AARP Rewards eGift Cards

[sfaaa]

3 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

 

Doesn't want to be left with cards if we don't take this next booked cruise and do not cruise again very soon.

Gift cards are transferrable with no expiry date. I plan to gift them to my kids if I don't end up using them.

[pompeii]

So regarding the Newegg gift cards...I had set an alert on the Newegg website to be notified when the price dropped to $460.  However I didn't get a notification for this promo, and I'm thinking it's because the price itself stayed at $500 with a $40 promo code so it didn't trigger the alert.  So I'm wondering how to be aware of these deals when they're offered, especially since they may last only one day.  Besides of course hoping someone on CC will mention it.🙂

[chubbypiggy]

Just went to the Princess website to check the balance of the gift cards I just bought from Newegg.  That function is not working right now. 

[dickinson]

17 minutes ago, pompeii said:

So regarding the Newegg gift cards...I had set an alert on the Newegg website to be notified when the price dropped to $460.  However I didn't get a notification for this promo, and I'm thinking it's because the price itself stayed at $500 with a $40 promo code so it didn't trigger the alert.  So I'm wondering how to be aware of these deals when they're offered, especially since they may last only one day.  Besides of course hoping someone on CC will mention it.🙂

I did too and didn't get an email.  I checked the website this morning and saw it was on sale.

[dickinson]

12 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

Just went to the Princess website to check the balance of the gift cards I just bought from Newegg.  That function is not working right now. 

Worked for me a couple of hours ago.  Maybe it will be back up soon.

[JoseyP]

Just bought only 1 card and it came thru in about 4 minutes!  I thought I could buy another on a different credit card, but I forgot it was one time use!

That is fine. I'll use the 500 for another cruise, or maybe on the one coming up in November.

Still available at 10 to 9 PM Eastern time.

thanks a bunch. JoseyP

[beg3yrs]

Just tried to purchase 5 more $500 cards. Purchase was accepted but then received an email saying the order was canceled as they're now out of cards.

[dickinson]

11 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

Just tried to purchase 5 more $500 cards. Purchase was accepted but then received an email saying the order was canceled as they're now out of cards.

My dd tried to order for me about the same time but said she didn't see any $500 cards.  Disappointed as I only needed 4 more.  Now will have to wait for another sale.  Hopefully there will be one!

[Iamcruzin]

On 9/28/2022 at 5:46 PM, bhawks9 said:

I use them to pay for the cruise.   You get e-gift cards sent to you that you enter the info on the Princess payment page.  You have to enter one at a time to pay, but worth it.  As an example, if you buy $5,000 worth (10 x $500 gift cards) on AARP you save $500!  

What happens if you have to cancel the cruise before final payment? How do you get refunded?

[dickinson]

8 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

What happens if you have to cancel the cruise before final payment? How do you get refunded?

Back to the card. You have to save the card # and pin till after you cruise. 

[MacMadame]

 

6 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

So it occurred to me after getting my fill of GCs on Newegg, that possibly, and contrary to my previous hypothesis that on AARP all us CC'ers were driving the redemption rate too high to be profitable for Princess, could it be:

 

Once AARP made the gift cards to be accessible to members only, a large segment of Princess' new target market (younger folks and families) was locked out of the discounts.

 

Did Princess actually remove the cards from AARP to make access to the discounted cards available to more of its market on other web-sites?

I don't think we'll ever know why they did it. Carnival the corporation still allows gift cards for their other cruise lines so I don't think it's that selling discounted gift cards wasn't profitable for them unless Princess gift card purchasing was widely different than Carnival, HAL, etc.

[Daniel A]

36 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

What happens if you have to cancel the cruise before final payment? How do you get refunded?

I only put the minimum deposit down on my cruises and I don't make any further payments until 2 days before final payment is due.  That's when I use the cards.  I would still have the cards if I needed to cancel before final payment, and I'd be able to use them toward another Princess cruise.  The cards themselves are non-refundable.

Edited October 8 by Daniel A

[Iamcruzin]

4 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I only put the minimum deposit down on my cruises and I don't make any further payments until 2 days before final payment is due.  That's when I use the cards.  I would still have the cards if I needed to cancel before final payment, and I'd be able to use toward another Princess cruise.  The cards themselves are non-refundable.

Do they expire?

[Daniel A]

4 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

 

I don't think we'll ever know why they did it. Carnival the corporation still allows gift cards for their other cruise lines so I don't think it's that selling discounted gift cards wasn't profitable for them unless Princess gift card purchasing was widely different than Carnival, HAL, etc.

I think Princess is moving in the direction of attracting a younger demographic.  Members only requirement on a retirement website is encouraging the demographic they're looking to move away from.  I'd be interested in seeing if Carnival Corporation raises the Holland America cards to 10% on AARP.

 

Another example of Princess looking for a younger demographic is that they will only let 3 or more passengers in the cabin pick their own deluxe balconies.  If it's two passengers in the cabin you can only book a guarantee on many sailings.

