PREPAID CARDS ( VISA) A Problem?

[PrincessAli]

Trying to figure out if we should put money on a 'Prepaid Money' card instead of using our own CC while at Disney this year. Any suggestions--Pros-Cons??? Thanks.

 

[smitch425]

Trying to figure out if we should put money on a 'Prepaid Money' card instead of using our own CC while at Disney this year. Any suggestions--Pros-Cons??? Thanks.

Prepaid cards are not great for much of anything. If you use them at a restaurant, they will put a hold on the card for more than you actually used until it clears with the company, which will then leave you with less credit than you actually have in the meantime. I would either use your regular credit card or purchase a Disney gift card. If you are staying onsite, just charge stuff to your KTTW card and pay it off with your credit card.

 

[disneynutsss]

if you are talking about those dang visa cards that you buy in the stores... DON'T DO IT!! i cannot tell you how many people have bought them for gifts and they end up not working. my son received some as gifts and when he went to pay with the Visa they didn't work!!

 

[delmar411]

I had nothing but trouble with them in Jan. Charges wouldn't ring through all over the place. Not worth it at all. Just put a CC down on your room and then you can charge and are protected against any fraudulent charges as well.

 

[maxiesmom]

For my last 3 trips to WDW I've gotten visa gift cards from my credit union. They work just fine, and I like that I don't have to worry about someone getting all my money if they get the number somehow. It also keeps me on a self-imposed budget.

 

[Mrs K]

We always take the prepaid cards, either Visa or AMEX and have never had a problem. Never used them in a restaurant, but no probs in stores.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Prepaid cards are not great for much of anything. If you use them at a restaurant, they will put a hold on the card for more than you actually used until it clears with the company, which will then leave you with less credit than you actually have in the meantime. I would either use your regular credit card or purchase a Disney gift card. If you are staying onsite, just charge stuff to your KTTW card and pay it off with your credit card.

This is what would keep me from using a prepaid card. If you use it at a restaurant or hotel they will authorize an extra 15-20% to include any gratuity that might be added. You also have to constantly keep up with your balance. (You usually have to tell the merchant before they will swipe it.) We use our KTTW card while we are in Disney and pay it with our Visa check card when we leave. We do plan on getting a few small Disney gift cards for the kids to use to purchase souvenirs though.

 

[Phatoomch]

We took pre-paid visa cards, did not use them in restaurants as we had DP but used them at all stores and a few snack places, had no problem at all with them

 

[lmbcdb]

We used them for all three trips, never had a problem.

• Paid deposit with it
• Paid balance with it
• Used it as the cc for the room charges (with only $50 on it)
• Paid off room charges with it
• Didn't use at restaurants, used dining plan

We've used a Netspend card from Ace Cash Express for the past three years. Never a problem.

 

[smitch425]

I stand corrected...looks like as long as you don't use them at restaurants you might be okay. The more I thought about it, I remembered that the 3 times I have had a prepaid card (given to me as gifts, would never buy one myself), they all involved partially using them at a restaurant and trying to use them elsewhere afterwards. I still think the other options in my previous post are the better ways to go, but that's just my opinion.

 

[cheerbaybee]

We use prepaid cards all the time. When my younger sister comes on our trips, my parents pay for everything. Instead of giving me a giant sum of cash for her spending, we use the pre paid card.

It really matters with the amount you have on. Like most places including disney, if the card doesnt automatically have the amount you need for your purchase, the card will be denied. That is the only problem.

It works better if you get a card where you can put the amount on it. Theres a problem with the cards that only come with $50. I say give it a try!

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

We used them for all three trips, never had a problem.

• Paid deposit with it
• Paid balance with it
• Used it as the cc for the room charges (with only $50 on it)
• Paid off room charges with it
• Didn't use at restaurants, used dining plan

We've used a Netspend card from Ace Cash Express for the past three years. Never a problem.

I like this idea...especially about it being the card connected to room charges.

 

[sharadoc]

How about opening a separate checking account for your vacation and using the debit card for it, but swipe it as a credit card every time.

I think the discussion might be confusing Visa gift cards with Visa prepaid cards. The gift cards are the ones that are hard to manage. You must know what's on it before you use it, if you don't have enough even by one penny, the transaction will be declined. I believe the prepaid Visa cards work more like a credit card and should be fine.

You could also buy Disney gift cards when you get there for your expenses. They work everywhere and are very easy to manage.

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

How about opening a separate checking account for your vacation and using the debit card for it, but swipe it as a credit card every time.

I think the discussion might be confusing Visa gift cards with Visa prepaid cards. The gift cards are the ones that are hard to manage. You must know what's on it before you use it, if you don't have enough even by one penny, the transaction will be declined. I believe the prepaid Visa cards work more like a credit card and should be fine.

You could also buy Disney gift cards when you get there for your expenses. They work everywhere and are very easy to manage.

Yes, I see what you are saying and I was confusing the pre-paid with the gift cards.

 

[loislane]

On our last trip, we got two pre-paid visa cards from our credit union with $250 on each one. We figured with two cards, it gave some protection in terms of losing them - I carried one, DH carried the other. Figured we wouldn't both lose them. LOL.

We used one for smaller things, gift shop purchases, etc. and used one for one OOP dinner and had no problems in terms of any holds, etc. on the cards. You do have to keep track of the balance because when you get to the end of the money, they can only run the card for the balance remaining on it. But it really wasn't that hard to do that. We just kept the receipts for each card with that card and tallied them up at the end of the day to have the new starting balance for the next day.

Not sure at this point if we will do that again for our next trip or just follow the same concept but split our spending money up on some Disney gift cards. Or get one larger visa gift card and attach that to our room and then use our KTTW card for everything in the parks.

 

[RF536]

We bought pre-paid visa cards through AAA back in 2008, because they were suppose to be insured against theft, we learned the hard way that that is not the actually truth, some one got our card number and stole over $500 from us. The person made several small purchases over the course of 1 day before we found out. What caused us problems is that Disney did not at the time require a signature on purchases less than $50. When we called and reported the theft there was nothting they could due because there were no signatures.

My advise is if you are going to use them, keep the balance on them lower so if someone does get your number they can't get all your money.

 

[disneynutsss]

i may have confused the pre paid cards and the gift cards... but i really do not know which one we tried - they were $50 and under, we never tried using them at restaurants, only stores and they were declined.

 

[tony609]

If you want to use your KTTW card for charges how exctly does that work. I kno you give them a CC.....do they put..let's say a $500 hold on it or what? I've never done it because I always do Gift cards for the bulk of my purchasing and the use CC..LOL. I try to stay on a self imposed budget....

 

[delmar411]

If you want to use your KTTW card for charges how exctly does that work. I kno you give them a CC.....do they put..let's say a $500 hold on it or what? I've never done it because I always do Gift cards for the bulk of my purchasing and the use CC..LOL. I try to stay on a self imposed budget....

They don't put any hold on your CC (they verify it's a valid card) and what you are able to charge is based off your level of resort. I believe value is $500, mods $1000 and deluxe/dvc $1500.

Once you hit that level then they charge the amount to your CC and your card is cleared for room charging again.

 

[PrincessAli]

Thanks for all the responses--I really appreciate it. I think we'll try the AAA Visa Prepaid and not take a chance by using it for restaurants--just store purchases. Does anyone still use Travelers Cheques anymore??