Using AP discount for others?

buttercup14 · Aug 2, 2015

Last time my family was at Disneyland they were buying dinner and the CM asked if they had an AP, they said no but the person in front of them turned around and swiped their AP so my family could get the discount (which is super nice and thankyou if you've ever done it, by the way!). Is this technically 'allowed'? Is it likely most CM's will be ok with it? This trip i'll be getting an AP and would like to pay it forward if it is.

DisneyJamieCA · Aug 2, 2015

No, it's not allowed and I'd guess you just got a nice CM last time. The only way to get the discount for others is you actually buy their stuff for them. For example, at a meal, they'll give the whole table the discount IF the AP holder is the person paying. In stores, they've always requested to see my ID, so it has to match up to me. It's nice of you to want to pay it forward, but I wouldn't count on this being the way.

sheetz · Aug 2, 2015

The way I understand it is that the AP holder must be the one to hand over the payment, even if the AP holder is standing next to you.

You could get the discount for someone else if they were paying cash and gave the money to you to pay for them.

Nicolette11785 · Aug 2, 2015

I will be going to DL with family and occasionally we will split up and they may have my 10 year old son with them.

My dad does not have an AP but my son does. Will they require ID and have my son pay if he wants to use his discount?

CassieF · Aug 2, 2015

sheetz said:
The way I understand it is that the AP holder must be the one to hand over the payment, even if the AP holder is standing next to you.

You could get the discount for someone else if they were paying cash and gave the money to you to pay for them.

This is not even the case...they cannot even see the transfer of funds or even think you a buying them for another person. I was the a friend who didn't have an AP and she was buying $100of pins I was like, oh, I'll buy these, she tried to give me the cash to hand over, the CM said no but then wouldn't even let me pay with my own cash or credit card. For future purchases we planned before entering the store, although I think not letting me buy with my money was a little extreme

ashley0139 · Aug 2, 2015

Yeah not usually allowed. They ask for my id all the time. The name on the AP should match the id which has to match the credit card (if paying by card). Same for employee discounts.

wdwfan22 · Aug 2, 2015

CassieF said:
This is not even the case...they cannot even see the transfer of funds or even think you a buying them for another person. I was the a friend who didn't have an AP and she was buying $100of pins I was like, oh, I'll buy these, she tried to give me the cash to hand over, the CM said no but then wouldn't even let me pay with my own cash or credit card. For future purchases we planned before entering the store, although I think not letting me buy with my money was a little extreme

That was extreme!! If you decided to buy the pins for your friend at the last minute, it should not be their business. Their only concern should be that the person with an AP is paying. It's always sad when you run across a less than magical CM. Lucky for us most are pretty amazing!!

mybestieismickey · Aug 2, 2015

CassieF said:
This is not even the case...they cannot even see the transfer of funds or even think you a buying them for another person. I was the a friend who didn't have an AP and she was buying $100of pins I was like, oh, I'll buy these, she tried to give me the cash to hand over, the CM said no but then wouldn't even let me pay with my own cash or credit card. For future purchases we planned before entering the store, although I think not letting me buy with my money was a little extreme

This happened to me to at World of Disney. I was the AP, my friend handed me the cash and the CM refused to do the transaction at all. Even when I pulled out my own credit card. I ended up just taking her purchases and cash to another register on the other side of the store and doing the transaction there.

Nicolette11785 · Aug 2, 2015

Nicolette11785 said:
I will be going to DL with family and occasionally we will split up and they may have my 10 year old son with them.

My dad does not have an AP but my son does. Will they require ID and have my son pay if he wants to use his discount?

Does anyone know the answer to my question (above)?

bcla · Aug 2, 2015

Heck - I remember when some CM just randomly rang up a discount for me. Heck - once it even showed up on the receipt as a Club 33 discount.

theluckyrabbit · Aug 3, 2015

CassieF said:
This is not even the case...they cannot even see the transfer of funds or even think you a buying them for another person. I was the a friend who didn't have an AP and she was buying $100of pins I was like, oh, I'll buy these, she tried to give me the cash to hand over, the CM said no but then wouldn't even let me pay with my own cash or credit card. For future purchases we planned before entering the store, although I think not letting me buy with my money was a little extreme

wdwfan22 said:
That was extreme!! If you decided to buy the pins for your friend at the last minute, it should not be their business. Their only concern should be that the person with an AP is paying. It's always sad when you run across a less than magical CM. Lucky for us most are pretty amazing!!

mybestieismickey said:
This happened to me to at World of Disney. I was the AP, my friend handed me the cash and the CM refused to do the transaction at all. Even when I pulled out my own credit card. I ended up just taking her purchases and cash to another register on the other side of the store and doing the transaction there.

This kind of strict behavior from CMs is not extreme. It happens pretty regularly. It is easily avoided by making the cash arrangements outside the store well before heading for the registers.

theluckyrabbit · Aug 3, 2015

Nicolette11785 said:
I will be going to DL with family and occasionally we will split up and they may have my 10 year old son with them.

My dad does not have an AP but my son does. Will they require ID and have my son pay if he wants to use his discount?

Nicolette11785 said:
Does anyone know the answer to my question (above)?

