how do you pay

[bumbershoot]

We pay via Magicband which is linked to our room. When it's time to checkout we use gift cards at the resort to pay our bill. Any extra go on the cc.

To be specific for newbies, you need to pay the bill the day BEFORE checkout day. They actually charge CCs in the middle of the night before checkout morning. So go do that BEFORE going to bed on that last day, or even go and do it every other day or so on a longer trip. Especially if you're staying at a Value the amount they let your account get to is lower, and at that point they'll charge the CC on account. So keep track or just go and do it regularly.


I would really only use a traveler's check if traveling abroad. Googling:

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/prepaid/travelers-cheques.html

And AAA seems to sell them.

I seem to remember that the new version of them is a card, actually.

 

[Ava]

I pay the trip cost with my Disney CC. I get 2% in Disney reward dollars and 6 months of 0% interest. For charges made in the parks, I use the MagicBand to charge to my room, then I use my Disney reward dollars and gift cards to pay it off. Anything extra gets charged to the Disney CC.

I also buy GCs at Target with my RedCard so I get 5% off on them.

 

[ellie05]

We pay with cc link to our MB. We usually have some money cash for tips (bell hop, housekeeping) other tips are charge to the room. I am sure they will take travelers checks, but why go through that much trouble? It will take way longer at the front desk for sure.

 

[chelseabun76]

I am charging back to the room and then just putting it on my cc. We have a package so it will just be tips and extra snacks and souvenirs. I used travelers checks in 2007 and it was a huge pain in the ****. I couldn't figure out the whole gift card thing since I live in Canada and they wouldn't ship Disney gc's to me from online, so I will just stick with my cc I guess. I'll carry a small amount of cash with me for any surprise extras if my band doesn't work.

 

[rcraw45425]

staying at the Swan/Dolphin you can't charge back to the room via magic band. I have a prepaid Visa that I use for trips or a Chase (not Disney) that gives me back a percentage for travel expenses.

 

[drea21]

To pay of the package leading up to the trip I buy gift cards at our Giant Eagle grocery store when they are offering 0.20 off a gallon per $50 gift card. We buy a dining plan if it isn't free because we like having it paid for upfront. (and we do a crap load of character meals, so it it almost makes financial sense)

We usually use our US Air Mastercard, but will occasionally use the Disney Visa for some rewards. Once we are there we charge everything to our bands and use the balances on some of those $500 gift cards, and our rewards (about $300/year) to pay our room bill. Anything left over goes on the US Air credit card for points. We pretty much charge everything on there every month and just pay off the balance. We earn free flights pretty frequently.

In the past I didn't know that you had to go down to the front desk the night before you check out. It was pretty lengthy process, but they actually were able to credit the charges back to the card on file and use gift cards instead. Not what you want to be dealing with when you are on your way to the airport though!

 

[yankeepenny]

I really noticed the change this year with the magic band. Having worked in the payment end of life, I notice things. NO cash, very few transactions with it, mostly using the magic band now. I think the CM's liked it. I asked them, and they said it is faster, and easier.


if it helps cut down on fraud and such, I am all for it.

I barely have more than a couple of bucks in my wallet cash, and a dime for a call, but I understand the few phones left take quarters.

 

[elaine amj]

I use my CC. I feel secure having fraud protection. Traveler's cheques feel more insecure to me. I remember using them 15-20 years ago.

 

[ZoZo]

We used travellers cheques on our last trip in November - no issues whatsoever

Me, too. Used them in February with no problems at all!

Shared a room with a friend at AoA Resort. After several tries, we discovered they couldn't program our individual Magic Bands with our two separate credit cards. They kept putting all of our charges on my friend's credit card - none of the charges on my card. I finally gave up, and was so glad I had brought travelers checks. It would have been a pain to keep pulling out my credit card for every single purchase!!

I get my travelers checks (got them at Key Bank) in large denominations - fifties and hundreds. Once you use them (you can use them anywhere at WDW) they give you your change back in cash. They may be "old school" , but they're easy to use!

 

[ZoZo]

My parents' financial advisor (they have money, we don't) told them NOT to do that! He said not to use your checking account card for anything on vacations, if possible. If someone gets hold of that account, BAD news!

We are getting a prepaid Visa card for the trip. It's used like a credit card, but is only good for the amt of cash you add. And if it gets stolen or hacked or whatever, that's all the money they get, not our whole bank account (not much for us, probably more for you!) It's kinda like a cross between a gift card and a CC. Good luck!

Yes, never a good idea to use a debit card tied to a checking account when traveling. Not only does it open you up to fraud if stolen, but hotels routinely put a "hold" on the entire amount you will likely be spending (or even much more) the first day you check in to the hotel. That can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars being unavailable to you in your checking account. Then, if you have payments automatically deducted from your checking account for routine payments, it can cause you to "bounce" checks and/or payments. Credit cards are much better than debit cards, if that's an option for you.

 

[robndani]

Yes, never a good idea to use a debit card tied to a checking account when traveling. Not only does it open you up to fraud if stolen, but hotels routinely put a "hold" on the entire amount you will likely be spending (or even much more) the first day you check in to the hotel. That can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars being unavailable to you in your checking account. Then, if you have payments automatically deducted from your checking account for routine payments, it can cause you to "bounce" checks and/or payments. Credit cards are much better than debit cards, if that's an option for you.

That's a good point. Usually we always just use our magic bands that are linked to a credit card. I guess I'll just stick with that and use the fives we've saved towards payment on the credit card. Or I could just bring hundreds of dollars in fives to pay for our meals, lol (kidding)!

 

[btk2333]

After several tries, we discovered they couldn't program our individual Magic Bands with our two separate credit cards. They kept putting all of our charges on my friend's credit card - none of the charges on my card

Huh- we had no problem doing that last year- we had three of us in one room all on different credit cards ... Probably depends on the cast members knowledge.

 

[bumbershoot]

Huh- we had no problem doing that last year- we had three of us in one room all on different credit cards ... Probably depends on the cast members knowledge.

From reading tons of posts about it, I agree.

It also has to do with whether your account glitches or not.