this point.

 

BTW, it looks like we are both from Idaho!  I am just in the opposite side of the state.

Edited April 20 by TAW1963

[CNSJ]

1 hour ago, TAW1963 said:

In effect, the 10% reduction in the gift cards, pays for the CFAR protection and I have the comfort of knowing that I can cancel, if needed, right up to embarkation day. 

This is a good strategy.  

[BermudaBound2014]

I hesitated to bring up the subject of trip insurance on this thread because it’s a rabbit hole. Obviously, the largest discount on aarp gift cards comes when you pay off a big ticket cruise fare, but that does involve understanding their T&C, particularly how gift cards relate to insurance coverage. 

 

 I use the insurance provided by chase sapphire preferred, and if I recall correctly the policy itself was nearly 100 pages of technical language. It was no fun to read but I learned a lot. The actual policy directly contradicted information I received from a chase sapphire insurance specialist, so never trust the phone rep.

 

AARP Gift cards can offer substantial savings, but they come with zero consumer protection. Buyer be informed.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20 by BermudaBound2014

[YourWorldWithBill]

44 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 I use the insurance provided by chase sapphire preferred, and if I recall correctly the policy itself was nearly 100 pages of technical language. It was no fun to read but I learned a lot. The actual policy directly contradicted information I received from a chase sapphire insurance specialist, so never trust the phone rep.

A bit tragic that probably none of us are surprised by that.

[cruisinsusin]

On 4/19/2024 at 10:13 PM, YourWorldWithBill said:

I've been hesitant to do that, as I use my AmEx card to cover insurance for the cruise, and although I asked whether they would cover if I paid for gift cards, I didn't get a clear answer. So, I'm just paying with the card.

 

Thanks for that reminder.

The way I read the Amex travel insurance specs is that the entire trip must be paid with the Amex card so gift cards would make me uneasy, whereas the Chase Sapphire reserve travel insurance  specs say "all or part" must be paid with the Chase card. Might be a good question for Steve in the TripInsurance store

[cruisinsusin]

20 minutes ago, cruisinsusin said:

The way I read the Amex travel insurance specs is that the entire trip must be paid with the Amex card so gift cards would make me uneasy, whereas the Chase Sapphire reserve travel insurance  specs say "all or part" must be paid with the Chase card. Might be a good question for Steve in the TripInsurance store

too late to edit the above but adding that there seem to be 2 issues:

1st: is the gift card paid portion of the cruise fare insured using Chase since the specs say "all or part" paid with the Reserve card.  2nd: Are the gift cards refunded byHAL if cruise is canceled before final payment