Canadian Disney Gift Cards

[jltdone]

I have a question or 2 about this. right now disney has the save 20% on park tickets if you are canadian. A family of 3 like mine is, so for 7 days with hopper passes it is $1148 US.
I have seen disney cards at shoppers that go from 25 to 500 could i buy 2- $500 for a 1000. and then 1-more for say $300 for a total of $1300 what happens if the total in CDN is 1400 can i put the difference on my visa?
Do i get visa points on the $1300 dollars that I spent?
Thanks

 

[jltdone]

I think I might of just answered my own questions.
Right now the exchange rate is 26% and my visa fees are 2.5% for a total of 28.5% on $1148 is $1475 CDN with my visa and fees and points.
without my visa and using gift cards I would need $1447 in CDN gift cards and maybe not getting the points on my visa that would be a difference of $28 dollars. I would save 28 dollars by gift cards. but if i factor in my visa points that would be $14.75 towards my flights in visa points cause that is how we plan to get flights. so I really only save like $13 dollars. IMO that is not worth it for me. It sounded great at first but when broken all down it is not a crazy amount of savings.
Now it is great to gift the gift cards to our son for chores around the house and birthday to use at disney. That I LOVE.
By the way HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. CHEERS.

 

[mkmommy]

I think I might of just answered my own questions.
Right now the exchange rate is 26% and my visa fees are 2.5% for a total of 28.5% on $1148 is $1475 CDN with my visa and fees and points.
without my visa and using gift cards I would need $1447 in CDN gift cards and maybe not getting the points on my visa that would be a difference of $28 dollars. I would save 28 dollars by gift cards. but if i factor in my visa points that would be $14.75 towards my flights in visa points cause that is how we plan to get flights. so I really only save like $13 dollars. IMO that is not worth it for me. It sounded great at first but when broken all down it is not a crazy amount of savings.
Now it is great to gift the gift cards to our son for chores around the house and birthday to use at disney. That I LOVE.
By the way HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. CHEERS.

Buy the gift cards with your Visa and you get the points on your credit card PLUS the savings on the exchange.

 

[mkmommy]

I have travel insurance on my MasterCard, condition being you must pay off the whole trip with the MC. If you buy Disney gift cards with the MC to pay off a trip, are you still covered?

I guess I will need to look into this and make a call.

 

[JT_Perry]

I'm new to Disney GC's but what's the draw of them for us Canadians? Do they go on sale every so often? Excellent currency conversion rates?

 

[Donald - my hero]

I'm new to Disney GC's but what's the draw of them for us Canadians? Do they go on sale every so often? Excellent currency conversion rates?

There is lots of information within this thread but it boils down to this one fact: you can buy them in CDN funds with any method of payment and not get slapped with the foreign transaction fee on a credit card. While you are buying in CDN funds you can use them in the parks now, to pay for your trip (either a package, room only reservation or cruise), online shopping at the Disneystore . com ... anywhere the cards you buy stateside can be used these will work as well.

No they don't go "on sale" but some people are using the method of converting loyalty points/miles to these cards using the process of buying groceries/stuff at Shoppers and chucking the gift card in with the sale and saying the gift card was "free"

The conversion rate is based on close of the previous business day when you use the card and some have done the math to find it is just slightly better than converting cash.

Hope this helps you out.

 

[hdrolfe]

I had one of the USD gift cards you get for redeeming disney movie points and transferred my Canadian bought gift card balance onto it at a fairly good rate. It seems to now be staying at the rate from the day I transferred it and not fluctuating. I think someone else had mentioned this previously in the thread? Hopefully this makes sense.

 

[marshall4539]

I personally would never do such a large purchase with gift cards. I have read several times about how people pay off their trips with GC's, then something happens and they need to rebook or cancel their vacation and they can only get their money refunded to a gift card (you need to keep those gift cards that you paid off your vacation with because if you need a refund they will be refunded to those exact gift cards).
I love booking directly through Disney because I can get my money refunded at almost anytime (if you are too close to your vacation you can just move your trip and then get a refund).
My credit card also has protection in the event of any payment issues/fraud and there is a dispute process if something goes wrong. Gift cards have none of these protections. I have a no-fee foreign transaction credit card though, and it has paid for itself quickly.

