Charging then paying with gift cards?

[Smbmoyers]

So as we prep for our magical journey (245 days away) it occurred to me I am not quite sure how I will use the $500 gift cards I am amassing by buying one each payday. The plan is to use them as dining tips and for a souvineer or two. Can I charge these things to my magic band and pay it off with a gift card online? Can I merge all of these cards on to one card?

 

[TinkLoverSam]

So as we prep for our magical journey (245 days away) it occurred to me I am not quite sure how I will use the $500 gift cards I am amassing by buying one each payday. The plan is to use them as dining tips and for a souvineer or two. Can I charge these things to my magic band and pay it off with a gift card online? Can I merge all of these cards on to one card?

You can merge cards into a (few) bigger cards on www.disneygiftcard.com
If you are on-site you can charge to the room (via magicband) and pay off your balance at the front desk every few days. There is a maximum charge allowed before they charge to the card on file so don’t wait too long

 

[Tomh]

Also worth noting that using disneygiftcard.com you can only combine gift cards up to a $1000 maximum on any one card.

 

[jbh275]

I'm pretty sure your magic band will be linked to a credit card, not your gift card. You will want to bring one of those gift cards with you into the park. I usually take a picture of the back in case it's lost.

 

[MrPTato]

If for some reason you hit the limit where they charge your card, they will reverse it at the front desk and then apply your gift cards. I will usually go down very late at night to take care of this business so I am not waiting in line, nor holding anyone else up.

 

[danielocha30]

I'm pretty sure your magic band will be linked to a credit card, not your gift card. You will want to bring one of those gift cards with you into the park. I usually take a picture of the back in case it's lost.

Yes it is, but you can pay off your balance every night or before it hits the limit without getting charged in your credit card. We did this last trip. We paid with the MB and every night will pay off using gift cards.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We did this last trip too. We’d charge things to the band then go to the front desk every other night and pay with GCs. I think there was a $1000 limit you can charge to the band before they charge the CC.

 

[SL6827]

Can I disable the charging abilities of the teenagers in my party?

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Can I disable the charging abilities of the teenagers in my party?

Yes, and there’s a pin you need to charge something

 

[22Tink]

So as we prep for our magical journey (245 days away) it occurred to me I am not quite sure how I will use the $500 gift cards I am amassing by buying one each payday. The plan is to use them as dining tips and for a souvineer or two. Can I charge these things to my magic band and pay it off with a gift card online? Can I merge all of these cards on to one card?

We just got back last night did this exactly. We charged everything to the room and just stopped at the front desk to pay the balance down with our gift cards. It worked great! They told me once your balance hits $1500 they’ll charge your credit card on file but I paid it down whenever it got to $500 or so.

 

[Hatwriter456]

I just paid off the balance of my resort reservation with Disney gift cards. I also called our local Disney Store and they said that would take my Visa gift cards for payment for Disney gift cards. I read on another post that Visa gift cards don't work well with the resorts. I've been trying to figure out how to use all the gift card Ive collected over the last 2 years for our trip this summer.

 

[22Tink]

I just paid off the balance of my resort reservation with Disney gift cards. I also called our local Disney Store and they said that would take my Visa gift cards for payment for Disney gift cards. I read on another post that Visa gift cards don't work well with the resorts. I've been trying to figure out how to use all the gift card Ive collected over the last 2 years for our trip this summer.

I can confirm that the VISA gift cards do not work well. Definitely go with Disney GCs. My husband went down to put a payment on our room charges with a VISA GC after we’d used all of our Disney ones. The CM told him Disney takes 20% right off the top before applying any to your balance. I’m not sure about at the Disney store, but at the parks/resorts they will not allow you to use a VISA GC to purchase a Disney GC. I tried that too not even thinking about the VISA one being a GC. I thought they’d just treat it like a regular VISA but they don’t.

 

[starry_solo]

If you can't use the Visa GC to purchase a Disney GC at the Disney Store, go to a local grocery store and do it.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

As a former hotel employee it’s not that they keep the 20% it’s that when it is put down for incidentals visa authorizes extra for more incidentals because unlike a “regular” visa if you go over the amount we authorize we can’t call up visa and have them put the charges through anyway

 

[Fangorn]

I can confirm that the VISA gift cards do not work well. Definitely go with Disney GCs. My husband went down to put a payment on our room charges with a VISA GC after we’d used all of our Disney ones. The CM told him Disney takes 20% right off the top before applying any to your balance. I’m not sure about at the Disney store, but at the parks/resorts they will not allow you to use a VISA GC to purchase a Disney GC. I tried that too not even thinking about the VISA one being a GC. I thought they’d just treat it like a regular VISA but they don’t.

