Disney Vacation Account

[melwill530]

I'm thinking of using the Disney Vacation Account to pay for my cruise next year. Can any of you share pros or cons that you have experienced from using this method to pay?
Thanks
Mel

 

[wjs3]

We've done tihs the last few cruises we've been on and found making the reservation effortless (to be clear, we usually do something like paying for our kids with points and us with cash).

The difficulty, though, comes if you want to CHANGE the reservation. We tried to upgrade to concierge and DCL wouldn't talk to us directly. We had to call DVC, who called DCL, and so on. Game of telephone that's not needed since it's one company.

All in all we think the points are relatively good value and we've always found availability.

Good luck!

 

[melwill530]

We've done tihs the last few cruises we've been on and found making the reservation effortless (to be clear, we usually do something like paying for our kids with points and us with cash).

The difficulty, though, comes if you want to CHANGE the reservation. We tried to upgrade to concierge and DCL wouldn't talk to us directly. We had to call DVC, who called DCL, and so on. Game of telephone that's not needed since it's one company.

All in all we think the points are relatively good value and we've always found availability.

Good luck!

Did you use a travel agent or book directly? Did you try the upgrade prior to the sailing or at the port?

 

[drea21]

Are you asking about DVA or DVC? It looks like you asked about DVA, and PP's experience is DVC, but I might be misinterpreting both posts, I do need more coffee

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I've used it twice for cruises and once for a WDW room only reservation. Well, twice for WDW if you count that I cancelled the first reservation and remade one for different days and a different resort. No problems at all. I was able to enter my account number online for the WDW reservation, but you have to call in to pay for your cruise. Money was refunded to my account for the cancelled reservation within 3 days.

Pro is you get the $20 gift card per $1000 spent if your account is open 120 days before the money is spent. Con is the website, like all Disney websites, can be glitchy. There are times I have to re-enter gift card numbers a few times before the website takes it.

Overall, I recommend it.

I think the PP misread the question and thought you were asking about booking a cruise with DVC points.

 

[Madani]

My experience: I booked the trip through a travel agent, and wanted to pay using the Disney vacation account. The travel agent is not able to do anything with the Disney vacation account to make a payment. You must call Disney cruise line your self to make the payment. The first time I called, the cast member told me that I could not make a payment because the reservation was under a travel agent. She can only speak to a travel agent. I contacted my travel agent, who said that was nonsense. Call them back and try again. She was right. When I called the second time and said I wanted to make a payment on my account, the first words out of the cast members mouth were "And will you be using your Disney vacation account?" So heads up on that.

I think the biggest con would be that if for some reason you canceled the trip, they will refund the money back to the Disney vacation account. If you pay for the cruise using a credit card, for example, and needed to cancel (assuming you are before final payment) the money would be refunded back to the card so you would have access to it faster than having to then get it back from the Disney vacation account.

 

[wjs3]

Yep, my mistake. Read it too fast. I answered for DVC, not DVA!

Apologies!

 

[Keyser]

We paid for our upcoming cruise via a DVA.

Pros:

• We were able to buy discounted Disney gift cards and load them into the DVA over time. I know this could have been done other ways, but I have a stack of dozens of gift cards, and the DVA was a good way to collect them in one place.
• We should get the bonus 2% in gift cards back. Given our cruise price, that'll be $80. Notice that since you can put money in your DVA from a credit card, that bonus is on top of any cash back or other bonus your card gives you.
• Not really a pro or con, but it was very easy to pay from the DVA - no problem there. You do have a 2-level way to spend it, though - they give you part of your account number by email, and part online.

Cons:

• We did have to load in the money ahead of time, so it took more planning and time, as opposed to just typing in the credit card number when it was time to pay.
• Depending on your credit card, sometimes the CC will give you some sort of insurance or other protection, which you don't have with the DVA. I don't think many cards have protections that apply to cruises, though.

 

[TrySomethingNew]

I've used it for ABD, DL, and DCL payments. I usually used my Barclay credit card that had generous travel bonuses and putting money in DVA was a "travel expense" so double bonus (cc and DVA 20 per 1000) - others double up with discounted gift cards and DVA 20 per 1000.

You used to be able to put 2k in it per day, but now 1k per day, so just plays a role in planning. At least this is my experience using a credit card to put in a chunk of money at a time- maybe different with gift cards.

You can use money in DVA funds to put money on your onboard account.

There is a special number to call to use DVA funds (listed on DVA site), but you can also pay online with your DVA. I just did this to pay my DCL deposit a couple of days ago.

Website is glitchy. Maybe my browser (safari) plays a role, but it is more glitchy than the other Disney sites.

I had a lot of trouble getting my reward gift card (the 20 per 1000). Maybe the glitchy website was to blame. My recommendation is to request it well ahead of time, so if you don't get it then you are not scrambling if you were planning to use it on the cruise or trip.


Refunds are quick, and supposedly you can get your extra money back to you (out of DVA) if requested. But, be forewarned of the temptation of extra money in your DVA account -it might lead to an extra Disney trip....like my DL trip last Dec.... In my defense, they had a good Fall special going on...

