Using Canadian Disney Gift Cards

I'm assuming the only real advantage is to save on the forex fee? I have a card that doesn't charge fees on USD transactions, so I'm not sure if going the gift card route is worth the hassle.

It's not just the foreign transaction fee. All Canadian banks charge a percentage above the actual rate. So if the rate is $1.35CAD/USD, CIBC may charge $1.37, BMO may be $1.38, and then they add the 2.5% foreign transaction fee on top of that. You're never getting the straight exchange rate, which is what the Disney Gift Cards give you - the $1.35.
 
I had no idea we could do this! I saw them pop up in the Walmart gift card section a while ago, but didn’t think we could use them in the US. I assumed they were for Disney store use!

Will definitely be squirrelling them away for our next trip. Mentally, it feels better to be able to slowly prepay for food and souvenirs.
 
Will definitely be squirrelling them away for our next trip. Mentally, it feels better to be able to slowly prepay for food and souvenirs.

Or even your resort, if staying onsite! That's what I'm hoping to use them for. Get my tickets with air miles and resort paid for in advance with gift cards. Anything leftover will go to food, trinkets, or maybe some fun treats that I wouldn't have been willing to pay for out-of-pocket before...
 


So glad I found this thread. I’m probably asking dumb questions so please forgive me.

Can we use gift cards to pay for tips in table service restaurants (have ddp so won’t need cash for that).

Is it possible to have them add gift card balances to magic bands? Just to make things even more convenient.

Do the Disney giftcards ever go into those rare promotions in shoppers etc., where giftcards are 20% off?
 
So glad I found this thread. I’m probably asking dumb questions so please forgive me.

Can we use gift cards to pay for tips in table service restaurants (have ddp so won’t need cash for that).

Is it possible to have them add gift card balances to magic bands? Just to make things even more convenient.

Do the Disney giftcards ever go into those rare promotions in shoppers etc., where giftcards are 20% off?

You can add them to your room reservation, so yes to magic band purchases.

I have never seen them at a discounted price.

I have never done the ddp so I am not much help to you there.
 
Has anyone used the CAD GC to pay for a DCL cruise itself, not OB acct, but a cruise payment?
 


Do the Disney giftcards ever go into those rare promotions in shoppers etc., where giftcards are 20% off?

I can't speak to Canada, but there are often ways to purchase discounted Disney gift cards in the US. In fact, there's a frequently updated thread in the budget board dedicated to how to purchase gift cards at a discount. Sort of the top ways there are:
  1. Using a credit card with a high cash back reward at the type of store that carries DGCs (e.g. grocery store or wholesale store).
  2. Waiting for a grocery store chain to offer a promotion that offers a reward (like discounted gasoline) or straight up cash off on gift cards. Disney cards sometimes fall into the eligible category for the promotion. These are the most common way to approach that 20% off goal you were hoping for.
  3. Purchasing from a wholesaler like Sam's Club that offers cards at a reduced price throughout the year.
  4. Employing cashback apps like RetailMeNot to earn $ back from buying GCs online or in store.
Any time you can combine 1 or more of these methods often results in significant savings.

I recommend starting a thread where you share ways you've found to purchase at a discount. As others read and learn, they will post tips they've found, too. Reading the past 10-20 pages on the thread mentioned above can give you some ideas to try out and see if they work north of the border. Even in that thread, there are stores that offer deals that are only regional in the US.
 
Has anyone used the CAD GC to pay for a DCL cruise itself, not OB acct, but a cruise payment?

Yes, but I couldn't do it online. I had to call in, and they applied the cards to my cruise payment. Once on the boat, I also used giftcards by applying them to my account at Guest Services early in the cruise, or by adding another one when I saw that the fees were adding up (you can now check your onboard account from the app on the phone during the cruise, you see payments on there too).

This was all for a cruise Feb 2019.
 