I have read other posters' experiences about trying to use their own child's AP and not being able to do so. The name on the AP must match the name on the i.d. and the name on the credit card. If a nice CM allows your son to use his AP for the discount, that would be the exception, not the rule.

longtimedisneylurker · Aug 3, 2015

Nicolette11785 said:
I will be going to DL with family and occasionally we will split up and they may have my 10 year old son with them.

My dad does not have an AP but my son does. Will they require ID and have my son pay if he wants to use his discount?

Nicolette11785 said:
Does anyone know the answer to my question (above)?

Here has been our experience. The CMs are more consistent and serious about asking for ID now that there are no pictures printed on the APs. When my sons were little, there were pictures on the APs. The CM would look at the picture, ask my child his name, and then ring up the sale. My son would pay for his item. My sons are 13 and 15 now, and there are no longer photos on the APs. CMs ask them for ID whenever they make a purchase whether they are accompanied by me at the register or not. A year or so ago, when my younger son ran out of cash trying to pay for something and I was standing right there talking to him throughout the transaction, he turned to me and asked me to loan him the rest of the money. The CM handling the transaction got visibly upset, started to refuse to finish the sale, and then turned to me to ask if I had an AP too and what my relationship to the boy was. Once I said I was the mother and showed him my AP (same type) and my picture ID, he let me give my son the cash and finish the transaction. That was a bit on the extreme side I felt.

I asked several different CMs over the last couple years why it is they were asking kids for IDs, especially kids that were too young to require legal ID. They told me that they could get in big trouble for extending discounts to people who weren't entitled to it. They said the policy was that if a kid looked to be junior high age or older, they were to ask for an ID because junior high and high school kids had school IDs. The idea was to match a picture to a name to make sure passes weren't being handed off between friends or family members.

So I would say that there is a real possibility that a 10-year old handing over an AP to receive a discount on a purchase could be asked for an ID if he looks older or asked at least for his name if he looks 10 and then also be expected to fork over the cash himself. Handing over the AP to grandpa and having him try to use it would be against the official policy and wouldn't work anyway since as an adult he would almost certainly be asked to provide ID.

Nicolette11785 · Aug 3, 2015

theluckyrabbit said:
I have read other posters' experiences about trying to use their own child's AP and not being able to do so. The name on the AP must match the name on the i.d. and the name on the credit card. If a nice CM allows your son to use his AP for the discount, that would be the exception, not the rule.

So if my son has his school ID and I gave him a disney gift card to use that would work? Kinda sucks that the adult can't hold onto it so it won't get lost.

Tasscrapper · Aug 3, 2015

Nicolette11785 said:
Does anyone know the answer to my question (above)?

I believe your son will need i.d. I know in my state you can get a state id for a child. It would be interesting to know if a school id with a picture would work with a child being able to get there own discount. My 15 year old had to show id when she used hers in June.

Nicolette11785 · Aug 3, 2015

That's not exactly fair to not allow a child to use his AP benefits which is paid for with the cost of the pass just because they are too young to have an ID or their own money

theluckyrabbit · Aug 3, 2015

Nicolette11785 said:
So if my son has his school ID and I gave him a disney gift card to use that would work? Kinda sucks that the adult can't hold onto it so it won't get lost.

As long as your son's i.d. has his photo and the name matches the name on his AP, he should be able to pay with a gift card. There is no problem with grandpa holding on to the AP and the GC as long as it is your son who makes the actual payments at the register or with food servers. It only needs to be clear that grandpa is not trying to pay for something using your son's AP for a discount.

theluckyrabbit · Aug 3, 2015

Nicolette11785 said:
That's not exactly fair to not allow a child to use his AP benefits which is paid for with the cost of the pass just because they are too young to have an ID or their own money

As stated above, this isn't about being unfair. It's about trying to prevent fraud. Too many people were trying to take advantage of the AP discounts by handing over the passes to friends and family. The only way to prevent this consistently is for CMs to check i.d. and match the name with the name on the pass. CMs can get into big trouble by not checking.

Nicolette11785 · Aug 3, 2015

I understand their reasoning for being so strict but I think when it us parent and child or whatever adult is with the child it should not be so strict.

I am now surprised that I have been able to use my 20% discount to buy my son things when he is clearly the one that pics it out. So basically I am buying it for someone else.

If child has a AP they should be entitled to all the benefits that an adult would. I don't know what child can pay for all their food and merchandise by themselves so of course they are using the adult who is with them money.

Usually it is just my son and I on our trips but now that we are going with lots of family it worries me about how strict they are.

Nicolette11785 · Aug 3, 2015

theluckyrabbit said:
As stated above, this isn't about being unfair. It's about trying to prevent fraud. Too many people were trying to take advantage of the AP discounts by handing over the passes to friends and family. The only way to prevent this consistently is for CMs to check i.d. and match the name with the name on the pass. CMs can get into big trouble by not checking.

I get it about the fraud but with a child... if they pay for an adult ap they should not be denied discounts just because they don't make their own money or have ID

Using AP discount for others?

Mouseketeer

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

Mouseketeer

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

Totally Obsessed Disney Nut!

DIS Veteran

Mouseketeer

On our rugged Eastern foothills.....

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

Mouseketeer

I belive in dragons, unicorns, good men and other

Mouseketeer

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

Mouseketeer

Mouseketeer

Share this page