Room Charges???

[Bitsmommy]

I was hoping that someone could tell me how they work.

We are using our debit card (don't flame me...we are Dave Ramsey people and will never have a credit card again). I would love the convince of having room charges, because I don't have to worry about having cash with me. I just paid all of our bills because we picked possibly the worst week to go, I had to pay many of them WAY early because they would have been late if I waited until we got back and I couldn't "schedule" them. Now our checking acct is low, but not near empty, until we get paid again on the 10th. We arrive on the 7th. We have plenty of cash to have spending money for the entire trip and should be fine with the room charges UNLESS they put a LARGE hold on funds when we check in! That would be the only problem. SO, DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THE RESORT PUTS A HOLD ON YOUR FUNDS IN YOUR ACCOUNT WHEN YOU USE YOUR DEBIT CARD FOR ROOM CHARGES????? Thanks!

 

[Sandisw]

I don't know that but have you considered getting a Disney Gift Card to cover some costs for those first few days?

Once the funds hit on the 10th, then you can begin to use your KTTW card for charging.

We do this as I prefer not to have CC on the KTTW card and they work just as easy at a KTTW card in terms of not having to have cash.

Good luck!

 

[Bitsmommy]

I don't know that but have you considered getting a Disney Gift Card to cover some costs for those first few days?

Once the funds hit on the 10th, then you can begin to use your KTTW card for charging.

We do this as I prefer not to have CC on the KTTW card and they work just as easy at a KTTW card in terms of not having to have cash.

Good luck!

Thanks! I would love to do that, but we no longer have a Disney Store near us and I am not sure where I can get the gift cards. Sadly, our Disney Store went under in the Nashville Floods

 

[mapmakerj]

My local Walgreens sells the Disney gift cards. They are in the display with all the restaurant, gas, etc. cards.

 

[Bitsmommy]

Sweet!! I will check that out! Walgreens was NOT flooded!

 

[goofy4tink]

I have used our debit card a lot. It does have a Visa logo on it though, so not sure if that makes a difference. But, it is truly a debit card. Disney has never put a huge amount on it to start. They may run it and charge $1 to make sure it is a good card. Then, on the last day of your stay, they run the entire room balance on the card. The only time I have had an issue was when we forgot to change the daily limit on my card. So, had to call the bank and do it over the phone since our daily limit was well under the amount to be charged!!

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Like above that was my only thought. Do you have a daily limit with the bank? That might mess things up.

 

[Bitsmommy]

I have used our debit card a lot. It does have a Visa logo on it though, so not sure if that makes a difference. But, it is truly a debit card. Disney has never put a huge amount on it to start. They may run it and charge $1 to make sure it is a good card. Then, on the last day of your stay, they run the entire room balance on the card. The only time I have had an issue was when we forgot to change the daily limit on my card. So, had to call the bank and do it over the phone since our daily limit was well under the amount to be charged!!

Great! That is what I needed to know. Ours has a Mastercard logo. I just needed to make sure that they weren't going to charge like $1000.00 to it or anything. I would have that much cash available, but not on a debit card until the 10th, since I got to pay the mortgage 2 times this month! Yippie! And I didn't want the bills that I scheduled to bounce cause of a hold! Hope this makes sense. Debit cards can be tricky at times.

 

[Bitsmommy]

Like above that was my only thought. Do you have a daily limit with the bank? That might mess things up.

I am going to call the bank and make sure, but I don't think so. I have done some MAJOR damage with that card the day after Thanksgiving shopping and I have never had a problem. I did get a call once after a LARGE Gymboree Purchase though... They just wanted to verify! I usually just go down to the desk and check room charges and apply a cash payment toward it anyway. At least I think that is what I did last time, yeah, because we had purchased Visa travelers checks and we were able to use those to pay the balance, but used a credit card to hold the room charge. Does that make sense????

 

[CanadianGuy]

They do a simple "is this card valid" pre-authorization charge at the beginning.. I think it's a dollar which is released a few days later when the 'real charge' never shows up.

For values.. the limit for the room charging is $500 , mods $1000 and deluxe $1500.

When you hit that limit, you have to go tot he front desk and authorize a charge to your card for the amount owed (or pay cash, traveler's checks etc.. either works) .. and they reset the limit and you're all set til you reach the limit again.

Enjoy.

Knox

 

[Chelley00]

I have used our debit card a lot. It does have a Visa logo on it though, so not sure if that makes a difference. But, it is truly a debit card. Disney has never put a huge amount on it to start.

