when do you pay in full?

[Lisa F]

Just a fun, light little survey with no right or wrong answers.

I save for and pay for vacations through bonuses at work and since I have been saving for this cruise, have been making payments on it as they come in. I am down to $462 to go and my vacation account has more than enough in it to buy some gift cards and pay it off for February 2020. My PIF date is October I believe.

I'm holding off for now because I want to buy plane tickets and southwest just delayed the release til August but at that point I will figure out what my all-in cost is and purchase travel insurance and then pay my cruise off and just begin saving for incidentals. I admit it feels great to be 88% paid off at this point, way better than the few cents in interest the money would have made me over the last year or so! So I'm an advocate of paying in full early and being able to enjoy the anticipation of a paid off cruise.

Anyone else? or does everyone else pay it on the last possible date?

 

[GatorMomInNC]

I like to pay as early as possible once I am certain I am going to go. But I would wait if I was hoping to get a good deal on gift cards. For example, the extra 5% from my Freedom card will probably come into play next quarter, so I may stock up on gift cards then. I haven't paid my cruise for next year yet as I am still unsure if I will take that cruise, but I usually will buy GCs if there is a good deal and then "hoard" them for my next cruise so once I am locked in I pay since I have already paid for the GCs well before then anyway.

 

[cvjw]

No rhyme or reason with us.

For our October cruise, we PIF on the day Costco told us to, even though the money to pay was available the day we booked.

For our 2 cabins on the fantasy next May, we have paid all but a few hundred dollars per cabin. We rented out our dvc points and used the cash for that cruise. When the agency sent us the money, we sent it to Disney. Could pay the rest now, but haven’t.

For our BTB next September (2020), the money is sitting in an account, but I have no intention of paying this early

 

[squirk]

I recognize the peace of mind of having the cruise paid for and "squared away" early, but I have no desire to give Disney my money any sooner than I have to. I usually pay in full about two weeks before my PIF date.

 

[lorimay]

I will PIF the day before I can start booking activities to be sure I am ready to log in at midnight.

 

[diznymom]

As soon as I can. All "extra" moneys go toward the payment of the cruise. Then, I start saving for the next cruise.

 

[braysmommy]

Typically a week or so prior to PIF date. All extra pay from side jobs I work go into vacation fund.

 

[Chirple]

I will PIF the day before I can start booking activities to be sure I am ready to log in at midnight.

Same with us. Our PIF isn't until August, but our booking window opens next week so I paid the balance last Friday.

 

[quickcat]

I always pay about 3 days before my booking window opens. We never pay earlier than that.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Since I save up all year with discounted GCs, I pay it off as soon as possible. That moves GCs out of the secure drawer in my desk to the cruise folder in the file cabinet. I figure the money has been invested and won't grow a penny more. Peace of mind, it's PIF.

 

[CamColt]

I keep my part time paycheck in a special account and buy gift cards from that, in increments of $1000.00, usually starting about 8 months in advance. I make the payments as I buy the gift cards so basically 4-8 months out I make the payments, making sure it is paid off more than 120 days out so I can book what I need to book.

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

Usually two weeks or so before the booking window opens. I leave enough of a buffer in the event of any issues, but I see no reason to pay any sooner. I do make sure, however, that the money is squirreled away in an account designated for vacation funds.

 

[T & R]

I'm not sure if this happens to anyone else but occasionally the following happens to me:

Once in a while about a month or so prior to the PIF date, my amount due will change slightly and I'll owe $14 to $45 less than I did before the change. This isn't from me making a payment or anything, just all of the sudden I owe slightly less. Not sure why or how and there is no itinerary change or anything else. For this reason, I never pay off early because I do not know if they would credit this little amount back if I was already PIF. This has happened about 2 or 3 times in the last 2 years and I'm not sure if I'm the only one or if other people just don't notice because it's a small dollar amount.

 

[MomOTwins]

I always pay about 3 days before my booking window opens. We never pay earlier than that.

Usually two weeks or so before the booking window opens. I leave enough of a buffer in the event of any issues, but I see no reason to pay any sooner. I do make sure, however, that the money is squirreled away in an account designated for vacation funds.

