Charging to resort's room keys?

[Pig Pen]

What are the advantages to doing this?

 

[BCV23]

My DH always charges everything to the room. I think he likes it because at checkout you can see all your purchases. You also don't have to carry around a lot of cash or a credit card. I remember someone posting about losing a credit card slip in the parks and having the number used to make purchases by someone else.

 

[lizzie64]

I also think it's great not to have to pull out your credit card or cash everytime. On our last trip we also had our park passes on our room key and it was great to only have to carry one card in my wallet.

Also, no one sees your credit card or your number.

 

[kdibattista]

Convenience, convenience!!!!

Did I mention it was convenient

 

[crisi]

Your room key becomes your park ticket, your room key, and your charge card. You can seriously get by with about $10 in cash per person and your room card in the parks - less to carry.

We always take a little more cash than that (and you'll want to if you are going to be buying food or drink from carts, renting strollers, etc) and an extra credit card and ID. But the extra credit card and ID can all go deep in a wallet and doesn't usually come out at all during the day - while the room key is readily accessible to use to get fastpasses or buy lunch.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

If you save the itemized list you get at check-out, it's very easy to budget for your next trip.

 

[Mamu]

As kdibattista says, convenience!

I like the idea of express check-out. On the morning you leave there is an itemized statement of all your charges on your door. If everything is correct. your on your way.

 

[jlieblaw]

You can also charge strollers on your room key. Plus any meals, purchases and services. Also, if you have any problems with wrong charges, etc. I suspect it's easier to have them correct it on your Disney bill since they can pull up your bill right then and review it whereas it will be a month before you receive your credit card bill.

 

[drogerstn]

Everyone staying in your room can get their own room key. You can elect to have some or all of the keys capable of charging to the room, except for keys for children below a certain age. I don't remember the cutoff age for the option of having a child being able to charge to the room; seems like it is 10 years old and up, the same as adult admission to the parks.

This policy may have changed since it has been a couple of years since we visited with a child younger than 10-years-old.

 

[Pig Pen]

Thanks for the answers. I was trying to figure out if there were some special perks for doing this. I guess convenience is the biggest factor. It would be nice just to carry one card around.

 

[IndyDisneyFan]

The charging privilage is great if you have teenagers, as we do. They can go their merry way, and can eat when they are ready. We give them a daily spending limit which works great and they know that if they don't stick with that we will take their cards away and they are then stuck with us! Plus, you can call the front desk at any time and find out the balance of your charges. We have done this for many years and have never had a mistake on our bill. We choose to use a debit card instead of a credit card at check in for charging privilages. That way we have a predetermined amount we allow ourselves to use. It keeps us from spending way more than we need to. Plus, no credit card bills when we get home! They don't debit our account until the day of check out Plus we like not having to carry around a lot of cash. Charging is the ONLY way to go!

Laura

 

[Coll0610]

Another advantage is that they don't actually charge your credit card until you hit the limit (which is pretty high, like $1500) or you check out. Sometimes that extra few days will push you into the next billing cycle so you don't have to pay for an extra month. Kind of extends the magic...

 

[tampafan]

We use the room keys charging for the same reason. We usually leave extra money on the room account and then charge until we work it down and then settle up the night before we check out. It is really nice to not have to carry cash around the parks. The limits are different depending on the resort, by the way. I am not positive, but I think that the All Stars are limited to $500, while moderates go to $1000, and deluxe up to $1500.

 

[ducklite]

Here is the biggest reason...

It limits your exposure to CC fraud. Because you are handing your actual cc over to a minimal number of people, there is a much lower chance of someone getting hold of your info and making fraudulent charges.

Anne

 

[elgerber]

I agree with everyone else. It's so convenient, and you can check all your charges before you leave. Also when you get home, you only have 1 charge on your credit card instead of a ton of smaller charges.

Erika

 

[Dalpal]

If you use your room key to charge on, do they still also make this your park ticket? If so does this work with an AP? Last time we went with a 5 day PH and only having to use one plastic card was nice. But I thought the AP was paper.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

The AP is separate - it can't be put on your room key.

 

[Pig Pen]

Oh, yeah...I have an AP. Why don't they put the APs on plastic? Mine is beginning to get a little rough around the edges and I have 2 more nine day trips planned!

Poor thing will be worn to a nub.

 

[AmyA]

We love doing the room charge! Instead of giving a cc though, we actually give the amount we have set to spend in cash. It works out great, and every couple of days we get a printout of our charges from the desk just to see where we're at.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by Dalpal
If you use your room key to charge on, do they still also make this your park ticket? If so does this work with an AP? Last time we went with a 5 day PH and only having to use one plastic card was nice. But I thought the AP was paper.

Since last September (when prices were increased), the only tickets that can be put on your room key are those that you buy at check in, or those purchased in advance as part of a package.

That means you cannot put AP/PAPs on your room key (can't buy those at the resorts). You also cannot buy discounted PHP tickets in advance at TDS or at one of the discount brokers and have them added to your room key.