Discounted Carvival Gift Cards

[jimcara2003]

I was told that PayPal offered discounted Carnival Egift cards so last week I went online but didn't purchased them.  Went to do it today and the 10% discount is gone.  😞  Does anyone know where I can still find EGifts cards at the discount?  Leaving this Saturday.  Procrastination got to me this time.

[Organized Chaos]

AARP Rewards now offers the 10% off e-cards, but it's a much worse program than it used to be. You have to be an AARP member to buy the Carnival cards and we're limited to only 1/month. And they only have $100 cards.

[cmichael1279]

Raise.com - you pay full price, but get 10% back to spend on the site on other gift cards

[knagl]

If you have a Citibank credit card that has access to Citi Easy Deals, they sometimes have them. The last time I got them from there, though, they didn't have e-gift cards available -- only physical cards that were sent via snail mail. Obviously that wouldn't work if you need one by this Saturday.

[Linda the Book Lover]

11 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

AARP Rewards now offers the 10% off e-cards, but it's a much worse program than it used to be. You have to be an AARP member to buy the Carnival cards and we're limited to only 1/month. And they only have $100 cards.

I planned to get a few for my DD and I and she told me that she saw you can only get one. I thought it was since they changed the Rewards program but no it is another way to mess with "older folk". The DH and I are each getting one a month so we can get the discount and pay for the DD's and my Cheers. The cards were 5% off cost at Costco but no sure if Costco has them any longer since I have not looked recently.

[Organized Chaos]

4 hours ago, Linda the Book Lover said:

I planned to get a few for my DD and I and she told me that she saw you can only get one. I thought it was since they changed the Rewards program but no it is another way to mess with "older folk". The DH and I are each getting one a month so we can get the discount and pay for the DD's and my Cheers. The cards were 5% off cost at Costco but no sure if Costco has them any longer since I have not looked recently.

 

If you get a Target Red card, all gift cards purchased with it are 5% off. And most, if not all, of their stores sell Carnival cards. I don't know what denominations though.

 

AARP realized the Carnival gift cards were in high demand. There's no doubt in my mind that they made them members-only just to increase their membership numbers. The 1/month limit, however, I suspect comes from the new fulfillment company that handles the new AARP Rewards. It's a different company than the old Rewards for Good and I think they're the ones who set this new limit. I don't think they can handle the demand otherwise. They do say we're allowed up to 3 per month as long as they're sold by different retailers, but I have no idea how to tell if they're coming from different retailers. I guess you just have to try to buy another one within a month to see if it'll let you. It's a terrible new program and people on the AARP forums have been telling them that loud & clear, but they won't listen.

[topofE]

3 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

If you get a Target Red card, all gift cards purchased with it are 5% off. And most, if not all, of their stores sell Carnival cards. I don't know what denominations though.

 

AARP realized the Carnival gift cards were in high demand. There's no doubt in my mind that they made them members-only just to increase their membership numbers. The 1/month limit, however, I suspect comes from the new fulfillment company that handles the new AARP Rewards. It's a different company than the old Rewards for Good and I think they're the ones who set this new limit. I don't think they can handle the demand otherwise. They do say we're allowed up to 3 per month as long as they're sold by different retailers, but I have no idea how to tell if they're coming from different retailers. I guess you just have to try to buy another one within a month to see if it'll let you. It's a terrible new program and people on the AARP forums have been telling them that loud & clear, but they won't listen.

Gift cards are never eligible for the 5% red card savings at Target.  Unless they have recently changed this.  

[cruisingguy007]

If you have a Amazon credit card (either one) you can also buy gift cards for 5% cash back. I think Raise is a better deal at 10% back in Raise cash but does require multiple purchases to maximize the cash back but it's worth the extra 5 min for the additional savings IMO. 

Edited December 27, 2019 by cruisingguy007

[Roz]

4 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

They do say we're allowed up to 3 per month as long as they're sold by different retailers, but I have no idea how to tell if they're coming from different retailers. 

 

I thought it meant you could buy 3 per month from AARP, but they had to be 3 different retailers.  For example, Carnival, Cracker Barrel, and Outback.  

Edited December 27, 2019 by Roz

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, topofE said:

Gift cards are never eligible for the 5% red card savings at Target.  Unless they have recently changed this.  

 

My wife's cousin works at one near us. She's confirmed in the past that the gift cards qualify. We've known it for over a year.

