Credit Card required upon check in??

[twins4disney]

I am wondering if instead of using a credit card for room charges, we could use a debit instead, or cash. Just trying to avoid charging too much. In the past I have went a little crazy when it came to souvenier shopping. I was going to try to be a little more disciplined this trip.

 

[safetymom]

Yes you can use a debit card. We always check every couple of days on our total. Just make sure that you bank doesn't limit you on the amt. that can be "charged" per day.

 

[nicoleakr]

I actually got the pre-paid debit cards last year when we went .That way I spent exactly what I wanted to. Work well for us.

 

[twins4disney]

thanks for the info, regarding the prepaid debit cards, can you buy those at your bank? If using a regular debit, how much do they do for a prior authorization, we will be staying at BCV-DVC members

 

[safetymom]

$1 They are checking to make sure the card can be used. They don't hold a certain amount.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Wow.. are you sure safety?

Last year when we went.. The clerk asked if we wanted to put a card down for room charges.. we talked about it and agreed and we said "how much do you authorize" and she said how much do you want as a credit line.. We thought 500$ would do it and we were pretty sure they did a pre-auth for 500$ ..

I can't believe Disney would extend a line of credit up to 500$ on a 1$ authorization. Doesn't seem like them at all in fact. You know.. "trust.. but verify.."

We generally do all our souvenir shopping on the last day, after check out... we go over to DTD and do our shopping there. We occasionally pick something up in the park.. but not often.

J

 

[safetymom]

That is the way it always worked for me. They never put a hold on my money when I stayed at the resorts. I was never any where near the line of credit.

I also checked every couple of days that the amounts charged to the credit limit were correct.

 

[Skroops]

Although you have to put down a credit/debit card upon check in, I'm pretty sure you do not have to have charging priveleges on your key card. We don't put charging on the kids key cards...

 

[disneyfan67]

Although you have to put down a credit/debit card upon check in, I'm pretty sure you do not have to have charging priveleges on your key card. We don't put charging on the kids key cards...

The last two times I was at WDW, I used my debit card at check in, but requested no room charging on any of the key cards. It's better to just budget your cash daily for the fun stuff and know exactly where you're at, then to get the surprise at check out. It's just too darn convenient to use those handy dandy key cards.

The first time I was at the Poly with my family in 02, my wife and I got a little happy with charging to the room and learned an expensive lesson. You should have seen the looks on our faces when we checked out. It was a mixture of sadness of leaving WDW and the Poly on our last day and a combination of shock on how much we spent.

 

[Atchley]

When we went they asked us if we wanted to apply a credit card in order to have charging privledges with our room. We said yes and handed them our card. They automatically gave us $1000 credit limit. They didn't ask us how much of a limit that we wanted.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Safety:

yea we did that as well. The night before checkout I got a printout of the charges and went over it ...

J

 

[Traveliz]

Wow.. are you sure safety?

Last year when we went.. The clerk asked if we wanted to put a card down for room charges.. we talked about it and agreed and we said "how much do you authorize" and she said how much do you want as a credit line.. We thought 500$ would do it and we were pretty sure they did a pre-auth for 500$ ..

I can't believe Disney would extend a line of credit up to 500$ on a 1$ authorization. Doesn't seem like them at all in fact. You know.. "trust.. but verify.."

We generally do all our souvenir shopping on the last day, after check out... we go over to DTD and do our shopping there. We occasionally pick something up in the park.. but not often.

J

I have found the same to be true - In fact I have put down a debit card at the Poly when I had less than 1,000 in that account and they have pre authorized 1500 for me (that is their resort's amount). I just put down the card so I don't have to check out - I know I am not charging any (or just a little).

Liz

 

[MAKmom]

You need to give them a credit/Bank Visa card but you can put cash down to spend on your room Key. Any amount you want & they will you what is left back when you check-out in cash.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

$1 They are checking to make sure the card can be used. They don't hold a certain amount.

