Paying for cruise with discount gift cards

[tidecat]

These are promotional cards. No one has bought them before as this is the first year for US Travel Association to offer them during their annual fundraiser. What's curious is that it also says in both the description section and the terms and conditions that the cards are good for onboard spending. I also wonder if it was an oversight given that it says "one gift cards" and not "one gift card".

 

 

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[SNJCruisers]

And you can buy up to 3 of them....for the 5 buck savings....don't think I wish to be a guinea pig.

[cmukid87]

Yes, AARP and Verizon threads are all over cruise critic. Through creative ways I have average 14% discounts on our last 2 sailings.

[janjan3839]

We also purchase the gift cards, when they are available. I have used them for cruises, sign and sail account and given them as gifts. 10% is a great savings. I also was able to add the AMEX $100 credit on a $500 purchase from Carnival, to my card. I booked my cruise yesterday, paid $500.00 and shortly thereafter got an email from American Express saying thanks for taking advantage of the offer and to look for a $100 credit on my statement. Who doesn't like to save money! I must say Cruise Critic boards a great way to find out about these offers. I really appreciate the links to deals.

[cruisingTXfamily]

Remember, with a few exceptions, travel insurers will not pay claims with fares that were paid with gift cards.

 

I wanted to share what I found out about this after seeing this post. I purchased travel insurance the same day that I made my deposit using a gift card purchased through Verizon. When I saw this post, I was worried that I could have issues. I contacted the insurance company and initially the representative I spoke with was unsure if this would present any problems or not. I also used the chat feature on insuremytrip.com and was told that no insurance company that was part of insuremytrip.com would cover any claim if the trip was paid using gift cards. I finally received written confirmation from my company today that if I have documentation to show that I paid for the gift cards (which I do have) that there would be no problem with a claim if a claim is needed. Obviously, I cannot say that this is true (or untrue) of all companies providing travel insurance, but it is fortunately true with the policy that I purchased. I appreciate the OP providing this info so that I could confirm whether this was an issue with my policy before I needed it. I would hate to find out the hard way that the company would not honor a claim simply because of my method of payment.

 

By the way, the insuremytrip.com representative was incorrect as the company that I purchase my policy from is on their site, even though I did not purchase it through their site.

[Laurab23]

I wanted to share what I found out about this after seeing this post. I purchased travel insurance the same day that I made my deposit using a gift card purchased through Verizon. When I saw this post, I was worried that I could have issues. I contacted the insurance company and initially the representative I spoke with was unsure if this would present any problems or not. I also used the chat feature on insuremytrip.com and was told that no insurance company that was part of insuremytrip.com would cover any claim if the trip was paid using gift cards. I finally received written confirmation from my company today that if I have documentation to show that I paid for the gift cards (which I do have) that there would be no problem with a claim if a claim is needed. Obviously, I cannot say that this is true (or untrue) of all companies providing travel insurance, but it is fortunately true with the policy that I purchased. I appreciate the OP providing this info so that I could confirm whether this was an issue with my policy before I needed it. I would hate to find out the hard way that the company would not honor a claim simply because of my method of payment.

 

By the way, the insuremytrip.com representative was incorrect as the company that I purchase my policy from is on their site, even though I did not purchase it through their site.

But what does your documentation say? Does it say Carnival or redemption rewards? My TA said if what I purchased said Carnival it would be ok but my credit cards says reward redemption and nothing about it being for Carnival,so I am not taking any chances and will not use it for final payment.

 

Laura

[cruisingTXfamily]

But what does your documentation say? Does it say Carnival or redemption rewards? My TA said if what I purchased said Carnival it would be ok but my credit cards says reward redemption and nothing about it being for Carnival,so I am not taking any chances and will not use it for final payment.

 

Laura

 

The receipt I received from Verizon when I purchased the gift cards shows that the purchase was for Carnival gift cards and that I paid with my credit card. The insurance company I am using said (in writing) that with documentation that I paid for the gift cards that there would be no problem if I must file a claim. Of course, this does not mean the same is true for other companies. I am saving the written statement from the insurance company just in case.

 

Ken

[chipperberg]

Thanks for the info. Sending my proof of purchase to my TA so she can check again with our travel insurance. We only get it in case we need to cancel for medical, with two little ones I stress over that a bit..

 

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[bUU]

We also purchase the gift cards, when they are available. I have used them for cruises, sign and sail account and given them as gifts. 10% is a great savings. I also was able to add the AMEX $100 credit on a $500 purchase from Carnival, to my card. I booked my cruise yesterday, paid $500.00 and shortly thereafter got an email from American Express saying thanks for taking advantage of the offer and to look for a $100 credit on my statement. Who doesn't like to save money! I must say Cruise Critic boards a great way to find out about these offers. I really appreciate the links to deals.

I managed to get that bonus twice this week; my AMEX and my spouse's, on two separate CCL cruises.

 

It is pretty frustrating though to know that if I just learned about these gift cards a few weeks earlier, I could have gotten a bunch from Verizon. Now they're not even in the catalog anymore. I wish there was a way to know if they'd ever come back into stock, and when.

