Travel without a credit card??

[grover]

Does anyone here travel without a credit card? How do you pay for things with out carrying a huge wad of cash or traveller's cheques around with you? What about a rental car and reserving your hotel room at Disney? I would like to do a trip that is all paid cash-and nothing gets charged b/c in my world it sometime doesn't always get you know paid off immediately-shhh-don't tell anyone!!! So if you go this route how do you do it?

Grover in Winnipeg

 

[Kermit]

I'm not one of those people w/out credit cards, but I can give you a little insight. Paying for your room shouldn't be hard. You just have to send the check in soon enough that it will get there before the deadline. Likewise, you can send in extra money so that you can charge things to your room and it will come out of that money.

The rental car will be harder. I'm almost positive that all of the major car rental companies require a "real" credit card--you can't even use a debit card. But I've heard there are some local rental agencies that will rent to people without credit cards. I'm guessing they do require a sizeable deposit. If you're staying onsite, I would definitely forego the rental in that case. We drive and don't ever use our car, so I'm obviously a big fan of Disney transportation, but it doesn't seem like it would be worth the hassle.

 

[bootc3]

We did it for our 2 week vacation last September. Have you thought of getting a visa/mastercard debit card from your bank? It is linked to your checking account. We rented a car through Dollar. They are on-site and the charge your debit card the cost of rental plus 10%. We had no problems at all. Best of all no bills to pay when you get home

 

[tink2dw]

There are ways around renting a Car. If all you need is transport to and from the Airport use a Towncar service[$80. round trip] some even give you a 1/2 hour grocery stop.
You can find out more on the transportion Board
http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=16&x=12&y=9

If that doesn't fit your budget Orlando buses run from the Airport to TTC at WDW. You can even ride to Belz Factory Outlet Stores on the Lynx!! Here's some info on riding Lynx.
http://www.golynx.com/fares/body_fares.htm
And the from,
fostrmom2mny
DIS Veteran
I answered this before, but when the boards crashed, it was lost. So in an effert to make certain that you have your answer, here it goes again

We would go to the TTC and catch the Lynx bus rt # 51 (I think) there is a transfer to rt#17 (again, I think that's the #) Ask the bus driver for sure about the rt. #. They are very helpful and will make sure that you get off at your stop.

The bus will take you with in a block (Belz Mall is HUGE and it has 4 seperate bldgs. The bus will pick up at the complex. It's not far at all to walk to the bus stop from the bldg. They have a nice food court there as well. I found this trip easy, safe and inexpensive. $1.10 per person each direction. Have exact change since they do not give you change. Good luck and PM me if you have any more questions or concerns about doing this.

I always saud that I'd post about this. When I was researching my trip and read how much of a savings it is to purchase your souvinirs from Charecter Warehouse, I knew that I'd have to try their bus system. I'm glad that I did, and I will plan on doing this again if and when I get to return to WDW for vacation.

Gerri

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Our last trip we did not put one penny on our credit card but I would never travel without having it with me. We used a Visa debit card (money comes straight from our checking account) for driving down expences and took a little cash and mostly travlers checks. We used our room key to charge everythng, and then payed it off. When I was a child our family never took a trip without an emergency! It has never happened to us but you never know. My DD ended up at the hospital in Orlando once! Better safe that sorry.

Jordan's mom

 

[Babblin'Boo]

A debit card would make sense. Simply deposit all the money you think you'll need.

 

[poohraedopey]

We dont have any actual credit cards we used to caryy high balances and lif eis much nicer without them MOST OF THE TIME! We do have a DEBIT MASTERCARD at our bank however. I hear that you can rent a car with L&M or Dollar with just cash or even a debit card. Just be prepared for any extras or with dollar I think an extra 10% deposit.

As for hotel rooms they shoudl be no problem wihtout acredit card. most DONT charge anything extra these days. You just cant charge to the room since you will have no credit.

Otherwise yes I will be carrying quite a bit of cash/disney dollars on me and/or hubby. Actually planning to change MOSt of the cash to amex travellers checks at the back before we leave JUST IN CASE! I lost 4 once in france and had to get them switched which was great rather than LOSING the money! Cash is not replaceable!

 

[iwant2go2disney]

We to will be traveling without credit cards because I dont want to bbe paying for this vacation for 2 yrs. We will not need a rental car however I do know for a fact that Enterprise rentacar will let you rent without a credit card you will have to put up a 250.00 cash deposit but it is well worth it. We tried to save on the deposit and use one of those places that say no credit card required. HA big mistake! My husband says you pay for what you get and boy did I learn my lesson when the car broke down they would not even come and get it. You live and learn. Never again!
The disney dallars is a great plan I can give my son 10. disney dallars a day andf be done What a wonderful idea!

