Do debit cards work in the parks?

[M2B]

Seems a silly question, but we went to Minot this past summer and were told our debit cards may not work. We used our CC's, but ds only has a debit card and I would rather he not have more than $20 cash or so.

 

[Ima Disnewby]

i think it may depend on what debit cards you have? i'm certainly no expert though...

we used to live on the US border (Windsor, ON) and would shop in the US every week and found that use of our debit cards were very spotty. our bank (TD) have since switched over to visa debit and we have NEVER had a problem using them in the US since. infact, i just got off of the phone using it as a visa to make reservations for Pirates League

 

[thebigman65]

If you have the new Visa debit cards (as TD does) you shouldn't have an issue. If not, I doubt they will take it. If you are staying on property, you can always give your DS a room key with charging priveleges....that is what we do for our DD.

 

[yxe dad]

My Scotiabank debit card worked in the parks and Costco.

 

[M2B]

If you have the new Visa debit cards (as TD does) you shouldn't have an issue. If not, I doubt they will take it. If you are staying on property, you can always give your DS a room key with charging priveleges....that is what we do for our DD.

We have the Global Payment Mastercard from Credit Union, have had for a few years. Same idea as Visa Debit. DS is only 11 though so all he has is regular debit. How do I give him charging privileges?

Mastercard is going to work.. right??? Holy crap I just thought of that, lol. All of my cards are M/C.

eta: Ooohh.. I just looked at my ticker!!

 

[Inga]

Make sure that your pass code is 4 numbers max...I have been advised that when travelling internationally that was the only way to make debit work as internationally they might not accept pass codes greater than 4 numbers...

Inga

 

[wilkeliza]

We have the Global Payment Mastercard from Credit Union, have had for a few years. Same idea as Visa Debit. DS is only 11 though so all he has is regular debit. How do I give him charging privileges?

Mastercard is going to work.. right??? Holy crap I just thought of that, lol. All of my cards are M/C.

eta: Ooohh.. I just looked at my ticker!!

If you are staying in property and want your DS to have charging privileges you just tell the front desk at check in that you want him to have a Keys To The World charge with charging privileges. This way he can buy almost anything including food and snacks by charging it to the room. That just charges it to the CC on file with the resort. It is a great way to give kids a little freedom with our the worry that they are carting around a real CC. If you lose your KTTWC they can deactivate the lost one and issue a new card.

 

[bankr63]

Seems a silly question, but we went to Minot this past summer and were told our debit cards may not work. We used our CC's, but ds only has a debit card and I would rather he not have more than $20 cash or so.

The only other trick I can mention is pay attention to "symbols"; look on the back of your debit card and you will probably see a "Plus" (owned by Visa) or "Cirrus" (owned by MasterCard) logo. Interac is Canadian only, if that is the only symbol, the card won't work in the US. Now, when in the US you need to watch the symbols on the payment terminal. If your card is Plus (like my TD debit), it will only work at a POS terminal that displays the Plus symbol; if the POS terminal doesn't have that symbol, it won't work.

I've used my debit card successfully in both the US and Mexico following this tip.

Also the 4 digit PIN code is a good idea. If the terminal wants MORE than 4 digits try adding zeros at the beginning. That hasn't happened to me yet, but I have read elsewhere that it can work.

(Edit: my banking terminology may not be clear; POS = Point Of Sale Terminal - the card reader at the cash)

 

[mtmbyck]

My TD green card (debit) does not work. I've tired 2 different times at DTD and it didn't work. I do not have the debit Visa but sounds like those work.

 

[GoofyCdn]

I am an American who lives in Canada now. This is probably one of the most frustrating things for me as when it comes to traveling back and forth. I have an account with Bank of America in the U.S. that has a Debit/Checking Card. It has a Visa logo on it and I am able to use it anywhere Visa is accepted, but I do need to have the money in the account since it is directly linked to my checking account, Chequing account for you Canadians. Here in Canada I have a TD account but don't have a Visa/Debit just a regular debit and can't use it very often in the U.S. I have been told that they now have the same type of setup, as Thebigman65 mentioned above, connecting my Visa/Debit to my chequing account..

Also as stated above, Interac is the standard in Canada. Not very common in the U.S. I have typically only found it at Money Exchange kiosks and stores. Plus and Cirrus are the two in the U.S.

We have always allowed our kids a small amount to charge on their Keys to the World card when checking in. It was great, because we could allow our two teenage boys to have some spending on them but our youngest daughter couldn't.

Beware when using Credit Cards in the States now. There is a new law passed that allows stores to pass along the cost of the Credit transaction to you directly, so there may be new "fees" on your transactions now. Before January stores weren't allowed to charge this to the customer, they had to eat the costs and often did it through raising prices of goods, but now they can pass on the cost to you and they won't have to do it out of pocket. this is just one of the many sites about it: http://news.msn.com/us/new-credit-card-fee-hits-consumers-in-the-wallet

Hope this helps everyone!

 

[M2B]

I didn't know that. Thank you!!

Sounds like we're better of to link our Keys to the world to our CC. Our cards have Cirrus on them.

 

[SaraMc]

Ive used my RBC card at the ATM's at the resorts and in the Magic Kingdom, but never tried at the POS in the shops. I would hate to see what the fee's would be on that.

 

[bankr63]

Ive used my RBC card at the ATM's at the resorts and in the Magic Kingdom, but never tried at the POS in the shops. I would hate to see what the fee's would be on that.

There really aren't any fees, aside from the exchange rate transaction, unless that has changed too as per GoofyCdn. I haven't done THIS for a good ten years or so, but it used to work. Use your debit card at a merchant that will give cash back (like Wal-Mart) paying attention to matching the payment network as mentioned above. You can get your cash back with no bank transaction fees - easy peesy. POS vendors don't (didn't?) charge transaction fees in Canada or the US for debit purchases. It's been a long time since I did this, YMMV.