Disney vacation account question

[jtba]

i know what you are asking, but i don't know the answer. however, isn't it very likely that you will use up the funds in your account on a disney vacation, and won't need a refund? if you cancel a cruise, perhaps you can apply the money towards a future cruise, trip to disney world, disneyland, etc.

 

[lilmomma00]

I most def will. The question was for a friend who has never gone and wasn't for sure how that worked. If she changed her mine say a year later, and her card info had changed how would that work? Thanks for your help!

 

[CM Dad]

Currently I am using the feature on the DVA that allows you to state I need a certain amount by a certain date. For example - I need $2500 by August 31st. So it states I need to pull $60/week. I then sent this up to pull.

So, the question is...will it continue to pull the $60 after August 31? I would not mind since I need to gather $ for OBC and tips. Or do I need to re-set this up.

TIA

Just a comment on the automatic savings plan of the Disney Vacation Account. Unless they have changed things recently, you can only set the amount to what Disney calculates. If you set your target to $1000 that you need to have available in 10 months, they will start deducting $100/month from your funding source. My wife would like to take our kids and grandkids on a cruise in 2017 for our 40th anniversary and we guestimated the total cruise cost. She wanted to have regular amounts taken from her debit card of say $50 and they supplement that with one time payments. We had to fudge the goal amount so that the calculation came out to the correct regular amount. There was no way to enter your desired contribution amount.

 

[Msidescooter]

I most def will. The question was for a friend who has never gone and wasn't for sure how that worked. If she changed her mine say a year later, and her card info had changed how would that work? Thanks for your help!

I've worked for a financial processor for the last several years and in theory a reversed transaction should credit to the correct account regardless of the status of the original credit card number. A lost or stolen credit card will not allow new purchased to be made using the number, but reversals can still go through. This is because when a transaction is reversed to a credit card number there is a unique number associated with the original transaction which shows it is a reversal.

Now that being said, your friend should ask her card issuer what their specific policy is. There are a few credit card issuers that don't follow the standard way of doing things.

 

[lilmomma00]

I've worked for a financial processor for the last several years and in theory a reversed transaction should credit to the correct account regardless of the status of the original credit card number. A lost or stolen credit card will not allow new purchased to be made using the number, but reversals can still go through. This is because when a transaction is reversed to a credit card number there is a unique number associated with the original transaction which shows it is a reversal.

Now that being said, your friend should ask her card issuer what their specific policy is. There are a few credit card issuers that don't follow the standard way of doing things.

Thank you for the reply! That makes sense. I will let her know to contact the credit card company.

 

[Ravenne]

Hi Jodie! No you definitely do not have to apply as an entire $1000 payment in order to get the $20 bonus gift card. I know I was nervous and wasn't sure about this when I first started. I've only requested and received one $20 bonus and that was on my last cruise on the Wonder last month which I paid off a couple months back. For sure, I didn't move over $1000 at one time, but I made sure I at least got to the $1000 threshold to qualify and then once the cruise was paid, I requested my $20 and no problems.

I think this is my one complaint about the DV account is that it doesn't keep track of what you have earned in bonuses and you have to request the proper amount and therefore keep track of it. That's why doing the $1000 increments for me is easier and what i do is once I know i've transferred over a $1000 or the sum of $1000 I print the sheet from the page and then write to the side - $20 gift card earned. For my Norway cruise I know I've earned $140 so far but I'm not done loading it and prepaying items so we'll see how far I get, then I'll request my bonus cards.

Yes, as far as I know anything you load to the DV account and then use for the vacation counts. Indeed, I didn't want to carry all these gift cards with me overseas and also since it counts towards another $1000 level I might as well load to the account and get credit that way. What several of us can't figure out how to do is use the DV account to pay for an onboard booking and it just seems nuts you can't especially since you are dealing directly with a Disney c/m on the ships and it reads like a gift card and I use gift cards to pay for my onboard bookings. I hope that changes one day.

Hope this helps - let me know if you have any other questions

Heather

Please correct me if I'm wrong and misunderstanding this:

You do not have to contribute $1000 at a time, and you do not have to make $1000 payments at a time to get the $20 benefit, correct? So say I'm spreading a $1000 payment out through 4 months, and each month I use DVA to pay $250. After 4 months and a total of $1000 spent, I'd still qualify for the $20 gift card? So DVA doesn't keep track of how many $20 gift cards you've earned, and ready to cash out?

