Would you pay off your trip?

[sluggozmom]

I am thinking about paying off my trip... any reason I shouldn't?
My trip isn't until August.
I bought enough gift cards to pay off the whole trip through the Target deal the other day.
I combined them all this morning. I am just worried the cards will got lost, or worse... compromised somehow.

 

[dbavis]

Either way, you definitely want to hold onto the cards. If you pay now, and then need to cancel for some reason, the refund will go back to the cards.

 

[MrInfinity]

Put the cards into a Disney Vacation Account. Then pay off your trip w that balance and toss out the cards. If you cancel, the balance will go back into your DVA instead of to 100 cards. Cards are a liability to have money on them sitting around, and a pain if you refund to them. Since your trip isn't until August, you can leave the DVA open for 120 days to get another 2% bonus.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

I like @MrInfinity suggestion of using a DVA. That's what we're doing. We funded our DVA with discounted gift cards and credit card travel credits. You need to have it open for 120 days to earn the $20 bonus per $1000 spent so make sure you do that before you make any payments from your account. We paid off a big chunk of our January 2017 trip in late August so we could request the bonus in plenty of time to get it before our trip. We left part of the balance in case a room discount came out, which it did. We'll pay the balance early in January, before we do online check-in, so our credit card doesn't get charged by mistake.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

Duplicate

 

[georgina]

I almost always do room-only reservations, and pay them off with gift cards a few days before my trip. I don't worry about losing the GC or them being compromised somehow. I've never done the DVA.

Next trip we rented DVC points, so had to pay it all upfront.

 

[AquaDame]

I am thinking about paying off my trip... any reason I shouldn't?
My trip isn't until August.
I bought enough gift cards to pay off the whole trip through the Target deal the other day.
I combined them all this morning. I am just worried the cards will got lost, or worse... compromised somehow.

Yep, that is why I always apply them right away, but leave a little open until the PIF date in case something comes up. I like knowing the cards worked without issue and if something comes up I can go back and deal with it. Make sure you keep those cards around though in case you need a refund for any reason.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I'd go the DVA route as other PP's have mentioned. Any amount over $1,000 and you get an extra $20 in Disney money per $1,000 spent - I wouldn't leave money on the table but I know some are hesitant to use DVA. I'm not. I've only had positive experiences with them.

 

[kniquy]

Yup definitely do the DVA -- but there is the timeframe that it needs to be open before you qualify for the credit

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I wouldn't do the DVA ONLY because I've read so many issues on this board where people started one and then lost access to it. I would go ahead and pay off the trip if you have the means.

 

[tinker&belle]

I would pay all but $20 and hang onto the cards because changes are more difficult once you are paid in full and you can't add Travel Insurance at that point.

 

[Shughart]

I would go the DVA route. This is what we did. I would throw money in there as I could and then started almost exclusively using discounted gift cards (Sams Club). I would wait till I had a stack of cards and then load them all in at one time. I did the same as some others mentioned and did not pay my balance off until right before (a month for us) to see if any discounts applied. Free dining came up during our stay but not for our hotel. So I paid the last $500 off a month before the trip and then checked us in online. I will definitely be using DVA for our next trip as well.

 

[tink1970]

Add me to the DVA account club...I'm paying off our summer cruise early Feb having combined discounted gift cards from Sam's and Target. I agree with wanting to squeeze out as much bang for my buck as possible...and the 2% I'll get back will pay for 3 of our 4 gratuities once onboard. So I'm happy!