You're correct that Visa gift cards don't work well at Disney resorts. But the 20% thing isn't Disney. That's on Visa. The resorts appear to Visa as a transaction that may include a tip. So they will only authorize 80% of the amount of the card. You won't lose the $$, but you'll lose the use of it for a few days while Visa puts a hold on that 20% "just in case".

I've never had an issue though, using a Visa giftcard to purchase a Disney giftcard at the resort gift shop (merchandise location you Visa). In fact, I've had the resort managers at both POR and Coronado suggest doing exactly that. Odd you were unable to do that.

Steve

 

[22Tink]

You're correct that Visa gift cards don't work well at Disney resorts. But the 20% thing isn't Disney. That's on Visa. The resorts appear to Visa as a transaction that may include a tip. So they will only authorize 80% of the amount of the card. You won't lose the $$, but you'll lose the use of it for a few days while Visa puts a hold on that 20% "just in case".

I've never had an issue though, using a Visa giftcard to purchase a Disney giftcard at the resort gift shop (merchandise location you Visa). In fact, I've had the resort managers at both POR and Coronado suggest doing exactly that. Odd you were unable to do that.

Steve

The front desk CM did not say it was just a 20% hold, she said we’d lose 20% in addition to the foreign exchange fees (we’re Canadian) and really discouraged the use of the VISA gc.

The CM in the gift shop at Pop absolutely would not allow me to use the VISA gc to purchase a Disney gc. I tried telling her that I did it here at home without an issue but she was adamant that it was not allowed.

After both of these experiences we were tired of arguing with CMs about it so we quit trying and just brought the VISA gift cards back home.

 

[22Tink]

As a former hotel employee it’s not that they keep the 20% it’s that when it is put down for incidentals visa authorizes extra for more incidentals because unlike a “regular” visa if you go over the amount we authorize we can’t call up visa and have them put the charges through anyway

But we weren’t using it for incidentals. We were paying off room charges that were already on our account. She very clearly said we’d lose 20% in addition to the foreign exchange fees. We just gave up and brought the cards back home. Next trip I’ll take only Disney gift cards.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

So from what I'm understanding, it's not recommended that I pay off my final charge balance with gift cards at check out, I should do it periodically throughout the week? Why can't I wait until check out?

 

[AngiTN]

The front desk CM did not say it was just a 20% hold, she said we’d lose 20% in addition to the foreign exchange fees (we’re Canadian) and really discouraged the use of the VISA gc.

The CM in the gift shop at Pop absolutely would not allow me to use the VISA gc to purchase a Disney gc. I tried telling her that I did it here at home without an issue but she was adamant that it was not allowed.

After both of these experiences we were tired of arguing with CMs about it so we quit trying and just brought the VISA gift cards back home.

But we weren’t using it for incidentals. We were paying off room charges that were already on our account. She very clearly said we’d lose 20% in addition to the foreign exchange fees. We just gave up and brought the cards back home. Next trip I’ll take only Disney gift cards.

She misspoke/misunderstands how it works. I promise. The clerk at the resort is not an authority on how it works with the bank. You do not loose the 20% that is withheld for tip/incidentals. It is returned to the card. Now, I have no knowledge on the foreign fees but you will NOT loose the 20% that is held back.

As mentioned above, it's done at any place that Visa feels may be a place were you'd tip. It's because when a charge is first authorized they only authorize the original charge amount as the initial charge. The tip amount is not added on till later, so they have to include the 20% with the original charge, just in case you include 20% as your tip. When the 20% isn't added (like at Disney resorts) the credit card companies release the hold and it returns back to your card. I can see where the clerk at the front desk gets confused and doesn't understand how it works, it's not her line of expertise. She doesn't know how credit cards process. It's nice that she gives the warning but if she is going to give it she really should probably learn the exact details.

 

[AngiTN]

So from what I'm understanding, it's not recommended that I pay off my final charge balance with gift cards at check out, I should do it periodically throughout the week? Why can't I wait until check out?

The resort runs the charges prior to 6 AM. So by the time you head down for check out, the charges will have already been ran on your credit card. They can reverse them but it can take several days for the credit to appear on your credit card. To avoid that, just pay it off the night before.

Oh, and about doing it during the week, there are charge limits. $1500 for Mods and Values, $2000 for Deluxe. If you reach this limit, or even approach it, they will also run the card. It is easy to reach this at Disney faster than you think. So it can be a good idea to go by every 2, 3 days (depending on size of your party) to pay off the charges, so it doesn't hit your card. Again, they can reverse this but again, credit can take a few days.