Pre-paying room only reservation-suggestions?

[thunderbird1]

We have a room only reservation for December, and I called yesterday to pre-pay our room only to be told that we can't. (We're trying to earn points on a credit card before the trip. Plus, it would just be nice to have much of the vacation prepaid.) I know if we had a package, we'd have to pay it all off ahead of time, but we have AP's so if we switched to a package we'd lose our discount on the room. They did tell us we can pay for our room using Disney dollars, but the largest denomination they come in is $10. We're not really thrilled about carrying around $1,000 in $10 bills, but unless anyone here has any other suggestions, this is looking like our best option. Ideas?

 

[crazyme5kids]

How about just prepaying your credit card?

 

[SeaSpray]

Who did you talk to? Of course you can pre-pay your room only reservation!! We did this for our trip this past July. We wanted it all paid before we got there. I'd try calling back again.

 

[sue1013]

With the new BR you cannot pay your reservation before checkin. What the reason is I don't know, doesn't make sense to me. Just put the in a savings then use it to pay off your charge when the bill comes in.

 

[hegs65]

How about if you pay all but $1? Then you will still get your cc rewards. Will they let you do that? I dont understand why you can't prepay. When did that change? If that is true, then how come I have to prepay my package? It doesn't make sense.

 

[SeaSpray]

With the new BR you cannot pay your reservation before checkin. What the reason is I don't know, doesn't make sense to me. Just put the in a savings then use it to pay off your charge when the bill comes in.

Oh this is only for people with AP's who book a Best Rate room? Ah, I didn't know that. We only had a AAA discount for the WL portion of our trip, then paid rack rate for the Polynesian portion. We were very glad to have our rooms paid off before we got there!

 

[msteddom]

My guess would be that with the BR program room rates are subject to be adjusted downwards when any discounts become available. By not allowing the reservation to be paid off early Disney saves themseves the hassle of issuing refunds.


Melissa

 

[shellybaxter]

With the BR program you can only pay one nights deposit. They will not accept any other payment. I don't think there is any regular logical reason. I bet it has to do with the software they use for the online only booking. I can't come up with any real reason that they wouldn't want my money early

 

[thunderbird1]

Thanks for the feedback. At least I'm not the only one who thinks it's nuts Disney doesn't want to hold on to my $$ for the next couple of months. Maybe once they work out some of the bugs in the AP BR program they'll fix this. Until then, Disney dollars, here I come!

 

[aubriee]

How about just prepaying your credit card?

Ok I'm a little slow this morning, so please bear with me and help. I also have a BRP ressie for Dec and have been very vocal about not liking the policy of not being able to pay the rooms off in advance. I hate owing anything on my vacations once I get home. I want EVERYTHING paid off in advance, so I can relax and enjoy my vacation. We are doing a split stay in Dec at POFQ and CSR, so I have paid two nonrefundable deposits, but would like to pay off the whole thing before we leave using my Disney VISA, then want to pay off the VISA (again before we leave), so I have a zero balance. When I go online for the Disney VISA it tells me I can't pay more than they show me owing, which at the moment is zero, so how can I prepay my credit card? If I can't prepay the room and I can't prepay the credit card, can I use the Disney VISA to buy Disney dollars at the local Disney Store and then just carry them down there to pay for the room? The only thing is, we will be staying at POFQ for the first five nights (Balance=$419.24) before we move over to the CSR (Balance=$314.67). I hate to have the extra Disney dollars hanging around for the five days before we check into the CSR. Is there anyway we could run over to CSR on our arrival day and have them put the money on deposit for us, for when we check in five days later? Hope that makes sense.

Also while we are talking about paying things off in advance. I'll be renting my mom an ECV from an offsite company to use while we are down there. The ones I've looked at have said they won't charge my credit card until the day before we arrive. I also have an Illumination cruise booked for Dec 10th and have been told I will need to pay for it that night. Again I would rather have all this stuff paid for in advance, before we leave home. Why won't anyone take my money now? I would also like to have my meals paid for, but due to using the BRP can't buy the dining plan. Could I put Disney dollars on my Disney VISA, pay off the VISA, and then use the disney dollars to pay for my meals and souvineers down there? I don't want to take alot of cash, but also don't want to have a huge credit card bill waiting for me when I get home. Any suggestions?

