Discounted gift cards?

[cgolf1]

On 8/17/2024 at 9:21 PM, lennythenose said:

Our reasons have nothing to do with cruising or gift cards so I choose not to discuss them here.  I only mentioned it to explain why I was looking for different options. 

 

The problem is you teased it, and have everyone really curious and honestly may have us thinking we bought into a scam. Being 50 I know my time left is very limited, so we have already saved more in hotel discounts than we paid for the membership. That said with how money gets paid back to gift cards, port fee refunds, if the whole cruise gets cancelled, etc we have chosen not to use gift cards for big purchases like cruises. I know we are leaving some money on the table, but we are no longer tied to one line so we don't want money tied up in gift cards. Also didn't do it for Disney back when you could get 5% off through Target.

[mtnesterz]

11 hours ago, bladerunner6 said:

I get a fabulous return on my AARP membership.  Yes, there are for some other ways some times to save and I use those too.   But no doubt about it, AARP is a powerful money saving tool. 

This is great to know! I'm all for saving money, especially on cruising where the percentage equates to a large dollar amount.

Since you are a member, perhaps you can answer my concern, which others have also voiced,  regarding solicitation. Once you join, it's mentioned you start to receive a lot of mailings and emails for more offers. Then when you buy these cards, you're giving more information which goes on to those companies. I like to avoid this when I can. What was your experience?

[cgolf1]

14 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

This is great to know! I'm all for saving money, especially on cruising where the percentage equates to a large dollar amount.

Since you are a member, perhaps you can answer my concern, which others have also voiced,  regarding solicitation. Once you join, it's mentioned you start to receive a lot of mailings and emails for more offers. Then when you buy these cards, you're giving more information which goes on to those companies. I like to avoid this when I can. What was your experience?

 

Our account is tied to my email and besides AARP emails, maybe one a day, I haven't seen a bunch of spam emails. Those come from random places that one can sign up for and you never know which place will burn you. Not to blame HAL, maybe,  but after we registered our email with them for a cruise we started to get a lot of spam in our inbox, could have been something else, but the timing was interesting on that one.

Edited August 20 by cgolf1

[milolii]

1 hour ago, Derbie said:

I have difficulty locating the gift cards on AARP, and I have been a member for a long time.  Now, I will say, I don't always hunt down their deals either.  Anyone direct me to the area of the website that offers the gift cards?  Thanks!

Google AARP rewards, sign in there.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

20 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

besides AARP emails, maybe one a day, I haven't seen a bunch of spam emails.

who wants to get one AARP email every day?

They've been bombarding our household with their mailed invitations years before anyone in this house even got close to 50. 

[Derbie]

22 minutes ago, milolii said:

Google AARP rewards, sign in there.  

Thanks I will try this route.  I went all over their website.  

[mtnesterz]

1 hour ago, cgolf1 said:

That said with how money gets paid back to gift cards, port fee refunds, if the whole cruise gets cancelled, etc we have chosen not to use gift cards for big purchases like cruises.

Good point. I hadn't considered that. Thanks. We had three cruises cancelled during Covid. I suppose you could just use the cards to load OBC once aboard ship, then if the remaining amount is over $25 at the end of the cruise, the amount is mailed by check. Less that $25 is a cash refund at Passenger Services.

My favorite so far is buying a Princess GC with Kroger 4X points, plus survey points, (in our case Ralphs.) Here in California where gas is high, it really helps. But this thread is really informational. Anyone with other tips?

Edited August 20 by mtnesterz

[isosika]

27 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

who wants to get one AARP email every day?

They've been bombarding our household with their mailed invitations years before anyone in this house even got close to 50. 

 

I have an email account that I use strictly for commercial sites that I might purchase from.  They send me an enormous amount of email, I don't care.  I simply do a mass email deletion and I'm done with it.  My personal email remains unscathed.  

[milolii]

3rd party Insurance:  You need to check with your insurance company.  My insurance will refund cash if requested when making a claim. There are steps to follow, so like I said check with your insurance, before buying the cards.  You only insure the cost of the cards, not the cost of the cruise, so you can save a bit there.  Be sure to ask about CFAR  and how that might work, but I expect that might be complicated, and GCs would be refunded. 
 

