Get a $50 gift card when you spend $1,000!

[Jeter02]

Just now, ExploringTheGlobe said:

And don't forget to use the Amex deal with spending $500 get $100 back!  bonus bonus!

That's great added bonus. All I get are double points with princess visa card

[RJAM3]

11 hours ago, Crystabel said:

You may not be able to get a refund on the bonus cards if you cancel after their expiration date, which is 4/30/20. 

If the gift card expires 4/30/20 and the cruise is in June what happens to the expired gift card?

 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, RJAM3 said:

If the gift card expires 4/30/20 and the cruise is in June what happens to the expired gift card?

 

 

If you apply the bonus gift card to a booking sailing, even if it starts after the 4/30 expiration date, you are ok.  If you don't use or cancel  the bonus gift card after the expiration date, you just lose the bonus amount.  

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, RJAM3 said:

If the gift card expires 4/30/20 and the cruise is in June what happens to the expired gift card?

 

 

4 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

If you apply the bonus gift card to a booking sailing, even if it starts after the 4/30 expiration date, you are ok.  If you don't use or cancel  the bonus gift card after the expiration date, you just lose the bonus amount.  

 

Correct. You can apply it to a cruise a year or more in the future and it's fine - as long as you apply it before the deadline. If you don't apply it before the 4/30 deadline it expires and you get nothing. I'll be using my bonus e-cards as OBC on a November 2020 booking.

[RJAM3]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

If you apply the bonus gift card to a booking sailing, even if it starts after the 4/30 expiration date, you are ok.  If you don't use or cancel  the bonus gift card after the expiration date, you just lose the bonus amount.  

thank you!

[2 cruises a year]

21 hours ago, yvr49 said:

Just spoke to someone at Princess gift card support and got my answer.  Not gonna work for us Canadians 😞

 

Wise choice calling Princess, while people have good intentions, you will get a lot of incorrect information here.  Trust but verify.

Edited February 7, 2020 by 2 cruises a year

[jat1977]

18 hours ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

And don't forget to use the Amex deal with spending $500 get $100 back!  bonus bonus!

Will this work with the gift card promo?  Because I called Amex and they told me--after putting me on hold for a while and speaking to their card offer specialist--that this promo is only valid for cruise bookings, not for anything like prepaid gratuities, shore excursions, spa reservations, etc.  And when I look at other sites that talk about this promo, the comments were that for Carnival, you can't purchase onboard credit to get the credit as it isn't billed as a Carnival rez.  Since Carnival and Princess are related, I am hesitant to try it on gift cards, especially since Amex said it was only valid on cruise bookings. 

 

I was hoping to combine the two offers myself, but Princess told me that I could only use the gift cards to prepay gratituties and that if I converted the gift cards to OBC, I would have to wait until I got onboard the ship to use it (and the fine print on the Princess site does seem to suggest that as it only mentions using the gift cards to book cruises or for "onboard purchases").  What I was hoping to do was buy $1000 in gift cards using the Amex (and get $100 statement credit), apply the gift cards to my account, and then prepay gratuities and book some shore excursions at the very least.  We don't want to wait to book them until we get on board because at least 1 or 2 are very popular.  Then I thought that perhaps I could at least prepay gratuities and book spa services, but when I did a mock booking on the Princess site, it only showed the option to pay by CC or Paypal.  There was no gift card option.  So now I don't know whether I could even use the gift cards prior to the cruise at all.  

Edited February 7, 2020 by jat1977

[ExploringTheGlobe]

7 minutes ago, jat1977 said:

Will this work with the gift card promo?  Because I called Amex and they told me--after putting me on hold for a while and speaking to their card offer specialist--that this promo is only valid for cruise bookings, not for anything like prepaid gratuities, shore excursions, spa reservations, etc.  And when I look at other sites that talk about this promo, the comments were that for Carnival, you can't purchase onboard credit to get the credit as it isn't billed as a Carnival rez.  Since Carnival and Princess are related, I am hesitant to try it on gift cards, especially since Amex said it was only valid on cruise bookings. 