[Daniel A]

5 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Do they expire?

No.

[Musky Ike]

15 hours ago, JoseyP said:

Just bought only 1 card and it came thru in about 4 minutes!  I thought I could buy another on a different credit card, but I forgot it was one time use!

That is fine. I'll use the 500 for another cruise, or maybe on the one coming up in November.

Still available at 10 to 9 PM Eastern time.

thanks a bunch. JoseyP

4 min. you must be lucky! I bought 5 yesterday and still waiting for that email today. Charge still shows pending.

[Musky Ike]

3 minutes ago, Musky Ike said:

4 min. you must be lucky! I bought 5 yesterday and still waiting for that email today. Charge still shows pending.

OK I guess all I had to do was post on here, they just showed up 😉. Thanks for the heads up on here, otherwise I would not have noticed this sale.

[station10fd]

13 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I think Princess is moving in the direction of attracting a younger demographic.  Members only requirement on a retirement website is encouraging the demographic they're looking to move away from.  I'd be interested in seeing if Carnival Corporation raises the Holland America cards to 10% on AARP.

 

Another example of Princess looking for a younger demographic is that they will only let 3 or more passengers in the cabin pick their own deluxe balconies.  If it's two passengers in the cabin you can only book a guarantee on many sailings.

We've gone through the 3 pesons in a deluxe balcony fiasco for the last 7 cruises.  We been using the same PVP for the last five years and she knows how to get around that for us.  We find the deluxe cabin we want and she takes care of the rest.  It seems to be on the Royal class specifically.

 

Yesterday I bought 5 cards on my newegg account, then my wife bought 5 under her account with a different credit card, so a decent savings.  Mine came through in one hours, my wifes in 10 minutes.

 

Mike and Paulia

[Daniel A]

13 minutes ago, station10fd said:

We've gone through the 3 pesons in a deluxe balcony fiasco for the last 7 cruises.  We been using the same PVP for the last five years and she knows how to get around that for us.  We find the deluxe cabin we want and she takes care of the rest.  It seems to be on the Royal class specifically.

 

Mike and Paulia

I've seen on another thread where people suggested that they indicate a booking for 3 people, they book the cabin they want and drop the third person at a later point.  The problem with that is you need to have passport info for the third imaginary passenger.  Again, it's not seniors looking to book 3 passenger cabins for the most part.  I'm not interested in booking a guarantee after other people selected the best locations.

[MacMadame]

14 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I think Princess is moving in the direction of attracting a younger demographic.  Members only requirement on a retirement website is encouraging the demographic they're looking to move away from. 

I don't disagree with this, but it doesn't explain why they are still offering Carnival cards at 10% off if this is their thinking.

[TAW1963]

17 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I've seen on another thread where people suggested that they indicate a booking for 3 people, they book the cabin they want and drop the third person at a later point.  The problem with that is you need to have passport info for the third imaginary passenger.  Again, it's not seniors looking to book 3 passenger cabins for the most part.  I'm not interested in booking a guarantee after other people selected the best locations.

We have done this in the past where I have booked a deluxe, or premium deluxe, cabin for three and then canceled one.  I call Princess and have them cancel almost immediately after booking without any problems.  I don't have to provide any information on the third passenger other than their name of DOB.  I use my mother's name for she will never set foot on a cruise ship.  I have also called in to Princess directly and (usually) I have to inform them of doing a booking for three then dropping one.  They can usually do this seamlessly before you even get a confirmation letter.  I have heard that a good PVP can book these directly, but not all of them know how.  I no longer bother with this and just book at least a reserve collection mini-suite.

[Daniel A]

46 minutes ago, TAW1963 said:

I no longer bother with this and just book at least a reserve collection mini-suite.

I booked a mini on my next cruise because I couldn't pick out a Premium Deluxe Balcony.  I wouldn't have gone for the upgrade to a mini but I had already committed to friends I would be on that sailing.  I am noticing on 2026 sailings, there are beginning to be selected Premium Deluxe Balconies with only 2 persons on the booking.  Maybe someone at Princess decided it wasn't such a good idea.

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, MacMadame said:

I don't disagree with this, but it doesn't explain why they are still offering Carnival cards at 10% off if this is their thinking.

Carnival is Carnival and Princess is Princess. Two different profit-and-loss entities under the corporation. They make their own decisions, mostly independently.

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

2 hours ago, Musky Ike said:

4 min. you must be lucky! I bought 5 yesterday and still waiting for that email today. Charge still shows pending.

I called they said they sent me a verification text. I think I may have deleted thinking it was the verification code  they previously sent. They were great. They had someone call me to verify. He called in about an hour and a half. I had my cards within the hour.

 

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

On 10/7/2024 at 4:40 AM, dickinson said:

Newegg today has a sale for $40 off $500 gift card!!!  19 hours left.  Limit is 5 for the discount.  code is SSFTTDX739

I can not thank you enough!! I got home from our trip and printed all 5 of them.