Cash to key card?

[motherof4]

Leaving in 5 sleeps!! We will be taking cash with us, and I know this question has been answered numerous times, but I can't find the answer! Can I add cash to my key card upon check in, to use for purchases?

 

[SkcMom]

Bumping this up for you as I would like to know also.

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

Yes you can, but just keep an eye on your bill with the front desk as they don't always notated it correctly... Long story short, when you leave cash your hotel credit limit should still be set at ZERO... because you are putting cash down on the room it will make your balance a negative (a credit) and as you charge to the room it will eat away at the negative balance until it gets to .01 penny positive then it will stop the charging as you have spent the entire amount you put down and gone over the credit limit. Alot of times they will set the credit limit to the amount of cash that you have applied which essentially will allow you to charge double... example being, if you leave $500 it will put a negative $500 on the account because it shows as a credit since there was nothing to counter it. If they set your credit limit to positive $500 you will be able to charge through the negative credit and then an additional $500 as the charging will not be shut off until the account hits positive $500.01 essentially allowing you to charge $1000.... Does that make sense?!?!

Keep track of what you charge to the account and know where you are with the cash deposit that you have applied and you will be fine.

 

[Catrinabeach]

When we went in Sept we didn't want to put a CC on the room and wanted to put cash on it instead and we were not allowed to.

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

When we went in Sept we didn't want to put a CC on the room and wanted to put cash on it instead and we were not allowed to.

It is not common practice, so if you get a CM that says no it is not allowed ask them if they could speak to their operation support or manager as you can put cash on the reservation to open the charging. It just isn't an everyday request and it has to be set up properly.

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Well you can put a cc down and then pay your bill in cash at the end of your trip. Does that help at all? You would want to put your cash in the safe during your trip.

 

[HumphreytheBear]

Well you can put a cc down and then pay your bill in cash at the end of your trip. Does that help at all? You would want to put your cash in the safe during your trip.

If you do put the CC down with the intention of paying it in cash at the end, make sure you are NOT on express check out! If you have express check out you are authorizing them to charge the card and it is processed automtically the last night of your stay or when you have reached the hotels max credit limit (the values allow $500, moderates $1000 and deluxe $1500 before they will ask for a payment, just to make sure that you don't run about a $10,000 bill that you can't pay for at the end). You can go down anytime to make payments to the account if you want to.

As mentioned above though, you can put Cash on the reservation for charging privledges, it is not something that is done a lot, but it is done. I agree if you get a CM that says no, ask them to check that with a manager because it is an option. As stated though keep track of your charges just in case it is not set up properly. The back office runs a nightly report that shows them exceptions (when a credit limit has been adjusted) so it should be caught if it is wrong, but sometimes it slips by.

 

[NJRRK]

In August, we put the Debit Card on the room and specifically stated that I did NOT want Express Checkout.

I paid down the balance once during the week and the remainder at the end with cash. It was simple and it let us not use cash but yet budget our cash that we had.

 

[WillCAD]

I have been putting down cash, travellers checks, Disney Dollars, or Disney Gift Card to enable room charging for several years now.

As CDSTapisRouge said, not every CM knows how to do this; in fact, many don't even know that it can be done or think that it can't. I often have to ask them to call their manager over to explain it to them, but it doesn't take long and it's apparently not difficult to do once it's explained.

I'm used to that, however. In the 2 years or so that I've been getting Disney Gift Cards to save for my trips, I have encountered only ONE CM at any of the Disney Stores where I go who knows how to add money to an already-activated card without calling the manager over.

"Press the green button, then hit 1, then swipe the card..."

 

[PrincessDez]

Last time we were there (Nov. 2005) we did as others have stated they have. We used our credit card when we checked in and then I went down to Guest Services 3 times during our stay and paid our balance with cash and Disney Dollars. I found that if I did it every 2 days it helped me budget. I paid the final balance the night before we left and was still able to use Express Checkout. Since my balance was $0 and they had a credit card on file I got the best of both worlds.

Enjoy your trip and hope you have a magical time!

I can't wait for our trip!

 

[motherof4]

Thank you all, for your quick responses! Love this site, such a wealth of information! 4 more sleeps!! and look I have also reached 100 posts!