 

I was hoping to combine the two offers myself, but Princess told me that I could only use the gift cards to prepay gratituties and that if I converted the gift cards to OBC, I would have to wait until I got onboard the ship to use it (and the fine print on the Princess site does seem to suggest that as it only mentions using the gift cards to book cruises or for "onboard purchases").  What I was hoping to do was buy $1000 in gift cards using the Amex (and get $100 statement credit), apply the gift cards to my account, and then prepay gratuities and book some shore excursions at the very least.  We don't want to wait to book them until we get on board because at least 1 or 2 are very popular.  Then I thought that perhaps I could at least prepay gratuities and book spa services, but when I did a mock booking on the Princess site, it only showed the option to pay by CC or Paypal.  There was no gift card option.  So now I don't know whether I could even use the gift cards prior to the cruise at all.  

I bought a gift card last night and it worked!  

Is your cruise already paid in full?  I applied mine towards my balance.  I have noticed for some items, it doesn't give the option to use gift cards.  But I think I was able to call princess to take care of that.  Hope it works out for you!

[jat1977]

19 minutes ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

I bought a gift card last night and it worked!  

Is your cruise already paid in full?  I applied mine towards my balance.  I have noticed for some items, it doesn't give the option to use gift cards.  But I think I was able to call princess to take care of that.  Hope it works out for you!

Ok awesome! I may just wing it and try it then.

 

Yes. Cruise is paid in full but we want to do some expensive excursions and we've got 5 ppl to pay for so I was hoping to use the gift card for those.  But I may just have to wait and use it onboard. We will have over $500 in gratuities to pay as well as spa rez so I am thinking we can easily find a way to use all the money even if not for excursions. 

[ExploringTheGlobe]

3 minutes ago, jat1977 said:

Ok awesome! I may just wing it and try it then.

 

Yes. Cruise is paid in full but we want to do some expensive excursions and we've got 5 ppl to pay for so I was hoping to use the gift card for those.  But I may just have to wait and use it onboard. We will have over $500 in gratuities to pay as well as spa rez so I am thinking we can easily find a way to use all the money even if not for excursions. 

Is your cruise before the end of April?  The bonus card expires 4/30/20 so make sure to apply it to something before then. 

[Steelers36]

Anyone else having issues with placing order for virtual gift card online?  Myself and a friend getting rejected.  I had a couple orders go through and then another order failed and rejected.  There is a third-party company doing the processing and a "security review" - whatever that is.  No one is reviewing anything if an order immediately rejects upon submission.

 

The third party company provides no reason for the reject in the email and they also provide no reason to the gift card support people.  I did have success having a live agent take an order at Princess Gift Card dept and they can "shove them through" so to speak.  Got two done that way.  Going to try another online order with a different card now.  Frustrating for sure, especially when others on here having no issue.  I and my friend are not alone as the agent taking my order indicated lots of people calling in with the issue and no one knows why orders are being rejected.  (Nothing wrong with the input and no rejects on the bank credit card side either).

[MamaFej]

6 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Anyone else having issues with placing order for virtual gift card online? 

I had a variety of problems on Safari. Switched to Firefox and have successfully ordered 5.

 

I'm going to have my adult kids buy some with their credit cards (and earn the points) and reimburse them.

[jat1977]

41 minutes ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

Is your cruise before the end of April?  The bonus card expires 4/30/20 so make sure to apply it to something before then. 

Yep - end of March. And Princess emailed me back and confirmed what you said about adding services and paying with the gift card over the phone.   Thanks for your tips!

[Ombud]

2 hours ago, jat1977 said:

Will this work with the gift card promo?  Because I called Amex and they told me--after putting me on hold for a while and speaking to their card offer specialist--that this promo is only valid for cruise bookings, not for anything like prepaid gratuities, shore excursions, spa reservations, etc.  And when I look at other sites that talk about this promo, the comments were that for Carnival, you can't purchase onboard credit to get the credit as it isn't billed as a Carnival rez.  Since Carnival and Princess are related, I am hesitant to try it on gift cards, especially since Amex said it was only valid on cruise bookings. 

 

I was hoping to combine the two offers myself, but Princess told me that I could only use the gift cards to prepay gratituties and that if I converted the gift cards to OBC, I would have to wait until I got onboard the ship to use it (and the fine print on the Princess site does seem to suggest that as it only mentions using the gift cards to book cruises or for "onboard purchases").  What I was hoping to do was buy $1000 in gift cards using the Amex (and get $100 statement credit), apply the gift cards to my account, and then prepay gratuities and book some shore excursions at the very least.  We don't want to wait to book them until we get on board because at least 1 or 2 are very popular.  Then I thought that perhaps I could at least prepay gratuities and book spa services, but when I did a mock booking on the Princess site, it only showed the option to pay by CC or Paypal.  There was no gift card option.  So now I don't know whether I could even use the gift cards prior to the cruise at all.  