[mandmcruise]

How were you able to collect insurance money for a change in itinerary? In the T & C's the cruise lines liability is null and void if this occurs.

 

 

I purchased our insurance through insure my trip. I chose specifically Nationwide Cruise Insurance. The policy covers for a change in itinerary if the so called change is made before the sailing. We were to go to Nassau and Freeport. Freeport was cancelled and we overnighted in Nassau, thus a change in itinerary was made the day before we sailed. Hence I filed a claim and was able to collect. actually more than my cruise cost, as I chose the middle plan of coverage.

[SNJCruisers]

I purchased our insurance through insure my trip. I chose specifically Nationwide Cruise Insurance. The policy covers for a change in itinerary if the so called change is made before the sailing. We were to go to Nassau and Freeport. Freeport was cancelled and we overnighted in Nassau, thus a change in itinerary was made the day before we sailed. Hence I filed a claim and was able to collect. actually more than my cruise cost, as I chose the middle plan of coverage.

It's great that you were able to get your money back. But if it was necessary for the change to occur before you sailed and I am inferring that you still took the cruise since you said "we overnighted in nassau", why did you get paid? I'm assuming that the middle plan of coverage covered the cruise cost plus your airfare? If the insurance was needed and you you were not going to go because of an itinerary change and you still went even after the change, then why did the insurance company pay the claim? Kind of tough to wrap my head around it. Seems like it makes no sense for the insurance company to pay a claim based on the itinerary change and you still went on the cruise. Now, if you didn't go on the cruise and used the change as your reason, that I can understand.

[SNJCruisers]

It is pretty frustrating though to know that if I just learned about these gift cards a few weeks earlier, I could have gotten a bunch from Verizon. Now they're not even in the catalog anymore. I wish there was a way to know if they'd ever come back into stock, and when.

The gift cards from Verizon as well as from AARP are only in their online catalogs when they are available for sale. When they do go on sale, they are usually gobbled up in about a 3-4 hour window. They used to have a pattern a few months back, but the pattern changed and they have not been available for a couple of weeks now. There are numerous threads on here about them and once they become available, a posting usually occurs to spread the word and then they subsequently sell out.

[firemanbobswife]

It's great that you were able to get your money back. But if it was necessary for the change to occur before you sailed and I am inferring that you still took the cruise since you said "we overnighted in nassau", why did you get paid? I'm assuming that the middle plan of coverage covered the cruise cost plus your airfare? If the insurance was needed and you you were not going to go because of an itinerary change and you still went even after the change, then why did the insurance company pay the claim? Kind of tough to wrap my head around it. Seems like it makes no sense for the insurance company to pay a claim based on the itinerary change and you still went on the cruise. Now, if you didn't go on the cruise and used the change as your reason, that I can understand.

 

 

 

Go to InsureMyTrip, select Nationwide Cruise Choice and use Wisconsin as the state. It explains it all there.

[bUU]

They used to have a pattern a few months back, but the pattern changed ...

Are we talking about every few weeks, or every few months, or every few years?

[SNJCruisers]

Are we talking about every few weeks, or every few months, or every few years?

The pattern was usually 3 times per month and it was on a friday morning or late thursday night for awhile and then it shifted. Your best bet would be to do a search on CC for the threads, get yourself set up on those threads to get a notification and you'll be all set once someone makes a posting alerting everyone to the sale. But like I said before, they go very quick, like in 3-4 hours. There are also cards available through Allstate, but they are 50 and 100 denominations, unlike the 100 and 500 ones on Verizon and AARP.

[mandmcruise]

Go to InsureMyTrip, select Nationwide Cruise Choice and use Wisconsin as the state. It explains it all there.

 

 

Thanks for backing me up!! Some of the posters make it sound like I scammed the insurance company. I had pages of documentation I had to send!! When that particular insurance does cover changes in itinerary!! Exactly why I chose it and have chosen it again!!! My flight got cancelled but airline refunded money. We drove as we didn't want to miss the cruise!! Wasn't even sure if it was going to get to go but if it did I wanted to be on that ship. We applied our money to a cruise on vista next march!!!

 

 

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[firemanbobswife]

Thanks for backing me up!! Some of the posters make it sound like I scammed the insurance company. I had pages of documentation I had to send!! When that particular insurance does cover changes in itinerary!! Exactly why I chose it and have chosen it again!!! My flight got cancelled but airline refunded money. We drove as we didn't want to miss the cruise!! Wasn't even sure if it was going to get to go but if it did I wanted to be on that ship. We applied our money to a cruise on vista next march!!!

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I love Nationwide Cruise Choice for that very coverage. I only wish they offered that benefit here in my state but they don't. My family lives there and whenever they cruise that's what I get for them. It's my insurance of choice when I cruise even though doesn't have the itinerary change [emoji20].