Just clarifying for folks that may be new that your PIF date may be significantly earlier than your booking window. We are silver so our booking window opens at 90 days pre-cruise, but for 7-day sailings the PIF date is now 120 days pre-cruise.

I'm not sure if this happens to anyone else but occasionally the following happens to me:

Once in a while about a month or so prior to the PIF date, my amount due will change slightly and I'll owe $14 to $45 less than I did before the change. This isn't from me making a payment or anything, just all of the sudden I owe slightly less. Not sure why or how and there is no itinerary change or anything else. For this reason, I never pay off early because I do not know if they would credit this little amount back if I was already PIF. This has happened about 2 or 3 times in the last 2 years and I'm not sure if I'm the only one or if other people just don't notice because it's a small dollar amount.

Changes to port fees/taxes. Those are set by the ports, not DCL, so sometimes they get changed and that changes your cruise price.

To answer the original question, I have a credit card that has 3% bonus on travel for the first $2,500 spent each quarter. So I made sure to spread out my payments a bit to maximize that benefit. The gift card thing doesn't work for me because I'd worry too much about being refunded to gift card if anything came up, and I don't like holding on to thousands of dollars in what is basically cash that anybody could spend if I misplaced it or if it were stolen.

 

[ivanp91]

Usually as soon as possible. I'm really big on budgeting things, so I hate feeling that I owe money on anything.

I've got two cruises in my upcoming vacation, so have been trying to spread the payments as much as possible to avoid the interest. This has resulted in, for the first time, cutting it very close to hitting the PIF date (paid around 3 days prior). My TA emailed a kind, but slightly panicked, reminder about a week beforehand because she realized it was so uncharacteristic for me to not have paid the balance already!

 

[Lisa F]

Just clarifying for folks that may be new that your PIF date may be significantly earlier than your booking window. We are silver so our booking window opens at 90 days pre-cruise, but for 7-day sailings the PIF date is now 120 days pre-cruise.

Yes, I believe my PIF date is October 25th and my booking window opens up around November 19th (for gold, I am going on memory since neither of those dates are looming). The PIF date seemed way earlier than I remembered, have they recently gone to 120 days or something?

Usually as soon as possible. I'm really big on budgeting things, so I hate feeling that I owe money on anything.

that's it exactly! I hate feeling like I owe money on it, I'm committed to going and it's like this bill looming out there I want to get paid off!

I'm not sure if this happens to anyone else but occasionally the following happens to me:

Once in a while about a month or so prior to the PIF date, my amount due will change slightly and I'll owe $14 to $45 less than I did before the change. This isn't from me making a payment or anything, just all of the sudden I owe slightly less. Not sure why or how and there is no itinerary change or anything else. For this reason, I never pay off early because I do not know if they would credit this little amount back if I was already PIF. This has happened about 2 or 3 times in the last 2 years and I'm not sure if I'm the only one or if other people just don't notice because it's a small dollar amount.

It would be interesting to hear how they handle it, I would guess it would go as an onboard credit? which I'd be fine with. But in either case that is a good reason for waiting on the last little bit I guess!

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Every payday we put aside an amount to purchase gift cards at a discount. We'll pay off our next cruise in November for a PIF date in March. That also lets us continue the payday loading of gift cards for the next cruise downpayment, loading shipboard account for excursions, pre-paying tips and giving us a 'tab' for shipboard purchases. This gives us the cruise with no debt incurred

 

[Lisa F]

Usually two weeks or so before the booking window opens. I leave enough of a buffer in the event of any issues, but I see no reason to pay any sooner. I do make sure, however, that the money is squirreled away in an account designated for vacation funds.

I do some combination of this... obviously I squirrel away money for things that can't be prepaid but I like to see smaller bills at the end of a vacation even if I have the money set aside for them! It still hurts to write that big check at once!

I keep my part time paycheck in a special account and buy gift cards from that, in increments of $1000.00, usually starting about 8 months in advance. I make the payments as I buy the gift cards so basically 4-8 months out I make the payments, making sure it is paid off more than 120 days out so I can book what I need to book.

