How do you pay the bills you charge on your Disney Visa?

[smartkim]

I am applying for a Disney Visa so that we can get the reward points for our next trip and my question is to those of you who charge literally EVERYTHING including monthly bills onto your Disney Visa card, how do you do it? Do you pay those bills online with your credit card and then turn around and pay it back with your debit card? There are some bills that I mail in so I am curious as to how some of you do it. Thanks in advance!

 

[HappyHappy]

Just go to the Chase website. You will have to establish a password, etc but the site walks you through everything. Once you do this, go to "products and services" and one of the choices is "paying bills on line". I have elected to withdrawl funds from checking to pay my visa bill (on a date which I specify every month) and it walks you through that set up as well. Now on the flip side, you have to make arrangements with "X" companies to have them charge your bill to Chase Visa. This too can usually be done on line as well. The only thing I don't charge to Visa is my electric bill as they charge 15% to do so.
I know when my monthly Visa statement is posted. On the next day I go on line and click on "pay bill" and tell them what day to pay the bill. You can arrange different options like automatically paying total bill every month but I like the control. This was a little rambly. Feel free to ask questions or with any luck, someone else will post and do a better job at explaining

 

[beansmom]

i pay everything i can online through the VENDOR website, not through a billpay service at my bank, then at the end of the month we just make our credit card payment through the checking account.

quick, easy, convenient.

 

[clutter]

I also record my charges in my checkbook so I don't over spend. But yes, I pay my Visa on their website.

 

[wheelcap]

We live on our Disney Visa - everything gets charged to it. Every week or so, I go online and download the charges into my Quicken, then pay it off directly from our checking account - which is linked through the Disney Visa site. This way, we get rewards points for almost every penny we spend.

 

[hsmamato2]

pay in full every month when it comes due- sign up online for a reminder- and link to your checking account to take it out when it's time. or you could send a check in the mail when it's due,but who does that anymore?

 

[leebee]

or you could send a check in the mail when it's due,but who does that anymore?

I do, ever since our account security was compromised! We didn't lose much, but it was a horrible, terrible time and surely not worth the "convenience" of having everything done electronically. I'm happy to write checks and buy stamps (which I charge to my Dis Visa), thanks!

I charge everything I can with my VISA and pay the bill in full (BY CHECK in the MAIL) every month. Utility companies that allow credit card payments are paid by me filling in the billing statement with the account number and sending it to the utility company, just like if I was paying with a check, and same with the bill from the hospital (sigh... almost paid off...). Of course, the best news I've had lately is that DD16's dance studio now accepts VISA. YIPPEE!! There's another $40-$50 in dis rewards every year!

 

[DISdreamin']

I do what others have said and pay it off periodically throughout the month. I always try to pay off the majority before the statement closing date so that the amount reported to the credit bureaus is fairly low; it seems to help my FICO scores to do this.

FWIW, the online payment feature is great until it goes down, like it did this past weekend! I tried to log in to see my account, and no dice. Nada. Got logged in, but every field showed n/a or something to that effect. Had to call and do payment by phone just to be done with it.

 

[dclfun]

I use Billpay for everything through my credit union and usually send a payment to Chase via Billpay the same day I've used the card. I like having everything there vs. having to go to the Chase site as then I can see all my regular monthly payments on one spreadsheet and if there's ever a question as to when a payment is posted I also only have to research on one site, although that's never been an issue, thankfully.---Kathy

 

[prncess674]

I do, ever since our account security was compromised! We didn't lose much, but it was a horrible, terrible time and surely not worth the "convenience" of having everything done electronically. I'm happy to write checks and buy stamps (which I charge to my Dis Visa), thanks!

I charge everything I can with my VISA and pay the bill in full (BY CHECK in the MAIL) every month. Utility companies that allow credit card payments are paid by me filling in the billing statement with the account number and sending it to the utility company, just like if I was paying with a check, and same with the bill from the hospital (sigh... almost paid off...). Of course, the best news I've had lately is that DD16's dance studio now accepts VISA. YIPPEE!! There's another $40-$50 in dis rewards every year!

