AARP gift cards

[pghflyer]

Back to the math on the whole AARP purchase - I am curious since I have not done it, what merchant and MCC (credit card) category does the purchase of the AARP cards show up under when you buy the cards?

Edited May 2 by pghflyer

[scooter6139]

6 hours ago, pghflyer said:

....Plus there is the whole thing of how much I trust my travel credit card to honor my travel insurance when I make partial payment with a gift card (I have not seen anyone that has actually needed to use their credit card travel insurance in this circumstance yet with multiple payment methods).

It all depends on what Credit Card you have and its requirements. I know the one I use, the Bank of America Premium Rewards Travel Card, requires you to post the entire "base" purchase on the card to get the main benefit of full cancellation coverage. The delay and luggage ones are just partial on the card.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Just now, pghflyer said:

@HUNKY and @Gail & Marty sailing away  I use the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) which gives 3 Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points for Travel / Restaurants. Depending on what you value their transfer options as (ex. 1 point to any airline mile minimum, often 20-40% bonus to select rotating partners every quarter)....it could be worth anywhere from 3-6+% in "value". For example, a few years ago I got 30% transfer for British Airways last year. See the whole history of past bonuses:

 

https://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/complete-history-credit-card-transfer-bonuses/

 

For simplicity, I didn't factor in that you can get 5-10 points (they often do promotions) per $ if you book in the Chase Travel Portal.

 

Of course the decision to get a CSR card is a big calculation on your spending habits and value since it has a $550 annual fee. It works for me as I instantly use the $300 annual travel credit, the Global Entry membership credit, the $5 a month DoorDash credits, the Priority Pass Lounge Membership, and the enhanced Travel Insurance. Not to mention I got a big chunk of points as a sign-up bonus.  Obviously, my math and use case may not work the same for others.

We have the same card, also $20K free cancellation insurance.

[Hogladyrider]

So I thought I would provide an update to my previous post wherein I mentioned I had to cancel a cruise mostly paid with HAL gift cards  from AARP.

 

It was a LONG 10 day wait but all has been  resolved.

 

HAL transferred funds to pay off an upcoming cruise we have booked in April 2025 and refunded a portion back to my CC and then $3500 back onto the original HAL gift cards.

 

This an example of why it is so important to hold onto the original HAL gift card#s and PINS.

I keep a spread sheet of all my cruises and payments etc.

 

Now I can reapply those gift cards to our Alaska cruises in 2025 when final payment gets closer.

 

Happy Saturday everyone.

[mcrcruiser]

with the reduction to 8% vs the original 10 %  it is now not as good when we use our  credit card l; with Chase Sapphire Preferred . Additionally , to track the AARP gift cards should we have to cancel & are in penalty phase ,it may be much harder to track payment on the cruise for reimbursement .  Thus , it is best for us to just pay the cruise  using our Chase Saffire  Preferred  CC  . 

 

 Perhaps we could buy AARP gift cards for our on board credit needs  ,then the  8% works for us  in paying for gratuities , dining ie 

[POA1]

Use your file system to track your cards. When I bought cards to pay for some of our trip, I named as I saved them:

 

AARP-GC-NS-500A.pdf

AARP-GC-NS-500B.pdf

AARP-GC-NS-500C.pdf

 

The NS tells me it's the Nieuw Statendam cruise. After I used all of cards A & B, and all but $72.60 of C, the names were changed to:

 

AARP-GC-NS-500A-zero.pdf

AARP-GC-NS-500B-zero.pdf

AARP-GC-NS-500C-72_60.pdf

 

I keep my gift cards in a directory (folder) underneath the directory for the cruise. The folder hierarchy is:

 

My Documents > 2023-Files > Nieuw-Statendam-2023-12 > AARP

 

There are also directories for all the map images (maps), post card images (cards), misc-graphics, and Poohby-shirts

 

I still use dashes or underscores because spaces were illegal in file names when I was a boy. I just stuck with the convention. It makes things easier if need to serve them on the web. Otherwise you get all those %20 in the URL strings.

 

 

 

[craftygrandma]

I had a new problem this week.  I sent the cards to my TA and there were 4 out of 20 that did not work.  I sent the pdf of the card and they still did not work. I will call AARP on Monday to see how to fix it.   Has anyone else had this problem?  I have been buying them every month for more that a year, and this is the first problem.

