For those that put CASH in advance on your DVC room charge acct...

[SleepyatDVC]

Someone on the "victim of crime" thread suggested putting "cash on hand" into prepaying the room charge account. I've actually heard this advice before.

It sounds like a safer alternative to carrying cash around on the body. The safes in the room are not fool proof against theft either, especially, if you decide to carry cash.

HOWEVER, here are my thoughts:

Those room cards are not really credit or debit cards with fraud protection. When your credit card secures your room credit line, I assume if there are disputed charges on your room charge, you can refuse to pay them or have your credit card company dispute them. Disney will be more willing to investigate the discrepency to prove that the charges were legimate.

I would think it would be easier to fraudlently charge to someone's room than to their credit card? Do CM even ask for ID? I don't think so because all the room cards have my name on it even for my DH and any guest cards. So, all it would require would be a scribble of a signature similar to the one on the back.

So, if there are charges to your room, that you didn't make, and you have cash on the account to prepay them, are you out of luck? I'm sure there are some safe guards, I know each room card is numbered for tracking. But still it would make me a bit uncomfortable without the fraud protection of a credit card. Especially, if one of us loses the room card. Even if we report it immediately, it may be enough time for someone to use the card.

So, my question is, with cash on the account, is Disney as likely to investigate disputed charges to your satification? Do you get fraud protection from your credit card when you use it to open a charge account? I assume you do.

Since this concerns me, I hestitate to put cash in advance on my room charge account.

That being said, I do like to bring some cash on vacation. Nothing too, too much. I like to use the room charge account. It's much simplier than bringing my purse or wallet out. I check the room balance every few days and pay it down with cash. The day before checking out I definitely check my account and pay as much of it off with any remaining cash I may have, just keeping enough cash on me to get home. If there is still a balance on the room account, then it goes on the credit card.

Any other thoughts? Anyone with actual experience with problems on the room account?

 

[CarolMN]

Whenever we've charged something back to our room, we have had to provide a room number and a signature. I suppose a thief could just make a room numbr up, but that "phony number", along with the bogus signature should then be evidence that the room occupants did not make the charge.

That said, I agree with you. I would rather leave a credit card for room charges. Seems like less hassle if you have a problem.

If I didn't want to worry about having a bill at the end of my trip, I would just send a check to the credit card company ahead of time. Can't believe they would refuse to take it, LOL!

If someone is worried about their ability to control themselves, one option to consider is a "prepaid" credit card. It works like a gift card, but with charge card features. Most of the major cards offer them.

 

[StormTigger]

Cash? What's cash?

Charge it baby!! (and then electronically pay the bill when I get home).

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Originally posted by CarolMN
If I didn't want to worry about having a bill at the end of my trip, I would just send a check to the credit card company ahead of time. Can't believe they would refuse to take it, LOL!

Carol,

I've heard of people pre-paying their credit cards also. But wouldn't that negate the fraud protection feature also? I always heard that you shouldn't pay the disputed charge. Just curious.

 

[anabelle]

I agree with the prepay your credit card if you don't want the debt when you get home.

I definitely like the protection that a credit card provides. I let the CC company know when and where I am going on vacation. Back in the days of carbon copies on the credit card receipts, I had thousands of dollars charged on my card. All they had was the number. We were in Mexico and someone pulled the slip out of the garbage and started charging up a storm when they got home to Houston. The CC company closed the account after 2 days because they couldn't get a hold of me. They knew we were in Mexico and the charges were in Houston. I disputed the charges and was not charged one cent, although it took a few months to resolve.

Don't carry cash. Get traveler's checks if you are not a credit card person.

 

[Mike]

I saw that post on the other thread and I guess I'm confused. If you pay all of this cash upfront to cover room charges because you don't want to have cash on you, then why do you take it with you to begin with? Once you fork the cash over at the front desk, you lose all of the advantages of having cash so why bring it in the first place? Am I missing something?

 

[Pa@okw95]

The room charge card is not an account that uses your credit card, it is just a normal charge to your credit card. What they do is put a hold on your credit card for say $1500 that way they can be sure that the credit is there to pay them when they send in the actual bill. Hotels, casinos, etc all do this as well as resorts of course, most of us do not know this happens. I personally use my room key and cash to pay for things at WDW, as well as a credit card for some purchases.

