Anyone know where to find gift cards?

[Ohanaof3]

Hi, I just joined today. I am going on my 5th trip to Orlando in October. We will be at Cabana Bay for 8 nights, then a quick 3 nights at pop century without the dining plan in October.

I have bought lots of Disney gift cards to pay for the hotel, MNSSHP tickets and was planning on buying a card to cover the amount we think we will spend on food.

I plan to get a few refillable mugs, and quick service dining plans at universal which I know I can prepay.

I have been looking at lots of websites, and found various deals that only seem available to us residents. I was wondering if anyone may have found restaurant / universal gift cards you could buy ahead of time that ship/email to Canadian residents? I am trying to buy what I can ahead of time before the dollar changes more.

 

[Donald - my hero]

First things first, To the DISboards, you picked the best place to dip your toes into posting!!!

Only thing i can suggest is to buy some of the pre-paid Credit cards that VISA/MC/AMEX offer. You will need to pay an activation fee but i know that the loadable AMEX & MC will be only one price rather than buying a bunch of smaller ones and then paying the fee on each card. They will be in CDN funds and work the same as the Disney cards --convert at previous day's exchange rate. You will end up with a bunch of piddly amounts on each card due to the exchange but if you have an Amazon account you can dump those onto a gift card to use whenever you buy something thru them.

Not really a solid answer to your question but a bit of a work-around. If you collect Airmiles you can collect Cash Miles and redeem for Starbuck cards that work in the states.

 

[Ohanaof3]

Thank you, Starbucks cards are a great idea! My kids loved picking stuff out (lemonades) last time! I’ve never bought prepaid visas, might be a way my ds 18 could carry his spending money to avoid carrying too much cash.

 

[Sue M]

I’d just buy USD when it’s at a rate you like then when you arrive at Universal you can buy gift card.
I have a CIBC USD Visa. And USD checking acct. So I buy when rate is up a bit and put money in my US acct. I use my US Visa to buy Disney Gift cards while at Disney. It minimizes how much I have to use Visa and have it compromised. You can do same thing at Universal. If you go to the US regularly it may be worth looking at opening a US acct and Visa/Mastercard at your bank.

 

[Ohanaof3]

Thanks for your suggestion! I have a US account, but td bank doesn’t allow access through a debit card, so I find I have to take money out, and bring more money than I feel comfortable carrying. I’ll look into the credit card. I really like your strategy of buying gift cards. Perfect!

 

[kuhltiffany]

You could always buy a Disney gift card in CAD and take it with you...

I wonder if you could order from somewhere like this? https://www.giftcardmall.com

 

[Sue M]

Thanks for your suggestion! I have a US account, but td bank doesn’t allow access through a debit card, so I find I have to take money out, and bring more money than I feel comfortable carrying. I’ll look into the credit card. I really like your strategy of buying gift cards. Perfect!

I pre load my USD credit card before we leave, transferring Some cash from my USD acct. So I don’t have a huge Visa Bill when we get home! CIBC doesn’t have access to US acct from debit card in the US either. So I carry some cash. But I’m not comfortable carrying a lot of cash either.

 

[2010_Bride]

Thanks for your suggestion! I have a US account, but td bank doesn’t allow access through a debit card, so I find I have to take money out, and bring more money than I feel comfortable carrying. I’ll look into the credit card. I really like your strategy of buying gift cards. Perfect!

Get a TD Cross Border checking account. You probably have the Canadian TD USD account. You can set up an account with a physical branch in the US and then you get a debit card. It’s a bit of a hastle getting it set up, but then you can transfer your CAD to the US TD branch account with no fees (it’s a me to me transfer). As long as you keep $100 in the account at all times there are no service fees.

 

[damo]

You could buy prepaid visa cards.

(oops should have read the other posts!!!)

 

[Brandilovesdisney]

How do you get a USD credit card without a US address?

 

[prairiesarah]

How do you get a USD credit card without a US address?

Some Canadian banks offer US$ credit card. I have a US$ Mastercard through BMO. CIBC offers a VISA I believe (as per a pp in this thread), others may as well.

 

[PanamaMike]

How do you get a USD credit card without a US address?

Canadian banks offer USD credit cards

 

[Brandilovesdisney]

I pre load my USD credit card before we leave, transferring Some cash from my USD acct. So I don’t have a huge Visa Bill when we get home! CIBC doesn’t have access to US acct from debit card in the US either. So I carry some cash. But I’m not comfortable carrying a lot of cash either.

Oh, so when you say you preload your US Visa...are you referring to a prepaid Visa or a regular US Visa?

 

[Sue M]

Oh, so when you say you preload your US Visa...are you referring to a prepaid Visa or a regular US Visa?

Regular CIBC USD Visa.

 

[AdamsMum]

You could always buy a Disney gift card in CAD and take it with you...

I wonder if you could order from somewhere like this? https://www.giftcardmall.com

Are these gift cards in Canadian $? I'm trying to purchase without paying the 2.5% forex fee to my credit card for foreign currency. I'm stocking up for my DVC maintenance fees in January.

 

[kuhltiffany]

You can only buy Canadian cards in Canada. I buy them slowly, use the Disney Gift Card site to amalgamate them onto one card (max value $1000). Then you can use the CAD card anywhere, even over the phone, they will apply it to your balance/fees based on the USD rate for the day.

 

[AdamsMum]

You can only buy Canadian cards in Canada. I buy them slowly, use the Disney Gift Card site to amalgamate them onto one card (max value $1000). Then you can use the CAD card anywhere, even over the phone, they will apply it to your balance/fees based on the USD rate for the day.

I'm aware of that, I just wasn't sure if this was a Canadian website.

 

[kuhltiffany]

I'm aware of that, I just wasn't sure if this was a Canadian website.

Wait, you mean GiftCardMall, that's US. Unfortunately none of us have been able to find a way to buy US cards here. For now we save up CAD$ and convert it when we use it, to avoid any FOREX fees.

 

[AdamsMum]

Wait, you mean GiftCardMall, that's US. Unfortunately none of us have been able to find a way to buy US cards here. For now we save up CAD$ and convert it when we use it, to avoid any FOREX fees.

Yes that's what I meant. So I won't purchase from them. I just have to check out a few more stores, but I'll find them. If I have to buy multiple $50 cards then thats what I'll do. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[kuhltiffany]

Yes that's what I meant. So I won't purchase from them. I just have to check out a few more stores, but I'll find them. If I have to buy multiple $50 cards then thats what I'll do. Thanks for clarifying.

There are ones out there you can load with your own amount, I think it's up to $500. I've seen them at Rexall, Canadian Tire and some Shoppers.