So I was telling my dad about my Disney Rewards card....

[Jon99]

Quickly he said... "Buy US Savings Bonds on the internet, cash them in 20 days later and pay off your card"... Yes or no????

 

[Jon99]

Nope, just looked and you have to hold the bonds for 12 months....

 

[jgates]

Just changed this year from a 6 month hold to a 12 month hold before redemption. You also wouldn't be earning much of anything during that period.

 

[DisneyVillain]

Haven't tried it, but...

I've been told that Disney dollars are a purchase and not a cash advance. They can be exchanged for cash at any Disney store, resort, or park.

 

[dahess]

We have a 3 year plan with our DVRewards Card. We are buying items like, groceries, clothes, gas, etc & paying with our card. Hopefully we will have enough Disney Rewards to pay for part of our 7 day cruise. Well, it is atleast wishful thinking.

 

[dcfromva]

Jon99,
Now that is a real interesting idea if a person were going to buy bonds anyway (to hold) as opposed to paying cash for them. I wonder if they charge a cash advance fee and interest immediately on those sorts of transactions?... (Savings Bonds didn't look very attractive a few years ago with the stock market doing as well as it was, but now-a-days....they look better . )

-DC

 

[PatriciaH]

You can buy I-bonds on the Governments web site and get the reward points. It is considered a purchase and not a cash advance.

 

[disneysteve]

This definitely works. I've been doing it for a while with my Marriott Rewards card. It was a bit better before they changed the holding period from 6 to 12 months, but it still works and I bonds are paying pretty decent interest (currently 4.66%). If you time your purchase properly, you really only have to hold the bond for about 10 months. If you cash the bond after 12 months, you lose 3 months worth of interest, but if you really only had the bond for 10 months, you've only sacrificed one month's interest. When you add in the value of the reward points earned, it more than makes up for the penalty.

Steve

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by DisneyVillain
I've been told that Disney dollars are a purchase and not a cash advance. They can be exchanged for cash at any Disney store, resort, or park.

Can anyone confirm this? Seems like they wouldn't let you get away with this. I could walk into a Disney Store today and buy $1000 Disney dollars and cash them in tomorrow. What a scam that could be.

Steve

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by disneysteve
Can anyone confirm this? Seems like they wouldn't let you get away with this. I could walk into a Disney Store today and buy $1000 Disney dollars and cash them in tomorrow. What a scam that could be.

Steve

What I heard is that the Dollars can be exchanged at the MK for real cash. I think the purpose is for people that don't spend all their DD and don't want to be stuck with them.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by summerrluvv
What I heard is that the Dollars can be exchanged at the MK for real cash. I think the purpose is for people that don't spend all their DD and don't want to be stuck with them.

But can you buy Disney dollars with your Visa card and have it treated as a purchase? If so, you could buy thousands of dollars one day, cash them in the next day (or even same day) then do it all over again the next month with the same money. It would never actually cost you anything because you would always get your money back.

Steve

 

[BethR]

I do know that I bought $100 worth of DD a few years back with my VISA card. Don't know if it was a mistake or not.

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by disneysteve
But can you buy Disney dollars with your Visa card and have it treated as a purchase? If so, you could buy thousands of dollars one day, cash them in the next day (or even same day) then do it all over again the next month with the same money. It would never actually cost you anything because you would always get your money back.

Steve

Well, I would think that the CM's at the place you were cashing them into would limit them after a certain amount, especially if it was blatantly obvious as to what you were doing. DD are the same as a Gift Certificate and credit card co's don't consider those cash advances.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by summerrluvv
DD are the same as a Gift Certificate and credit card co's don't consider those cash advances.

I'm not sure that this statement is true. Gift Certificates can't be redeemed for cash, only for merchandise. If Disney Dollars can be redeemed for cash then they are not the same. Any CM's here who can shed some light on this.

Steve

 

[WDWorBUST]

I don't know if it is considered a cash advance or not....I don't think the credit card company knows what you were purchasing. However I have used my Disney card to purchase $100 DD here recently.....I pay my statement off every month but I did not see where it was considered any different than a regular purchase. And I used my amex for it's rewards last year and bought probably $300 or so and never saw anything that looked as if it was being treated as a cash advance. And TDS does have a limit to how many they will sell you.....AND you can cash them back in for "regular" money as long as you keep your receipt at TDS. And I agree with an earlier poster - as many TDS's are closing you would be limited to where you could do this at and they would catch on pretty quick when you buy some - redeem them back for cash and then buy some more the next week. And with the limited amount you can purchase it wouldn't be worth doing anyway (I think the Official amount is $200 but I could be wrong - I always buy in $50 or $100 at a time).

 

[CM Tinkerbell]

I'm not sure how they handle this at MK, but at the Disney Stores, Disney Dollar returns require a receipt. If they were purchased on a credit card, your credit card would be credited back the amount of the purchase. You would not receive cash. in turn, any rewards points earned would be adjusted accordingly.

 

[patsal]

I purchase DD allt he time on my CC as gifts--they are not considered a cash advance.

 

[Aisling]

I think as long as you don't return the DDs, they count towards points. Any returns on the Disney Visa prevent you from getting those points.

 

[hercamore]

I usually buy $500 in disney dollars with my Discover Card for our trips. I've been doing this for years.

However, I do NOT cash the dollars back in and I usually only buy $100 at a time over a period of months before our trip to "spread out the financial pain". Shows up as l% cash rebate on my card.


herc.

 

[Sorcerer]

CM Tinkerbell is correct. Officially, at TDS, returns of Disney Dollars currently require a receipt. You will receive your money back in the form you paid - i.e. a credit card will receive a credit back, if you paid cash you'll receive cash, etc.