Any reason to not pay off early?

[michelleandbrett]

Our PIF date is over 6 months away but I've been collecting disney gift cards and have enough to pay off one of our rooms now (we have 2 rooms). Is there any reason to wait or am I overthinking this?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Our PIF date is over 6 months away but I've been collecting disney gift cards and have enough to pay off one of our rooms now (we have 2 rooms). Is there any reason to wait or am I overthinking this?

If you're just holding the gift cards, then there's really no reason not to. If you just "have the money" you could, possibly, get interest in a bank account before you use it.

 

[fredandkell]

Just remember to hang on to the gift cards. If you have to cancel or for some reason DCL cancels on you, they refund you via the way you paid.

 

[squirk]

Our PIF date is over 6 months away but I've been collecting disney gift cards and have enough to pay off one of our rooms now (we have 2 rooms). Is there any reason to wait or am I overthinking this?

As @PrincessShmoo said, if you’ve already put cash on Disney gift cards, the money is sitting idle no matter what. Pay off the stateroom if it gives you satisfaction and peace of mind.

I am no fan of giving Disney an interest-free loan on my money any longer than necessary, so I prefer to wait until 30 days from PIF to start loading up cards.

 

[pixiedustedme]

Our PIF date is over 6 months away but I've been collecting disney gift cards and have enough to pay off one of our rooms now (we have 2 rooms). Is there any reason to wait or am I overthinking this?

No reason to wait. It's still refundable until your official PIF date. If you want to upgrade or downgrade your room, you'd still be free to do that up until a few days before sailing.

 

[FigmentSpark]

If you're just holding the gift cards, then there's really no reason not to. If you just "have the money" you could, possibly, get interest in a bank account before you use it.

I'm laughing at the idea of interest from a bank. Oh for the old days of even 5% interest. Still, this is much better for those who have to borrow.

 

[squirk]

I'm laughing at the idea of interest from a bank. Oh for the old days of even 5% interest.

True, but there are lots of other ways to earn on your money. The S&P 500 is up 17% year-to-date, for example.

Another way to make your money productive, yet without subjecting it to market risk - pay down any credit card debt, particularly anything with a high APY. If you wind up having to charge those cards to pay for your PIF, so be it, but in the meantime, you saved yourself six months of finance charges.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Very true, Squirk.

 

[pixiedustedme]

I'm laughing at the idea of interest from a bank. Oh for the old days of even 5% interest. Still, this is much better for those who have to borrow.

Agreed. That old argument holds little water these days. I'm tired of some people saying "aren't you silly for paying up front", when in reality there is little you can do with that amount of money short term. If you're not in debt, and aren't liquidating your investment fund to pay for the trip, then it doesn't hurt you financially at all to pay a vacation off up front instead of keeping it in a savings account with a pathetic interest rate for less than a year.

 

[deliela999]

Agreed. That old argument holds little water these days. I'm tired of some people saying "aren't you silly for paying up front", when in reality there is little you can do with that amount of money short term. If you're not in debt, and aren't liquidating your investment fund to pay for the trip, then it doesn't hurt you financially at all to pay a vacation off up front instead of keeping it in a savings account with a pathetic interest rate for less than a year.

I put down about 1/2 with my deposit. I'm working on paying for our next cruise in all gift cards bought at 10% off/rewards and at least 1% credit card rewards. So far our best was 10% rewards at the store and 5% cash back from Discover. Each time there's a deal I buy the max. We have the money and it's not earning anything significant in the bank.

 

[smmco]

No reason not to. It’s still refundable. I usually don’t pay it off early unless I need cc points for something or am trying to make the spend for a cc bonus. It’s not like I’m pulling money out of my 401 k or savings to pay for the cruise-
The money to pay off whatever cc I used comes out my boring no interest checking account. I’ve never gone the gift card route- The travel points are more valuable to me.

 

[squirk]

Agreed. That old argument holds little water these days. I'm tired of some people saying "aren't you silly for paying up front", when in reality there is little you can do with that amount of money short term. If you're not in debt, and aren't liquidating your investment fund to pay for the trip, then it doesn't hurt you financially at all to pay a vacation off up front instead of keeping it in a savings account with a pathetic interest rate for less than a year.

I agree that savings and money-market accounts, not to mention short-term CDs, are paying jack-squat and are hardly worth the trouble. So if you have no high-interest debt, and if you have other ample cash reserves for emergencies, and if you have absolutely no better or more productive use for the money than having it sit idle at the bank, then sure, I can appreciate the peace of mind of having the cruise "squared away".

Just speaking for myself, my cruises are usually in excess of $15k each time, so making 3%-4% over a 9-to-12-month window is nothing to sneeze at.