Writing your Visa number on the back of a piece of paper and then letting it be touched by many hands is probably one of the worst things you can do. You are letting your CC number drift unecrypted across the country.

Sorry your checking account was compromised but the same issue rings true with letting checks fly through the mail. I used to work at banks and doctored checks are also rampant in the system.

 

[mamaLori05]

Writing your Visa number on the back of a piece of paper and then letting it be touched by many hands is probably one of the worst things you can do. You are letting your CC number drift unecrypted across the country.

Sorry your checking account was compromised but the same issue rings true with letting checks fly through the mail. I used to work at banks and doctored checks are also rampant in the system.

I totally agree with this. Writing your visa account # on the back of your bills is the absolute worst thing you could do. You mine as well just give your account # to the next guy that walks down your street. I'm not trying to yell at you, but just make you realize the dangers of it. If that paper gets lost in the mail and found by someone else, or someone takes it out of your mailbox, they now have your account # as well as other info (your address, your signature, and whatever other info is on that bill). Plus just because it is going to that company, doesn't mean everyone at that company is honest.

Same goes with checks through the mail. You just gave a crook your signature, address, and account #. Unfortuantly nothing is totally secure!

 

[ICF]

I write them a check when the bill comes each month.....

 

[uncspin]

We use our Disney Visa exactly as we would use a checking account debit card. Every single time I swipe the card, I write it down in the checkbook and balance it as normal to ensure we always have enough money. If the Visa gets close to the limit, I will pay the bill. Then when the statement arrives, I reconcile to ensure all charges were written down in the check register. It works well for us, but other posters have good suggestions too.

 

[gillenkl]

We use our Disney Visa exactly as we would use a checking account debit card. Every single time I swipe the card, I write it down in the checkbook and balance it as normal to ensure we always have enough money. If the Visa gets close to the limit, I will pay the bill. Then when the statement arrives, I reconcile to ensure all charges were written down in the check register.

This is exactly what I do also.

 

[Darcy03231]

I go on the Chase website weekly and pay whatever I've charged for the week directly from my checking account.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

How much in Disney rewards dollars do you guys accrue in a year, on average?
I have a cash back card from Citi that I use for everything, and then deposit the check they send me into our vacation account.
Just curious if the Disney visa would earn more faster?
So, say you charge $1000 a month, what would the reward be?
TIA!

 

[bsusanmb]

It is 1% I believe, so it would be $10. I pay my DVC loans every month with mine and everything I can. I don't know how they make money. I pay mine off everytime I use it. Love the rewards.

 

[Ava]

i pay everything i can online through the VENDOR website, not through a billpay service at my bank, then at the end of the month we just make our credit card payment through the checking account.

quick, easy, convenient.

This is what I do. I have my cell phone & cable bills set up to automatically pay with my Disney Visa every month. Then I just pay off the Visa online with my checking account.

I do NOT, however, pay my utility bills (electric & gas) with my Visa. They charge a fee to pay by credit card, so I just have those direct-debited from my checking account.

I wish I could pay my rent with the Disney Visa - that would be a lot of points!

 

[bumbershoot]

Writing your Visa number on the back of a piece of paper and then letting it be touched by many hands is probably one of the worst things you can do. You are letting your CC number drift unecrypted across the country.

Sorry your checking account was compromised but the same issue rings true with letting checks fly through the mail.

I agree so very very much. Countless people have access to that letter as it makes its way across country.


I would rather make sure my computer is secure, make sure I'm not doing anything problematic on my computer (no clicking on spam email, no clicking on any links really from email, etc etc), then ONLY go to trusted websites, set up payments through my bank or the vendors I would otherwise send checks to, and do it online, than put a flimsy piece of paper into the mailbox and hope it arrives in one piece!



We don't have the Disney Visa (have the debit card, though), and we don't charge everything, but DH does have a Visa he uses for his work trips when he can't use the corporate amex. As the charges come in, I just pay them from the money in the checking account (he has a per diem that I pull from to do this). EASY.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I usually just write a check, but I never write the account number on the check. Of course, Chase stll puts the account number itself on the statement.

There is a Chase branch just a block from my office, so sometimes I pay the bill in cash, especially when I have some extra dollar coins! -- Suzanne