Is There an Advantage to Charging to Room vs. Just Using Your CC?

[DiznEeyore]

We've always paid cash (TCs) for everything while at WDW, so I've never used the room charging privileges. Now that we have a reward CC, I plan to use it for *everything* at WDW so that a percentage will go toward future trips.

What I'm wondering is, is there a reason people prefer to do the charge-to-room thing rather than just using their CC when necessary? I must be missing something ...

 

[8 Ears]

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[brivers222]

Correct me if i am wrong... But a Major CC is required to be given at time of check-in. ALL room charges will be charged to that CC. So indirectly even though you charge to the room account, you will still be charged to your CC (just make sure your rewards CC # is the one you give them at checkin)

 

[Lollipop Mom]

For me the big advantage is not having to carry my credit card into the parks! If my room key is lost it's much easier to have any charges I didn't authorize taken care of right then with a CM in front of me rather than on the phone with my credit card company. If my credit card is lost or stollen I have to report it to the company and wait for them to get me a new card with a new number. Not so with my room card.

You do have to give a credit card # at check in to activate charging privileges but you could stop by the front desk on your last day and pay off your balance with travelers checks or cash if you'd like. You may be able to make a cash deposit at check in...I didn't ask so I'm not sure on that but it's worth asking!

 

[DiznEeyore]

Originally posted by Lollipop Mom
For me the big advantage is not having to carry my credit card into the parks! If my room key is lost it's much easier to have any charges I didn't authorize taken care of right then with a CM in front of me rather than on the phone with my credit card company. If my credit card is lost or stollen I have to report it to the company and wait for them to get me a new card with a new number. Not so with my room card.

OK, that makes sense. Thanks!!

If I go that route, I guess I'll just have to be diligent about any discrepancies so that I can resolve them at WDW -- my mil wasn't a few years ago and had to wrangle with them long-distance once we all got home.

 

[etwinchester]

Is there a max amount they will put on the room key card? Once reached, will they charge it to your CC and reset the room key card?

I want to link my DV but afraid of having problems as many have listed here on the boards. I would hate to check out with them saying "miss, we' re sorry, but your card has been declined". Thus, the only problem being the big $$ amount at the end of the trip and DV thinking your card was stolen.

Actually, I'd do the express check out so I don't know what they would do if there's a problem...

 

[MommyBoo!]

Is there a max amount they will put on the room key card? Once reached, will they charge it to your CC and reset the room key card?

There is a maximum amount and I believe it is determined by where you are staying. Not positive though. I know that when we stayed at the CR and the Poly it was 1500 for us. My inlaws stayed at All Stars and it was 500.

They are supposed to charge your cc once you hit your limit. They don't always do this though. One time our room key wouldn't work and the CM in the park told my husband that our cc must have been declined. I though he was going to have a heart attack! He looked at me and said "Is that possible??". I told him no, it wasn't and to go ride space mountain with the kids while I straightened it out. I called my cc company and they said they had no charges on the card at all. Then I called the front desk at CR and they told me they hadn't pushed the charge through to my cc yet. They did it right then and poof! my room key was set to go! I told them they may want to talk to their CMs about what they say. DH was not happy about the CM saying our cc was declined in front of a bunch of other people.

 

[erikthewise]

The charge carry is $1500 at deluxe resorts, $1000 at moderate, and $500 at value, unless it's changed recently.

 

[FoodLover]

Well, the advantage no one has mentioned so far is that Disney is essentially giving you a "float" on your expenditures until you hit your limit. So if you take a one-week vacation at a Deluxe and you don't hit your $1500 limit, the charges won't hit your card until you check out.

If you carry a balance on your CC, that gives you some extra days that you're not paying interest.

Even if you pay your CC off every month, it still might benefit you in some circumstances. For instance, you might check out just after your current month's statement closes... so in that situation, you wouldn't end up paying the bill for your first day's charges until more than 30 days later.

If you follow me.

It's not a huge benefit, but it's always nice to put off the bills as long as you can!

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[WTLOTC]

There may be an advantage to using your Disney Visa, in particular for dining, if your cc qualifies for the offer below and you are going to be in WDW during the time period it is valid. Check your "other offers" category under "current offers" on the Bank One website to see if you can take advatage of the offer or a better offer.

