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Another AARP gift card question

wannagonow123

By wannagonow123,
in Princess Cruises

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wannagonow123

wannagonow123

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Does anyone know the maximum dollar amount of gift cards can be used for OBC? We are embarking on a 20 day sailing next year and would like to purchase AARP gift cards to pay for our onboard account. We would like to put something like $3,000 to 4,000 onto our account. (We charge our casino spending to our room). Does anyone know what the maximum amount is? I have called Princess, and they are clueless as to what I am talking about.

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Rick&Jeannie "Live from...." Rare

Rick&Jeannie

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Posted
16 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Does anyone know if there is a limit to applying AARP gift cards toward payment for the the cruise?  (Not onboard...but when making final payment.)

No limit from the Princess side...but you are limited to 5 cards purchased per month by AARP.  I have paid 1 cruise in full with gift cards and probably a half on 2 others.

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suzyed

suzyed

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9 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

No limit from the Princess side...but you are limited to 5 cards purchased per month by AARP.  I have paid 1 cruise in full with gift cards and probably a half on 2 others.

Yeah, I thoughts so...we paid about $2000 in gift cards on our last cruise.
 

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Musky Ike "Live from...." Rare

Musky Ike

Posted
Posted (edited)
32 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Does anyone know if there is a limit to applying AARP gift cards toward payment for the the cruise?  (Not onboard...but when making final payment.)

On our last two cruises there has been a small portion of the total cost that our TA was not allowed to use gift cards toward do to her agencies discounts. Not a problem, as the fares were so much lower than direct with Princess to begin with. 

Edited by Musky Ike
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beg3yrs

beg3yrs

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On 11/25/2023 at 12:51 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

I have seen it reported here on CC that it is $1500...but I do not have firsthand knowledge. 

We have firsthand knowledge and can confirm that as of last January it was $1500 per person.

 

1 hour ago, suzyed said:

Does anyone know if there is a limit to applying AARP gift cards toward payment for the the cruise?  (Not onboard...but when making final payment.)

We've paid over $10K using gift cards for final payment. It was done through a TA.

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jwattle Holiday Sharing Rare

jwattle

Posted
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1 hour ago, suzyed said:

Does anyone know if there is a limit to applying AARP gift cards toward payment for the the cruise?  (Not onboard...but when making final payment.)

 

50 minutes ago, Musky Ike said:

On our last two cruises there has been a small portion of the total cost that our TA was not allowed to use gift cards toward do to her agencies discounts. Not a problem, as the fares were so much lower than direct with Princess to begin with. 

That would be agency specific then 🙂

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mina

mina

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On 11/26/2023 at 5:35 PM, beg3yrs said:

We have firsthand knowledge and can confirm that as of last January it was $1500 per person.

 

We've paid over $10K using gift cards for final payment. It was done through a TA.

So in total, you were able to put 3000 in gift cards on your onboard account when you were on the ship?  I have 2500 to use for our gambling $$ on an upcoming cruise.   Thinking I should do 1500 one day, then the remaining 1000 another day?  

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mina

mina

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Just now, Rick&Jeannie said:

I don't think it would make any difference if you did it all on the same day...JMO.

Thank you.  This is my first time bringing gift cards on the ship to apply to our account.   Little nervous!  

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AZjohn

AZjohn

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3 minutes ago, mina said:

 I have 2500 to use for our gambling $$ on an upcoming cruise.   Thinking I should do 1500 one day, then the remaining 1000 another day?  

Maybe I'm getting the wrong idea but, sounds like you aren't planning to win anything in the casino 😮(lol)

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mina

mina

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34 minutes ago, AZjohn said:

Maybe I'm getting the wrong idea but, sounds like you aren't planning to win anything in the casino 😮(lol)

Nope.  But I will probably not put down all the gift cards to start, cause well maybe lightening WILL strike once!  

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beg3yrs

beg3yrs

Posted
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3 hours ago, mina said:

So in total, you were able to put 3000 in gift cards on your onboard account when you were on the ship?  I have 2500 to use for our gambling $$ on an upcoming cruise.   Thinking I should do 1500 one day, then the remaining 1000 another day?  

@Rick&Jeannie have given you excellent information. Once I was putting almost $6K on account at Guest Services and a supervisor came over and wanted to make sure I wasn't overdoing it. He basically said it's difficult to make refunds if the funds aren't used. I can understand that as they'd have to go back through all the different cards and determine which ones to refund. Then he saw our current balance and when I told him we intended to play a bunch more Bingo he wasn't worried. 🤔

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Wishing on a star

Wishing on a star

Posted
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The refunding process is the one big drawback to these cards....

And, I can see how they do not want people to buy up a lot of OBC that might not get used up.

We paid a good amount on a cruise, and then, of course a good promo rate/drop came along.

We couldn't re-book, and use those cards, because they can take days/weeks to process those refunds. 

If you ALWAYS have a next cruise to use the cards for, then that might not be a problem.

But, as we know, the way things were, one didn't know when and if and how they might be cruising again.

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damiross

damiross

Posted
Posted
On 11/26/2023 at 3:24 PM, suzyed said:

Does anyone know if there is a limit to applying AARP gift cards toward payment for the the cruise?  (Not onboard...but when making final payment.)

Not only does there not appear to be a limit but of you use only part of a card then you get a refund. 

 

I used $328 of a $500 card. The balance is now $672!  I've checked this several times since using it back in November.  The balance hasn't changed.

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beg3yrs

beg3yrs

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12 hours ago, damiross said:

Not only does there not appear to be a limit but of you use only part of a card then you get a refund. 

 

I used $328 of a $500 card. The balance is now $672!  I've checked this several times since using it back in November.  The balance hasn't changed.

That's very odd to me. Seems like somehow that card was refunded from another source. I'm not sure I'd call the gift card support folks (they can see all the transactions on the card) as if it's an error then bye-bye free money!

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damiross

damiross

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On 12/3/2023 at 8:36 AM, beg3yrs said:

That's very odd to me. Seems like somehow that card was refunded from another source. I'm not sure I'd call the gift card support folks (they can see all the transactions on the card) as if it's an error then bye-bye free money!

I know it is an error and I do not consider it "free money".  

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damiross

damiross

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On 12/2/2023 at 4:11 PM, Wishing on a star said:

If you ALWAYS have a next cruise to use the cards for, then that might not be a problem.

But, as we know, the way things were, one didn't know when and if and how they might be cruising again.

There's the problem.  Although I have a cruise booked, I still don't know if I can go due to personal medical reasons. If I need to cancel my upcoming cruise, then I will need to see if Princess will refund the gift cards in cash.  I will also be completely open with them and tell them that I have $5000 in cards which cost me less due to the AARP discount.

 

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