Booking a last minute cruise

[PoohBear]

Just decided tonight that we are planning a Christmas cruise. I will buy the usual gift cards at Target for 5%. But I am short on time to get more savings; too late for DVA. And it is past the final payment date. Does anyone know of any travel agents that accept the Target cards to maybe try for some onboard credit?
I would appreciate any input. Thanks, everyone!
ttfn

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just decided tonight that we are planning a Christmas cruise. I will buy the usual gift cards at Target for 5%. But I am short on time to get more savings; too late for DVA. And it is past the final payment date. Does anyone know of any travel agents that accept the Target cards to maybe try for some onboard credit?
I would appreciate any input. Thanks, everyone!
ttfn

Since the payments are going to DCL, not to the TA, they will accept the Disney Gift Cards. Or they should.

 

[JenniHP]

The TA will take your Disney gift cards and use them to pay your cruise. I wouldn't think it would be an issue, unless you have a ton of them, then your TA may get a little frustrated .

 

[DisneySunPrincess]

The TA will take your Disney gift cards and use them to pay your cruise. I wouldn't think it would be an issue, unless you have a ton of them, then your TA may get a little frustrated .

I used Disney Gift Cards with my travel agent. The only request they made was to log the gift cards in online and to combine the balances to one or two cards, if I could. Disney has a balance maximum per card of $1000, so they understand that if you have a $4000 balance, you will have to have at least 4 different Disney Gift Card numbers. It was a little time consuming to combine the balances, but not terribly so. And each of our cards was only $50, so I was combining 21 different balances. Another option other than target to get a discount is if you have a membership to Sams Club and a Chase Freedom card. Together, you can get 10% off. 5% off the cost of purchasing the Gift Cards from Sams and 5% Cash Back on wholesale club purchases on the Freedom Card. Apparently, with the freedom card there is a $1500 per quarter limit on the cashback bonus.

 

[PoohBear]

Thank you all! Such great info; I followed your advice. I was worried because I heard some TAs limited the amount of gift cards. Unfortunately, all I could find was $50 cards at my target and even though I got them down from 180 to 9; I still had more than I heard some TAs allow all at once.

I ended up going through Costco and they were very friendly about it.

I have to book the resort half of our trip now, so I will go look into that Chase Freedom card now.
Thanks again, you are the best!

 

[Mil leech]

I am not sure why it is too late for the DVA with gift cards. In August, I booked our last minute cruise out of NYC in October. I booked Saturday night, went to BJ's Sunday morning and bought my $3800 in gift cards, loaded them into DVA and called and paid DCL. I just got the email that I am getting my gift cards rewards in the next 10 days to take with me on the cruise.

 

[PoohBear]

Wow! That's great I misunderstood then. I thought you had to have the account for 120 days to get the rewards.

 

[Mil leech]

Wow! That's great I misunderstood then. I thought you had to have the account for 120 days to get the rewards.

I had an existing account so I don't know about the 120 days, but it was easy to pay. Please check on that. I just know that it was easy to put the cards in and pay on the same day.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wow! That's great I misunderstood then. I thought you had to have the account for 120 days to get the rewards.

If you're talking about a NEW account, yes, you must have it for 120 days. The funds you put in the account to use don't have to be in there for 120 days. Only the account must be active for a minimum of 120 days.

 

[PoohBear]

Yes, it would be a new account, Shmoo. Oh well, at least I know now aand can set one up for the next trip.
Thanks, everyone!

 

[CM Dad]

Yes, it would be a new account, Shmoo. Oh well, at least I know now aand can set one up for the next trip.

you could open one now, load all of your Disney gift cards into it, and then pay for your cruise with just the one number, rather than provide multiple gift card numbers to your TA. You may not get the bonus gift cards this time, but it would also start the 120 day clock so you will be ready for your next cruise or Disney vacation