[mandmcruise]

I have found that They are very easy to work with. We were

Originally booked on the vista for Jan 2018. Booked it in November. Well December came and I was offered a new job which I took. It is in payroll processing. Needless to say January is very busy with quarterly and end of year taxes ( we don't do income tax processing just pay quarterly and yearly withholding and reconciliations). So I changed our cruise to march and nationwide had no problems switching the coverage I had already purchased!

 

 

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[AmeliaAtSea]

Well how do you like that !?! I do have them!! Thank you so much.

 

P.S.

I'm really not as dumb as I look on this thread. LOL.

 

I get the confirmation email first and then a couple of minutes later I get an email with a link to the gc.

[AmeliaAtSea]

So after reading this thread, I checked how my discounted gc purchases showed up on my bank statement--they say ALLSTATE REWARDS. So I don't know yet if my insurance would cover that since it doesn't say Carnival, as a previous poster said...I went into the Drivewise app and to the Shop with Rewards section and looked up my transaction history. It does clearly show that I purchased the cards and that they were charged to my card. So I took screen shots of each transaction, will upload them to my computer and then print out and file just in case.

[MandyMooToo]

Just a note, I used three Carnival gift cards to make payments on my cruise for later this year a couple days ago. I called in to make a payment over the phone (mobile app wasn't cooperating and I didn't have my computer) and I was told to keep the gift cards themselves in case something happened to my cruise so I could be refunded.

 

At the time I just said, "Sure, okay." I wish I had thought to ask if that is because they will be needed as proof of purchase or if they'll reload/change them out or whatever. So maybe keep your gift cards whether they are actual cards or emailed or paper printouts.

 

 

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[VASOXFANN]

It's not WRONG, I never said they NEVER cover it, I said MOST don't! If people just willy-nilly look at the cheapest and not pay attention to the fine print, they might find out to late that it won't pay. It was just a heads up---chill out!

 

Actually, what you wrote was "with a few exceptions, travel insurers will not pay claims with fares that were paid with gift cards." For several policies, provided folks are able to show they paid for the gift cards rather than received them for free (the subject of this thread) what you wrote is wrong.

 

I purchase these policies several times a year, carefully reviewing the terms and verifying them, and I do this type of stuff for a living so I kind of know what I'm talking about. Since I'm not the one capitalizing every other word or putting explanation points after every sentence, maybe you are the one who needs to take it down a notch.

 

Advising people to carefully review their policies (which I completely advocate) is a completely different matter than blankety stating that most companies will not reimburse gift cards without giving further details or any indication that you have any clue what you are typing about.

[VASOXFANN]

I wanted to share what I found out about this after seeing this post. I purchased travel insurance the same day that I made my deposit using a gift card purchased through Verizon. When I saw this post, I was worried that I could have issues. I contacted the insurance company and initially the representative I spoke with was unsure if this would present any problems or not. I also used the chat feature on insuremytrip.com and was told that no insurance company that was part of insuremytrip.com would cover any claim if the trip was paid using gift cards. I finally received written confirmation from my company today that if I have documentation to show that I paid for the gift cards (which I do have) that there would be no problem with a claim if a claim is needed. Obviously, I cannot say that this is true (or untrue) of all companies providing travel insurance, but it is fortunately true with the policy that I purchased. I appreciate the OP providing this info so that I could confirm whether this was an issue with my policy before I needed it. I would hate to find out the hard way that the company would not honor a claim simply because of my method of payment.

 

By the way, the insuremytrip.com representative was incorrect as the company that I purchase my policy from is on their site, even though I did not purchase it through their site.

 

This is what I have found as well. Plus when claims are filed, the company issuing the policy is the relevant entity, and their rules apply. The broker (insure my you-know-what) is irrelevant to the claims process.

[VASOXFANN]

I have found that They are very easy to work with. We were

Originally booked on the vista for Jan 2018. Booked it in November. Well December came and I was offered a new job which I took. It is in payroll processing. Needless to say January is very busy with quarterly and end of year taxes ( we don't do income tax processing just pay quarterly and yearly withholding and reconciliations). So I changed our cruise to march and nationwide had no problems switching the coverage I had already purchased!

 

 

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This is not unusual for this particular company's higher end cruise policies.

 

The policies offer excellent coverage. They are reasonably priced and offer pre-existing condition waivers up to the day of final payment, which is incredible for travel insurance. The medicals are secondary only, which isn't a big deal to us, and there are 4 levels to choose from from bare bones to luxury.

 

We are using the choice coverage for our next 2 cruises.

[zdcatc12]

Wrong!

 

Some companies include gift cards within their definitions of "payments". Those are the ones you want. This is why it's important to comparison shop and be an informed buyer.

 

Actually, what you wrote was "with a few exceptions, travel insurers will not pay claims with fares that were paid with gift cards." For several policies, provided folks are able to show they paid for the gift cards rather than received them for free (the subject of this thread) what you wrote is wrong.

 

And for several policies, what I wrote is right. I said "with a few exceptions" and you said "some companies", that sounds to me like we are both trying to say the same thing, i.e. that the majority don't. I noticed that you didn't say "most companies". You just made a blanket "Wrong" statement and that wasn't true.