AARP e-gift card

[LBCABob]

On 4/12/2023 at 1:24 PM, JimmyVWine said:

The exact same thing happened to me, and it took me a little over a month to get it straightened out.  I had an unbelievably helpful advocate from AARP working with me and she went above and beyond in her attempts to help me.  In the end, it the problem was found to be on the Princess end.  Eventually Princess could see that I had tried to redeem the card (24 times!! as I thought I was doing something wrong.)  They could see that at no point was the card redeemed for its value, and they credited my account the $500.  But if hadn't been for the person at AARP, I don't know what I would have done.  So my advice is to continue to work with them and ask them to escalate this if possible, and let them know that you are aware of this issue happening in the past, and that it can be fixed if the right people get involved.  Also, I think it helped when I send a very detailed email with documentation showing all of my purchases, the amount of my outstanding balance before I used each card, and the amount of the current balance.  Had everything gone as planned, I would have had a $600 balance after using the cards that I bought, and my balance clearly showed $1,100 remaining.  I was able to get it sorted out about 3 weeks before final payment.  The email address I was instructed to send the detailed information to was customerrelations@princesscruises.com.  I was told that the people manning this email box have far more ability to fix problems than anyone on the phone. I wish that I could give you the name and email address of the person at AARP who helped me, but I don't think that would be fair to her, as she would probably have a full-time job dealing with people from Cruise Critic.  

 

Edit to add one more fact.  The people in Princess accounting can see when you tried to use your gift card.  To the minute.  Included in the information that I sent to them in my email was a printout showing the confirmation email from AARP confirming my purchase as well as the email that had the e-card link in it.  For me, it was literally only seconds between my purchase and my first failed attempt to use the card.  Well, maybe a minute or two.  But from this they could see that I bought the card at time "x", received the e-card at "x+20 seconds", and tried to redeem it at "x+one minute".  So they could tell that the card was an immediate failure and that I wasn't trying to defraud them by having already used the card value. 

AND, same/similar problem on Fri 07/21 when my TA was posting the 3rd GC to my new booking.  He got a message something to the effect "Record being updated by another user..."  My years of experience programming computers suggests the previous GC posting had not quite finished when the current GC tried to post its $100.  The Princess software has no logic to allow for this possibility - it just updates the GC record to $0 and then stops.

Per JimmyVWine's suggestion, I have emailed Princess with all the facts and can only hope the $100 will get returned to the GC (or posted to my booking as OBC, which is what I was going to do with the GC anyway).  A loss of $100 would just about equal the savings of getting the AARP GC's. 

 

I would suggest anyone posting multiple GC's to the Princess system "count to 10" between entries to allow the GC to completely process before starting another one.  (I am not holding my breath waiting for Princess to update their software.) 

 

Bon Voyage to Everyone!

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

22 minutes ago, LBCABob said:

AND, same/similar problem on Fri 07/21 when my TA was posting the 3rd GC to my new booking.  He got a message something to the effect "Record being updated by another user..."  My years of experience programming computers suggests the previous GC posting had not quite finished when the current GC tried to post its $100.  The Princess software has no logic to allow for this possibility - it just updates the GC record to $0 and then stops.

Per JimmyVWine's suggestion, I have emailed Princess with all the facts and can only hope the $100 will get returned to the GC (or posted to my booking as OBC, which is what I was going to do with the GC anyway).  A loss of $100 would just about equal the savings of getting the AARP GC's. 

 

I would suggest anyone posting multiple GC's to the Princess system "count to 10" between entries to allow the GC to completely process before starting another one.  (I am not holding my breath waiting for Princess to update their software.) 

 

Bon Voyage to Everyone!

 

 

My TA says she will enter only 5 at a time and then wait 5-10 mins and add another 5, etc.  
Aarp first says call the PCL 800 number and they will take good care of you.  Not!

I said, no they have no clue on the general line how to fix it.  

