cash or debit card

[brooker]

hey all,

For our Dec. trip we are paying out of pocket for our meals. My question is whether we can use our Canadian debit cards( BMO) instead of taking a lot of cash. Has anyone who has gone recently used their debit card and were there extra charges for using it outside Canada?

 

[Scratch42]

Traveller's Cheques!

Why take the chance of carrying around a lot of cash or dc and have the chance of being lost or stolen.

That way you can take a denomination of your daily allowance and not have to worry!

m2cw!

janet

 

[iluvwesties]

Another option is the CAA Cash card.

If you are a CAA member you can get a Cash Card in your name.

It is very much like a debit card.

You "Load" it with $ (either give them the money or debit it to CAA)

When you need cash in Florida, it is good at many ATM's and of course, it gives you US$ (the exchange is whatever it is at the time of ATM transaction)

I believe there is an ATM charge per transaction, so it wouldn't be worth getting say $20 out at a time, better to get a larger amount.

My daughter used this system while backpacking through Europe this year and found it worked well for her because of all the different curencies involved.

Myself, I usually take the majority of $ in travellers cheques (AMEX - if you go to an AMEX travel agent they are fee free)

And a small amount of currency (enough for the first 1 - 2 days)

Good luck with your decision! (sp?)

iluvwesties (aka Carol) aw:

 

[mackeyapp]

Hi, we stayed on site last year and also paid each day for meals. We used travellers cheques the entire time and they worked out great. No worries and easily cashed throughout the parks and restaurants.

 

[CharlesTD]

Use TC's it is much less of a headache than anything else.

 

[marylou]

Even the ice cream carts take TC so no excuse not to get mickey bars

 

[disney funseeker]

Another vote for travellers cheques.

 

[DIS~n~JAN]

Hi,
Last year our bank manager told me I could use our debit card(BMO) in Florida. The only place place it worked was Mc Donalds DTD . I then was able to get cash from my card at AKL. This time I plan on getting TC's.

 

[weirdguy]

Hi there;

As a Canadian posted in the US I can tell you that Interac cards (is that what they're still called?) can be used at most ATM machines in the States. Some just won't do it for some reason, they're the $3/use ones anyway. Canadian debit cards do not work at stores, movies or anywhere else that the US advertises for Debit cards. They mean US cards only and they are Visa cheque cards. If you have Canadian Visa that will work anywhere Visa or debit is accepted down here, I don't have a Canadian MC so I can't tell you if they work, I would imagine they do. So I would recommend travellers cheques or Visa in the States. That way you don't have to worry about money getting lost or stolen. Just keep your tc numbers just in case they get lost or stolen. Or there is a new AMEX which is linked with TC. Instead of the cheques you preload this AMEX and it works almost everywhere, there are some stores though where it won't work.

Hope my rambling helped.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

weirdguy is right. The only real use for a Canadian debit card is at the ATM's. The machines will charge you anywhere from 0 to $3.00 per transaction.

The debit cards are not the same. The biggest difference if using a Canadian debit at a store is that in Canada you have the step whereby you have to indicate chequing or savings account. In the US they do not have this step and therefore your debit will not work.

I would say use your debit to pull a large amount of cash each day from the ATM but factor in the charge. Or put the cash on your credit card before going and use it. Or travellers cheques.

 

[eleanor]

We stay on site and I use the room key card for most meals and then pay at the desk with credit cards before we leave or every few days. I dont like carrying money around ,just a few dollars for snacks .It works well and I dont get charged that fee from the credit card for converting the money.

 

[SplashMom]

Travellers cheques have worked very well for us. We did use our debit card a few times in the Interact machine in the resort a few years ago and it charged $3 per transaction and I don't think the exchange rate was very generous. It seemed to be an expensive exercise. Since then, we only use travellers cheques or our US Dollar Visa. These don't have hidden charges and give us all the advantages of cash.

 

[mc'smommy]

You can use your interac card at any of the ATM's in the United States as long as they are represented by the symbol on the back of your debit
( interac card ) Example Cirrus, ATM PLUS symbols


Also if you check the TD canadatrust wesite you can use your interac card at any NYCE debit machines. I know the Walmart & Target stores in Niagara Falls NY has this type of debit machine and I have used my TD interac there many of times to make my purchases. .. They say you can use your canadian debit at over one million retailers......

As for being that far away form home and not really sure I would take travellers checks...


GoodLuck and have fun..

 

[brooker]

We stay on site and I use the room key card for most meals and then pay at the desk with credit cards before we leave or every few days. I dont like carrying money around ,just a few dollars for snacks .It works well and I dont get charged that fee from the credit card for converting the money.

So can you eat at various parks and charge it all to your room? Is this able to be used all over or just for selected TS or CS meals?

 

[surfer_ed]

Hi folks, I am a banker in my real life (don't hold that against me) and want to make a quick comment about using your ATM and Debit card in the USA.

It is very convenient but don't forget you pay for that convenience. Both TD and RBC (don't know about the others) offer debit transactions with many US retailers and you can pretty much use any US ABM machine.

Typically your bank will charge you $3 plus the debit (usually 50 cents) and the processing bank also sometimes charges a fee.

In addtion exchange rates usually depend on volume and you should be able to get a better rate on amounts over $1,000.

ABM and Debit transactions in the US can add up to 5% on your money (<$100). But then again it amazes me on the number of people who use other banking machines and run up 25-30 dollars a months in interbank fees when most banks have a machine on every corner.

My advice is to take a little bit of cash and some Travellers cheques or your Visa card. Charge most things to your room and pay it in one transaction to minmize costs. Since I already had the US TC last time I went down to the front desk the night before and paid off much of my bill before checked out. This way I got a better exchange rate on my US than Visa could have provided.

Hope this helps.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Just wanted to say that we don't usually put a credit card down on the room for charges but instead put cash or travellers cheques down. It means that we can't do express checkout but that's ok by us. We just check every couple of days to make sure that we haven't spent it all. Means that we can take advantage of the room charging but don't have to use a credit card.

 

[jeannief]

So can you eat at various parks and charge it all to your room? Is this able to be used all over or just for selected TS or CS meals?

Brooker, that is exactly what it means. Your room key is your park pass and your cc is linked to it. I used the card everywhere, from batteries, to water at concession stands to icecream bars. The only cash we carried was pennies and quarters for the pressed penny machines.
I like the idea of prepaying the cc before you leave on vacation, but you just need to make sure you track your spending, it's really easy to whip that key card out!

 

[Toad]

I had heard the Disney has introduced a gift card. I plan to purchase one with cash on my first day and use that for all Disney purchases (and there are usually a lot!!).

I try to avoid my credit card at all costs to avoid the exchange that shows up later and ruins my happy memories!! Yes I know it means I am travelling with a lot of cash to start. All cash is well hidden on my person and I always pay the hotel and park passes up front to get rid of it. I'll still have a bit of cash for the odd off-site purchase.

 

[DIS~n~JAN]

Can you purchase the gift card from Disney before you head down there?

 

[Albertan mom]

We took our Visa and $200 worth of Travellers cheques.
Worked for us.
We put everything on visa, paid it the minute we got home.