Disney Gift Card Deals

[davper]

I read that users have given the DVA number to the TA to pay for their trip. I have also read that you cannot go through Disney if you went through a TA.

I will know this first hand soon enough. I hope I am not screwed by putting the money into DVA and not being able to use it for my November trip.

 

[CKmomma]

okay- so answer me this. target.com is out of stock for disney gift cards. can i go in to my target, purchase a physical gift card and combine balances with my online gift cards. then take the physical target gift card to purchase disney gift card with my red card in store? or is target just temporarily out of gift cards online and will be restocked soon?
i'm trying to figure out the logistics.

 

[pillow]

I read that users have given the DVA number to the TA to pay for their trip. I have also read that you cannot go through Disney if you went through a TA.

I will know this first hand soon enough. I hope I am not screwed by putting the money into DVA and not being able to use it for my November trip.

In general if you use a TA, you must pay via your TA. But the DVA is different. My experience has been with cruises only. We book through Costco, and they (and other TA's from what I understand) cannot take a DVA payment. I've had to call the DCL # (which I believe is the DCL travel agent line) to make my payment. Others have been using that number as well to make cruise payments. Perhaps folks have had different experiences with land packages. I think you'll be ok, but I have a feeling you'll have to call Disney to make your payment.

Jodie

 

[supersnoop]

okay- so answer me this. target.com is out of stock for disney gift cards. can i go in to my target, purchase a physical gift card and combine balances with my online gift cards. then take the physical target gift card to purchase disney gift card with my red card in store? or is target just temporarily out of gift cards online and will be restocked soon?
i'm trying to figure out the logistics.

No. The 5% redcard discount only applies to the redcard charges in store. Online, however, you can get the 5% discount when using a gift card as long as the red card is your default payment method.

 

[Marionnette]

okay- so answer me this. target.com is out of stock for disney gift cards. can i go in to my target, purchase a physical gift card and combine balances with my online gift cards. then take the physical target gift card to purchase disney gift card with my red card in store? or is target just temporarily out of gift cards online and will be restocked soon?
i'm trying to figure out the logistics.

I think you have things a little bit backwards.

You want to purchase or earn Target GCs from a place where your out of pocket cost will be less than the face value of the GC. So, if you were to buy a $100 GC from cardpool for 4.5% off, you will pay $95.50 for a Target GC that has $100 on it.

If you were to take that Target GC to your local store to purchase a $100 Disney GC (or 2 $50s), there would be no further discount, even if you were to present your REDCard. Your total savings would be 4.5%.

But, if you went to Target .com to make a purchase of 2 $50 Disney GCs, you can apply the 5% REDCard discount to your purchase and still pay using the Target GC. This will increase your savings to 9.5% off.

No one knows when Target will replenish their supply of Disney GCs online. For a lot of people, it's worth waiting for them to reappear. The additional 5% for the REDCard discount can really add up.

 

[davper]

The cards always reappear.

A lot of Target discount cards were bought up yesterday. And many of them were used to buy Disney cards. I was one of them. In about a week, they will be replenished.

After gift giving holidays, like Mother's Day, many people sell their unwanted gift cards. Because of the increase in supply, the discount goes up.

Another thing we have noticed is that when Target runs out of Disney GCs, the discount goes up. So if you missed the 8%+3% yesterday and only see the 3.5% today, wait a day or 2. You will see the discount go up because Disney is out of stock.

 

[alievans719]

Yeah, that's my plan to pick up more in the next day or so...Plus with Mother's Day, there's graduations and Father's Day. So I definitely think the amount of cards and discounts will ramp up.

 

[momto4obkids]

In general if you use a TA, you must pay via your TA. But the DVA is different. My experience has been with cruises only. We book through Costco, and they (and other TA's from what I understand) cannot take a DVA payment. I've had to call the DCL # (which I believe is the DCL travel agent line) to make my payment. Others have been using that number as well to make cruise payments. Perhaps folks have had different experiences with land packages. I think you'll be ok, but I have a feeling you'll have to call Disney to make your payment.

Jodie

I gave my TA my DVA account number and she would call and make payments on my Disney World package with no issue.

 

[pillow]

I gave my TA my DVA account number and she would call and make payments on my Disney World package with no issue.

Interesting. Maybe its different with land packages versus cruises?? I love that DVA!

Jodie

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

In general if you use a TA, you must pay via your TA. But the DVA is different. My experience has been with cruises only. We book through Costco, and they (and other TA's from what I understand) cannot take a DVA payment. I've had to call the DCL # (which I believe is the DCL travel agent line) to make my payment. Others have been using that number as well to make cruise payments. Perhaps folks have had different experiences with land packages. I think you'll be ok, but I have a feeling you'll have to call Disney to make your payment.

Jodie

Just echoing what Jodie has stated and that's been my experience. Technically per the terms of the DV Account you are not allowed to give your account number to anyone else which is why "technically" your TA should not have it. I trust Costco (or would trust a TA person if I had one) but those are the terms. I'm sure some don't follow it and don't pay attention.

To add, which has been stated by several of us - if you have any issues when you call the specified number for DCL or WDW, and they advise you to contact your TA, just politely remind the cm per the terms of the agreement you aren't permitted to give your account number out and that's why you are calling to provide it directly. I've never had a single issue once I advised this.