Aarp then said, okay we will have a supervisor here work with PCL to get it fixed.  They did…by the next day, the card was back with it’s $500 balance.

 

This was about the 11th card the TA tried to use on FP.  Luckily, I had another one to give her.

 

[MandW]

On 6/9/2023 at 11:14 AM, Jersey42 said:

Maybe you are right, but there is no way I am willing to purchase thousands of dollars worth of gift cards and then find out the TA will not take them.  In that case, I either must charge my final payment to my CC for several more thousand dollars, or I cancel and attempt to rebook with Princess or another TA.  Based on all of the responses here (including at least two from people who appear to be TAs), a TA will never know where I got the cards, and the source of the card has no bearing on the agency commission.  So if this TA is lying to me about one thing, is he lying about other things as well?  I have already decided not to use him.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Here is a recap , if anyone is interested.  I have already moved on.

 

A passenger on our recent cruise told me about a TA he uses that always saves him money.  The savings were usually in cruise fare, but sometimes there were OBCs as well.  There were a few quirks in how they operated, but it sounded like a good fit for us.

• Geared to cruisers who know what they want as opposed to needing advice from a TA
• Online only for booking and payment
• No phone support, only email. But they respond quickly.
• Good discounts on all cruises and great discounts on many agency group bookings

 

I was not yet ready to book another cruise, but I did a few mock bookings on the website and I liked what I saw.  I emailed the agency with a few of my typical questions - agency cancelation fees, re-faring before final payment etc. Because most online payment systems are not set up for gift cards, I also asked "Do you accept cruise line gift cards for payment?"  I never mentioned AARP.

 

They responded very quickly to my inquiry on a Sunday afternoon.  All of the responses were positive except for the gift card question. The initial answer was:

Yes, we do except Cruise Line issued gift cards with some exceptions.

(Example: The AARP program looks like, smells like a gift card, but it is not.)

 

I then sent a follow-up and explained that I have never had a problem using AARP issued cards with other TAs as well as directly with the cruise line.  They appear just like any other gift card on the cruise line balance inquiry site. I ended my email with the question "You say these are not actual gift cards.  Does that mean you can't accept them?"   

 

Again I received a very quick response that I partially posted before: 

On the AARP gift cards, many cruise lines do not pay agency commission. So if an agency is accepting the cards, they lose the commission on the gift card portion. They accept the gift cards to keep the client and make some money. 

  

That's what prompted my initial post (231) on this thread a few days later.  It has been enlightening.

What is the name of this TA?

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, MandW said:

What is the name of this TA?

Sorry but you won't find people providing names of TAs on this forum. It's against Cruise Critic policy. You will have to get with people via e-mail or some other means (like meeting them on the ship) to get TA recommendations.

[nnzz]

2 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Sorry but you won't find people providing names of TAs on this forum. It's against Cruise Critic policy. You will have to get with people via e-mail or some other means (like meeting them on the ship) to get TA recommendations.

Not wanting to break the rules, does anyone have any experience with the big box store accepting AARP gift cards - specifically 5 at a time?

[Rick&Jeannie]

17 minutes ago, nnzz said:

Not wanting to break the rules, does anyone have any experience with the big box store accepting AARP gift cards - specifically 5 at a time?

They are "legitimate" gift cards.  Nobody will ever know where you got them from, so I can't imagine they wouldn't...but then I always book direct; no personal experience.

[Thrak]

The gift cards from AARP are regular Princess gift cards. There is absolutely nothing to identify where they were purchased. Any TA who claims they are different should be run out of town on a rail. They are supposed to be "experts" who can help people but if they say gift cards from AARP are different in any way then they are idiots who don't know what they are talking about.

 

I just finished paying off $22,000 in cruises and airfare using nothing but gift cards purchased from AARP. Get a new TA.

[jwattle]

On 7/24/2023 at 11:44 AM, nnzz said:

Not wanting to break the rules, does anyone have any experience with the big box store accepting AARP gift cards - specifically 5 at a time?