I'm not sure why either??!! Seems like you might just be making more work for yourself. I was worried enough just calling the 800# ONCE to make my final cruise payment! (I had nightmares of DCL not taking my DVA# since my cruise was with Costco.) I all worked out fine, and I really had nothing to worry about.

To answer your question, I'm not sure if you can do it that way or not. I would read the Terms and Conditions. I would think you'd at least want to apply $1,000 each time to ensure you get the bonus $20 gift card. I think the easiest thing is just to slowly fund the DVA and then pay off your cruise (or whatever) in one transaction.

Not sure that was very helpful. Perhaps someone who has tried this will respond.

Jodie

I totally get what you're saying and it makes a lot of sense, but I was wondering if the amount spent is cumulative. Say for example, the cruise fare is $5800, and ok, you make that payment, but you'd be $200 short of getting the next $20 gift card. What if you wanted to book a night before cruise stay at a Disney resort (and it's not part of your cruise package, say you book separately) and that room costs $200. Would that $200 WDW room help push the spending over enough to get the next $20 gc?

And to use it with a TA such as Costco, bypass Costco all together when making payments and calling DVA directly to make payments, including OBC? Does DVA email you a confirmation of payments towards fare or OBC afterward?

After sifting through this thread, I still can't quite figure out if you can use OBC to pay for OBB deposit. What's the word on that? Can you still do DVA > OBC > OBB? If not, you can pay for OBB with gift cards, Disney Rewards card, and credit card, correct?

This whole thing is so confusing, thank you all for trying to decipher it and for your help.

 

[pillow]

Please correct me if I'm wrong and misunderstanding this:

You do not have to contribute $1000 at a time, and you do not have to make $1000 payments at a time to get the $20 benefit, correct? So say I'm spreading a $1000 payment out through 4 months, and each month I use DVA to pay $250. After 4 months and a total of $1000 spent, I'd still qualify for the $20 gift card? So DVA doesn't keep track of how many $20 gift cards you've earned, and ready to cash out?




I totally get what you're saying and it makes a lot of sense, but I was wondering if the amount spent is cumulative. Say for example, the cruise fare is $5800, and ok, you make that payment, but you'd be $200 short of getting the next $20 gift card. What if you wanted to book a night before cruise stay at a Disney resort (and it's not part of your cruise package, say you book separately) and that room costs $200. Would that $200 WDW room help push the spending over enough to get the next $20 gc?

And to use it with a TA such as Costco, bypass Costco all together when making payments and calling DVA directly to make payments, including OBC? Does DVA email you a confirmation of payments towards fare or OBC afterward?

After sifting through this thread, I still can't quite figure out if you can use OBC to pay for OBB deposit. What's the word on that? Can you still do DVA > OBC > OBB? If not, you can pay for OBB with gift cards, Disney Rewards card, and credit card, correct?

This whole thing is so confusing, thank you all for trying to decipher it and for your help.

Yes to the cumulative question. I think thats what IBelieveintheMagic is explaining above. You have to track your spending yourself so that you know how close you are to the next threshold.

And yes, call DCL directly to pay for your cruise (its actually the travel agent line) -
1-800-511-9333

I just recently pre-loaded my onboard account from the DVA. I did get an email receipt which was nice. I did it so that I would hit the next $1,000 DVA threshold.

From what I've read, I do not think you can pay an OBB deposit with your DVA account, but I could be mistaken. I know you can pay with gift cards since I've done that. They will not allow you to apply an OBB deposit to your onboard account unfortunately. I suppose you could preload your onboard account with your DVA pre-cruise. Then, while onboard, purchase gift cards from the ship's gift shop. Then pay for your OBB deposit with those gift cards. So, the overall effect would be that it comes from your DVA. I wonder if anyone has done this???

Jodie

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Please correct me if I'm wrong and misunderstanding this:

You do not have to contribute $1000 at a time, and you do not have to make $1000 payments at a time to get the $20 benefit, correct? So say I'm spreading a $1000 payment out through 4 months, and each month I use DVA to pay $250. After 4 months and a total of $1000 spent, I'd still qualify for the $20 gift card? So DVA doesn't keep track of how many $20 gift cards you've earned, and ready to cash out?

