Disney GC for Christmas Present

[Cruising Engineer]

I just purchased $500 worth of Disney GC (BJ's 8% off) for my nephew and his family to start saving for their first trip to WDW in two years.

QUESTION 1: When the cards arrive, by mail, should I check if they have been activated or just send them in two months hoping they are good? I've read too many problems with Target activation but have not read any problems others have had with BJ's activation history.

QUESTION 2: I've used https://www.disneygiftcard.com/ for my consolidations over the years, and it's a great system. If I consolidate the 5 - $100 GCs into one $500 and send the card to them, will it be accepted on their account since the card number (and code) are listed on my account? Do I need to delete the new $500 card from my account for it to work on their account? TIA

 

[Halle]

I always consolidate them once I receive them to make sure they were activated.
I don't know the answer to your second question but hope that someone else does.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I do know of someone who bought from BJs and they weren’t activated. Took forever to sort out that mess! It can happen anywhere.

In your shoes I would actually buy 1 more gift card: a custom one for $25 (lowest denom you can get) from Disney. They have free shipping and you pick any of a like a hundred designs. When the card comes it won’t have a scratch off, all the numbers will be visible. Very nice looking. Load all your BJs cards onto that card for them. At the end of the day it will present nicer and it can even be a bit of a keepsake for them if they so chose. (You’ll have to scratch the backs off the BJ cards and imho it’s kinda weird to give someone a scratched off card, even though it was scratched off for a good reason.)

Idk if you can register the same card to 2 accounts. You can certainly unregister a card and register it to another account.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

I do know of someone who bought from BJs and they weren’t activated. Took forever to sort out that mess! It can happen anywhere.

Idk if you can register the same card to 2 accounts. You can certainly unregister a card and register it to another account.

Oh wow, bad news and good news. I'll look into the custom card. Thank you.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I do know of someone who bought from BJs and they weren’t activated. Took forever to sort out that mess! It can happen anywhere.

In your shoes I would actually buy 1 more gift card: a custom one for $25 (lowest denom you can get) from Disney. They have free shipping and you pick any of a like a hundred designs. When the card comes it won’t have a scratch off, all the numbers will be visible. Very nice looking. Load all your BJs cards onto that card for them. At the end of the day it will present nicer and it can even be a bit of a keepsake for them if they so chose. (You’ll have to scratch the backs off the BJ cards and imho it’s kinda weird to give someone a scratched off card, even though it was scratched off for a good reason.)

Idk if you can register the same card to 2 accounts. You can certainly unregister a card and register it to another account.

Oh wow, bad news and good news. I'll look into the custom card. Thank you.

To piggyback on gottalovepluto, if you have a Disney Movie Rewards membership and can cash in for a card there, they also have the numbers exposed.

 

[wenrob]

I do know of someone who bought from BJs and they weren’t activated. Took forever to sort out that mess! It can happen anywhere.

In your shoes I would actually buy 1 more gift card: a custom one for $25 (lowest denom you can get) from Disney. They have free shipping and you pick any of a like a hundred designs. When the card comes it won’t have a scratch off, all the numbers will be visible. Very nice looking. Load all your BJs cards onto that card for them. At the end of the day it will present nicer and it can even be a bit of a keepsake for them if they so chose. (You’ll have to scratch the backs off the BJ cards and imho it’s kinda weird to give someone a scratched off card, even though it was scratched off for a good reason.)

Idk if you can register the same card to 2 accounts. You can certainly unregister a card and register it to another account.

This is what I do, usually cards themed for the occasion. Last ones were a “Thank You” and “Birthday.” I consolidate and then just leave them in my account until they transfer to their account or have spent it. I can’t answer if it can be on two accounts or not (my guess is yes) but it can be spent by them without taking it off your account. I always leave an empty card registered on my account in case the one being used gets lost or stolen I can make a quick transfer. With that much money I’d encourage them to do the same.

 

[Marionnette]

QUESTION 2: I've used https://www.disneygiftcard.com/ for my consolidations over the years, and it's a great system. If I consolidate the 5 - $100 GCs into one $500 and send the card to them, will it be accepted on their account since the card number (and code) are listed on my account? Do I need to delete the new $500 card from my account for it to work on their account? TIA

BTDT. Yes, a card can be registered n 2 different accounts at the same time.

 

[DizMe]

BTDT. Yes, a card can be registered n 2 different accounts at the same time.

So if I purchase a gc that someone else has managed to access the numbers to, and I go home and put it on my gift card account, can that person also register the card since I've activated it and could they then transfer the balance to a different card that they have? I usually immediately transfer a new gc balance to an older card I have, but now I'm wondering about the above scenario.

 

[Marionnette]

So if I purchase a gc that someone else has managed to access the numbers to, and I go home and put it on my gift card account, can that person also register the card since I've activated it and could they then transfer the balance to a different card that they have? I usually immediately transfer a new gc balance to an older card I have, but now I'm wondering about the above scenario.

Yes, it's entirely possible. However, they would have to have gotten access to both the final 4 digits of the GC # and the PIN.

I always grab a GC from the middle of the rack and then transfer the balance to an older card as soon as I know the activation has gone thru. I keep a zero-balance GC in my gift card account just for that purpose.

 

[AmyAnne]

Yes, it's entirely possible. However, they would have to have gotten access to both the final 4 digits of the GC # and the PIN.

I always grab a GC from the middle of the rack and then transfer the balance to an older card as soon as I know the activation has gone thru. I keep a zero-balance GC in my gift card account just for that purpose.

So once you have transferred the balance to your old card, does that mean that no one else can transfer it? Is transferring the balance essentially the same as spending it?

 

[Marionnette]

So once you have transferred the balance to your old card, does that mean that no one else can transfer it? Is transferring the balance essentially the same as spending it?

Once you've transferred the balance to another card, the first card has nothing left on it. No one else can use the card for purchases because it has nothing on it. Disney will only entertain the idea of reversing the transfer if you can prove that you bought the card (i.e. Have the receipt). No thief will go to that length. They just move to the next victim.

 

[FCDub]

Why not let them consolidate if they want? Being helpful is very kind but they might want to be the ones in charge of how the cards are managed.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Why not let them consolidate if they want? Being helpful is very kind but they might want to be the ones in charge of how the cards are managed.

I plan on getting them totally involved with the process. I'm just wanting to make sure the cards are really activated. To many horror stories about trouble with activation from certain stores.
Don't want to give a gift and then the hassle of fixing the problem 2 months after purchase.