Princess insurance:  not sure how this would work with the GCs, maybe someone can post an experience 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, isosika said:

 

I have an email account that I use strictly for commercial sites that I might purchase from.  They send me an enormous amount of email, I don't care.  I simply do a mass email deletion and I'm done with it.  My personal email remains unscathed.  

I don't want that one spammed either....

And I can totally tell who sold our info. For example, ATT butchered my hub's first name in a very specific way, so when we get spam with that spelling, I know it was ATT.

[lennythenose]

3 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

 

The problem is you teased it, and have everyone really curious and honestly may have us thinking we bought into a scam.

I apologize to anyone feeling this way. It was never my intention and I tried to be as clear as I could with all of my posts. I never said anything against AARP or discouraged anyone from joining. In fact I specifically said it is a good deal financially and that my reasons for not joining are not pertinent here. Others have mentioned reasons for not joining and that is what I was truly hoping to avoid by simply asking for other sources for discounts. I gad hoped to avoid this thread becoming about AARP. 

Edited August 20 by lennythenose

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, isosika said:

 

I have an email account that I use strictly for commercial sites that I might purchase from.  They send me an enormous amount of email, I don't care.  I simply do a mass email deletion and I'm done with it.  My personal email remains unscathed.  

That is how I handle it too. I never look at that account until I am planning to make a purchase. Then it comes in handy as all offers and coupons are in one place. The offers don't pollute my main email account. 

[Thrak]

12 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

Our account is tied to my email and besides AARP emails, maybe one a day, I haven't seen a bunch of spam emails.

 

I don't get anywhere near one a day. They do send out a magazine but I don't recall how often. It may be quarterly. I really haven't been bombarded or inundated with stuff. The thousands of dollars I've saved on cruises more than makes up for whatever little bit of mail they may send. (No, that wasn't a typo or an exaggeration. I've literally saved thousands of dollars by using discounted gift cards purchased through AARP.)

[PacnGoNow]

13 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I don't get anywhere near one a day. They do send out a magazine but I don't recall how often. It may be quarterly. I really haven't been bombarded or inundated with stuff. The thousands of dollars I've saved on cruises more than makes up for whatever little bit of mail they may send. (No, that wasn't a typo or an exaggeration. I've literally saved thousands of dollars by using discounted gift cards purchased through AARP.)

We just opted out of snail mail.  Only get renewal notice…way ahead of renewal date. Lol

We do get emails once a week maybe.. just delete usually.

[AlpacaBag]

On 8/20/2024 at 7:42 AM, Derbie said:

I have difficulty locating the gift cards on AARP, and I have been a member for a long time.  Now, I will say, I don't always hunt down their deals either.  Anyone direct me to the area of the website that offers the gift cards?  Thanks!

 

This is the direct URL (though it may change in the future) https://www.aarp.org/rewards/redeem/#sort-by=default

 

You'll want to scroll down to the search box and type in Princess, hit the magnifying glass, and you'll see the 2 gift cards:

 

 

----

YSK - if you buy them during normal business hours, the email that contains the link to the gift card with the PIN tends to come within about half an hour. If you buy your gift cards at an odd hour, like 2 am, then they come the next morning.

 

---

 

On 8/17/2024 at 1:45 PM, lennythenose said:

Yes, I understand. As I said it is just a personal choice for us. Not saying for others it is not a good financial choice. 

 

Maybe a friend can sign-up and you can give them the money for the gift card, they buy it, and send you the gift card number & PIN? That way you aren't directly giving AARP money and you aren't a customer of theirs by having a membership, and you aren't breaking your ethics.

[cgolf1]

14 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I don't get anywhere near one a day. They do send out a magazine but I don't recall how often. It may be quarterly. I really haven't been bombarded or inundated with stuff. The thousands of dollars I've saved on cruises more than makes up for whatever little bit of mail they may send. (No, that wasn't a typo or an exaggeration. I've literally saved thousands of dollars by using discounted gift cards purchased through AARP.)

 

I guessed on the high side, looking back it may be 2-3 depending on the week, depending on if there is something like a special offer. 

