AARP Rewards eGift Cards

[PacnGoNow]

6 hours ago, JAT0303 said:

I just went in and bought the gift cards from AARP as I do every month.  It was only 8% off so I was surprised to see that the e-mails said I'd bought them for $450, the old price!

They have not updated the verbage on that page.  But, you did pay the increased amount. 

[PacnGoNow]

8 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

 

 

I suspect there's a degree of truth in this.  (Not picking on @Thrak...I've bought a good chunk myself!)  I believe there has probably been a big surge in Princess GCs since we all started discussing it here on CC.  MANY people chimed in saying that they had no idea they were available.  Basic supply and demand at work here.  Someone took note and figured "There's some money to be made here!"

 

However, @Thrakand others, including myself, have added to their cashflow. 😆

[Steelers36]

We are collectively a small percentage of PCL customer base, but mighty in our impact.

 

Do I regret not getting them at 90%?  No, because I would have had money tied up for a potential long time for 2%.  Hope it stays there for when we do book a cruise again.  Next stop is likely 5%.  We shall see. 

 

Happy for all the folks who saved good money off their voyages.

[jwattle]

Also, the Princess gift cards have the least restrictive uses of any of the cards that I know of; for example, some of the others have caveats, such as not being able to be used onboard for onboard credit, I believe, or limit the amount to be used...

(disclaimer: I do not remember the exact restrictions previously discussed, just that they were there :D)

 

[Bgwest]

Just bought 10. 
$4600 total charge to my MC

[bladerunner6]

On 8/1/2023 at 8:48 PM, 808cruisers said:

Clicking thru Capital One Shopping had $5 cash back AARP rewards.

Is there an exclusion for gift cards? 
 

Capital One Offers (versus Shopping) supposedly excludes gift cards.

 

[JAT0303]

6 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

They have not updated the verbage on that page.  But, you did pay the increased amount. 

Yes, I did.  I was just laughing that they hadn't updated that part yet!

[808cruisers]

I have C1 shopping installed either as an extension or on my desktop and It flashed the rewards (different than ones i've seen for membership) $5 before I clicked in. I didn't see it track immediately so maybe you are right, it is just for gift cards. I thought all the rewards were gift cards so I assumed it was good. Hope nobody has been chasing it- I thought I was giving accurate info. 

[bladerunner6]

12 minutes ago, 808cruisers said:

I have C1 shopping installed either as an extension or on my desktop and It flashed the rewards (different than ones i've seen for membership) $5 before I clicked in. I didn't see it track immediately so maybe you are right, it is just for gift cards. I thought all the rewards were gift cards so I assumed it was good. Hope nobody has been chasing it- I thought I was giving accurate info. 

I do know if gift cards are excluded or not.

 

I used my Capital One offers for a renewal of my membership so the credit shows.

 

I might experiment with a $100 card.

[CruizinSusan70]

On 8/2/2023 at 2:50 PM, chubbypiggy said:

Never mind my question above.  Just bought my gift cards, and it did show a $5 reward.

Is that a 5.00 reward for a single card purchase as well as numerous cards?  Meaning is it a one time thing or could you buy 20 gift cards and get 5.00 per?  Thanks

[CruizinSusan70]

5 hours ago, jwattle said:

Also, the Princess gift cards have the least restrictive uses of any of the cards that I know of; for example, some of the others have caveats, such as not being able to be used onboard for onboard credit, I believe, or limit the amount to be used...

(disclaimer: I do not remember the exact restrictions previously discussed, just that they were there :D)

 

The Princess cards have the same limitations as those associated with Carnival and HAL, which is basically none.  You can use it for all costs associated with your cruise, deposit, final payment, excursions, on board charges, excursions and with Princess, EZ Air.  With Celebrity, you can use it for front end stuff only for a maximum of 1000 per cabin, initial deposit and other monies up to the 1000/cabin ceiling.  RCI cards have too many restrictions.

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, bladerunner6 said:

I do know if gift cards are excluded or not.

 

I used my Capital One offers for a renewal of my membership so the credit shows.

 

I might experiment with a $100 card.

I have capital one shopping installed on my PC and my primary card is capital one that I use for practically all of my purchases.  Can't find out how to get that $5.00 savings.  Kind of upset about the reduction from 10% to 8%.  Currently have a few thousand in gift cards, but need another 15K.  That 2% reduction just cost me $300.00.

[Fleur25]

On 8/1/2023 at 10:48 AM, fzrider said:

I have been purchasing max allowable Princess Gift cards each month.

I just logged into AARP to purchase for Aug and find they are now discounted only 8% rather than the 10% previously.