[POA1]

19 minutes ago, craftygrandma said:

I had a new problem this week.  I sent the cards to my TA and there were 4 out of 20 that did not work.  I sent the pdf of the card and they still did not work. I will call AARP on Monday to see how to fix it.   Has anyone else had this problem?  I have been buying them every month for more that a year, and this is the first problem.

Did you check the balances at the HAL site?

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/plan-a-cruise/giftcard

[Hogladyrider]

@POA1....great to have another "like minded" detailed person here on board!

 

I find using Google Sheets and I keep a detailed listing of all the HAL gift card #s, pins, etc, overall cost of cruise, hotel info, excursion info anything else pertaining to the cruise on the one sheet.

Now I would have to go to Plan "B" if it were more than an 18 day cruise I am sure but I find it works best for me.

[POA1]

1 minute ago, Hogladyrider said:

@POA1....great to have another "like minded" detailed person here on board!

 

I find using Google Sheets and I keep a detailed listing of all the HAL gift card #s, pins, etc, overall cost of cruise, hotel info, excursion info anything else pertaining to the cruise on the one sheet.

Now I would have to go to Plan "B" if it were more than an 18 day cruise I am sure but I find it works best for me.

I picked the file name method because it doesn't rely on any external tracking method. If I wanted to "flatten" the system and not use per-cruise directories, I'd put them all in an AARP-cards directory and use a longer name:

 

AARP-GC-202312-NS-500A.pdf

 

The filenames, when sorted alphabetically, would be in chronological order by cruise. If you were taking more than one cruise a month, you'd have to make the date part 6 digits:

 

AARP-GC-20231210-NS-500A.pdf

 

We're still working, so two sailings a year is about our maximum.

[jlawrence01]

2 hours ago, POA1 said:

Use your file system to track your cards. When I bought cards to pay for some of our trip, I named as I saved them:

 

AARP-GC-NS-500A.pdf

AARP-GC-NS-500B.pdf

AARP-GC-NS-500C.pdf

 

The NS tells me it's the Nieuw Statendam cruise. After I used all of cards A & B, and all but $72.60 of C, the names were changed to:

 

AARP-GC-NS-500A-zero.pdf

AARP-GC-NS-500B-zero.pdf

AARP-GC-NS-500C-72_60.pdf

 

I keep my gift cards in a directory (folder) underneath the directory for the cruise. The folder hierarchy is:

 

My Documents > 2023-Files > Nieuw-Statendam-2023-12 > AARP

 

There are also directories for all the map images (maps), post card images (cards), misc-graphics, and Poohby-shirts

 

I still use dashes or underscores because spaces were illegal in file names when I was a boy. I just stuck with the convention. It makes things easier if need to serve them on the web. Otherwise you get all those %20 in the URL strings.

 

 

 

Excellent method.  I do the same thing when I account for all of the Southwest Airlines gift cards that I purchase.  In that case, any credits I get for cancelling a Southwest flight is held by the airline not credited back to the card.

[Haljo1935]

9 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

So I thought I would provide an update to my previous post wherein I mentioned I had to cancel a cruise mostly paid with HAL gift cards  from AARP.

 

It was a LONG 10 day wait but all has been  resolved.

 

HAL transferred funds to pay off an upcoming cruise we have booked in April 2025 and refunded a portion back to my CC and then $3500 back onto the original HAL gift cards.

 

This an example of why it is so important to hold onto the original HAL gift card#s and PINS.

I keep a spread sheet of all my cruises and payments etc.

 

Now I can reapply those gift cards to our Alaska cruises in 2025 when final payment gets closer.

 

Happy Saturday everyone.

Happy to hear it all came back together- and GC funds were put back on GCs.

[Hogladyrider]

1 minute ago, Haljo1935 said:

Happy to hear it all came back together- and GC funds were put back on GCs.

Thanks me too, it was pretty nerve wracking for 10 days worrying about my $7k.

[a.madruga]

 I will still buy them at 8% plus 2% from Visa card 

[wdw1972]

On 5/9/2024 at 2:43 PM, a.madruga said:

 I will still buy them at 8% plus 2% from Visa card 

Ditto - except my 2% cash back card is a MasterCard 😉

 

Sue/WDW1972

[a.madruga]

Awesome enjoy it 

[mcrcruiser]

We believe a lot depends upon ones age & over health whether one purchases the AARP gift Cards . As a example we are in our mid 80s with some monility problems .Those don't stop us from cruises;  However ,a illness can stop a person from cruising . With these AARP gift Cards ,the monies go back on the cards ;but ,then what if a person can no longer cruise . Then they are challenged to try & sell them 7 most likely discounted unless to a realative .

