papa john's website won't accept aarp gift cards

[LindaN177528]

I never liked their pizza, but won a $10 gift card from aarp and figured what the heck. I tried to redeem it on papa john's website (and yes, all the numbers were correct because i copied and pasted) and put in the pin where requested, and their website wouldn't register it. never again. i'd rather pay the extra $10 and get a pizza, that i feel actually tastes like pizza, and ordered elsewhere. 

[RichardB815971]

I took mine to their store and redeemed it there. A free meal for the two of us.  Do the same for Domino's.   Afraid to risk the website since Panera app ate three gift cards one time and gave me nothing.   Nice manager fixed that even though it wasn't his fault.   Redeeming gift cards on Sonic is a nightmare, too.  Forbidden from using gift cards at the restaurant and if you don't have the full amount on one gift card, app won't let you use two of them to cover it.  I now have two partial wasted cards that aren't enough to pay for an item as none are under $4 that I want.

[SereneSeagull]

Hi, I have a question.  I don’t go to Sonic and am not familiar therefore with their app either.  Do they have the feature that Dunkin’ has, where you can merge a card with another?  Many times I’ve been given Dunkin cards and I’ve been able to merge the new card’s  total to my primary one that I have already in the app.  That is annoying about Sonic.  

     Have you by any chance contacted their HQ with this?  Many times just by contacting a given place via email or phone and explaining the situation they may not be able to solve it the way one would want, but may give you a product coupon or better for your inconvenience 

[cmulinix]

I use the Papa John's gift cards from AARP quite often.  I always use them online.  Since I take a screenshot of the card to store it in my photos, I always enter it manually.  I can't cut and paste from a JPEG.

[rg54078]

Did Papa John's explicitly say they don't accept AARP gift cards, or was it simply a case where you couldn’t enter the card and assumed they weren’t accepted? Just trying to understand the situation.

[poppy89]

I also found out that they don't accept gift cards online--- but they do accept them in the store

[MichelleM50204]

They do accept them online, I use them all the time (I actually like their pizza). They just don't make it easy to find the place to enter them. I also copy and paste, but without the spaces. @LindaN177528 , I hope you get it to work for you.

[Winter2025VA]

[10/19/25]

Thanks for letting us know @poppy89 , Nicole!

➡️[*** 

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@poppy89 wrote:

I also found out that they don't accept gift cards online--- but they do accept them in the store.

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[AARPConsumerCare]

I'm sorry you're having trouble using your Papa John's gift card, @LindaN177528. We recommend manually entering the gift card number on the merchant's website. If you're still having trouble with the gift card send us a private message or visit https://aarp.info/3epCObA to contact us by chat, text, or phone, and we'd be happy to help you with the gift card. Thanks for being part of AARP Rewards. - Brandon C.

[LindaN177528]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try that. 🙂

[VickyB122135]

Make sure there's no space when entering the gift card number. You can also reach out to Papa John's customer service to know why. 

[Winter2025VA]

[10/16/25] Linda @LindaN177528 , maybe you have to ENTER the numbers. Some sites DONOT "accept" copy & paste. Take care, Nicole!

➡️[*** LINDA 

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@LindaN177528 wrote:

I never liked their pizza, but won a $10 gift card from aarp and figured what the heck. I tried to redeem it on papa john's website (and yes, all the numbers were correct because i copied and pasted) and put in the pin where requested, and their website wouldn't register it. never again. i'd rather pay the extra $10 and get a pizza, that i feel actually tastes like pizza, and ordered elsewhere. 

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[LindaN177528]

Thanks for the suggestion, i will try that! 🙂

[Winter2025VA]

[10/18/25]

Linda @LindaN177528 , you are welcome. I hope it works. Take care, Nicole!

➡️[*** LINDA 

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@LindaN177528 wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion, i will try that! 🙂

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[neldat357771]

Why would you enter a contest for a product you don’t like? I’m baffled.