I know Jodie has already answered you and did perfect I know for sure I have not always applied payments from my DVA to DCL at $1000 increments. It's *easier* for tracking purposes but absolutely not required. I know the wording is a little scary and confusing but from my experience no issues at all. I just wish they would have a way to see what you've "earned" thus far instead of it being a guessing game and hoping you have the calculations right. I requested my $140 in bonus cards about 2 weeks ago and I'm still waiting but our cruise is not until June so we'll see if I really get the $140 and when

I've also read there isn't a way to use the DVA to pay for the on boarding booking and I really wish they'd change that. I have used Disney gift cards in the past as ours is usually less than $300 for a dummy booking but I'd prefer not to have to travel with extra gift cards if I didn't have to. I'll keep giving that feedback so hopefully others will too!

So far I really love the DVA and compiling all my Disney gift cards in there and then earning an extra 2% is icing on the cake!

Heather

 

[Ravenne]

Thank you all for deciphering this and helping out with trying to figure out DVA. It seems like a lot of hoop jumping to DVA > OBC > gift cards > OBB for a $300 deposit, but I can see where it might be worth while too. I'm starting to get the feeling that not even Disney agents really know how to handle the DVA. When I called DCL this morning, they told me to call my TA to use the DVA as payment. I so wanted to say, "but the user agreement told me to call you guys..." but it's the day after opening day, and I didn't want to argue with him, thus making his job more difficult.

 

[CM Dad]

Thank you all for deciphering this and helping out with trying to figure out DVA. It seems like a lot of hoop jumping to DVA > OBC > gift cards > OBB for a $300 deposit, but I can see where it might be worth while too. I'm starting to get the feeling that not even Disney agents really know how to handle the DVA. When I called DCL this morning, they told me to call my TA to use the DVA as payment. I so wanted to say, "but the user agreement told me to call you guys..." but it's the day after opening day, and I didn't want to argue with him, thus making his job more difficult.

Did you call the normal DCL number? or 800-511-9333?

You also may need to remind the cast member that you are supposed to make the payment yourself, rather than through your TA. Most of the time I have made payments I had no issues, but there once the CM had to check with a supervisor before taking my payment.

From the Disney Vacation Account FAQs (https://disneyvacationaccount.disney.go.com/questions/):

How can I make a payment using my Disney Vacation Account on my reservation booked directly with Disney through my travel agent?
Once your travel agent has booked your reservations and you are ready to make a payment, your travel agent can provide you with your reservation number. Please call the telephone number specified below to make your payment using your DVA account. If you have any additional questions or requests about your reservation, please contact your travel agent. Participating Disney Destinations and Disney Vacation Account Payment numbers:

• Walt Disney World® in Florida: 407-939-7626
• Disneyland® Resort in California: 714-520-7032
• Disney Cruise Line®: 800-511-9333
• Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina Hawai'i: 714-520-7032
• Adventures By Disney®: 855-223-2231

 

[Ravenne]

I called the normal DCL number because I wanted to make a request. I just figure I ask about DVA since I was already on the phone. I'll call the other number when I'm ready to make a payment.

 

[Partyof4LA]

As an add on question to the pp asking about paying for a room to hit that $1000 mark...
I have my DVA set up with the goal set for DCL. I intentionally set the goal amount higher than the actual cost of my cruise. The saving account website even has the DCL payment number listed. Say I call them and use that account to pay $5800. The leftover $200 towards my next $1000 increment is in that account specified for DCL. So would I be able to use it to pay for a WDW resort even though it is specified for DCL? Or would I have to add a new "savings goal" and put the money there for WDW? Hope this makes sense

 

[CM Dad]

As an add on question to the pp asking about paying for a room to hit that $1000 mark...
I have my DVA set up with the goal set for DCL. I intentionally set the goal amount higher than the actual cost of my cruise. The saving account website even has the DCL payment number listed. Say I call them and use that account to pay $5800. The leftover $200 towards my next $1000 increment is in that account specified for DCL. So would I be able to use it to pay for a WDW resort even though it is specified for DCL? Or would I have to add a new "savings goal" and put the money there for WDW? Hope this makes sense

I have used a single DVA to pay for multiple cruise. Below are some answers I copied from the DVA FAQs that seem to relate.