My Offer:

"Just spend over $250 or more with your Disney's Visa® Card on the spending categories listed below in any calendar month from July 1, 2004 to September 30, 2004.1 Once you reach $250 in a calendar month, you’ll earn 2% in Disney Dream Reward DollarsSM for every additional dollar you spend over on:

# Everyday purchases: groceries, drugstores, gas, dining , dry cleaning
# Monthly expenses: utilities, cell phone, home improvements
# Entertainment: movies/refreshments, video rentals"


If you charge all purchases to your room key than I assume the resort will apply one charge to your Disney Visa, so any dining charges would probably not be applied towards the 2% return offer. Depending on the type of dining you plan to do you could easily get up over the $250 minimum. So it may be benefitial to use Disney Visa for dining purchases.

 

[etwinchester]

I'd probably use the room key for breakfast, lunch, dinner and sourvenir purchases.

I probably would carry on me, Disney Dollars for snacks and about $25-50 inTC for my budget busters (emergency).

Would that sound about right?

 

[crisi]

Originally posted by WTLOTC


# Everyday purchases: groceries, drugstores, gas, dining , dry cleaning
# Monthly expenses: utilities, cell phone, home improvements
# Entertainment: movies/refreshments, video rentals"

Maybe I'm wrong, but I read these as examples, not specific purchases. I'd think that Visa would have a hard time knowing if I spent $1000 at the grocery store on groceries or on a one time purchase of a DVD player that happens to be being sold at my store (and is not itemized on their list).

I would think that if your room charge went to your Disney Visa you'd still get the double rewards.

 

[maggiew]

I called Disney Visa about the double rewards and they said that the transaction had to be coded "Dining" , or one of the other categories listed for it to be counted towards double rewards. (See your online account summary for the codes.) For example, my grocery store codes their transactions as "Other" not groceries so it will not count towards the double rewards. I would be interested to see what the transaction is coded when you check out of the Disney resort when you charge to your room key. Does anyone know what it is coded when you charge directly on your card when you eat at the Disney restaurants, for example Chef Mickeys???

Another benefit that I can see is that my bill cycle will hit right in the middle of our stay at Disney. So if I charge directly onto the card, I will get the bonus for those charges while we are still at Disney. If we charge to the room key and pay at the end of the stay, then it will be too late to use those rewards this trip.

Maggie

 

[crisi]

So I could get double rewards for entertainment under "movies" but if I buy tickets to a play as an entertainment expense they wouldn't give me double rewards And I'm dependant on the vendor coding?

More bother than its worth.

(I have the offer, but I don't change my spending habits because of stuff like this).

 

[goin2disneyagain]

I carry very little cash. I use credit cards for almost everything becasue all of my credit cards (not that I have THAT many of them) offer me rewards for purchases and I like free stuff. I usually opt for the room key charging priviledges just strictly for convenience. I like how all your WDW charges are printed up together on your room bill at the end of your stay. Of course there are times when I wish I didn't realize exactly how much I had spent.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I'm new at charging it to the room, but I'm staying at ASMo, and another post says the limit is $500. Does that mean I can only charge $500 the entire 9 days we're there? I wouldn't think they can judge my credit by the fact that I'm staying at a value resort, especially since my limit on the card is much higher than that? Or do we just have to pay the $500 at the desk then they reset it?

I'm so confused! Thanks for any help!

 

[bobcat]

After you reach that $500 they will charge your credit card and then you can charge more. Disney will always take your money!

 

[bigbabyblues]

Thanks Bobcat, that explains it!

 

[Sunkissed]

Just out of curiosity:

We will be taking advantage of the room-charging privilieges, but want to take a small amount of cash with us into the parks. What amount would you recommend for two adults? Thanks!

 

[tanyacj]

If your party splits up, each member will still have the room key if they want to purchase something. The worst thing would be to see that "gotta have" item when DH/DW has the CC on the other side of the park.

Also, depending on the package and how good the CM is at check-out, my CM credited two dinners from my room charge since we didn't use all of our "wishes" on our UPH.