Charging then paying with gift cards?

[22Tink]

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.

I kind of figured but we were tired of wasting our valuable park time arguing with them. Too late for us because we’re home now but hopefully this good advice will help someone else who has Visa gift cards for their trips. We just ended up putting everything on our regular Visa and will just use the Visa gc here at home. For future trips I think I’ll just stick with Disney gift cards.

 

[AngiTN]

I kind of figured but we were tired of wasting our valuable park time arguing with them. Too late for us because we’re home now but hopefully this good advice will help someone else who has Visa gift cards for their trips. We just ended up putting everything on our regular Visa and will just use the Visa gc here at home. For future trips I think I’ll just stick with Disney gift cards.

Yes, it is best to always stick with Disney gift cards. It is never good to deal with the Visa cards and tie up the 20%. Because you are still left with a bunch of cards with 20% on them, which is usually small amounts and those are hard to spend on Visa cards. Good lesson for anyone with Visa cards. Applies to Disney and all Restaurants, in the US at least. Anything that Visa codes in their system as may have a tip involved. And gas stations can also be strange. They can put odd holds on Visa Gift Cards too, especially if you use pay at the pump. I've used those cards a lot and learned a lot about where not to use them.

 

[jbh275]

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.

Can you pay that online, or did you have to go to the front desk to pay your balance? I had no idea you could do this.

 

[AngiTN]

Can you pay that online, or did you have to go to the front desk to pay your balance? I had no idea you could do this.

Front desk.

 

[Firebird060]

Once you get the hang of it paying at the resort at night isnt that big of a hassel. Me and the wife usually tip in cash and charge to the band and normally just stop buy and pay with a Disney gift card on the way to our room at night. Takes all of 5 minutes and makes the trip enjoyable, also if you are traveling internationally, it makes it less likely to have you card flagged for suspicious activity if you didnt tell your bank you would be traveling. Might save you headaches later

 

[pschro1]

I just did this exact thing for my trip in February. We charged souvenirs to my band during the week with the intention of paying the balance off on a gift card at the end of the week. I stopped down on Thursday to the front desk asking about paying off the balance (flying home Saturday), and I am glad I did. They told me that the balance on my band will be charged to my card on Friday. This way, if there is an issue with the card it can be taken care of while you are still there. So I payed the balance off Thursday night and didn't charge anything Friday. You might just want to be careful when you visit the Front desk. If go down the day before your checkout, the charges might have already been charged to your credit card.

 

[AngiTN]

I just did this exact thing for my trip in February. We charged souvenirs to my band during the week with the intention of paying the balance off on a gift card at the end of the week. I stopped down on Thursday to the front desk asking about paying off the balance (flying home Saturday), and I am glad I did. They told me that the balance on my band will be charged to my card on Friday. This way, if there is an issue with the card it can be taken care of while you are still there. So I payed the balance off Thursday night and didn't charge anything Friday. You might just want to be careful when you visit the Front desk. If go down the day before your checkout, the charges might have already been charged to your credit card.

Where were you staying? This has never been my experience, in many, many stays on property. I've stayed in most Resorts, but not every single one so I wonder if you encountered this at one I have never stayed in, or what. Or could this be your first trip? Wonder if this is a first trip thing for some reason. Shouldn't be different but who knows what they do these days. Our first trip was way before MB

 

[pschro1]

I was staying at All Star Sports and I for sure remember them telling me that the balance is charged to my card the day before I leave. They told me that if I do it after they charge my card then I have to go through the refund process.

 

[AngiTN]

I was staying at All Star Sports and I for sure remember them telling me that the balance is charged to my card the day before I leave. They told me that if I do it after they charge my card then I have to go through the refund process.

Sports is one of the Resorts we have not stayed in.
We have stayed single nights at Music and Movies so it's hard to determine how they'd do it for a multi night stay.