Tammy
Going to disney Yeah March10-15
OKW at a wonderful budget price.

 

[Super Mom]

We don't have credit cards either. We do have a debit visa, but did not use it at all on our last trip. I brought about 3/4 of our money in traveler's checks and 1/4 in cash. I had plotted my daily budget before hand (love those PassPorter worksheets) so I was able to leave most of the money locked in the hotel safe. I brought along just what I thought I would need and about $50 extra "just in case" I never had a problem.

 

[suesings]

Hi,
What is a Passporter Worksheet and where can I find one!

Thanks, Sue

 

[Topper]

Most car rental agencies simply require you to use a credit card when you pick the car up.
When you return the car, you can pay with cash, debit card, traveler's cheques, another credit card, or the card you used when you picked up the car.

I do this all the time with National Emerald Aisle. Pick it up with a credit card, return and pay with a debit card.

FYI

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

Originally posted by suesings
Hi,
What is a Passporter Worksheet and where can I find one!

Thanks, Sue

PassPorter is a Walt Disney World planning guide. PassPorter.com

They are currently offering the 2000 edition for free (+ shipping)! It is a great way to tryy it out before you buy the newest edition. I really like these planners. There are worksheets, maps & even little pockets to hold your stuff. The 2002 edition is scheduled to be released very soon and is available for pre-order.

 

[Humpbacks1962]

I bring some money in travelers cheques, but use my credit card whenever I can to earn my rewards.

The thing about carrying long term debt can be dealt with by simply paying everything off early. Book way ahead of time and pay off your hotel stay, planes, tickets, etc. When you get to the parks, all you'll have are your meals and maybe a souvenir or two. That is what I do and it works out just fine.

Wanda

 

[Bethshaya]

I have been debt free for 10 years and do not own a credit card. I use cash for everything. When I need a credit card, I have a checking account that has a debit card for it. Everything deducted from the account via the visa card/debit card.

I can relax on my trip. When I land, everything has been paid for already.

Where I need to use cash, I budget and sort everything according to budget into envelopes. I color code them for meals, tips, transportation, etc. That days money goes into the envelopes and into my fanny pack for the day. I pull the money out of the envelope depending on what its for. That way I know if I am over or under budget. If I have excess, it goes into the envelope when I get back to the room for the next day as "extra" spending money.

I try to get prices nailed down before I leave and estimate the rest.

 

[grover]

LOL-my gosh...this post has been resurrected from the depths of cyber space hasn't it!!!
Grover in Winnipeg

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Kermit
I'm not one of those people w/out credit cards, but I can give you a little insight. Paying for your room shouldn't be hard. You just have to send the check in soon enough that it will get there before the deadline. Likewise, you can send in extra money so that you can charge things to your room and it will come out of that money.

The rental car will be harder. I'm almost positive that all of the major car rental companies require a "real" credit card--you can't even use a debit card. But I've heard there are some local rental agencies that will rent to people without credit cards. I'm guessing they do require a sizeable deposit. If you're staying onsite, I would definitely forego the rental in that case. We drive and don't ever use our car, so I'm obviously a big fan of Disney transportation, but it doesn't seem like it would be worth the hassle.

Alamo will rent to you with a Debit card if you have proof of a round trip.
Dollar will rent to you with a Debit card if you pass their credit check.
Hertz will rent to you with a Debit card if you are a number 1 Gold member.

 

[wdwpluto]

You can also get a pre-paid Visa card from AAA. Just put the amount you want to spend on it and take it with you. When they money runs out, it's out and there's nothing to pay off. Safer than carrying cash imho. Or use traveler's checks. This way if they're lost or stolen you're not totally broke.

 

[zippehsmom]

We're not charging anything on CC this trip except rental car. However, our CC is through our bank so I just plan on transferring the cost of the rental car unto the CC. We will have a negative balance for a few days, but at least I know I will not be tempted to spend the cash.

zippehsmom

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by wdwpluto
You can also get a pre-paid Visa card from AAA. Just put the amount you want to spend on it and take it with you. When they money runs out, it's out and there's nothing to pay off. Safer than carrying cash imho. Or use traveler's checks. This way if they're lost or stolen you're not totally broke.

Rental car agencies will not accept a preloaded Visa card for rental.

 

[tmli]

Here in Canada we do not have Visa debit cards. We have debit cards linked to our bank account but they don't work the same way as yours do. Also we can't purchase Disney $ and our CAA does not offer preloaded visa's. Poor us!!!!