paying with gift cards

[jpmsrivers]

I have been purchasing Disney giftcards each payday as a way to save for our trip in May. They are $25-$50 each. Can I take multiple cards and have them put on my reservation for charging or would this be asking too much? I would prefer to use these than for them to put a hold on my debit card.

Thanks for all of your help!

[faline]

I have paid for my stay with Disney gift cards but have not tried to put them on account up front.

[wdwaggie]

We booked our trip in Nov 2013 for our trip in Sept 2014. I only had to put the down payment on my debit card. We get gift cards through work as awards and had a lot of them on hand, so about every week or so I go online and apply 2-3 of them towards our balance.

[WRWDisney]

When I paid room charges with gift cards, I simply gave them a credit card (they do not put a hold on the card) at check-in and then stopped by the front desk the night before we checked out and paid all of the room charges with gift cards (we had about 20, so it took a little while). To be clear, this was for room charges only, not for the room itself.

Can't swear that this is there policy, but it was my experience. Hope it helps.

[jpmsrivers]

Thanks everyone!

[Bay Lake]

You have to watch your spending, I believe there are different limits depending on what level of room you are staying in. Once you hit that number your card is run for that amount. I was at Riverside a few years back and wanted to pay with gift cards, I went to the desk and my charges hit that magic number and they ran my card. Now every morning before I hit the bus I just clear out my balance. I am able to purchase gift cards at my daughters school and get a portion off of my school payment .

[jpmsrivers]

That is a good idea! I think I will just go each day and use gift cards to pay up the amount charged. I am glad to know they don't put a hold on your debit card. I do not like it when places do that. It has taken weeks to get the hold lifted in the past and I don't want my money tied up if I need it.

I have never used the giftcards before but decided this was a great way to save for our upcoming trip!

[twinboyz]

We also buy gift cards a little at a time to help save for our trip. We always leave our credit card on the room, but pay down the charges to the room little by little when we notice there isn't a line at the front desk. We've always done it this way and have never had a problem. I usually have quite a few and the CM's have always been friendly to me as I to them. I'm sure it's not their favorite thing to do, but I try to make nice conversation while they are clearing our balance. I asked once if we could put them on the account as a credit, but they suggested not doing that and just come back when there are charges on the room.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

You absolutely can have the gift cards applied to your room account as a "credit balance" during check-in. Sometimes the CM won't believe you when you say it can be done, but I always refer them to their supervisor who quickly tells them it absolutely can be done.

Doing this eliminates unnecessary wasting of vacation time standing in line day after day to make payments on your account, just do it all at once during check-in. If you by some chance do not spend it all, them will refund the balance to the card(s).

[jpmsrivers]

Thanks!

[DonaldDuckUSA]

We did this our last trip.

I've stared asking for Disney gift cards for all holidays and saving them up for various things.

[tdk316]

I've always paid for our reservation with multiple gift cards BUT I've never charged anything to the room and ran a positive balance at check in before - good to know! Even more ways to save!

[MOJoe]

Be carefull with gift cards. If, for example, you make a deposit with them for a resort reservation and have to cancel, the refund needs to be applied to the original cards. If you have thrown them in the trash, it can be a real problem.

[jpmsrivers]

Good point! I made my deposit with debit card so I am good on that. And only plan on using disney gift cards for food and souveneirs once there.

[justice11]

I was wondering this very thing. I wonder if I could have money put on my magic band and then I don't need to carry the gift cards???

[joonyer]

Too complicated for me.
We just save the money in our savings account and then charge everything on the trip on our Disney Visa.
Then when the bill comes, we pay it off.

It does take a little discipline, but it makes the whole vacation easy to pay for.

[Travelfanatic1]

This is the new vacation savings account from Disney. You put away whatever you can afford on a weekly basis. There is no interest on this account and you can use it to pay for your Disney whenever you go. Check it out

https://disneyvacationaccount.disney.go.com/

We have already started one, it seems a little easier than having to redeem all those gift cards.

Although gift cards a still nice to receive as a gift.