Disney Gift Card Deals

[Marionnette]

Why We Don't Have a How-To Video/WikiHow/Post

A lot of new readers come to this thread asking for a condensed version of how to get deals on Disney gift cards (also referred to as Disney GCs). The answer is that there is no How-To and there will not be one. The reasons are numerous but to put them in a quick list:

1. The process is very unique. Everyone does it differently based on the deals that are available to them and their tolerance for risk.

2. The process is fluid. Some deals are short-lived and others can change overnight. This makes maintaining a How-to very difficult, especially if the person tasked with making the updates is not available to do it.

3. We don’t want to take responsibility for your vacation dollars. There are risks involved with this process that each person needs to be aware of. If a deal falls through that you read about in a How-to post, we will be very sad that your vacation is in jeopardy.​

For these reasons, we suggest that you invest some time and actually read this thread. Start with posts that are from the past 4 or 5 months (page 530 would be a good starting point) if you don’t want to read the whole thing, but please read. If you have specific questions, we will be happy to answer them. However, we will not be providing you with a step-by-step, get rich quickly guide to saving money on Disney GCs.

 

[JKalai]

At least its not system-wide. The chick who did the $100 the other day even tried to tell me the POS system won't accept it today and said that it won't work using trade-in credit or rewards either

Not sure what is going on in KS, but I guess we'll be hitting a few GS across the border in MO tomorrow!

From what I recall, the memo that went out supposedly said that you can't use trade in credit for GC's, but GC to GC is fine. I have heard of other people on other forums just grabbing the card, taking it to the register, and swiping in their trade in card. I guess most of the time the employee doesn't even realize that it's a trade in credit card and not a debit or credit card. By the time they've swiped it, it's too late and the transaction has already gone through.

Good luck

 

[anricat]

I think one of the reasons a lot of people ask is because the signal to noise ratio around here can get a little out of control. I would say at least 50% of this thread is "Target cancelled my order again" posts. It can be sort of draining to read that over and over and over.

 

[davper]

ETA: I think that we should copy the above post to a Word file and just post it when someone asks for a shortcut. If we stop the discussion with that, we won't end up with useless pages answering why not, but why?, okay, but why not?

Nah..The standard answer should be start at page 731.

 

[MrInfinity]

I am so tempted to cash in my Ebay bucks. Anyone else?! We are leaving for a WDW trip on Saturday and we'll only be gone 4 days but I am losing hope for an Ebay bucks promo this round. I guess I can just suck it up and wait until Tuesday to see if there's a promo.

I find it interesting that GCM is out of $150's... which means a lot of ppl are cashing in their Bucks for very little return. I'm waiting cuz I don't want the extra volume thru Target for only half the usual profit. We still have 2 weeks to spend our Bucks. For you, there's no harm in waiting till Tuesday, right?

This one could be closed, it would be easier for new people to get through

Why close this thread? Because you and a few others don't want to do a little reading? Start at page 530 if you don't want to read all 700+ pages. The information is on this thread. Ask questions if you are confused but don't expect anyone to draw you a road map because there is no single right way to do this. We all read along and worked to develop our own ways of doing this, based on what's available to each of us and how comfortable each of us is with the risks. The best way to do this is to read what others have been posting and create your own way to do this.

Oh my. New person enters thread where people have been having fun brainstorming and making money together for years... and suggests their thread be closed because our information is not presented to him/her in a short enough way as to be readable in 5 minutes. ROFL.

I think the problem is that none of the regular contributors here want to start a how to thread because nobody wants the practice to get too big. If it does Target, EBay, Ebates, etc will find ways to close the loopholes we all benefit from. Posters here are willing to share their knowledge and experience with like minded savers but have spent a lot of time with trial and error developing strategies. In the form it is currently only those who are equally as invested to saving (i.e. Those willing to read along to develop their own saving strategy) are able to benefit from the knowledge and experience of those who have been doing this for awhile.

Well said. I don't get why so many newbies that have nothing vested come in and immediately want to publicize or otherwise make these processes be some internet site where millions of people will do it. I guess some people don't understand that staying small and flying under the radar is the way to keep this all viable. If newbie wants to join, I totally welcome that. Do some research. Buy some cards and report back. But don't just ask to be spoon fed info, or suggest we spoon feed the world, or suggest closing down our thread because it's not easy enough to do everything in it w/ no time invested.