 

[ErinC]

Originally posted by Mike
I saw that post on the other thread and I guess I'm confused. If you pay all of this cash upfront to cover room charges because you don't want to have cash on you, then why do you take it with you to begin with? Once you fork the cash over at the front desk, you lose all of the advantages of having cash so why bring it in the first place? Am I missing something?

Mike, I was the person that posted on the other thread about putting my cash on account. I didn't put it all on account, I kept about $50 to pay for tips and other minor purchases. Why take it with me? Well, I didn't get to the bank before we left on vacation, and that's just the way it worked out (sick child). I just was offering a suggestion to Wisbucky and others who prefer to operate on a cash basis. Frankly, I know how much money we always seem to spend at Disney, and I didn't want all that going on my credit card.

Grace: I haven't given thought to disputing any charges. I will say this, that I usually get a print out every few days and look over it, so that I'm not waiting until check out day to look it over when I am in a rush. We have never had a problem with our Disney charge, never had any charges that weren't ours, so I guess I haven't croosed that bridge. By the time we got to BCV I think I only put around $400 on the charge (which of course we went thru) I already paid for our 1st , 2 nights at Pop Century and a couple of meals. We aren't talking about a huge amount of cash, but since I never carry cash at home ( I'm a Stay at home mom, what's cash? ) I just wanted to get it off my person, and on my account where it would eventually end up anyway. I just got it there sooner than later. Even if you did have a disputed charge with Disney, if you have a credit card on file, they are going to charge it to your card after you leave against your will. They are not going to let it go unpaid.


Cris posted on the other thread about the new amex cash card, and I am going to check these out the next time we go.

 

[Pluto4Pres]

I'm heading to JFK in a couple of hours to pick up my DD 15 who is returning from a 2 week student exchange program in France. Before she left we went to the AAA office with intent to get traveller's checks and ended up with one of those prepaid cards instead. It worked out pretty well. Of course, we had to load more money onto it halfway through the trip. It also was a convenient way to deal with the currency exchange issues. I think I would use this again instead of traveller's checks.

Crisi posted the Amex site on the other thread. Here is the VISA version available from AAA.

http://international.visa.com/ps/products/vtravelmoney/

 

[dyingtodisney]

See my post on wisbucky's thread about disney's attitude about lost room keys with charge privileges

 

[Muushka]

Originally posted by CarolMN
Whenever we've charged something back to our room, we have had to provide a room number and a signature. I suppose a thief could just make a room numbr up, but that "phony number", along with the bogus signature should then be evidence that the room occupants did not make the charge. Snip....

It has been a while since we have charged to our room, but when we did, we had to actually hand over a room key and sign a receipt. Is this not the case anymore?

 

[bsusanmb]

I have been to WDW 4 times in the past two years, staying 2 weeks each visit. I give them an imprint of my credit card, and they do not put a hold on the account - how do I know this? Because I only give them my credit card with a $500 limit. It is too enticing to give them a card with thousands of dollars for me - I'd go and spend it! They give you a $1500 limit at the deluxe hotels, $1000 at the moderates and $500 at the value resorts. I have used my credit card off property during these vacations, and continued to use my room charge inside the park. You can check your balance and pay it off wtih cash or traveler's checks as it gets high in order to use express check out on your card, or you can pay with a check at the end, etc. We only carry a couple hundred dollars in cash and if we need more, we either cash a check at the hotel or use our atm. I would never carry a large amount of cash travelling anywhere.
My credit card companies does not permit "paying ahead" other than 10% above your charging limit. It sure is easy to bget carried away in WDW with credit. I want everything I see, and I want to eat everything in sight!
Going to go to the DVC presentation this visit and own a piece of the majic.

 

[Disney Doll]

We guarantee the room with a CC and charge mostly everything to the room. You do have the ability to go to the desk whenvere you want and ask to see your bill, if oyu want to keep track of the charges or make sure what is being charged to the room is yours.

We also put some money into the savings account that is attached to our checking account and can be accessed through an ATM. That way, if we want/need cash, we simply pull some out of the ATM.

We find that we do best in WDW just charging it all to the room though.