 

[becca1976]

I'm so confused about the Disney Vacation Account, but I really want to benefit from the $20 Disney cards as we are about to take a massive vacation (well...massive for us anyway! haha!) Here are some questions for you experts:
I booked a cruise today. I do not currently have a DVA. I know that when I pay my downpayment on the cruise tomorrow that using the DVA will not be of any benefit because the account hasn't been active for the required 120 days. My question is...can I set up the account and add into it for 120 days and use it to pay for the remainder of this cruise with the DVA and get the benefits of the GC's?
Second question. I booked this cruise through a travel agent. If I use the DVA does this jeopardize her commission? Can she put payments on my cruise. When I plan to book the Land portion of our vacation package at WDW, can she book it...and use our DVA to put a downpayment on it?
I want the benefits of a TA - she is amazing and watches for specials, helps book things for me. etc. I'd also love the benefits of the DVA. Any help would be greatly appreciated! TIA!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I'm so confused about the Disney Vacation Account, but I really want to benefit from the $20 Disney cards as we are about to take a massive vacation (well...massive for us anyway! haha!) Here are some questions for you experts:
I booked a cruise today. I do not currently have a DVA. I know that when I pay my downpayment on the cruise tomorrow that using the DVA will not be of any benefit because the account hasn't been active for the required 120 days. My question is...can I set up the account and add into it for 120 days and use it to pay for the remainder of this cruise with the DVA and get the benefits of the GC's?

Yes, you can do that. Any money paid after the account has been open for 120 days will earn the $20 per $1000 spent bonus. Be aware of when the PIF dates are. You need the account to be open at least 120 days before your PIF date.

Second question. I booked this cruise through a travel agent. If I use the DVA does this jeopardize her commission? Can she put payments on my cruise. When I plan to book the Land portion of our vacation package at WDW, can she book it...and use our DVA to put a downpayment on it?
I want the benefits of a TA - she is amazing and watches for specials, helps book things for me. etc. I'd also love the benefits of the DVA. Any help would be greatly appreciated! TIA!

Using the DVA does not change your TA's commission. But a TA cannot make the payment for you using your DVA. You will need to call in to make the payment with your DVA account. I've done it three times now and it was super easy. For both the cruise and WDW portions of your trip, your TA will put a hold on the reservation, then you have to call in with the payment within a certain time period. I want to say it's within 48 hours.

 

[becca1976]

Thanks so much for the info, Maggie'sMom. I figure every bit of a benefit, even if it is just $20 will be a help

 

[Turk February]

I used DVA last year for our WDW trip, and I'm using it again this year for DLR and our 2017 cruise. There were some website glitches last year but I haven't encountered any in a long time. I like buying discounted gift cards on a biweekly schedule with my paycheck and watching the savings add up. I like the $20 per $1000 spent. To me it's a no-brainer just for the savings but I do understand how some would not like their money tied up in there in case of an emergency (even though you can take it out whenever you want).

 

[hanscarlet]

We used it for our cruise in April and it was great! Getting a free $60 for just using the account was grand!

Cons: They migrated something in their websites and it somehow overwrote my username and they closed my account.... one day I logged in and it said I didn't have an account! I quickly emailed them and they explained the situation and refunded my money and I was able to open up a new account and re deposit my money.... they refunded it though in weekly amounts and so a lot of transactions showed back up as refunds in my account... fortunately I use my disney credit card for it so I just took that money and bought gift cards and redeposited it into my account and I'm now back to smooth sailing

I will continue to use DVA and even talked to my mom to open an account for WDW trip next trip

 

[TrySomethingNew]

It's a nice addition to a savings strategy. Use discounted gift cards, or gift cards giving you fuel points. Or use a credit card with travel points or rewards. Be sure to request the reward card well in advance of cruise if you plan to use it on trip. I had issues getting the reward card, and I've heard of others having issues -but, I don't think that is common.

With regards to getting your money refunded -read the fine print, I don't think it is necessarily quick, but may depend on how you paid into the DVA. Also, if you used gift cards, you should check to see if refund goes back to the gift cards or not, as I do not know the answer.

 

[Donathius]

With regards to getting your money refunded -read the fine print, I don't think it is necessarily quick, but may depend on how you paid into the DVA. Also, if you used gift cards, you should check to see if refund goes back to the gift cards or not, as I do not know the answer.

I just looked at it last night and if you request a refund it asks if you still have the original gift cards. If you don't they'll send you a new card. I don't know if it's 1:1 for each gift card (if you used multiple gift cards) or if they'd send you one card with the aggregated amount on it though.

 

[TrySomethingNew]

I just looked at it last night and if you request a refund it asks if you still have the original gift cards. If you don't they'll send you a new card. I don't know if it's 1:1 for each gift card (if you used multiple gift cards) or if they'd send you one card with the aggregated amount on it though.

Good to know since the gc route is a popular one. Thanks for checking!

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Can you use your DVA to pay for your cruise booking with a TA and get ship board credit if offered by your TA?

 

[melwill530]

Mine said yes. I will let you know next year. Hopefully it works.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Can you use your DVA to pay for your cruise booking with a TA and get ship board credit if offered by your TA?

Yes, paying with the DVA is no different than paying with a Disney gift card other than the fact you have to call in the payment yourself.