 

[jjan]

Aubriee... I think what they mean by pre-paying your cc is that you send in an extra payment to your credit card with the monthly bill in whatever amount that you want (for example, the cost of your hotel stay). Then, you won't "owe" it after you get home.

 

[thunderbird1]

Aubriee--sounds like you're experiencing the same frustration I am. In my case, it isn't really about having the vacation paid off before we get there, but more about earning points on a credit card before December. Thus, sending extra money to the credit card company won't really work, since we don't earn the points until actual charges occur. But the best solution I've come up with might work for you, too.

We're going to purchase Disney $$ on our credit card over the next couple of months. That way, the charges will appear on the credit card (and we'll pay that card off before we go). We'll then take the Disney $$ with us, stick them in the room safe during our stay, and, when we go to check out, bring my stacks and stacks of $10 Disney bills to the checkout desk and pay for everything then. I can't imagine how this is easier for Disney than simply taking our money ahead of time (which they are not only willing to do, but they insist on doing it if you've booked a package) but that's the way it is.

What I don't like about this plan is having to carry around all that cash (since Disney $$ are essentially cash). Which is why we'll just stick it in the safe and charge everything to our room (also makes it easier for us to track what we're spending). Hope this helps you!

 

[ibleedblue]

I read this thread and was kinda bummed since I had planned on calling today to pay off my room only reservation at PC in December. I had to call about something else, and while I was on the phone I mentioned that I'd like to pay my reservation in full but I had read that that was not allowed now. The super nice CM on the phone said 'Oh, no. We can still do that and I'd be happy to help.' 5 minutes later, my reservation is paid in full! I won't know for a couple of days if it posts on my credit card. The CM mentioned that it would ' be stupid for us not to allow you to pay in advance.' Maybe I just go lucky??

 

[shellybaxter]

I read this thread and was kinda bummed since I had planned on calling today to pay off my room only reservation at PC in December. I had to call about something else, and while I was on the phone I mentioned that I'd like to pay my reservation in full but I had read that that was not allowed now. The super nice CM on the phone said 'Oh, no. We can still do that and I'd be happy to help.' 5 minutes later, my reservation is paid in full! I won't know for a couple of days if it posts on my credit card. The CM mentioned that it would ' be stupid for us not to allow you to pay in advance.' Maybe I just go lucky??

Was it a Best Rate Annual Passholder discount or just a regular room only discount? As I've been told the Best Rate ressies are the ones that can't be paid off. Regular room only is still fine

Shelly

 

[ibleedblue]

Was it a Best Rate Annual Passholder discount or just a regular room only discount? As I've been told the Best Rate ressies are the ones that can't be paid off. Regular room only is still fine

Shelly

Ohhh...I wondered what BR stood for. No, that's not what I had. I had a room only reservation that was booked at AAA rate. No AP for me, unfortunately.

 

[SnackyStacky]

Room only reservations that are booked online, whether or not they're best rate, cannot be paid in advance.

Also, room only reservations made online cannot have discounts applied. A whole new reservation must be booked.

Found that out the hard way!

 

[djm99]

They did tell us we can pay for our room using Disney dollars, but the largest denomination they come in is $10. We're not really thrilled about carrying around $1,000 in $10 bills, but unless anyone here has any other suggestions, this is looking like our best option. Ideas?

I was told by a CM at my local Disney store that they would be adding a new $50 bill for 50 years of Disney - I was under the impression that the $50 was already available - just not in St. Louis yet! So you might want to check your local store and see.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Another option would be to call the number to the WDW gift card and get a gift card for said amount (i believe the max is 1000$) it does cost 6.95$ in S&H, but you won't be stuck like us with a big wad of DD! haha we are in the same situation you are in with not being able to prepay!! Wish i knew about the gift card in advance!
HTH!

 

[lynn71092]

Here's what I did. I had originally paid for one night and when I called back to pay off the balance I was told I couldn't. That's the new policy I guess because I have always paid it off one night at a time. So what they did was cancel the one night I had paid for and credited my Visa card and then rebooked it and paid off the entire stay on the same Visa card. That way I was able to get my points on my Disney Visa.