Disney or Visa Gift Cards to pay cash for trip?

[Drusilla]

We have been saving and finally have enough cash to pay off our summer trip!!!! What is the best way to pay off the trip, Disney gift card or visa/mc gift cards? My concern is that if for some reason we have to cancel our trip, refund would be made to the gift card I used. If I use a Disney gift card then I don't think there is a way to turn that money back into cash. If I use a visa/mc gift card, that money can be turned back into cash. Visa/mc gift card have a $4.95 activation fee, whereas Disney gift card don't have a fee. Thoughts??? Thanks for your input!

 

[bigbabyblues]

Yes, if you cancel for any reason, they will refund the same way you paid. If you use a gift card, the gift card will be refunded. Also, if you use multiple gift cards, each individual card will be refunded the amount it was used for.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Can't you pay with your debit card? Do not use Visa/MC gift cards for this, it's not uncommon for some of those to get hacked AND you're wasting money paying the activation fees. If the money is in your bank account, use your debit card to pay for the trip. (You are correct, if you pay with Disney gift cards you will receive the funds back on the Disney gift card.)
*the money on pre-paid Visa/MCs will turn back into USD funds on your pre-paid Visa/MCs, you can use them many places but you cannot turn that money back into physical cash

 

[taaren]

Disney likes to accept payments from single gcs now because people were calling in with too many gift cards for things like DVC dues and DCL (cruise) payments. They have the Disney Gift Card website now where you can combine all of your GCs onto one and pay with that, so that if you need to get a refund it will all go back to that one card. Get DGCs from Target at 5% discount with a RedCard or there are other deals at BestBuy or Sam's Club that I am less familiar with but there are lot of threads on here about it. If you're going to pay cash anyways you might as well convert it to DGCs and get a discount. Some states have rules about being able to turn gift cards into cash, California is one of them ... but if you get a refund are you not planning on going on a Disney vacation ever again?

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Disney likes to accept payments from single gcs now because people were calling in with too many gift cards for things like DVC dues and DCL (cruise) payments. They have the Disney Gift Card website now where you can combine all of your GCs onto one and pay with that, so that if you need to get a refund it will all go back to that one card. Get DGCs from Target at 5% discount with a RedCard or there are other deals at BestBuy or Sam's Club that I am less familiar with but there are lot of threads on here about it. If you're going to pay cash anyways you might as well convert it to DGCs and get a discount. Some states have rules about being able to turn gift cards into cash, California is one of them ... but if you get a refund are you not planning on going on a Disney vacation ever again?

You can only turn a gift card into cash if it's less than $10 in California.

OP, I would not go the GC route if you're not sure you're going to do Disney in the near future if something happens. Can you just use a debit card? Or perhaps open up a zero dollar annual fee credit card and at least accumulate points?