They do. 😁 Before I got my TA creds I always booked with the big box, and they accept the gift cards, many at a time.

[nnzz]

2 hours ago, jwattle said:

They do. 😁 Before I got my TA creds I always booked with the big box, and they accept the gift cards, many at a time.

Thank you all for the replies.   Love the info from these boards

[Brett209]

Anyone know if gift cards can be used to pay for casino slot play? Thanks!

[JerrySueW]

49 minutes ago, Brett209 said:

Anyone know if gift cards can be used to pay for casino slot play? Thanks!

Just go to guest services when you get onboard and ask them to add the gift card to your account. Then you can use it for anything, including casino charges.

[Rick&Jeannie]

36 minutes ago, JerrySueW said:

Just go to guest services when you get onboard and ask them to add the gift card to your account. Then you can use it for anything, including casino charges.

This ^^^^^

[damiross]

I actually rejoined AARP because of the cards.  I have saved $120 on my fare so far.  I figured that at some time, the Princess cards will be available for members only.  So, after $12 renewal fee, I'm still ahead by $108.

[MrSchwump]

I just took advantage of this!

Ordered the cards from the AARP website last night. Called my TA this morning and got confirmation that I’m paid in full this afternoon. 
It was super easy and saved us $250!

[beg3yrs]

3 hours ago, damiross said:

I actually rejoined AARP because of the cards.  I have saved $120 on my fare so far.  I figured that at some time, the Princess cards will be available for members only.  So, after $12 renewal fee, I'm still ahead by $108.

You didn't have to join AARP, just AARP Rewards which is free. Oh well, enjoy the membership.

[ED49404]

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

You didn't have to join AARP, just AARP Rewards which is free. Oh well, enjoy the membership.

We've have been members for many years and take advantage of other discounts like for food, rental cars, hotels, etc. 

[damiross]

6 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

You didn't have to join AARP, just AARP Rewards which is free. Oh well, enjoy the membership.

Yes, I know but as I mentioned, one day AARP may start requiring membership for the card. I didn't rejoin until after my 4th gift card was bought. 

I figure $12 is not a bad fee.  I can get the following members-only gift cards.  I also looked at discounts offered by membership - turns out some are pretty good.

 

 

[CruizinSusan70]

10 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

You didn't have to join AARP, just AARP Rewards which is free. Oh well, enjoy the membership.

 

3 hours ago, damiross said:

Yes, I know but as I mentioned, one day AARP may start requiring membership for the card. I didn't rejoin until after my 4th gift card was bought. 

I figure $12 is not a bad fee.  I can get the following members-only gift cards.  I also looked at discounts offered by membership - turns out some are pretty good.

 

 

The discounted cards are available on the site for the general public at this time for Princess as well as Holland America with the 10% off.   You need a membership in order to get the same cards at a 10% off rate for Celebrity as well as Carnival.  Also, if you have a membership and decide to sail on HAL, just for being a member you'll get anywhere from 50-200 in OBC on every future booking.

[Nittamex]

Has anyone that’s Canadian found a way to purchase the Princess gift cards?

[Hollyann]

I am "fairly" sure that I read that people in Canada can now buy AARP gift cards.  I recommend that you check their website.

 

With regards to big box stores, I bought between 1 - 5 AARP gift cards a month and redeemed them each month from September through January and paid off my entire cruise that way.  I wanted to make sure that I used them the day that I bought them, so I called the big box store immediately upon receiving them via email because a couple of times it was $2500 worth of gift cards.

 

The only draw back that I have heard is if we cancel that we get credit back on our gift cards so I am certain to save the numbers and PINs.  We are booked on the Sun in 99 days.  Hopefully it will sail and that will not be an issue. I am very curious what refund the people who were on the February 8th cruise received if they had paid with the AARP cards.  I have not read anything on that.

 

Edited January 29 by Hollyann