Question about paying for hotel ahead of time--help, please!

[HappyMommy2]

Sorry if this has been addressed recently and I missed it.

We have room-only reservations at Disney for mid August. We've paid the first night deposit; the balance isn't due till we arrive. Does anyone go ahead and pay the balance ahead of time even though it's not due till arrival? I guess it would be silly to do this since in effect we'd be sacrificing the bit of interest we'd be earning if we kept the money in our bank account for a couple more months, but I really love the idea of having as much as possible paid off before we leave for our trip.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[ceecee]

A lot of people do, I personally would collect any interest until then even if it's only a few dollars....that's me. We got the package this year and last so it is paid the month before we leave. As long as the $ is in your acct and waiting, to me it's the same as having it paid.

 

[georgina]

I paid mine off on my Disney Visa the month before we went so I would have the reward points to spend while there. I also bought a large amount of Disney Dollars for the trip with the DV - got reward points on that purchase too.

 

[Robinbare]

I sent payments each month until mine was paid for. This worked better for us. That way I couldnt spend the $$$$$!!!!! It felt good knowing it was paid for.

 

[LuvTigger]

I pay periodically prior to the trip too. I know it makes financial sense to wait, but I know there are many of us who prefer to pay for things periodically so we don't spend the money on other things, or have to worry about not having enough to cover hotel plus expenses.

The other year I had a Disneyland package and I paid something like $100 per month until we left. This year, we have room only ressies at WDW. I plan to pay one night's hotel every month until we leave, and I'm going to start picking up park passes early too so that all we need to worry about when we get there is food and souvenirs (plus the hotel at Universal since it seems to be more difficult to pay in advance there).

Georgina, thanks for the tip about paying ahead with Disney VISA so you have the points, I'm using my Disney VISA but didn't think about that part!

 

[mtblujeans]

Originally posted by georgina
I paid mine off on my Disney Visa the month before we went so I would have the reward points to spend while there.

This is my plan, too. I thought it seemed logical. I am trying to gather any and all ways to take 'spending money' that I can!

 

[HappyMommy2]

Thank you for your responses!

I think since we're only a couple of months away from our trip I'll wait another month and then go ahead and pay the balance. The money has been saved up and is sitting in our bank account, but whenever I see my account balance I have to tell myself, "That's not our money; it's Disney's" so I'd rather just hand it on over to Disney! It's a psychological thing, I guess.

Thanks again!

 

[Ilovestitch]

For my last trip, I wasn't sure about sending $$ ahead of time, so I just saved up the cash in an envelope. A week before my trip, I deposited the money in my checking acct. and then when I arrived, I paid off the room using my check card. -Stephanie

 

[twinkles0819]

How do you pay the balance off with a Credit card before you get there.....do you have to call the hotel reservations and tell them to go ahead and charge the whole bill??? Anyone, help

 

[bigbabyblues]

I would just call CRO and tell them to charge whatever amount I want to pay. If you want to pay it in full, then tell them that; if you only want to pay $100, they should be able to do that as well.

 

[LuvTigger]

If you received a confirmation from Disney, I believe on there is a payment stub where you can indicate how much you want to pay.

I've been using Dreams Unlimited, and on their website, there's an area where you can make payments in whatever amount you want.