 

[Jing]

I find it interesting that GCM is out of $150's... which means a lot of ppl are cashing in their Bucks for very little return. I'm waiting cuz I don't want the extra volume thru Target for only half the usual profit. We still have 2 weeks to spend our Bucks. For you, there's no harm in waiting till Tuesday, right?

I am also having trouble pulling back my trigger finger just to make sure the eBay bucks are spent before they expire, but I can wait it out since this is funding my November and February #runDisney trips. The family one in September is already paid (from to "good-old days" when 6+% off Raise was common and I was too scared of eBay churning).

 

[Vernie822]

I find it interesting that GCM is out of $150's... which means a lot of ppl are cashing in their Bucks for very little return. I'm waiting cuz I don't want the extra volume thru Target for only half the usual profit. We still have 2 weeks to spend our Bucks. For you, there's no harm in waiting till Tuesday, right?

Well, we'll be in WDW until Tuesday evening so of course I'm paranoid that we'll get an offer Tuesday and I won't be able to participate until after the GCM cards are sold out, LOL!

 

[Marionnette]

I find it interesting that GCM is out of $150's... which means a lot of ppl are cashing in their Bucks for very little return. I'm waiting cuz I don't want the extra volume thru Target for only half the usual profit. We still have 2 weeks to spend our Bucks. For you, there's no harm in waiting till Tuesday, right?

I'm waiting, also. I'm not in a big hurry to do another churn because my next trip is not until December and I have the GCs that I need for that one already. I'm just churning to pay my DVC dues and for other GCs that I can eventually turn all of my Target or eBay GCs into.

Oh my. New person enters thread where people have been having fun brainstorming and making money together for years... and suggests their thread be closed because our information is not handed to him/her in a short enough way as to be readable in less than 5 minutes. ROFL.

I blame it on the internet. We all know that the internet is the devil incarnate. It has provided people with instant answers to any question with just a couple of keystrokes worth of effort. If you've been raised with that, you expect it everywhere. Me? I'm old enough to remember using the card catalogue and microfiche at the library to do my research. Reading, and digging, and reading some more isn't something that I have a problem doing.

Well, we'll be in WDW until Tuesday evening so of course I'm paranoid that we'll get an offer Tuesday and I won't be able to participate until after the GCM cards are sold out, LOL!

But you'll be in Disney while the rest of us will be setting our alarms and anxiously anticipating an offer. I think you're getting the better end of the deal. Have a great trip!

 

[mfly]

I think one of the reasons a lot of people ask is because the signal to noise ratio around here can get a little out of control. I would say at least 50% of this thread is "Target cancelled my order again" posts. It can be sort of draining to read that over and over and over.

I understand why that may seem like "noise," but information that Target is cancelling orders is providing data points that are helping us (try to) understand why people are being flagged or banned. I can see that the frequency of those posts may be excessive - perhaps people need not provide constant updates on order cancellations, but it's not my place to limit what others post.

What I find draining to read over and over are the posts where people ask questions that have been answered many times, or have just been answered within the last few pages. That being said, I know that many people here are happy to help and answer questions.

 

[Vernie822]

On the subject of there being repetitive posts/questions that clog up the thread, if you are looking for an answer to a specific question, you can always use the "Search" feature at the top right of the page. If you check "Search this thread only" it will look within this thread. Hope that helps someone!

 

[Vernie822]

But you'll be in Disney while the rest of us will be setting our alarms and anxiously anticipating an offer. I think you're getting the better end of the deal. Have a great trip!

Haha, yes! Thank you! And I started churning for this trip in January, so I guess this is getting to celebrate some of that hard work.

 

[CMNJ]

On the subject of there being repetitive posts/questions that clog up the thread, if you are looking for an answer to a specific question, you can always use the "Search" feature at the top right of the page. If you check "Search this thread only" it will look within this thread. Hope that helps someone!

That's actually how I responded to the question earlier about the target # to call about gift card issues-searched target specialty and found it in 30 seconds

 

[MrInfinity]

I am also having trouble pulling back my trigger finger just to make sure the eBay bucks are spent before they expire, but I can wait it out since this is funding my November and February #runDisney trips. The family one in September is already paid (from to "good-old days" when 6+% off Raise was common and I was too scared of eBay churning).