I get some bonuses in the form of visa gift cards so those go right away but when I am buying gift cards I do wait until I have a reasonable amount at once (like $500) before doing anything with it... I try to not drive my TA crazy with tons of small payments!

Since I save up all year with discounted GCs, I pay it off as soon as possible. That moves GCs out of the secure drawer in my desk to the cruise folder in the file cabinet. I figure the money has been invested and won't grow a penny more. Peace of mind, it's PIF.

yup totally agree on the peace of mind factor!

I always pay about 3 days before my booking window opens. We never pay earlier than that.

Isn't your PIF date before your booking window opens anyway? I was surprised by how early it is for my cruise!

Same with us. Our PIF isn't until August, but our booking window opens next week so I paid the balance last Friday.

is it a shorter cruise than 7 days?

Typically a week or so prior to PIF date. All extra pay from side jobs I work go into vacation fund.

I keep a separate vacation fund too. I just like having that money completely separate, less guilt about using it! Once I put something into regular savings I pretend it's gone.

As soon as I can. All "extra" moneys go toward the payment of the cruise. Then, I start saving for the next cruise.

Yes, it was great when I had some money left from my last vacation and had a head start on the cruise!!!

I will PIF the day before I can start booking activities to be sure I am ready to log in at midnight.

for me PIF comes before activities... still not sure about the various timing options!

I recognize the peace of mind of having the cruise paid for and "squared away" early, but I have no desire to give Disney my money any sooner than I have to. I usually pay in full about two weeks before my PIF date.

That's still before you have to yes it's definitely an emotional thing, I do not feel like it is "mine" until it has been paid for... and I want it! Also the longer the money sits in my account the more it hurts to spend it, lol.

No rhyme or reason with us.

For our October cruise, we PIF on the day Costco told us to, even though the money to pay was available the day we booked.

For our 2 cabins on the fantasy next May, we have paid all but a few hundred dollars per cabin. We rented out our dvc points and used the cash for that cruise. When the agency sent us the money, we sent it to Disney. Could pay the rest now, but haven’t.

For our BTB next September (2020), the money is sitting in an account, but I have no intention of paying this early

yes that is pretty early. I did not start making payments toward my cruise (beyond deposit) til about a year out or a little less even though I booked it opening day!

I like to pay as early as possible once I am certain I am going to go. But I would wait if I was hoping to get a good deal on gift cards. For example, the extra 5% from my Freedom card will probably come into play next quarter, so I may stock up on gift cards then. I haven't paid my cruise for next year yet as I am still unsure if I will take that cruise, but I usually will buy GCs if there is a good deal and then "hoard" them for my next cruise so once I am locked in I pay since I have already paid for the GCs well before then anyway.

yup, I was fairly certain I was going to take this cruise since it's a SWDAS and bucket list item for me to do with my son!

Love the responses!

 

[Lisa F]

Every payday we put aside an amount to purchase gift cards at a discount. We'll pay off our next cruise in November for a PIF date in March. That also lets us continue the payday loading of gift cards for the next cruise downpayment, loading shipboard account for excursions, pre-paying tips and giving us a 'tab' for shipboard purchases. This gives us the cruise with no debt incurred

yes, I never come out of my vacations with actual debt but coming out of it with a huge credit card bill that I then have to drain my fat vacation account to pay is kind of a bummer so I try to prepay as much as possible and keep the post vacation expenses reasonable. It's totally psychological!

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We like to pay them off early. There's a cruise we have booked for January and I had planned on paying for it with a bonus I knew I'd get in April. Once the money came in we paid off the cruise. Part of this was because we had several things that got paid to us all at once - I got a retention bonus and my annual bonus, and my husband got laid off (but immediately started another job) and he got his severance as a lump sum. We knew we wouldn't make all that much interest on keeping the money sitting in savings. Plus there have been times when I've mentally double spent my bonus .

We have another one booked for October and I imagine we'll pay that off some time early next year. I like having things paid off and being able to see what's left in our vacation account, vs having lots of things outstanding.