Charging To Room

[PandaBear & Boo]

I'm sure this has been asked but I cannot find the thread. Would like to know which of the following am I able to do.

Can I put a credit card on the room for charging privileges and then pay cash instead of having the credit card charged? As I'm travelling internationally my credit card not only will charge the exchange but also a 2.5% fee on top of that so I'd prefer to pay in cash.

OR

Can I just give the hotel cash and have them link it to our magic bands for charging privileges?

 

[jon18uk]

Yes, just make sure you visit the front desk before your last evening to pay cash.

 

[bumbershoot]

I wouldn't wait until the last night. I would go regularly to pay it down.

Actually I wouldn't bother charging to the room and would just pay cash, or buy a gift card and use that in the parks, but some people do really like charging to the room. So if you're one of those people, go to pay every, or every other, night, especially if you are a big in-park spender and might come close to the limit before they charge the card.

 

[nemofans]

They may charge your card check in day, at least they did that to us at Aulani and I have heard they do that at WDW with room only ressies. If you don't want your card charged then I wouldn't put one on the account beforehand. Go to front desk instead.

 

[disneydacey]

I wouldn't wait until the last night. I would go regularly to pay it down.

This is what we do. I use my MagicBand for everything then go to the front desk every other day to pay the balance with giftcards or cash.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

They may charge your card check in day, at least they did that to us at Aulani and I have heard they do that at WDW with room only ressies. If you don't want your card charged then I wouldn't put one on the account beforehand. Go to front desk instead.

I believe if you do online check-in then when you get to the resort your card is automatically charged and then used as the card associated with your magic band for incidentals. That happened to us in 2013 and it was a problem because we had intended to use a different credit card for our hotel balance and our incidental charges. The cast member at check-in told us that was what happened and helped to fix everything, but it was a big mess at first. So you might want to avoid online check-in, and that way you can hand the front desk cast member whatever credit card you want. Also beware that the resort will automatically charge whatever your associated card is for your incidentals once a certain threshold is reached. I think that threshold is $500 but others can confirm for you. So you want to make sure you keep track of your spending during the day so that you'll know when you have to go to the front desk and pay it off if you intend to do so in cash. But you'll still need some card associated with your account no matter what, even if you're paying your bill down in cash, or they won't let you charge things to the room. It's a little complex but it's totally doable, we used to do this too.

 

[PandaBear & Boo]

I have taken travellers cheques in the past and given them to a cast member instead of a credit card for charging privileges with out any problem. This year I decided not to get travellers cheques but I may change my mind. Because I'm travelling internationally and have to pick up our magic bands at the front desk I don't do the online check in. Thanks for all your insight. At least now I know what kind of options I have.