paying out of pocket?

[olwyngdh]

We will be staying at POP for the 1st time. We usually are at The Fort. My question is how much do I tip Housekeeping daily? TIA

Most sites recommend $1 per person per day + $1 for the room. This used to work out to $5 a day for us. Since our next trip will be just the two of us I am planning on still doing the $5 a day in cute little envelopes I make on my cricut.

 

[mara512]

looking for advice here?.....I am heading out next summer, first time without a dining plan! Which is the best way to pay for meals?..Do you use cc and have it taken at end of holiday charging it to your room.or do you pay cash? ..thanks in advance...

I charge to my room and then settle my account every other day or so. I either use my credit card to settle my account to get the points or I pay with gift cards that I have purchased ahead of time at discounted rates.

 

[Moliphino]

That is totally up to you. There's no set amount. You will get lots of different responses to this post. I tip $10/day and $20 on check-out day, since that's the day they have to do the most work.

However, it's not clear to me that there's even daily housekeeping right now. Is there?

Edited for clarity.

It's every other day now and a reduced service (trash and towels, maybe vacuum the floor. No making beds or changing sheets). They do a more intense clean between guests.

 

[Shellyred8]

Nothing kills a vacation more than returning home to a huge credit card bill! I budget ahead and buy gift cards plus take some cash; the credit card stays in the wallet as a back-up.

This is what we do too. This way, we can spread out the pain. LOL!!!

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

What we do is charge almost all of our monthly expenses, including car insurance to our Disney VISA issued by chase. We always pay off the balance and never pay interest or late charges. We earn Disney dollers on our purchases. We then load those dollars onto a disney gift card. Last time we went we had something like 19-20 months worth of points and it paid for the room portion of 6 days at Port Orleans Riverside . We just paid for the meal plan and tickets. I think it was about $1800. So, using the card even if just a little bit could generate enough points to cover food and maybe a few souviners as well.

 

[AnnaS]

We put a cc on file and charge almost everything on our Magic Bands. We have paid restaurants with our cc also. Whatever is easier for them sometimes. I want to get as many rewards dollars as possible. I have learned to carry my DVC, AP, TIW, AAA, CC and license at all times.

We bring very little cash. We tip ME driver, Housekeeping, Bell Services (if we use them) and anyone else who handles our luggage - usually at the airport but no one this last trip. We also tip the car service that picks us up at home and at the airport. We used to leave a few dollars at Wolfgang Puck Express but sadly now they are closed.

 

[Mrsjvb]

Do you charge it to the room then have it charged in one transaction at the end of vacation or straight on cc?

Both.

 

[maltdizzy]

Typically I pay with my check card like I would around home. We mostly use the magic bands for water parks and pool bars, ... somehow we are always shocked by our $1,000 bar tab.

 

[dchronister]

Just my experience here, but... if you use cc, Disney will let you charge so much to the room/magicband, let’s say $100, when you reach that $100 limit they will run it thru your credit card, then when you reach $100 again, they run it again! so, they don’t run the total at the end of the trip, they break it down into smaller amounts throughout the trip! But the cc is way more convenient than cash! I usually only take $20 into the park with me daily! I have used gift cards several times and those work too, just keep in mind if you use those, you will need to go down to the desk a couple times during your stay and pay up with your GC, before they run it thru you cc on file!

 

[maryj11]

What we do is charge almost all of our monthly expenses, including car insurance to our Disney VISA issued by chase. We always pay off the balance and never pay interest or late charges. We earn Disney dollers on our purchases. We then load those dollars onto a disney gift card. Last time we went we had something like 19-20 months worth of points and it paid for the room portion of 6 days at Port Orleans Riverside . We just paid for the meal plan and tickets. I think it was about $1800. So, using the card even if just a little bit could generate enough points to cover food and maybe a few souviners as well.

Instead buying a gift card we just use the Disney visa rewards card.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

I also use gift cards from Target or BJ’s. Register them at the Disney gift card site and combine them. Nice to get the AP discount and pay with discount gift cards

 

[bakerworld]

We just started in with the GCs and find them much more convenient plus there are so many places to get them at a discounted cost.

 

[Sakiki]

Nothing kills a vacation more than returning home to a huge credit card bill! I budget ahead and buy gift cards plus take some cash; the credit card stays in the wallet as a back-up.

I go exactly the other way! I live on the credit card at Disney, but we have a deposit account at home labeled ‘holidays’. Money goes into that every month and when we get home there’s never been a lack of funds to pay off the credit card. Of course we have plenty of time to save as it takes a minimum of 18 months to plan a vacation to the USA from the UK!

I always have a debit card with me as a backup, with a different bank from the credit card, and I always also have a certain amount of cash to tip housekeeping and wait staff (I don’t like putting tips on the plastic - I want my money to go to the person I choose).

 

[nkereina]

We put everything on the magic band and have it charge our credit card. We don't like carrying cash since I try to carry only a small purse with no wallet. And after our experience last week, there were a few places not accepting cash at all.

I know a lot of people are fans of the gift card strategy, but I can't wrap my head around it. We just keep a savings account with our budget for the trip and then use that money to payoff our credit card when we get home. Its no different than those who use that money to buy gift cards. By just using our credit card, we don't have to worry about having enough or too much on gift cards, and we don't have to stop at the front desk to have gift cards applied to the balance. My MIL way overbought gift cards for our trip in 2017 and had over $400 left when we get home. That's $400 in cash she could have otherwise had. She had no idea when/if she will be returning to WDW, so needless to say, the grandkids got lots of Disney store gifts for Christmas that year.

