Band Trip and Spending Money

[VillainFavs]

My two DSs are going on a band trip with their high school in a couple weeks. I'm thinking the best/safest thing to do for spending money is send them with Disney gift cards. I'll send a little cash so they have it for things in the airport and such.

They'll have magic bands, but no charging privileges. Don't want to send a ton of cash.

Will this work okay? They can use those cards pretty much everywhere, right? Is there anything they won't be able to do with them? How about carts/kiosks in the parks? Anything at Disney Springs that doesn't accept them?

I figured I'd take photos of the serial #s, just in case. I've heard you can have the card cancelled if it's lost. Anyone have experience with that?

Any other thoughts?

 

[kymom99]

My bank has a debit card that works kind of like a reloadable gift card. It's a MasterCard and you can put money on it but it's not tied to your accounts. Might be more secure than a gift card

 

[Southernmiss]

My two DSs are going on a band trip with their high school in a couple weeks. I'm thinking the best/safest thing to do for spending money is send them with Disney gift cards. I'll send a little cash so they have it for things in the airport and such.

They'll have magic bands, but no charging privileges. Don't want to send a ton of cash.

Will this work okay? They can use those cards pretty much everywhere, right? Is there anything they won't be able to do with them? How about carts/kiosks in the parks? Anything at Disney Springs that doesn't accept them?

I figured I'd take photos of the serial #s, just in case. I've heard you can have the card cancelled if it's lost. Anyone have experience with that?

Any other thoughts?

High school kids?? Dd15 said card easier to keep up with change. Dh said he would think cash because when it's gone it's gone and might encourage them to think before they spent.

 

[PopGirl26]

Gift cards will be fine.

I would use disneygiftcards.com to transfer balances/track cards. If a card is lost or stolen, the balance can be transferred. You could also remotely add funds if needed.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Gift cards would be fine. When my DD traveled for school, she had a pre-paid debit type card through AAA that could be reloaded, and could be used anywhere. I like the fact that you can reload the gift card, but is there any chance of them not spending all their money? Will you have the opportunity to use up the GC if they don't? Just something to consider.

 

[VillainFavs]

My bank has a debit card that works kind of like a reloadable gift card. It's a MasterCard and you can put money on it but it's not tied to your accounts. Might be more secure than a gift card

Just out of curiosity, how is this more secure than a gift card? I'm not opposed to it, but don't see the advantage. Just wondering if there's something I haven't thought of!

High school kids?? Dd15 said card easier to keep up with change. Dh said he would think cash because when it's gone it's gone and might encourage them to think before they spent.

LOL about it being gone! Both my guys aren't big spenders and we make yearly trips to Disney, so not worried about them going overboard!

I would use disneygiftcards.com to transfer balances/track cards. If a card is lost or stolen, the balance can be transferred. You could also remotely add funds if needed.

I hadn't thought about being able to add funds--thanks for that tip!! I was wondering what to do as a back up just in case!

I like the fact that you can reload the gift card, but is there any chance of them not spending all their money? Will you have the opportunity to use up the GC if they don't? Just something to consider.

We're doing a family trip in August so if they don't use it all, we'll save it for then! That's definitely something I thought about!

Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[sk!mom]

By about 14, my DD20 had a student account at our bank and a debit card. We found this to be the easiest way to handle money both when she traveled and at home. DH transferred her allowance once a month and she used the debit card and tracked her spending with an app on her phone.

For trips, we would transfer extra to her account and then give her some emergency cash (maybe $40) just in case she found herself in a place that wouldn't take a card. Honestly the cash almost always came home unspent but it made DH feel better.

 

[Marionnette]

Just out of curiosity, how is this more secure than a gift card? I'm not opposed to it, but don't see the advantage. Just wondering if there's something I haven't thought of!

If someone finds a lost GC, they can spend it down and the CM won't ask for ID or blink. If you report the GC as having been lost and it has already been drained, Disney gift cards isn't going to give you that money back.

A reload able MC GC will have PIN protection. If someone finds a lost card, they won't be able to use it unless the owner wrote the PIN on it.

I hadn't thought about being able to add funds--thanks for that tip!! I was wondering what to do as a back up just in case!

You can't simply add funds. You have to have another Disney GC with funds on it. You can then register the card and transfer the balance from one card to another.

