Budgeting a longer trip: gift cards for Universal, etc?

[jaceraden]

I was reading in another platform about using gift cards to help with budgeting on vacation. I had heard of it before but never thought about it since I figured the exchange with Canadian bought cards would be an issue.

We have a 2 week trip coming up where I wonder if it would be handy to have other options besides a huge stash of cash and a USD credit card (Thanks Royal Bank!).

Any experience with this? Tips? Tricks? Our trip will be Universal and Sea World heavy but there will be a WDW visit or two as well as dining.

TIA!

 

[samsteele]

If I understand you right, you are talking about buying disney gift cards on property when you get to WDW? I've done this at Food & Wine and its a big help. I load eg $80 US onto the card when I purchase in a WDW gift shop in a park, then I have a preset budget for my F&W splurge. I just use the card with the wristband at the kiosks and don't mindlessly pull out my credit card each time. I ask for the balance after a few purchases so I know how much I have left in the budget. Works a charm. Sure would be just as handy to place a preset limit on souvenirs, etc. You def have to be careful you don't lose the card but an easy way to manage expenses.

 

[jaceraden]

That's also a good idea. But I was meaning buying gift cards (and mostly not WDW ones) while still home in preparation for the trip.

 

[tinkerone]

I'm not big on buying Disney GC's to use while there. It all stems on the rate of the day. I have a US dollar bank account, you can get one at any bank, and I put US dollars in it every few weeks. $20 here, $30 there, it all adds up. That way I'm not worried about what the exchange rate is at the time I use the Disney GC. It's all dollar cost averaging.
For example, had I bought $50 US 2 months ago and put it in my account I would have paid around $1.25 per dollar. So, $62.50 Canadian. If I had bought $62.50 in Canadian Disney Gift cards instead, today I would be able to exchange it for approximately $45 US. I would have lost $5 US. It could work the other way as well however I don't have to worry about that as my US funds are bought and paid for at a fixed/sure rate. I also don't see the US dollar getting better for us in the short term.
I then use my US Mastercard for all my purchases while away and pay the bill when I get home with the funds accumulated in my US bank account.
I have bought the gift cards before but only when it is a benefit to me. Shoppers sold them a while back, buy $100 get $10 worth of their points. I didn't hold on to them though, I used them to pay down payments right away so I could, again, be sure of what rate I would be exchanging them for. Offers on Disney GC's do not happen often.

ETA-sorry, didn't realize you weren't talking about Disney GC's but my theory still stands. Dollar cost averaging is the best way and you don't have to worry about what your dollar will purchase you in the future.

 

[kuhltiffany]

I do it constantly, a little at a time to help save up for trips, helps me be positive when waiting to go back! Then I combine them on the Disney Gift Card site.

 

[mort1331]

Is there any Universal gift cards?? Can you buy them in Canada??

 

[tinkerone]

Is there any Universal gift cards?? Can you buy them in Canada??

Universal does have a gift card however I've never seen one in Canada. They are sold at some stores in the US and at Universal itself. They can be reloaded as well.
Doesn't help if you are looking for ones in Canada though.

 

[explorer1977]

We do a little bit of everything. We buy Canadian Disney gift cards with groceries and use points to offset (combine on the Disney site) and get more than enough to pay our DVC dues each year. We will but more for a trip as we are doing for February, but we also use US$. We have a Canadian based US$ account and credit card and then a US based account with a debit card all with TD. It works well as I can just move money from my Canadian based account to the US based account and use the debit card. Just another note, we used Canadian Disney GC for a cruise deposit and then canceled the cruise and the amount on the gift card actually was more and the dollar got worse so that worked out well.