 

 when a person considers purchasing gift cards which are non redeemable for cash ,, one should consider all possibilities  or it can be a gamble . Then the 8% saving is not worth it  imo

[Nancy&Frank]

I will continue to purchase them.  I just paid for an entire cruise with AARP gift cards.  I was very happy to save an extra 8%. 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

11 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

...... With these AARP gift Cards ,the monies go back on the cards ;but ,then what if a person can no longer cruise . Then they are challenged to try & sell them 7 most likely discounted unless to a realative .

 

From the HAL terms and conditions of the gift cards. 

 

HAL Gift Card Terms and Conditions

 

 

I know many people have successfully had funds reloaded onto their gift cards upon cancellation, but the language in the actual terms and conditions has always made me cautious. I do realize there are different interpretations of 'reloading', but the T&C (linked above) also state clearly that HAL can change T&C at anytime within the laws of the state of Florida (when not mandated by Fed).

 

I do use gift cards, but acknowledge that gift cards always come with risk. Buyer be informed..

[mcrcruiser]

4 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

From the HAL terms and conditions of the gift cards. 

 

HAL Gift Card Terms and Conditions

 

 

I know many people have successfully had funds reloaded onto their gift cards upon cancellation, but the language in the actual terms and conditions has always made me cautious. I do realize there are different interpretations of 'reloading', but the T&C (linked above) also state clearly that HAL can change T&C at anytime within the laws of the state of Florida (when not mandated by Fed).

 

I do use gift cards, but acknowledge that gift cards always come with risk. Buyer be informed..

Yes there certainly is risk in using gift cards . Just haooening once where a person can no lonher cruise  & then what do they do with thousands of dollars on gift cards that can only be used with that cruise line ? Then as you mentioned other possibilities . Imo the downside nor outweighs the upside .Yes buyer be ware 

[a.madruga]

mcrcruser

your totally right but we are fortunate to have 5 adult kids who would benefit from them

stay well keep cruising 

[kristapb]

I always used to purchase these, but have been trying over the last couple of months with no luck.  Saw the drop to 8% in the midst of this.  Very peeved.  I've called customer service and had the issue escalated, but still no luck. I've finally given up. But when I could actually buy them, I had no trouble using them.

[mcrcruiser]

12 hours ago, a.madruga said:

mcrcruser

your totally right but we are fortunate to have 5 adult kids who would benefit from them

stay well keep cruising 

  We hope that is true . I would verify that you can give your adult children the AARP  gift Cards to use .  It  just seems to us that there is more downside which outweighs saving 8 % . In por case it is also important to be able to track the cruise payments on  out Chase sapphire Credit card which gives us automatic cruise cancellation & cruise interruption & some baggage ins up to $20,000 . 

We very recently had to deal with Chase insurance on a initial cancellation charge of $700 . It  took  several months to get it all worked out . We are in San Diego area & their insurance company ,a division of Allianz Insurance co  is in Virginia  .Could not imagine if we  had used AARP gifytcards to track the cruise payment .We got back the $700 penalty which HAL charged

[cbr663]

After reading this entire thread I simply want to comment how much I admire everyone's patience and tenacity when trying to pay for their HAL cruise using a gift card.  It sure doesn't read like a walk in the park.  😀

[a.madruga]

10 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

  We hope that is true . I would verify that you can give your adult children the AARP  gift Cards to use .  It  just seems to us that there is more downside which outweighs saving 8 % . In por case it is also important to be able to track the cruise payments on  out Chase sapphire Credit card which gives us automatic cruise cancellation & cruise interruption & some baggage ins up to $20,000 . 

We very recently had to deal with Chase insurance on an initial cancellation charge of $700 . It  took  several months to get it all worked out . We are in San Diego area & their insurance company ,a division of Allianz Insurance co  is in Virginia  .Could not imagine if we  had used AARP gifytcards to track the cruise payment .We got back the $700 penalty which HAL charged

Allianz is a very good travel insurance company A