They are wrong.  I prepaid gratuities & internet with my Visa and canceled them. Then my PVP support person took my final $1000+50 freebie and paid off $419.43 still due, $59.99 internet, $325.50 gratuities (mine + 2 others in my stateroom), and dumped the other 245.07 into OBC split between 2 cruises. It can be done. I did it yesterday 

 

I declined booking shore excursions bc I did not know what the other 2 want to do. We'll figure that out later on. Cruise isn't until 3/22/2020

Edited February 7, 2020 by Ombud

[Jeter02]

If you apply the $1000 gift card and $50 gift card to a booking, is all $1,050 transferable if you cancel your cruise and apply it to a new or another booking?

[Ombud]

It actually doesn't transfer. It goes back to the gift card. Took about 2 days when the Enchanted Princess TA canceled 

 

SAVE A SCREENSHOT OF THE CARD .... you'll need the pin to use it

[Jeter02]

 Good to know. Do you still get the $50 back as well? Also, if you do cancel the booking that the gift card to apply to, do you still only have till end of April 2020 to use it? What happens if I cancel it after April? 

Edited February 7, 2020 by Jeter02

[ExploringTheGlobe]

1 hour ago, jat1977 said:

Yep - end of March. And Princess emailed me back and confirmed what you said about adding services and paying with the gift card over the phone.   Thanks for your tips!

YAY!!  Have a great cruise!

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, Jeter02 said:

 Good to know. Do you still get the $50 back as well? Also, if you do cancel the booking that the gift card to apply to, do you still only have till end of April 2020 to use it? What happens if I cancel it after April? 

This was with Father Day promo so buy 500 / get 25.  I applied the 25 immediately to my next cruise (3 months out but long after original cancelation date) as purchased OBC. I wanted my 25. Sail 3/22/20. That card has bounced between 3 cruises LOL 😁

[billco]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Anyone else having issues with placing order for virtual gift card online? 

I had three attempts rejected online yesterday and one rejected with a live agent. 2nd try worked. At least with the $1000 gift card. Haven’t seen the $50 bonus yet. How long does that take?

Edited February 7, 2020 by billco

[Steelers36]

Good question.  Both wife and I had success with two different telephone agents, but I don't feel relieved one but until the bonus emails arrive.  They don't show up in the order confirmation like an online order.  But agent submitted them and said should be fine.

[phred119s]

5 hours ago, Ombud said:

It actually doesn't transfer. It goes back to the gift card. Took about 2 days when the Enchanted Princess TA canceled 

 

SAVE A SCREENSHOT OF THE CARD .... you'll need the pin to use it

It will if you change dates immediately, at least that was my experience. I had to move from June to July on Sky a couple weeks ago. I got a new confirmation number but all that I had paid immediately went to the new booking. 

[mammajamma2013]

3 hours ago, billco said:

I had three attempts rejected online yesterday and one rejected with a live agent. 2nd try worked. At least with the $1000 gift card. Haven’t seen the $50 bonus yet. How long does that take?

I bought one $1000 gift card yesterday around 4:00 PM MST, the notification for the bonus ecard arrived by text this morning before 8:00 AM.

 

I didn't check my email account until just now and both cards are there.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, billco said:

I had three attempts rejected online yesterday and one rejected with a live agent. 2nd try worked. At least with the $1000 gift card. Haven’t seen the $50 bonus yet. How long does that take?

 

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Good question.  Both wife and I had success with two different telephone agents, but I don't feel relieved one but until the bonus emails arrive.  They don't show up in the order confirmation like an online order.  But agent submitted them and said should be fine.

Our friends had same online order rejection issue and had to phone to have agent place orders.  They were told 2-3 days, but since it is the weekend, probably longer.  We received no new emails this evening, so we don't even have all of our $1000 card references.  I wish I had done this right away when the email notice came out - probably more success then before the deluge began.  

[Thrak]

I ordered the physical, plastic cards. I bought 5 of them one at a time. I got the e-cards quickly and put snips of them into a Word document so I have the number and PIN for each one. I meant to call Princes today to apply them but spaced out on it so I'll do it next week. I do not want to do it on the weekend. Maybe 10 minutes ago I got 5 separate emails saying my card had shipped. Each one has a tracking number. Nice. (Kind of like having five $1,000 bills coming in the mail.) 🙂