Paying for your Room with Gift Cards?

[desertbloom]

I bought a bunch of gift cards from BJ's to pay for our upcoming room only reservation. Can anyone tell me when I give them to the front desk to pay the room off? I called to speak with a cast member before I bought them and he told me they will just add them to my account whe we check in and the room would be deducted from the balance. However, after reading the thread about charging to the MB and that you can't load gift cards to your account for purchases, I am wondering how accurate the info the cast member gave me was. I just want to make sure the room balance doesn't get charged to my CC. I sure don't need to be stuck with Disney gift cards that I will never use otherwise.

Thanks, all!

 

[Wubar]

If you set up your MDE, your reservation will appear under your reservations. You can go in at any time and pay off some or all of the remaining balance with GCs or CCs. That's what we did, paid off the entire balance using Disney GCs before we arrived, and then stopped down to the front desk to pay off any room charges before check out.

 

[desertbloom]

Thanks for the info! That helps tremendously! Curious what happens if you end up having to cancel at the last minute because of an emergency if your room has already been paid off with gc's.

 

[Wubar]

Not sure, I know that Disney would refund you according to the cancellation terms. I do know that you should keep the physical gift card (or at least the account number and PIN), as refunds are returned to the original form of payment.

 

[dbavis]

Thanks for the info! That helps tremendously! Curious what happens if you end up having to cancel at the last minute because of an emergency if your room has already been paid off with gc's.

if you're cancelling in time to get a refund, it is put back onto the gift cards. make sure you keep the gift cards you use until after your trip is complete in case something like this happens.

 

[starry_solo]

Make sure to combine your gift cards (up to $1000) on disneygiftcard.com so that you would only have to use one or two.

 

[Tattylou]

If you go to disneygiftcards.com, you can consolidate all the gift cards onto 1 card (up to $1000). Then, you can use 1 gift card to pay your balance on MDE and only worry about having to hold onto 1 gift card in case of cancellation/refund.

 

[22Tink]

I bought a bunch of gift cards from BJ's to pay for our upcoming room only reservation. Can anyone tell me when I give them to the front desk to pay the room off? I called to speak with a cast member before I bought them and he told me they will just add them to my account whe we check in and the room would be deducted from the balance. However, after reading the thread about charging to the MB and that you can't load gift cards to your account for purchases, I am wondering how accurate the info the cast member gave me was. I just want to make sure the room balance doesn't get charged to my CC. I sure don't need to be stuck with Disney gift cards that I will never use otherwise.

Thanks, all!

We don’t go until March but we’ve paid off our room only reservation with gift cards. You can’t make room only payments online though, you’ll have to call, but it’s all automated and super easy.

 

[Tattylou]

If you go to disneygiftcard.com then you can transfer all your gift cards onto one gift card (up to $1000). Then use that one card to pay down your balance on MDE. That way you only have to hold onto one gift card in case of cancellation/refund. Like @dbavis said, any refund due to a cancellation goes back on the gift card (s) you used to pay.

 

[dzndft]

So, if you use your Magic Band to charge meals, souvenirs, etc, back to your resort account, you can or cannot pay off that balance with Disney gift cards?

 

[Wubar]

So, if you use your Magic Band to charge meals, souvenirs, etc, back to your resort account, you can or cannot pay off that balance with Disney gift cards?

I imagine if you stop at the front desk before the threshold for automatically charging your credit card is reached, you could pay off any room charges with whatever payment method you choose.

 

[Fangorn]

So, if you use your Magic Band to charge meals, souvenirs, etc, back to your resort account, you can or cannot pay off that balance with Disney gift cards?

Yes you can use gift cards to pay off any balance on your room account. Just stop by the front desk anytime prior to midnight the day before you check out.

Steve

 

[rosiebean]

I used gift cards to pay down my MB charges toward the end of our trip last August. It was super easy! Less than five minutes at the front desk.

 

[dzndft]

Excellent - Thanks for your help. Just love the DIS boards to help make our trips the best they can be.

 

[TIS Grandma]

I used gift cards to pay down my MB charges toward the end of our trip last August. It was super easy! Less than five minutes at the front desk.

We had the same experience. Plus we had one for declining housekeeping. Love those BJs cards!

 

[Lvsdisney]

Last time I had a room-only reservation, I paid the balance due on check-in day. You should be able to do that with your gift cards too.

 

[KickassPrincess]

I also bought the BJ's cards and will pay with them when we check in. I don't think they can charge your credit card ahead of time so long as you don't enter it into the system for online check in. The only minor issue that has created was that I had to call in to add a room request- the system wouldn't accept just the room request portion without my credit card. That was solved with one phone call.

 

[shoes99]

I also bought the BJ's cards and will pay with them when we check in. I don't think they can charge your credit card ahead of time so long as you don't enter it into the system for online check in. The only minor issue that has created was that I had to call in to add a room request- the system wouldn't accept just the room request portion without my credit card. That was solved with one phone call.

They do charge your cc the morning of check-in. So if I don't want them to charge my cc on file, do I have to remove the cc from online check-in. I have also saved up BJ gift cards to pay off my room only reservation.

 

[dansdad]

They do charge your cc the morning of check-in. So if I don't want them to charge my cc on file, do I have to remove the cc from online check-in. I have also saved up BJ gift cards to pay off my room only reservation.

Yes. Or use the Gift Cards and pay it off before your trip.

 

[KickassPrincess]

They do charge your cc the morning of check-in. So if I don't want them to charge my cc on file, do I have to remove the cc from online check-in. I have also saved up BJ gift cards to pay off my room only reservation.

Yes, if you do online check in they will charge the card that morning because they think you want to be able to go straight to your room. That's why I didn't do it and haven't put a card on file yet- I will just go to the desk when we get there. As others have said you could either call in to pay the room off ahead of time with the gift cards, or edit your file to remove your card so they don't charge it on you before you get there.