 

I just came here to see if others noticed that as well. I try to buy several each month. Bought my share for July and just came back for August and they have lost some of their value. 😢 What's up with that?? It's one of the few things I actually use my AARP for. Any explanations offered? 

[damiross]

16 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

They have not updated the verbage on that page.  But, you did pay the increased amount. 

Yup, I just checked it.  I show 2 gift cards at $100 each bought today.  It shows the cost of $90 each.  But my credit card account shows $92 each.

[damiross]

5 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

  That 2% reduction just cost me $300.00.

Not really.  You are still saving hundreds.

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, damiross said:

Not really.  You are still saving hundreds.

 

We will likely be buying more to pay for our cruise next April. Even at "only" an 8% discount it's worth the minor effort to purchase the cards.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, damiross said:

Not really.  You are still saving hundreds.

So what.  Last week 15 K in purchases would cost 13.5K, now it's costing me 13.8K.  We're just starting a major uptick with cruising on Princess and it stinks that it's only a 8% savings when all of the other lines are still @ 10%.  Currently have 71 future nights booked over the next two years.  I appreciate the savings, combined with the stock OBC, but with the new casual dining restrictions, that's two negatives within the week.

[Shelly97060]

On 8/1/2023 at 8:34 AM, bjkTX said:

Thanks!  I wish I had all that info 🙂  I have the gift card number and PIN but had bought a couple of dozen of them over the last year or so and all the AARP site shows is that cards were purchased - not the card numbers.  But I'll contact them and see how it goes 🙂

AARP can email you the numbers again.  I recently cancelled a cruise that I had used a GC on and for some reason instead of the amount going back to the original card it went to a different princess gift card I had used  (card was also from AARP). I called AARP and they sent me the numbers within a few minutes and then I could check all the balances and locate which card the money had been refunded to.

 

[med02]

7 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

We will likely be buying more to pay for our cruise next April. Even at "only" an 8% discount it's worth the minor effort to purchase the cards.

Are you able to use these for EZ Air? I tried last month and didn't see the ability to do so. 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, med02 said:

Are you able to use these for EZ Air? I tried last month and didn't see the ability to do so. 

You can’t use them just to pay EZAir after your cruise is fully paid.  If they are added to your reservation using a flexible fare, you can use them to pay off your entire balance.  That’s been my experience.  

[no1racefan1]

9 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

So what.  Last week 15 K in purchases would cost 13.5K, now it's costing me 13.8K.  We're just starting a major uptick with cruising on Princess and it stinks that it's only a 8% savings when all of the other lines are still @ 10%.  Currently have 71 future nights booked over the next two years.  I appreciate the savings, combined with the stock OBC, but with the new casual dining restrictions, that's two negatives within the week.

Wow

[chubbypiggy]

20 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Is that a 5.00 reward for a single card purchase as well as numerous cards?  Meaning is it a one time thing or could you buy 20 gift cards and get 5.00 per?  Thanks

I think it is for the entire transaction regardless you buy one or 20 cards.

[bjkTX]

11 hours ago, Shelly97060 said:

AARP can email you the numbers again.  I recently cancelled a cruise that I had used a GC on and for some reason instead of the amount going back to the original card it went to a different princess gift card I had used  (card was also from AARP). I called AARP and they sent me the numbers within a few minutes and then I could check all the balances and locate which card the money had been refunded to.

 

I had the numbers and the pin - just not a purchase date since that wasn't online anymore.  That only mattered if someone asked for that info.  But after three days of our TA and I talking with AARP, Princess Gift Cards and Princess no one asked for that info because no one was willing to do anything but say it wasn't their problem - call the other guy.  After getting another "not our problem" email response from Princess Gift Cards last night - I called AARP again figuring I gave them the money and they gave me the card so they are the likely one to press even though they had not been helpful so far.  Fortunately the individual I talked to last night seemed to understand, asked for what I thought was all the right info, and said he would turn it over to a resolution team and what would probably happen is they would issue a new card (or tell me it isn't there problem call Princess....).  He asked when I bought the card - no idea because we bought so many over the last 2 years.  He asked how we paid for it - no idea - we use different credit cards for bonus purposes 🙂  But he said he could work around that.  So we'll see.  In the mean time I paid the remaining $320 on the cruise and got my Paid In Full statement :-)

[Rick&Jeannie]

I have apparently "missed something".  People are talking about a "$5 discount".  Is this something in addition to the discount received from AARP?  How does this relate to AARP gift cards?

[chubbypiggy]

I just bought my 5 cards.  I told my sister about it, and she wants to buy 5 cards also.  I told her she needs to register with AARP with her email address, which she said is fine.  She doesn't want to use her credit card.  For her purchase, can she use my credit card that I just used for my purchase?  She will use her own email address (different from mine).  Thank you.