Same here. I always use my debit Visa card. They've never put a hold on our funds.

 

[PictureJumpr]

I agree with the pps about them not charging a huge chunk upfront.

I use my checking/debit visa card every time, have never had a problem - until the week after I get home...

They do take out an authorization on your account for the amount of your room charge on the last night you are there. Then they hold it. (I totally understand why - they allow you to continue charging and so do not 'close your ticket' until after they know you are gone and all charges are finished.) My aggravation comes from the fact that they often don't 'close' or collect on the authorization for as many as ten days after I get home - which makes me nuts because I am the type who likes all numbers to match up and it bugs me that that authorization is out there in space for days and days and so my true balance does not match my computed balance.

It's not that I forget and think I have more money than I do, it just annoys me... and yes, I know I am a little crazy

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks! I would love to do that, but we no longer have a Disney Store near us and I am not sure where I can get the gift cards. Sadly, our Disney Store went under in the Nashville Floods

I get them through the Disney store link through ebates.com. You end up getting a rebate of 3%.

And, if I am not mistaken, they do not charge shipping for gift cards.

Good luck!

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

I was hoping that someone could tell me how they work.

We are using our debit card (don't flame me...we are Dave Ramsey people and will never have a credit card again). I would love the convince of having room charges, because I don't have to worry about having cash with me. I just paid all of our bills because we picked possibly the worst week to go, I had to pay many of them WAY early because they would have been late if I waited until we got back and I couldn't "schedule" them. Now our checking acct is low, but not near empty, until we get paid again on the 10th. We arrive on the 7th. We have plenty of cash to have spending money for the entire trip and should be fine with the room charges UNLESS they put a LARGE hold on funds when we check in! That would be the only problem. SO, DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THE RESORT PUTS A HOLD ON YOUR FUNDS IN YOUR ACCOUNT WHEN YOU USE YOUR DEBIT CARD FOR ROOM CHARGES????? Thanks!

I just came back and I have the same type of situation. they ran my card and gave me a 1500 dollar limit and only $1.00 was taken out( I should say1.00 was "run". to make sure card is active). The day you leave the card is run that end of day.

 

[grimley1968]

I have some advice for those who want to use their debit cards for this purpose, but who also have a daily limit on their cards (I have a $500 daily limit I think and I like that for its built-in fraud damage control). If your charged balance at the resort is going to exceed that daily limit amount, you can go to the front desk early and pay a lesser amount (say $500) on your debit card, then go back the next day or later to pay more. This way you don't need to have your bank raise your daily limit.

It's sort of like what Knox said earlier, but more of a voluntary, gradual method of payment rather than only paying when the limit is hit or at checkout.

 

[Chelley00]

You might want to call your bank and let them know you are traveling. We've had our debit cards restricted because the fraud department saw spending in Florida (and that's not where we live) It happened to DH twice on one trip.

 

[Anthony1971]

YOu can set your limit at 500.00 and Disney will charge the card everytime it reaches that amount.
you can also put cash on your account when you check in to avoid any problems.
I do not know what disney puts an authorization through for... you should ask to be on the safe side....

 

[LILOLO]

Clueless question here... if I booked my package on the WDW website, and will have it paid off before we travel, will they still charge my debit card on the last day like previously mentioned?

 

[grimley1968]

Clueless question here... if I booked my package on the WDW website, and will have it paid off before we travel, will they still charge my debit card on the last day like previously mentioned?

They can charge incidentals to whatever card you'd like. Just have them swipe whichever card you like when you check in and that will be what they charge stuff to. Like previously mentioned, the charge will occur on the last day unless you reach the charging limit of the resort (or you just prefer to pay it while you're there).

I'm in the same situation as you: my upcoming trip is paid for, and we're thinking of just using the debit card for incidentals rather than the credit card they already have for incidentals charging. I'll probably just have them swipe my debit card when we arrive to switch to that card for incidentals charging.

 

[LILOLO]

They can charge incidentals to whatever card you'd like. Just have them swipe whichever card you like when you check in and that will be what they charge stuff to. Like previously mentioned, the charge will occur on the last day unless you reach the charging limit of the resort (or you just prefer to pay it while you're there).

I'm in the same situation as you: my upcoming trip is paid for, and we're thinking of just using the debit card for incidentals rather than the credit card they already have for incidentals charging. I'll probably just have them swipe my debit card when we arrive to switch to that card for incidentals charging.

Thank you. So if I don't have any incidentals and I use cash for my purchases throughout my trip, they won't charge anything on the last day, right?