Can I create a Disney Vacation Account for my family or friends?
No, but you can use your Disney Vacation Account to make a payment toward someone else's reservation. Just call the Disney Reservation Center at (407) 939-7734 with their reservation number and your Disney Vacation Account number to make a payment. Multiple Disney Vacation Accounts can be used to make payments toward a single reservation, and a single Disney Vacation Account can be used to make payments toward multiple reservations.

Can I make changes to my account after I've created it?
Yes, your Disney Vacation Account is customizable. You can change the name of your account, your mailing address, phone number, payment information and goals at any time. Please note that you can change the name of your account, but you cannot change your name on the account. Even if you change your name in your online profile, the name on your account will not change.

Can I create more than one Disney Vacation Account?
Yes, you may create up to 2 Disney Vacation Accounts. You'll use the same login information to access both accounts.

If you have multiple Disney Vacation Accounts, you may use the Account Overview page to track the progress and contributions for each account. Disney Vacation Accounts may not be combined, but multiple Disney Vacation Accounts may be used to pay for single or multiple reservations

What if I have funds left over in my Disney Vacation Account after I've paid for my Disney vacation?
If you have a remaining balance in your Disney Vacation Account after you've paid for your Disney vacation, you can start planning your next Disney vacation! Simply leave the remaining balance in your account, estimate the savings Goals for your next trip and create a new savings plan.

Or, you can use your remaining balance to purchase a Disney Gift Card (subject to limitations— get details) for use during your trip at locations where Disney Gift Cards are accepted. A Disney Gift Card can be requested in a value ranging from a $5 minimum to a $1,000 maximum every 90 days.

Or, you can request a full refund.

What is the Bonus Program?
You'll be eligible for a $20 Disney Gift Card for every $1000 you spend on qualified vacation purchases with your Disney Vacation Account prior to December 31, 2017 (date subject to extension), up to a total maximum of $500 in Disney Gift Card(s) per household. Your Disney Vacation Account must be active for a minimum of 120 days at the time of spending in order to receive this bonus. All accounts registered to the same address are considered part of the same household.

Qualified vacation purchases include vacation packages for the Walt Disney World Resort or the Disneyland Resort, theme park tickets, room stays, cruise fare, and vacations by Adventures By Disney. Purchases of Disney Gift Cards are not qualified vacation purchases for purposes of this Bonus Program.

Request your Disney Gift Card(s) 4 to 6 weeks in advance of your vacation date to allow time for delivery to your mailing address.

 

[pillow]

As an add on question to the pp asking about paying for a room to hit that $1000 mark...
I have my DVA set up with the goal set for DCL. I intentionally set the goal amount higher than the actual cost of my cruise. The saving account website even has the DCL payment number listed. Say I call them and use that account to pay $5800. The leftover $200 towards my next $1000 increment is in that account specified for DCL. So would I be able to use it to pay for a WDW resort even though it is specified for DCL? Or would I have to add a new "savings goal" and put the money there for WDW? Hope this makes sense

The "goal" stuff is there for your benefit really. You can use the money for something different as long as it falls within the DVA guidelines. You should be ok doing it the way you explain above.

Jodie

 

[Jmariab64]

I was told by both DCL and my travel agent that I can use the DVA to put the deposit on a future cruise. Were you all advised that it can't be done?

 

[pillow]

I was told by both DCL and my travel agent that I can use the DVA to put the deposit on a future cruise. Were you all advised that it can't be done?

From land, there is no problem. The issue is that it can't be done while onboard.

 

[Jmariab64]

Wow-that's not what both my TA and DCL told me! I guess I'd better call again and confirm!

 

[Ravenne]

Wow-that's not what both my TA and DCL told me! I guess I'd better call again and confirm!

Please report back and let us know what they say, and how it can be done. I'd like to know.

 

[Jmariab64]

Will do!

 

[Jmariab64]

My TA is still saying that the DVA can be used to book a future cruise while onboard. You just give your account number to the CM at the future cruise desk.