Disney Visa Questions - Pay over Time, Spa, and others?

[Girl of the South]

I don't have a Disney Visa card but I recently signed up for an Amex 0% 6 month offer to pay for my cruise. So, for me, all the charges on my Amex are 0% interest for 6 billing cycles. HOWEVER it does not mean zero payments! (I asked a lot of questions before signing up). There is still a minimum amount due every month. The least amount is $40. Because I owe over $1000, the minimum charge is 2% of the balance. So if I owe $5000, my minimum payment would be $100. So I will be paying a small amount for 5 billing cycles and then I need to PAY THE REST OF IT OFF on the 6th or I will have to also add the accrued interest to my balance.

From what I can figure out is that 6 months of accrued interest (because I have been paying 0% interest for 5 months) on $5000 would be about $250 on a card that charges 18% interest.

Bottom line is that you should really try to pay off that balance before your introductory period is over with.

 

[lanejudy]

So my question is with the 0% for 6 months on Disney Vacation Packages made directly through Disney is how is it calculated?

I have a package that I booked today, using my Disney Visa Rewards card, I made a $200 deposit.

So do I have 6 months at 0% to pay that $200 off, and then when I make the final payment for the remainder of the package, do I get 6 months 0% from the date forward?

Yes, each payment is it's 6-month period. So you have 6 months to pay the $200 deposit. Then when you pay off the balance it will be a separate 6-month period, even if it overlaps the 6-months for the deposit. And any interim payments over $100 will also qualify for a 6-month period. You do want to pay any other current charges and I always put a minimum amount towards the promotional balance as well.

 

[Bonnie1222]

What I have done in the past is I use the 0% 6 months to pay for my cruise deposit and final payment. I found out a couple cruises ago if you PRE PAY you on board account (say put $500 on it in advance) or purchase gifts/decorations with your Disney Visa that also is considered a "vacation" type purchase and you automatically get the 6 months to pay it. If you put your card on your account and just let them charge it throughout the cruise that is considered "shopping" and not included in the vacation 6 month option. So now I always put money on my account ahead of the cruise.

When we bought our Place Holder through the app - that will get posted as a vacation deposit and is separated out from other on board charges so that automatically got the 6 months.

As others have stated they have a plan it type option where you can opt to finance larger purchases but that includes a fee.

 

[Beth D]

One other suggestion - you CAN prepay your tips for your servers & cabin attendant at the time you pay in full for your cruise, if using the Disney Visa, & you would get the 6 months no interest on that part of it as well. You just need to tell your TA to add them on ahead of the PIF date.

We always did that for standard tips, then brought cash to add to the envelopes for those that we wanted to tip more.

 

[Bonnie1222]

One other suggestion - you CAN prepay your tips for your servers & cabin attendant at the time you pay in full for your cruise, if using the Disney Visa, & you would get the 6 months no interest on that part of it as well. You just need to tell your TA to add them on ahead of the PIF date.

We always did that for standard tips, then brought cash to add to the envelopes for those that we wanted to tip more.

They may have changed it but I have added the prepaid gratuities after the paid in full date in the past.

 

[aboveH20]

So I dug a little further. The "pay over time" option available to most charges over $100 does include a monthly fee. I'm apparently not seeing it because Chase is offering me the first time plan without a monthly fee. But expect a fee, I just don't know how much.

The Disney vacation financing offer does not include a fee and is truly 0% interest when used correctly. In my experience, we always pay our card in full each month so when I'm using the vacation financing offer I simply pay all the "regular" charges in full plus a bit towards the vacation. At 6 months I pay the vacation balance in full.

This is driving me crazy. I think your answer is the closest I can get to untangling my mystery. I just got my credit card statement with two cruises and a few other charges. What they are calling an Interest Savings Balance is my current month's charges plus $94. I have emailed twice and gotten replies (looks like they were cutting and pasting policy, not really answering my question) and called once, and the rep didn't know where the $94 came from. My cruises total roughly $9400 so my guess is that the $94 is the monthly fee which you referred to. I just wish either or the emails or the human could have confirmed that.

Any once else figure out the Interest Savings Balance?

 

[kj2mom]

This is driving me crazy. I think your answer is the closest I can get to untangling my mystery. I just got my credit card statement with two cruises and a few other charges. What they are calling an Interest Savings Balance is my current month's charges plus $94. I have emailed twice and gotten replies (looks like they were cutting and pasting policy, not really answering my question) and called once, and the rep didn't know where the $94 came from. My cruises total roughly $9400 so my guess is that the $94 is the monthly fee which you referred to. I just wish either or the emails or the human could have confirmed that.