 

Their website also says the 5% discount applies to: "Specialty gift cards. Save 5% on specialty gift cards for travel, restaurants, movie tickets, and more."

"Discount does not apply to the following: Target gift cards and prepaid cards, Stockpile, Gift of College and lottery gift cards."

 

 

 

[Organized Chaos]

28 minutes ago, Roz said:

I thought it meant you could buy 3 per month from AARP, but they had to be 3 different retailers.  For example, Carnival, Cracker Barrel, and Outback.  

 

Oh, so gift cards in general. That makes sense. When I read that stipulation, it was when I put a Carnival card in my shopping cart, so I thought they meant it was Carnival specific. As if to say at some point it's possible a different retailer would sell the Carnival cards. I totally misread that. Doh!

Edited December 27, 2019 by Organized Chaos

[Buffalobills]

You do get 5% off carnival gift cards at Target when using your red card. I just purchased $100 one last week.

[fuzfoz]

OK so...update on AARP CARNIVAL Gift Cards. It seems they change the plan and rules pretty regularly. I purchased 3 $100 gift cards which was limit at the time in May. Today, June 1st the were offering $500 gift cards for $448 and there was a limit of 5. So, if you're planning some Carnival cruising you should pick some up soon!

[Linda the Book Lover]

fuzfoz,

 

Thanks for the heads up! I purchased my gift cards. Saving over $200 worked for me!

Edited June 2, 2020 by Linda the Book Lover

[LMKakaThing2]

Another option you have depends on if your local grocery store has an attached gas station and offers fuel perks. Where I live, I have Giant Eagle and for every $50 you spend on gift cards or groceries, you receive $.10 back towards fuel. Sometimes they double the $.10 to $.20. Doesn’t sound like much, but if you buy $500 worth, that’s $5 in fuel perks. That $5 would be the equivalent of 2 tanks of free gas!

If gas is $1.89, they’ll deduct $1.89 of fuel perks from your account making a gallon of gas $0. These same fuel perks can also be converted into a percentage off your grocery bill and up to 20% can be taken off the bill.

If you have a vehicle with a large tank, this would be the way to go. Especially since Giant Eagle allows you to fill a tank up to 30 gallons when redeeming a free tank.


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[13cheermom]

Just be cautious about the purchase of gift cards to save money, in the event you need to cancel it is a pain to get the gift cards refunded.  I'm waiting now on about $10K in refunds and was told the gift cards make the refund process much slower. 🤣

Don't think I will ever purchase any gift cards again, just not worth the hassle even for the savings involved.

[firefly333]

I would t touch gift cards right now. Between the virus and cancellations, what what will radiance get out of dry dock.

 

Dallas hit a record number of cases and record deaths for one day today. What effect will all these protesters have on the number of cases? 

 

This doesnt seem like a good time just to maybe save 10%. I'd wait until cruises restart to do any risky tricky payments. 

[SNJCruisers]

7 hours ago, 13cheermom said:

Just be cautious about the purchase of gift cards to save money, in the event you need to cancel it is a pain to get the gift cards refunded.  I'm waiting now on about $10K in refunds and was told the gift cards make the refund process much slower. 🤣

Don't think I will ever purchase any gift cards again, just not worth the hassle even for the savings involved.

It's  only a pain to get refunds because of the Pandemic and all of the problems dealing with all kinds of refunds.

Have gotten a refund via a brand new gift card from a balance that was on my on board account that was placed there by me.  Prior to the Pandemic there were no hassles at all, received a new gift card via FedEx a few weeks after getting home from the cruise.

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, firefly333 said:

 

This doesnt seem like a good time just to maybe save 10%. I'd wait until cruises restart to do any risky tricky payments. 

If you get your cards via Allstate, you can now get Carnival  cards at a 12% discount.   The only reason to wait is if you truly think that Carnival will go bankrupt.

[SNJCruisers]

7 hours ago, firefly333 said:

 

Dallas hit a record number of cases and record deaths for one day today. What effect will all these protesters have on the number of cases?

Social distancing has gone right out the window for the most part in all of these protests from coast to coast.  The obvious negative thing associated with it was all of the looting involved that became a byproduct.   A secondary  negative outcome could be a spike in the spreading of the Pandemic.  Hopefully it doesn't happen, but who knows.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

If you get your cards via Allstate, you can now get Carnival  cards at a 12% discount.   The only reason to wait is if you truly think that Carnival will go bankrupt.