 

[DavidL]

@marshall4539 - What card are you using that doesn't have the foreign exchange fee? I've heard that the Chase Bank of Canada cards with no foreign-exchange fee are being discontinued as of March 15 of this year. Discussion here -> https://www.disboards.com/threads/canadian-amazon-visa-card.3658372/

I had been toying with the idea of getting some gift cards here in Canada to pay for our room as soon as we arrive as a means of avoiding the 2.5% fee.

 

[22Tink]

I had been toying with the idea of getting some gift cards here in Canada to pay for our room as soon as we arrive as a means of avoiding the 2.5% fee.

I've almost got my room paid off with gift cards by calling in and making payments over the phone. It's been working great!

I don't plan to cancel but if something happens and we do they'll put it all back on my GC and I'll have a good chunk of money to put towards the next trip!

 

[kittyab]

So far I have only found them in the Super Store here in Alberta.

 

[Average Joes]

@marshall4539 - What card are you using that doesn't have the foreign exchange fee? I've heard that the Chase Bank of Canada cards with no foreign-exchange fee are being discontinued as of March 15 of this year. Discussion here -> https://www.disboards.com/threads/canadian-amazon-visa-card.3658372/

I had been toying with the idea of getting some gift cards here in Canada to pay for our room as soon as we arrive as a means of avoiding the 2.5% fee.

I am not aware of a Canadian credit card that does not charge fees. The Rogers Master Card will charge the 2.5% fee. However, it gives you 4% cash rewards back on foreign purchases. Even so I will likely use a credit card to buy a gift card for tickets and get standard rewards.

 

[gskywalker]

I converted over $3500 CDN in gift cards yesterday into US$ gift cards. Would have moved over more if I had more US$ gift cards to move it to(only had three from Disney rewards). Glad I was able to capture Thursday high CDN rate yesterday instead of the once cent drop.

 

[bcwife76]

I haven't found a comparable option to replace my Amazon Visa (only another month of being able to use it ) so I've started stock piling gift cards everytime I go grocery shopping and I'm combining them all on one 'master' gift card incase of any refunds. Just wish I could (a) find more places to buy the cards and (b) purchase bigger denominations. So far I can only buy $50 cards at Superstore/Independent Grocer and $25 cards at Walmart. Shoppers closest to my house does not have them, neither does my closest Rexall. Grrrr....

 

[22Tink]

I haven't found a comparable option to replace my Amazon Visa (only another month of being able to use it ) so I've started stock piling gift cards everytime I go grocery shopping and I'm combining them all on one 'master' gift card incase of any refunds. Just wish I could (a) find more places to buy the cards and (b) purchase bigger denominations. So far I can only buy $50 cards at Superstore/Independent Grocer and $25 cards at Walmart. Shoppers closest to my house does not have them, neither does my closest Rexall. Grrrr....

Do you have a Canadian Tire nearby? The one near me has cards that are loadable to $500. It’s an hour away from us in Prince George but I try to grab one whenever we can get there.

 

[bcwife76]

@22Tink yes we've got a CDN Tire less than 10 minutes away....haven't checked there yet - am running a couple errands near there tomorrow so I will pop in and see if they have any, thanks!

 

[bcwife76]

So my local CDN Tire had none, along with Home Depot. And now a friend just emailed me to say she checked London Drugs and Save On Foods (both within a couple minutes drive of those other stores) and they both have them lol So now, more choices at least ;-)

 

[DVC_Vida]

Thanks for the picture. Since it's also written in French, there's a good chance I will see them in Montreal too so I will keep my eyes open!

Hi, I'm from Montreal nd and I saw them at Jean Coutu Pharmacy

 

[isabellea]

Hi, I'm from Montreal nd and I saw them at Jean Coutu Pharmacy

Yes I found them too at Jean Coutu and Walmart.

 

[Capergirl1989]

Anybody from Nova Scotia and find the gift cards any other place besides WalMart ? I have been checking weekly at the local Walmart’s around me and can’t find any since Christmas ! I’m hoping to get a few more before my trip in april !