Any once else figure out the Interest Savings Balance?

I have $4 due on my $400 but I always thought that came off the balance, it wasn't an added fee? Maybe I should only pay the interest saving balance and see if I go down to $396? I won't do that though so hmmmmmm.

ETA: I just did the math on my total balance due and my interest saving balance and they are $396 different which means to me there is no additional fee but a % of the promo balance required each month.

 

[kj2mom]

I have $4 due on my $400 but I always thought that came off the balance, it wasn't an added fee? Maybe I should only pay the interest saving balance and see if I go down to $396? I won't do that though so hmmmmmm.

Just following up on myself....my total balance due is $396 more than my interest saving balance so I don't think there is any fee involved with the promo but that you are required to pay a percentage each month (it goes toward what you owe not an additional cost). Hope I am making sense!

 

[kj2mom]

This is driving me crazy. I think your answer is the closest I can get to untangling my mystery. I just got my credit card statement with two cruises and a few other charges. What they are calling an Interest Savings Balance is my current month's charges plus $94. I have emailed twice and gotten replies (looks like they were cutting and pasting policy, not really answering my question) and called once, and the rep didn't know where the $94 came from. My cruises total roughly $9400 so my guess is that the $94 is the monthly fee which you referred to. I just wish either or the emails or the human could have confirmed that.

Any once else figure out the Interest Savings Balance?

Sorry if this posts twice but I just did the math and my total balance and my interest savings balance are $396 dollars different which means to me they are not adding a fee but expecting a percentage in payment each month as part of the promo. Hope I am making sense!

 

[Bonnie1222]

This is driving me crazy. I think your answer is the closest I can get to untangling my mystery. I just got my credit card statement with two cruises and a few other charges. What they are calling an Interest Savings Balance is my current month's charges plus $94. I have emailed twice and gotten replies (looks like they were cutting and pasting policy, not really answering my question) and called once, and the rep didn't know where the $94 came from. My cruises total roughly $9400 so my guess is that the $94 is the monthly fee which you referred to. I just wish either or the emails or the human could have confirmed that.

Any once else figure out the Interest Savings Balance?

The interest saving balance is the amount you have to pay to avoid being charged interest... Your new charges that are not part of your vacation balance. That is how I figured it bed on my bills. And you're also correct on the financing charges over 100, there is a monthly fee.

 

[FLPrincessMom]

One other thing to add is that any returns you do on that card will automatically come off the 0% as well. So if you go to the Qualified Promotional Financing section at the bottom of the statement - each item will have a Total Qualified Amount, Remaining Balance and Expiration Date.

 

[aboveH20]

I have $4 due on my $400 but I always thought that came off the balance, it wasn't an added fee? Maybe I should only pay the interest saving balance and see if I go down to $396? I won't do that though so hmmmmmm.

ETA: I just did the math on my total balance due and my interest saving balance and they are $396 different which means to me there is no additional fee but a % of the promo balance required each month.

That sounds reasonable. I'm okay with paying $94 toward the balance, but certainly don't want a $94 fee. I still wish I could find the explanation in the Disney or Chase info somewhere.

 

[Mommb]

This is driving me crazy. I think your answer is the closest I can get to untangling my mystery. I just got my credit card statement with two cruises and a few other charges. What they are calling an Interest Savings Balance is my current month's charges plus $94. I have emailed twice and gotten replies (looks like they were cutting and pasting policy, not really answering my question) and called once, and the rep didn't know where the $94 came from. My cruises total roughly $9400 so my guess is that the $94 is the monthly fee which you referred to. I just wish either or the emails or the human could have confirmed that.

Any once else figure out the Interest Savings Balance?

If the only charges on your card are charges made in the last month and Disney vacation "packages" (which includes cruises) then you shouldn't have a monthly fee. The Interest Saving Balance is your current-month charges not including the cruises, plus a portion of the Disney package amount. I haven't been able to figure out how that portion is calculated either, although from what you and kj2mom reported, it looks like it's 1% of the "6 months without interest" amount. I do know that I have taken 6 months to pay off Disney cruises at least 8 times, including at least twice since the "Interest Saving Balance" started showing up, and never paid any interest or fees.