Maybe I should sacrifice myself for the group... for I could spend my Bucks today, which will cause Ebay to run a 5X tomorrow...

I understand why that may seem like "noise," but information that Target is cancelling orders is providing data points that are helping us (try to) understand why people are being flagged or banned. I can see that the frequency of those posts may be excessive - perhaps people need not provide constant updates on order cancellations, but it's not my place to limit what others post.

Yep. I don't mind the noise. Hearing what other people are going thru is helpful in planning my own strategy. And I'm only skimming at first till I get to something I want to read, so it's not like it's costing me to have more posts to skim over. Like all the talk about Kroger and fuel perks is useless to me as we don't have Krogers. So I just skip past those.

 

[havaneselover]

I think one of the reasons a lot of people ask is because the signal to noise ratio around here can get a little out of control. I would say at least 50% of this thread is "Target cancelled my order again" posts. It can be sort of draining to read that over and over and over.

Then don't read them???

The noise is fine with me. It generally comes from people who have made useful contributions to this thread.

 

[linzjane88]

I'm waiting, also. I'm not in a big hurry to do another churn because my next trip is not until December and I have the GCs that I need for that one already. I'm just churning to pay my DVC dues and for other GCs that I can eventually turn all of my Target or eBay GCs into.

I blame it on the internet. We all know that the internet is the devil incarnate. It has provided people with instant answers to any question with just a couple of keystrokes worth of effort. If you've been raised with that, you expect it everywhere. Me? I'm old enough to remember using the card catalogue and microfiche at the library to do my research. Reading, and digging, and reading some more isn't something that I have a problem doing.

But you'll be in Disney while the rest of us will be setting our alarms and anxiously anticipating an offer. I think you're getting the better end of the deal. Have a great trip!

I have never heard of this word. I actually had to Google it.

 

[disfanforlife]

That's actually how I responded to the question earlier about the target # to call about gift card issues-searched target specialty and found it in 30 seconds

I actually didn't think of that until after I already posted. I did then go back and read through several posts about it. I think I am the only one that this particular issue has happened to though. Still, that was the correct number to call and thankfully they took care of it.

 

[disfanforlife]

I have never heard of this word. I actually had to Google it.

OMG, that is funny! I guess those of us who do know what that word is without googling it, are dating ourselves.

 

[CMNJ]

I have never heard of this word. I actually had to Google it.

Oh boy now I feel old

 

[smellyia]

On the subject of there being repetitive posts/questions that clog up the thread, if you are looking for an answer to a specific question, you can always use the "Search" feature at the top right of the page. If you check "Search this thread only" it will look within this thread. Hope that helps someone!

It did me when I first started reading this massive thread in the 400 pages! And also, I know someone mentioned that they didn't want this info out there - kind of too late for all that. A simple google search produces hundreds of hits on gc churning along with thousands of ways to do it. You can find this info on reddit, travel bloggers, credit savants, mommy couponers....etc. Search engines are awesome like that.

Individuals just need to take the time to think on it and taylor a personal system for themselves. I do a few different types that involve mostly my travel airlines and it took me about 2yrs of reading and trial & error to get that down to a routine I am comfortable with and I never considered it churning necessarily. I just started introducing Disney bc's with eBay and have started a long-term churn with Target/Ebay going up $50 increments over a several month process to reach a 50%+ return on my investment through compounding the 5% redcard discount. I will start a secondary churn utilizing ebucks promos for Disney gcs, but also trying it out with my airlines points bc the math shows this is better than my current point valuation, and also with places like Bass Pro/Cabella's since DH is an avid fisherman and we ALWAYS need those GCs! Heck, I just churned some Netflix gcs with this weeks Target deal netting myself half a year of Netflix for free. So while this isn't the only thread on the internet, I appreciate it greatly for helping me introduce another aspect to my money saving processes and can appreciate how the "vets" on here don't want to spend their days rehashing the how-to's when one can search it out. My only suggestion would be if someone annoys you by asking...why not just ignore the post?

 

[MichelleB]

OMG, that is funny! I guess those of us who do know what that word is without googling it, are dating ourselves.

I related to her whole comment about card catalogues & microfiche & laughed. I now feel old that someone pointed out they didn't know. Funny how age creeps up on us!