How do I get a carnival gift card thru Verizon Smart Rewards?

[Tammytam]

I've read so much about verizon smart rewards and read about people saying that you can turn in points earned to redeem a carnival gift card. So, I decided to try it. I registered online and found out how many points I have. I then tried searching for carnival gift cards to find none :(

 

Can anyone help or assist me in how to do this? Thanks in advance.

[denrusk]

They are currently not available. I read somewhere there was a security issue with the online codes and they will be available again when they get it taken care of. They have not been available for a few weeks now.

[jenne252]

I have been looking daily also, but they arent available.

 

I have 141,800 Verizon points. Unfortunately they are basically a joke, as is the entire Smart Rewards program.

 

You can use 1000 points to get a $100 Carnival gift card for $90. So, $10 off. Our balance after $600 deposit is $1,097 so theoretically I could use less than 10% of my points and save $110 off my cruise.

[Tammytam]

So......the best that it gets is getting $10 off a $100 card? I couldnt opt to use ALL my points and just get a card without using money?

[Frank12]

So......the best that it gets is getting $10 off a $100 card? I couldnt opt to use ALL my points and just get a card without using money?

No. You gotta use money. The best you can do is save 10%. When they were offered you could get $500.00 worth of gift cards for 5000 points and $450.00 cash.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Frank12

[cmukid87]

So......the best that it gets is getting $10 off a $100 card? I couldnt opt to use ALL my points and just get a card without using money?

 

No. The maximum for the carnival cards is 10%, as is with all of their "travel" related gift cards.

[Tammytam]

Gotcha! Doesnt sound like that great of a deal. Is it worth it since once you register they can "track" your usage?

[jenne252]

I'm not sure. My local grocer offers the cards with 20 cents off gas for every $50 I purchase. I may just go that route so I have the physical gcs.

[Mkehlb]

Just received this in an email from Verizon.

 

 

We are currently enhancing the security features on all eGift Cards, and as a result eGift Cards have been removed and are unavailable. Regretfully, we do not have a time frame on when we will be reinstating the eGift Card features, or when the standard gift cards will become available again. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you enjoy the offers.

 

 

'It's odd because they still have cards for Avis, AutoZone and a few others. Perhaps it's only Carnival cards that are affected. I check every day and will post when I see them again.

[Mkehlb]

Just posted a new thread on the topic. I like the idea of buying the cards from the grocers. Actually, from an overall monetary perspective you save more money that way. Particularly if you pay for them with a Carnival credit card.

[jenne252]

Idk if I'm exactly saving more, for example, my car Is 14 gallons, so at 0.40 cents off per gallon for every $100 spent, is about $5.50 saved versus $10. But less hassle.

 

I really hate Verizon version of a "loyalty" program. It's virtually impossible to win any auction and the majority of the prizes in sweepstakes or auctions is a $5 gc and the best you can really do with the points is save $10 on a $100 gc. No thanks.

[winddawn]

I've read so much about verizon smart rewards and read about people saying that you can turn in points earned to redeem a carnival gift card. So, I decided to try it. I registered online and found out how many points I have. I then tried searching for carnival gift cards to find none :(

 

Can anyone help or assist me in how to do this? Thanks in advance.

I remember reading on this board a while back that some people were having trouble with the Verizon smart rewards offer. Here are a couple of previous posts that might interest you.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2138278&highlight=verizon

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2168601&highlight=verizon

[Mkehlb]

Well, I am math challenged but my husband isn't (he's an engineer). Apparently buying the carnival gift cards at Kroger doesn't save you as much money, let alone more, as buying the e-gift cards. But, even if it's a smaller percentage that you get off your gas cost, it's better than nothing!

 

Let's hope they bring the Verizon cards back soon!

[CruzCrazy]

They don't have the cards yet at my local Kroger, and, even if they did, I don't buy my gas at Kroger--ever.

 

I think 10% off using Verizon rewards is a pretty good deal. It's 10% off. I'll take it. I'd rather pay $90 than $100 or $450 instead of $500. It's money I was going to spend anyway once onboard.

 

I just hope they get the problem worked out because I was just about to pull the trigger when they went "poof."

[elbaseball212]

im also waiting on the gift cards to go back up. I was able to use them to pay my $900 deposit (2 $500 gift Cards for $900, $100 remaining balance) but my final payment is march 2nd.

 

Hope they are back up soon. 10% off is a lot for basically nothing.

[elbaseball212]

From another thread

 

"Just received this in an email from Verizon.

 

 

We are currently enhancing the security features on all eGift Cards, and as a result eGift Cards have been removed and are unavailable. Regretfully, we do not have a time frame on when we will be reinstating the eGift Card features, or when the standard gift cards will become available again. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you enjoy the offers. "

[firemanbobswife]

Just in case someone here has Citi, it will cost you 10 points to buy a $100 GC for $90. They also have them in the $50 denomination. That one costs you 5 points and $45. So same 10% savings. I just did $100 one the other night. No problems.

[firemanbobswife]

I also posted this on the other thread. If anyone is in need of Gift Cards and they can't, or don't want to wait, if you have Citi points, you can buy them for the same 10% savings.

[Artemus]

I used the Carnival Egift Cards on my previous cruise and saved $60. It was very easy and am hoping to be able to buy some again for my upcoming cruise.

[Annasreadytocruise]

We just used Citi points as well when Verizon went down. The only drawback is that you have to use your citi card so you can't get additional "miles" or use your Carnival card. For us, it didn't matter since we don't have those cards. We just had to take an extra step to pay the card since we were planning to use our debit card on Verizon. We bought $1000 in various amounts. It "cost" the same and we can add GC's as we need them and not worry about an overage. Our main goal for this cruise was to get cheers cheaper.;) We will save the rest for October and probably buy more to take with us.

[elbaseball212]

Also if you have southwest rapid rewards you can buy gift cards as well.

 

$100 for 9,400 points or $500 for 47,000 points. You can pay with all points.

 

This is really a bad point exchange but is still an option. They are only giving you $1 for every 94 points.

[imluvncruzn]

The Verizon e-gift cards were the best deal around! Saved me 10% off my Hawaii cruise which ended up being a $600 savings! I sure hope they offer them again soon!

[elainmir]

If they are enhancing the security features does that mean they had issues with them? I have over 700$ worth I'm waiting to use on my upcoming cruises..

[Frank12]

If they are enhancing the security features does that mean they had issues with them? I have over 700$ worth I'm waiting to use on my upcoming cruises..

A poster on another thread said the cards were removed because of security concerns, but did not elaborate.

[Mkehlb]

I was the poster. The info I received from Verizon was quite vague and didn't elaborate on what were the concerns. I just sent them another email to ask about possible problems with already purchased cards. Will post here when I hear from them.