I also love the DV account!!

Heather

 

[MrBean]

Nice summary. Only thing you might want to change . . . a TA can't take a DVA payment. You have to call Disney directly at 1-800-511-9333 to pay. Also nice to note that one can pre-load their DCL onboard account from the DVA which might bump them up to the next $1K threshold for an additional $20 bonus.

Jodie

I have used my DVA through my TA (Dream Unlimited specifically, couldn't be easier with their online form) without issue for both my DCL cruise and pre-funding my onboard account.

Of course, it's best to be cautious whenever you give out your number

 

[marsh0013]

I didn't realize that additional 3% discount on target gift cards on Raise was one time use. I would have waited for higher than 5% had I known. I guess I could make a new account on Raise with a different email. Anybody done that? Had any issues using the same credit card on 2 accounts? At least it was over $150 card, not a measly $15 or something. That 3% code expires tonight anyway.

 

[davper]

I didn't realize that additional 3% discount on target gift cards on Raise was one time use. I would have waited for higher than 5% had I known. I guess I could make a new account on Raise with a different email. Anybody done that? Had any issues using the same credit card on 2 accounts? At least it was over $150 card, not a measly $15 or something. That 3% code expires tonight anyway.

How did you find out about the 3%. I didn't know anything about it until today.

 

[havaneselover]

Just echoing what Jodie has stated and that's been my experience. Technically per the terms of the DV Account you are not allowed to give your account number to anyone else which is why "technically" your TA should not have it. I trust Costco (or would trust a TA person if I had one) but those are the terms. I'm sure some don't follow it and don't pay attention.

To add, which has been stated by several of us - if you have any issues when you call the specified number for DCL or WDW, and they advise you to contact your TA, just politely remind the cm per the terms of the agreement you aren't permitted to give your account number out and that's why you are calling to provide it directly. I've never had a single issue once I advised this.

I also love the DV account!!

Heather

I too was told never to give out your DVA number. There's a number you call directly and pay using your DVA.

 

[Marionnette]

How did you find out about the 3%. I didn't know anything about it until today.

Raise sent out an email yesterday.

 

[davper]

Raise sent out an email yesterday.

It appears they have excluded me from that offer.

 

[marsh0013]

How did you find out about the 3%. I didn't know anything about it until today.

Raise sent out an email yesterday.

Yup, I got the email too. davper, were you able to use it? I think it's good until midnight CST the email said.

 

[kristenrice]

I have a quick WWYD...I can't get myself to pull the trigger...

My mother and I are planning a trip for F&W. We *think* we may be flying SWA, but if the fares jump again, we may end up on Delta. I know that I want to bring at least $300 in Disney gift cards for my food budget and the airfare is currently at $318. With the RedCard, the $300 gift cards would cost $285 and I can get the $285 Target gift card for $260.77 from CardCash. I'm hesitant because 1) We are not 100% sure we are flying SWA yet; 2) Target is currently out of stock on the Disney gift cards; and 3) the money is coming out of my vacation account and if, for some unforeseen emergency, we are unable to go, that money is now tied up in gift cards.

I'm thinking I should just buy $285 ($300) worth so that if we don't end up on SWA, I can at least use them for Disney cards when they come back in stock. OTOH, I'd really like the additional 13% savings on the airfare too which makes me want to buy $600 worth...but then I would be tying up a LOT of money in gift cards.

My heart is telling me to just buy them so that I don't miss out on the 8.5% discount, but my brain just can't pull the trigger!

 

[Marionnette]

I have a quick WWYD...I can't get myself to pull the trigger...

My mother and I are planning a trip for F&W. We *think* we may be flying SWA, but if the fares jump again, we may end up on Delta. I know that I want to bring at least $300 in Disney gift cards for my food budget and the airfare is currently at $318. With the RedCard, the $300 gift cards would cost $285 and I can get the $285 Target gift card for $260.77 from CardCash. I'm hesitant because 1) We are not 100% sure we are flying SWA yet; 2) Target is currently out of stock on the Disney gift cards; and 3) the money is coming out of my vacation account and if, for some unforeseen emergency, we are unable to go, that money is now tied up in gift cards.

I'm thinking I should just buy $285 ($300) worth so that if we don't end up on SWA, I can at least use them for Disney cards when they come back in stock. OTOH, I'd really like the additional 13% savings on the airfare too which makes me want to buy $600 worth...but then I would be tying up a LOT of money in gift cards.

My heart is telling me to just buy them so that I don't miss out on the 8.5% discount, but my brain just can't pull the trigger!

You have to do whatever is within your comfort level.

I redeem my rewards for Target GCs and then buy the Disney GCs online because I know that I can use them to pay my DVC dues in the event that a trip falls through, like they did last fall. I would not buy them if I was concerned if my vacation account doubled as an emergency fund.

I don't know how much shopping you do at Target, but buying the GCs at an 8.5% discount on cardcash is still better than the 5% discount you would get on any in-store purchase using the REDCard. You could save those Target GCs for everyday purposes if your Disney trip falls through, but use them to purchase Disney GCs in-store at the last minute if the trip is a go.

 

[davper]

If you don't go, are you likely to go anytime soon?
Would you buy groceries or anything else at Target?

If you can answer yes to either of these, pull the trigger and have the Target cards ready for when you make your final decision.