1) They DO NOT charge $1.00.
2) They just do and authorization.
3) This does not put a charge on a card.
4) In fact, there are LOTS of times the charges at checkout exceed the card limit.
5) In this case, they call the guest and ask for another card.
6) If the guest left already, they write them a letter.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Scupper:

All great info to have -- "And I learned something today.. "

J

 

[PixieDust742]

Just an attempt to dispel some of the myths in this thread...

• No, you do not need to put a credit card on the reservation upon check in. It is only for charging privileges and express checkout, one or both of which you can choose not to have. It is just for your own convenience, rather than having to carry around cash or a credit card, you can use your room card for purchases. Express checkout means your bill is slipped under your door on the morning of your checkout. You don't need to do anything to "checkout" (i.e. stop at the front desk) as you have your bill and are good to go. But both of these features are optional and you can choose not to put a credit card on file and therefore not have these conveniences.
  
  
• Disney does not put a hold on your credit/debit card. As mentioned before, they just see if it is valid by trying to charge $1.00. Then, upon finding your card to be valid and depending on your resort you are given a credit limit. The limit at value resorts (Pop Century, All Stars) is $500.00, while the moderate resorts (Port Orleans, Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach) have a limit of $1000.00. Finally, the deluxe (Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht and Beach Club, Boardwalk, Animal Kingdom Lodge) and DVC resorts (Old Key West, Saratoga Springs) have a limit of $1500.00. This does not mean you are only allowed to spend that set amount during your vacation, nor does it mean that Disney places a hold on your credit card for that (or any) amount of money. What it DOES mean is that Disney will allow you to charge up to that set amount with your KTTW cards before they will need to take a payment on your credit card and restore your credit limit back to the original $500/$1000/$1500. Likewise, as they do not place a hold on your card and only test it for $1.00, if that card does not work, you will be asked for another form of payment.

Hope this helps to clear up some of the confusion!

 

[bytheblood]

We never give one at all and pay for everything out of pocket.

 

[MAKmom]

Just an attempt to dispel some of the myths in this thread...

• No, you do not need to put a credit card on the reservation upon check in. It is only for charging privileges and express checkout, one or both of which you can choose not to have. It is just for your own convenience, rather than having to carry around cash or a credit card, you can use your room card for purchases. Express checkout means your bill is slipped under your door on the morning of your checkout. You don't need to do anything to "checkout" (i.e. stop at the front desk) as you have your bill and are good to go. But both of these features are optional and you can choose not to put a credit card on file and therefore not have these conveniences.
  
  
• Disney does not put a hold on your credit/debit card. As mentioned before, they just see if it is valid by trying to charge $1.00. Then, upon finding your card to be valid and depending on your resort you are given a credit limit. The limit at value resorts (Pop Century, All Stars) is $500.00, while the moderate resorts (Port Orleans, Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach) have a limit of $1000.00. Finally, the deluxe (Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht and Beach Club, Boardwalk, Animal Kingdom Lodge) and DVC resorts (Old Key West, Saratoga Springs) have a limit of $1500.00. This does not mean you are only allowed to spend that set amount during your vacation, nor does it mean that Disney places a hold on your credit card for that (or any) amount of money. What it DOES mean is that Disney will allow you to charge up to that set amount with your KTTW cards before they will need to take a payment on your credit card and restore your credit limit back to the original $500/$1000/$1500. Likewise, as they do not place a hold on your card and only test it for $1.00, if that card does not work, you will be asked for another form of payment.

Hope this helps to clear up some of the confusion!

You do not have to carry cash around you can give them cash & they will let you charge on your room key.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

DH and I always pay cash for our hotel stay when we check in. We ask the clerk to refund our credit card with the one night payment that we were required to charge ahead of time to hold the room. We leave the credit card on file so that we can have Express Checkout, but we pay for everything in cash.

 

[nicoleakr]

thanks for the info, regarding the prepaid debit cards, can you buy those at your bank? If using a regular debit, how much do they do for a prior authorization, we will be staying at BCV-DVC members

I got my pre-paid cards at my bank for a fee $4.95 with a 500 limit.It worked really well for us. Not sure about the other.