 

[McKelly]

When my DD went to Disney on her band trip - I did the same. I gave her a Disney gift card with $50.00 a day for spending money and then I gave her $50.00 in cash for places that didn't take the card, basically to and from Disney.
When she went to Costa Rica, i made her an authorized user on one of my credit cards - that worked fine as well.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Is your son used to a card or if he pays, is he likely to leave it behind?

If it were me, I'd give mine cash. It's usable anywhere, easiest to keep in a wallet, and easiest to keep track of...

Although if you're thinking of giving $200+ to each kid, I might rethink all cash...

 

[Momto2minniemice]

Many banks have a student debit card that is amazing! My oldest got hers Years ago. And the first place she started to use to it was Disney. More of a teaching tool to learn to budget at that age. What is nice is I can see her account at all times. Also I am able to transfer funds with a few clicks of a button. This is useful if she travels with sports, church, or friends. A phone call to mom or dad and the money situation is fixed. If the card is misplaced you can put a hold on it and then turn back on also very easy.
If you send only a Disney gift card and lets say weather hits while traveling He would not have emergency funds and you would not have a way to get money to him either.
Just my 2 cents

 

[QueenIsabella]

You could always do both--say, have a Disney GC with $250 on it, then another debit-type card for non-Disney purchases. That way, there's a back-up in case of emergencies. Since these are teens, it's not bad to be thinking about budgeting and college and so forth--it's right around the corner, and instilling good habits now can't hurt.

I mentioned up-thread that, when my oldest raveled, she used a AA debit card. It worked great because she was out of the country. Before she left for college, I helped her set up a debit/checking account (she already had savings), and a joint credit card for emergencies. She uses the debit card for 99% of her college everyday expenses, transferring money in from savings when needed. She's written maybe 4 checks. Usually, she asks me before using the credit card--the bill comes here, and I pay it. But, it's typically for things like plane tickets home, books. room deposit--stuff I'm willing to pay for. She rarely goes to an actual bank, does everything on a phone app and her computer. And her bank has a branch here, so I can deposit money, etc. in a pinch.

I know that stuff is a little OT, but it seems like you go through the HS whirlwind, turn around twice, and you have a college kid. And then a college graduate. So, having an opportunity to work on independent money management is great.

In any event, OP, I hope this all works out for you. Due to a gift of leftover euros from her grandmother, my DD at 15 went to Spain for 2 weeks with over $500 in cash/debit card. She came home with about $500 of Spanish clothing, and $15 left on her card!

 

[luvsJack]

I would go with a debit card that I could reload or transfer to from home.

We went with the choir 2 years ago and one of the boys in our group spent more money than he realized. We were at the parks when he figured it out. We made sure he had food the rest of the day until his dad could transfer some money.

Another boy on the trip had all cash. He lost his wallet and didn't have a clue where. Luckily it was found by Disney at the end of the day on a ride with all cash still there but we were all pooling money to get him through just in case.

 

[LovesTimone]

DD was in Color Guard all through high school. Her team traveled and performed with the band. She stepped off 4 years with them marching down main street. It was amazing to see her lead her school band down main street her senior year as captain of her team. Your boys are going to have a blast.

Even though I was team mom ( I also sat on the music board of directors) and right there, honestly I did not have time to really see her except when the marched. We let her handle her money and herself. So we went the bank card route, for her to purchase meals and souvenirs, then we gave her 50.00 for the just in case moments. This is how we handle the money aspect when she was gone, whether with friends, school, church, girl scouts or whatever. During these trips a lot of stuff happens, someone lose's a wallet, or doesn't have enough money, or it get cold or hot and needs some article of clothing, or shoes...or one shoe.. have no idea but it happened, or god forbid a necessary medicine.

Being team mom I saw a lot of this, not only with my DD's team, but with the band as well. We had a incident that was pretty scary for one student, someone took their medication. We could not reach his parents, luckily the pharmacist at wal-greens was super helpful, and called the kids doctor in the middle of the night, and got the okay to give him just enough medication to get him through and back home again safely. The kid was so upset on how he would pay for it. I just paid for it... his mom met the bus and paid me back right away. After that we got a bank card for the band director linked to the booster account for him to use for these kinds of unforeseen emergency.

 

[aprilgail]

High school age I would just have her take her visa debit card with her- if she ran out of money it is easy to transfer money from my bank account right to her checking account. I wouldn't bother with a disney gift card- last thing I would want is to put a few hundred on a Disney Gift Card and have her spend only 100 of it then I would be stuck with a disney gift card. I would send 50-100 in cash and then she could use her visa/debit card for anything else.