Alternate ways to get the AMEX discount when TA doesn’t take AMEX?

[HMY624]

Tried to make my final payment and get the $100 off $500 AMEX discount and our TA doesn’t take AMEX! Has anyone else done something different to get this discount? Can I use it for our on board account- does the charge show up as “Carnival”? Considering even switching TA’s but we got such great perks with this one that it probably isn’t worth it... any other suggestions? Never thought to ask if they taken AMEX... grr!! 

[1025cruise]

If find a new ta. It shouldn't matter if they take Amex since the payment should be direct to carnival. 

[HMY624]

Ugh- they confirmed they won’t take AMEX and I’m in the process of trying to find another TA that will match or come close to the perks we got with the current one. So disappointing!!

[shof515]

All payments should be done on Carnival payment system, not your travel agent. Carnival says Amex is a valid form of payment:

Credit Cards

We accept the following credit cards as a form of payment for your cruise reservation, online shore excursion purchases, spa service purchases and Fun Shop gift purchases as well as deposit toward your onboard Sail & Sign account.

    American Express Card

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/568/

When they use carnival payment system, the charge on your credit card statement should say Carnival on it NOT your travel agent name. Keep asking your travel agent to accept the card, they should not be using their own payment system. Worse to worse, call up Carnival directly and tell them your travel agent is refusing a valid form of payment and they might be able to help you

Edited December 28, 2018 by shof515

[joepeka]

If the TA simply refuses to use Amex (even though the charge is passed through to Carnival) and you've got perks from that TA, then it's a matter of deciding if those perks outweigh the Amex credit back. If not, find another TA or maybe consider transfering the booking to a Carnival PVP. The fact that your TA refuses to use Amex almost tells me that he/she is the kind that takes your money then pays Carnival on your behalf from their account which would not qualify the payment for the Amex credit anyway. Do you know if that's the case?

[HMY624]

Our deposits are listed as “Carnival” on our credit card statement so doesn’t look that way. Does anyone know whether the card I use for my Sail N sign account shows up as a “Fun Shop” purchase or a Carnival Res one? I am not able to find another TA so far that is offering us the same perks- which outweighs the $100... 

[shof515]

on my credit card statements, the sail n sign charges show up Ship Name Sail n Sign

[Elaine5715]

45 minutes ago, HMY624 said:

Our deposits are listed as “Carnival” on our credit card statement so doesn’t look that way. Does anyone know whether the card I use for my Sail N sign account shows up as a “Fun Shop” purchase or a Carnival Res one? I am not able to find another TA so far that is offering us the same perks- which outweighs the $100... 

Ship onboard charges do not qualify.  I tried it last spring.

[MikeMSD]

AFAIK Sail and Sign and Fun Shops do not count for the AMEX offer. It needs to be a reservation. Depending how the TA is set up, it may or may not work anyhow. Some process the charges directly with Carnival and others process the charges themselves and then pay Carnival for you. It just depends how their business is structured. If it's the latter you wouldn't be able to get the credit, which sounds like the case because they won't take AMEX and Carnival does take AMEX in their TA portal when processing direct.

[OCruisers]

Not helpful to you now ... but in the future we'd find a new TA.  

[thinfool]

If your TA is not paying the cruise line with your cc information...run...run away.  This is historically fertile soil for fraud or total loss of funds if the TA goes bankrupt.

[Doggielover68]

It's not really a red flag for me. Even when you use the big online "TA" the payments are processed through the TA and passed along to Carnival. I.e. the charges on the statement are the travel agency. That's one of the reasons I only book directly through Carnival. I may not get as many perks but I like to manage my own booking...plus we can use multiple Amex deals for each cruise. 

[Essiesmom]

Why can't you make the final payment online?  Although it's been awhile since I used a TA for a Carnival cruise, I have twice been able to make a payment of $500 online to get the $100 back.  Or call Carnival to make the payment.  EM

[ScubaDuck]

I am curious, looking at alternative credit cards to the one I have now, does this discount apply for all AMEX cards, or only Gold, Platinum, etc? Thanks in advance!

[Essiesmom]

I have three AMEX cards, and I only get the Worlds Leading Cruise Lines offers on the original green card.  EM

[shof515]

58 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Why can't you make the final payment online?  Although it's been awhile since I used a TA for a Carnival cruise, I have twice been able to make a payment of $500 online to get the $100 back.  Or call Carnival to make the payment.  EM

 

when you book using a travel agent, all of the online payment and billing info is removed from your booking. payments and bill info is handled by the travel agent

[xDisconnections]

1 hour ago, ScubaDuck said:

I am curious, looking at alternative credit cards to the one I have now, does this discount apply for all AMEX cards, or only Gold, Platinum, etc? Thanks in advance!

Generally the cobranded cards are excluded from the targeted Carnival offers. Occasionally there will be a backdoor link that can be used but there's no guarantee.

[fuddrules]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

I have three AMEX cards, and I only get the Worlds Leading Cruise Lines offers on the original green card.  EM

 

I know you’re just saying what you have but Amex has this offer as only 1 per customer.  

[RWolver672]

5 hours ago, fuddrules said:

 

I know you’re just saying what you have but Amex has this offer as only 1 per customer.  

 

7 hours ago, ScubaDuck said:

I am curious, looking at alternative credit cards to the one I have now, does this discount apply for all AMEX cards, or only Gold, Platinum, etc? Thanks in advance!

 

5 hours ago, xDisconnections said:

Generally the cobranded cards are excluded from the targeted Carnival offers. Occasionally there will be a backdoor link that can be used but there's no guarantee.

Our AMEX card is Gold Delta Skymiles.   We have used the get $100 back for spending $500 twice on our upcoming cruise.  We just got our bill and it came up as Carnival Cruise Lines Reservation Transportation Services.  For the credit, it is listed as Carnival Cruise Line RSVR Miami WLCruiseOffer.

[Joebucks]

Choices at this point are to find a different TA or find a different payment. Some businesses will not take AMEX due to high interchange fees. Perhaps that is why they are able to offer sweeter perks.

[fuddrules]

3 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

 

 

Our AMEX card is Gold Delta Skymiles.   We have used the get $100 back for spending $500 twice on our upcoming cruise. 

 

Im curious, on your Delta card, did the offer come twice, did you just make 2 separate $500+ charges, or do you have 2 cards?  TIA. 

[Bevv]

I use a TA that does not accept American express, but like the OBC I get.

This trick will not work for this cruise, but will for future cruises you book:

Book the cruise online with the cruise line.  Use AMEX for the deposit.

You then have 60 days to transfer the booking to your TA.

That way you get the advantage of the AMEX deal, and the perks that the TA will give you.

[RWolver672]

1 hour ago, fuddrules said:

 

Im curious, on your Delta card, did the offer come twice, did you just make 2 separate $500+ charges, or do you have 2 cards?  TIA. 

I have just the one card.  We normally don't pay off the cruise until just before final payment date.  The offer came twice.  The first one was a few months ago, the second just recently.  When the first one came, I just made a $500 payment.  Then when the second one came, I paid off the remaining portion.

[fuddrules]

33 minutes ago, RWolver672 said:

  Then when the second one came, I paid off the remaining portion.

Thank you for the info. I'll be on the lookout for additional offers.  One of my cruises is over 800 days away so I have time on my side. 

[Elaine5715]

3 hours ago, fuddrules said:

Thank you for the info. I'll be on the lookout for additional offers.  One of my cruises is over 800 days away so I have time on my side. 

I also needed to use the backdoor to apply offer with my Delta AmEx.