Visa "rebate" cards

[cmadara]

Has anyone done this?
I have 2 Visa "rebate" cards from AT&T for 2 phones we bought. They are each worth $50. Would I be able to give these to guest services or before we board, in addition to a credit card? I figure with the OBC we have from booking and these 2 cards, we should have enough for tips and maybe a "drink of the day" - or 2
Thanks for all of your help!

 

[brucechase]

Yes and no.

When I was on the ship in June 09, I had multiple gift cards that I was saving up for our trip. Every single one of them was denied. They were all brand new and not even taken out of the wrapper. They were all ran for the exact amount on the gift card. Well, the nice CM at the guest services allowed me to call each and every one of the issuers to find out what the problem was.

It seems that MOST of the gift card issuers will hold back 10-15% of the gift card amount if used on a cruise ship or in a foreign port. They told me it had something to do with the fact that the ship is registered in a foreign port and exchange rate. I told them that it was still run under the America company (SHIPBOARD CHARGES D LAKE BUENA VI FL US) and they even saw that was where the charge was coming from. Still they said that is their rule. This was repeated at every gift card issuer I called.

The only solution was to run the gift card for 15% less than the card amount (I ran all my $50 cards for $40). Now I have 4-5 gift cards with $8-$10 on them that I have to spend somewhere else.

I told this to the CM and he said that explained why there was such a rash of denied Visa gift cards.


OK - Lesson here - If your gift card is denied, then ask that they charge the card for 10-15% less than the card amount and it should work.

I don't think I will use prepaid Visa cards anymore - too much hassle.

 

[mammacaryn]

Yeah, these cards work differently. Some will be denied, some will take partial amounts off. Some you have to call and activate some you don't.

One thing I did learn though, you can take them to your bank and get cash

I did this with the visa cards we got back from Verizon.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

How funny, just this weekend we got ours from AT & T and since we've had problems in the past (locally) with whether they should be used as debit vs credit, we decided to go to our local grocery store and buy a $50 Disney gift card.
It went through just fine and I know it will be fine for our crusie now.

Usually I put them down as payment on our future cruise through our TA but our future cruise (not paid in full, anyway) isn't until Nov.2011. I'd rather have that $ for excursions.

 

[cmadara]

That's a good idea. I think when I go to the mall next time, I will go to the Disney store and get a Disney gift card and just use that.
Now, they will use the gift card 1st and then apply the rest of the charges to my credit card?
Thanks for all of your help.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Last Christmas I used a Visa rebate card on our cruise. I had to wait until my onboard spending reached a certain level before I used it, but I had no problem with it being applied, except...

the last morning of the cruise we had a call from guest services to please come down before disembarking, as our credit card had been denied. I about freaked, as we had had our Visa acct. compromised before and all kinds of things were running through my mind!

As it turns out, when I gave them the Visa gift card, all future purchases on board were "charged" to that number rather than the credit card I had entered when I did our check in. So just be sure if you use a gift card at guest services that they understand it is a gift card and not a credit card and that all purchases should continue to go to your credit card on file...unless you like panic the last morning of your cruise!

 

[starwood]

I've had problems using gift cards at Disney also. What I do now is take the cards to the Disney Store and have them put on a Disney GC. Never have a problem using that.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

That's a good idea. I think when I go to the mall next time, I will go to the Disney store and get a Disney gift card and just use that.
Now, they will use the gift card 1st and then apply the rest of the charges to my credit card?
Thanks for all of your help.

I've heard that Walgreen's sells them too. Our Acme didn't but ShopRite did.