 

[mrs moon]

We put everything on the magic band and have it charge our credit card. We don't like carrying cash since I try to carry only a small purse with no wallet. And after our experience last week, there were a few places not accepting cash at all.

I know a lot of people are fans of the gift card strategy, but I can't wrap my head around it. We just keep a savings account with our budget for the trip and then use that money to payoff our credit card when we get home. Its no different than those who use that money to buy gift cards. By just using our credit card, we don't have to worry about having enough or too much on gift cards, and we don't have to stop at the front desk to have gift cards applied to the balance. My MIL way overbought gift cards for our trip in 2017 and had over $400 left when we get home. That's $400 in cash she could have otherwise had. She had no idea when/if she will be returning to WDW, so needless to say, the grandkids got lots of Disney store gifts for Christmas that year.

i think that is what i will do thank you

 

[fla4fun]

We put everything on the magic band and have it charge our credit card. We don't like carrying cash since I try to carry only a small purse with no wallet. And after our experience last week, there were a few places not accepting cash at all.

I know a lot of people are fans of the gift card strategy, but I can't wrap my head around it. We just keep a savings account with our budget for the trip and then use that money to payoff our credit card when we get home. Its no different than those who use that money to buy gift cards. By just using our credit card, we don't have to worry about having enough or too much on gift cards, and we don't have to stop at the front desk to have gift cards applied to the balance. My MIL way overbought gift cards for our trip in 2017 and had over $400 left when we get home. That's $400 in cash she could have otherwise had. She had no idea when/if she will be returning to WDW, so needless to say, the grandkids got lots of Disney store gifts for Christmas that year.

The key to the gift card thing is to buy the gift cards at a discount. Just to keep it simple, let’s say you can buy the gift card at 5% off. That doesn’t sound like a lot, right? For every $1000 in gift cards you buy, you save $50. If your hotel costs $3000, you are saving $150 off what you would have paid using your credit card. Add in using gift cards for food, and you might save another $50 or more. Add in tickets, and your savings go up even more. Some people might think the savings is too small, or the effort too inconvenient, and that is fine, but the savings are there. The larger the discount, the more you can save. I do the same thing for my internet hotspot. I can almost always get a gift card discount at Target, so my monthly fee costs me less than purchasing the data direct through my provider.

I bought a Disney gift card to use for mobile ordering instead of having multiple small charges to my cc. The way I did it was I took the amount I had budgeted for food, and put 2/3 of it on the gift card. That worked out good to not have a lot of money left on the card.

There’s nothing wrong with putting everything on your cc and just paying the one bill when you get home. You may have a card with cash back or other good perks, or you may find gift cards inconvenient. That’s OK. I have done it both ways and there are pros and cons for both.

 

[Lilsia]

With most counter service places going only mobile order, your credit card will be attached to it. I usually just charge things back to my room but at the sit down restaurants, I just put it straight on my credit card. I carry a bit of cash for smaller purchases or if the system goes down. It is all the same money in the end so it really does not matter how you pay for things.

 

[nkereina]

The key to the gift card thing is to buy the gift cards at a discount. Just to keep it simple, let’s say you can buy the gift card at 5% off. That doesn’t sound like a lot, right? For every $1000 in gift cards you buy, you save $50. If your hotel costs $3000, you are saving $150 off what you would have paid using your credit card. Add in using gift cards for food, and you might save another $50 or more. Add in tickets, and your savings go up even more. Some people might think the savings is too small, or the effort too inconvenient, and that is fine, but the savings are there. The larger the discount, the more you can save. I do the same thing for my internet hotspot. I can almost always get a gift card discount at Target, so my monthly fee costs me less than purchasing the data direct through my provider.

I bought a Disney gift card to use for mobile ordering instead of having multiple small charges to my cc. The way I did it was I took the amount I had budgeted for food, and put 2/3 of it on the gift card. That worked out good to not have a lot of money left on the card.

There’s nothing wrong with putting everything on your cc and just paying the one bill when you get home. You may have a card with cash back or other good perks, or you may find gift cards inconvenient. That’s OK. I have done it both ways and there are pros and cons for both.

This makes sense, but I always see a lot of gift card recommendations and there's no mention of this. I can understand it if you're buying the gift cards at a discount, though I think only people with a Target credit card and maybe a Sam's Club or Costco membership would be able to do this? Unless there's other places where you can buy the gift cards at a discount?

 

[fla4fun]

This makes sense, but I always see a lot of gift card recommendations and there's no mention of this. I can understand it if you're buying the gift cards at a discount, though I think only people with a Target credit card and maybe a Sam's Club or Costco membership would be able to do this? Unless there's other places where you can buy the gift cards at a discount?

I know I have been able to get other discounted gift cards at Target, and I do not have a Target card. They do things like Buy One, Get a Second for X Amount Off, or just a flat percentage off. It’s always a good idea to check when you want to buy any kind of gift card to see if they have a promotion going on.

 

[lanejudy]

For me, it's the jolting reality of that credit card bill, even though I budgeted and saved the funds. I can easily do the math to know how much we spent; I just don't want to see that accumulated $$$ amount so I prefer to pay-as-I-go. Also, we were used to vacationing with Traveler's Cheques before credit and debit cards became so widely used, so I switched to the gift cards. We don't charge to the room, so no extra step of going to the front desk. I usually under-estimate and put the last meal and trip-home expenses on the credit card. But I guess I estimate our expenses better than your MIL did.