Actually I do have all state, but my bookings have enough uncertainty without using gift cards.

 

I've seen at least 6 threads on carnival radiance I was interested in doing partial panama. Imo if they change ships the price might drop. Gift cards complicate things.

 

Rcl put terminal 3 on hold for a year and I'm booked on allure and there is endless speculation will allure fit, some yes, some say no way, will it be another ship. Someone else said they could set up a tent to help board the extra pax. Worse than the speculation on radiance.

 

That's without all the ports will they be open, what if there is a covid outbreak and so on.

 

Nope, I'll use cash. I cant believe how uncertain my bookings are. From carnival I'd like some answers about radiance. I got more questions than answers. What would switching out radiance do to the price? Price drops are complicated with gift cards. 

Edited June 3, 2020 by firefly333

[bury me at sea]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

... Price drops are complicated with gift cards. 

 

I have never experienced a problem.  Price drops prior to final payment simply reduce the amount due.  Price drops after paying in full have always been posted immediately as OBC.

 

 

[richfret]

Bear in mind that should cruises continue to be cancelled, there will be a time when Carnival might not survive those actions.  Then your gift cards would be just pieces of plastic.  I have a cruise coming up in January and I bought $1,300 in AARP gift cards over a year ago when times were considerably different.  Wish I had not.  In any event, I am going to use them as the final payment in October for the January cruise.  If this cruise is cancelled, I will take the credit for another cruise.  If Carnival goes under, it will not make any difference for me and my gift cards.

 

Now back to the virus, riots, store break ins and cruise cancellations.

[firefly333]

On 6/2/2020 at 7:47 AM, LMKakaThing2 said:

Another option you have depends on if your local grocery store has an attached gas station and offers fuel perks. Where I live, I have Giant Eagle and for every $50 you spend on gift cards or groceries, you receive $.10 back towards fuel. Sometimes they double the $.10 to $.20. Doesn’t sound like much, but if you buy $500 worth, that’s $5 in fuel perks. That $5 would be the equivalent of 2 tanks of free gas!

If gas is $1.89, they’ll deduct $1.89 of fuel perks from your account making a gallon of gas $0. These same fuel perks can also be converted into a percentage off your grocery bill and up to 20% can be taken off the bill.

If you have a vehicle with a large tank, this would be the way to go. Especially since Giant Eagle allows you to fill a tank up to 30 gallons when redeeming a free tank.


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Kroger here kinda does it, but has a limit of $1 per gallon even though I more often than not go way over easily. We too get the extra amts if you buy gift cards, or on weekends or other promos. My mom is 94 and my dad 101 and they get their prescriptions there. That's what pushes me over the $1 max almost every month. Yikes. Between my moms copd, my dads blood pressure and pace maker and a few other things, we have to work to get dad especially to eat enough to have food on his stomach to get down over a dozen pills a day. .... and I drive a mercedes so only take high test, so wish they would raise the $1 limit but still glad of it. I love those gas perks, though we dont have giant eagle here.

 

Right now most of my cruises are paid for except the b2b on allure in 2022 ...maybe, if rcl doesnt change applying fcc rules again.

 

I think I owe carnival about $50 and rcl about $50 for my b2b on jewel once fccs are applied.

 

I'm hoping to find some last minute bargains? Maybe once cruises start some people will canc or prices drop. Right now no great deals I'm willing to jump on for 7 day cruises. I'm hoping august 1st prices drop and there are better prices. But I got fccs to deal with on both cruiselines right now.

Edited June 3, 2020 by firefly333

[LMKakaThing2]

I'm hoping to find some last minute bargains? Maybe once cruises start some people will canc or prices drop. Right now no great deals I'm willing to jump on for 7 day cruises. I'm hoping august 1st prices drop and there are better prices. But I got fccs to deal with on both cruiselines right now.

I actually found a great deal for 5 days on the Paradise in September. Received a casino offer for $25pp plus drinks on us and $100obc. Taxes were $199, but couldn’t pass up only paying $249. I don’t think I’ve ever paid less than $249pp, so to find a cruise all in for 2ppl was a no brainer.

We’ll being buying the gift cards to use as additional obc, but we’re going to wait until the day before we leave home. No sense in buying them now when there’s still a lot of uncertainty with the cruising.


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