Edited August 21 by cgolf1

[AlpacaBag]

1 hour ago, AlpacaBag said:

 

This is the direct URL (though it may change in the future) https://www.aarp.org/rewards/redeem/#sort-by=default

 

You'll want to scroll down to the search box and type in Princess, hit the magnifying glass, and you'll see the 2 gift cards:

 

 

I can't edit my original reply, so replying to give an extra note about that URL I gave. You have to be logged into AARP to access that page. If you aren't, it'll redirect you to the main Rewards page that tells you about the program, etc... just keep that in mind.

[lennythenose]

Just saw Newegg has $500 Princess gift cards for $460 (8% off) today only 8/27. Limit 5 cards. I made my purchase, received the email with my cards and applied to my booking in less than 10 minutes total. 

[Cruise Raider]

A bit off the subject but has anyone had problems checking their balances on their cards lately. I am due a refund and I am trying to determine what card it went onto.  For the life of me, I can’t get the AARP check balance function to work and I got through a few of my gift cards and the check balance screen on the Princess website now just comes up blank.  I’ve tried it on two devices and it just won’t work.  Is it just down?  Hope this is just temporary but have tried for over an hour.  I know I can call but have so many to verify, it’s making me a bit crazy.  
 

Edited August 28 by Cruise Raider

[symui]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

I can’t get the AARP check balance function to work

 

I've had the same problem for over two weeks.  I have a small balance on one card after making final payment and have checked 3 or 4 times and get a message saying the balance verification process is not available at this time...

 

Rick & Jeanie

[Cruise Raider]

4 minutes ago, symui said:

 

I've had the same problem for over two weeks.  I have a small balance on one card after making final payment and have checked 3 or 4 times and get a message saying the balance verification process is not available at this time...

 

Rick & Jeanie

Frustrating, isn’t it?  
I wish to know which gift card the refund went back to?  If I go to put money down on an existing cruise, I have to know the exact balance (or less) on this card.  I suppose I could start with $10 on each card and if it takes, I can shoot for a higher amount.  They need to fix this!  
 

[dreaminofcruisin]

17 minutes ago, symui said:

 

I've had the same problem for over two weeks.  I have a small balance on one card after making final payment and have checked 3 or 4 times and get a message saying the balance verification process is not available at this time...

 

Rick & Jeanie

 

10 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Frustrating, isn’t it?  
I wish to know which gift card the refund went back to?  If I go to put money down on an existing cruise, I have to know the exact balance (or less) on this card.  I suppose I could start with $10 on each card and if it takes, I can shoot for a higher amount.  They need to fix this!  
 

 

Is this the link you are using?

https://wbiprod.storedvalue.com/WBI/lookupservlet?language=en&host=princess.com

 

I just tried it and it works fine for me.

I do know that if you make an error in typing the number, you have to go out and come back in again as it gets confused and doesn't give an error message.

 

If the above link doesn't work, try going at it 'clean' from the main Princess page, scroll to the bottom and click on "Gift Cards" (3rd column/last item)

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

33 minutes ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

 

Is this the link you are using?

https://wbiprod.storedvalue.com/WBI/lookupservlet?language=en&host=princess.com

 

I just tried it and it works fine for me.

I do know that if you make an error in typing the number, you have to go out and come back in again as it gets confused and doesn't give an error message.

 

If the above link doesn't work, try going at it 'clean' from the main Princess page, scroll to the bottom and click on "Gift Cards" (3rd column/last item)

 

 

Unfortunately, that’s the one I’ve been using.  I thought I may have had a work around but the screen through payments on the Princess website is also fussing with me.  Not to mention, the AARP website is also not function properly to check on balances.  
 

[dreaminofcruisin]

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

Unfortunately, that’s the one I’ve been using.  I thought I may have had a work around but the screen through payments on the Princess website is also fussing with me.  Not to mention, the AARP website is also not function properly to check on balances.  
 

 

Interesting.

Maybe it's the browser?

I'm using Google on a laptop, if that helps....

[Cruise Raider]

2 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

Interesting.

Maybe it's the browser?

I'm using Google on a laptop, if that helps....

I was thinking that but I was able to get into it to check a few cards this morning on my iPad.  
I tried a different iPad, rebooted, cleared all my cookies, tried my phone and my laptop using Chrome.  Nothing worked. I am just baffled.  I will try google for the heck of it.