Yes, but I couldn't do it online. I had to call in, and they applied the cards to my cruise payment. Once on the boat, I also used giftcards by applying them to my account at Guest Services early in the cruise, or by adding another one when I saw that the fees were adding up (you can now check your onboard account from the app on the phone during the cruise, you see payments on there too).

This was all for a cruise Feb 2019.
Thx!
 
I have always had to call to make changes and always paid online. I used to hate calling because of the bill, but because of awesome Canadian Dis’ers I downloaded what’s app and call
For free!

Wait a second. Can u call Disney using whatsapp? I use whatsapp all the time but generally the other person needs to have it installed on their end too.

I call Disney by downloading the Talkatone app - it is one of those free VOIP calling apps but based in the US so comes with a US phone number. Free calling anywhere in the US with wifi/data. Only problem is sometimes calls get cut off after 20 mins (and u know how long some Disney calls can take!) the call quality can suffer if wifi connection is not strong enough.

So now if I know it will be a lengthy complicated call, I use my mother's Phone Club app. She preloads some money on it and it offers dirt cheap long distance/intl calling. For a wifi based app, it is surprisingly stable with excellent call quality.
 
Wait a second. Can u call Disney using whatsapp? I use whatsapp all the time but generally the other person needs to have it installed on their end too.

I call Disney by downloading the Talkatone app - it is one of those free VOIP calling apps but based in the US so comes with a US phone number. Free calling anywhere in the US with wifi/data. Only problem is sometimes calls get cut off after 20 mins (and u know how long some Disney calls can take!) the call quality can suffer if wifi connection is not strong enough.

So now if I know it will be a lengthy complicated call, I use my mother's Phone Club app. She preloads some money on it and it offers dirt cheap long distance/intl calling. For a wifi based app, it is surprisingly stable with excellent call quality.
I haven’t used whatsapp but I’ve used the hangouts app many times and it’s worked perfectly! No dropped calls and it’s free.
 
It's not just the foreign transaction fee. All Canadian banks charge a percentage above the actual rate. So if the rate is $1.35CAD/USD, CIBC may charge $1.37, BMO may be $1.38, and then they add the 2.5% foreign transaction fee on top of that. You're never getting the straight exchange rate, which is what the Disney Gift Cards give you - the $1.35.

That is my point, the forex fee is the percentage on top. It would cost me 2.5% to use my American express, so it would ultimately cost me an extra 2.5% if I charged to that card. There are canadian credit products that DO NOT charge forex fees, so it is possible to get the posted exchange rate on transactions.
 
Thanks so much for all the answers and the extra tips too. Sounds like there are a good few reasons to think giftcards are a good option.
 
That is my point, the forex fee is the percentage on top. It would cost me 2.5% to use my American express, so it would ultimately cost me an extra 2.5% if I charged to that card. There are canadian credit products that DO NOT charge forex fees, so it is possible to get the posted exchange rate on transactions.
Yes that’s true, but even when using my us credit card, I have to change my Canadian funds at some point to pay the bill. When I do this, I incur fees because I’m buying US dollars. Using the gift cards avoids all that. I get the exact us exchange rate right on the card that I bought with my Canadian money. At no point do I buy US dollars.
 
Wait a second. Can u call Disney using whatsapp? I use whatsapp all the time but generally the other person needs to have it installed on their end too.

I call Disney by downloading the Talkatone app - it is one of those free VOIP calling apps but based in the US so comes with a US phone number. Free calling anywhere in the US with wifi/data. Only problem is sometimes calls get cut off after 20 mins (and u know how long some Disney calls can take!) the call quality can suffer if wifi connection is not strong enough.

So now if I know it will be a lengthy complicated call, I use my mother's Phone Club app. She preloads some money on it and it offers dirt cheap long distance/intl calling. For a wifi based app, it is surprisingly stable with excellent call quality.
Sorry! I used what’s app to call my sister. I used hangouts to call Disney. I just stand where my router is, there is sometimes a bit of a lag but for free it’s pretty good!
 
It's not just the foreign transaction fee. All Canadian banks charge a percentage above the actual rate. So if the rate is $1.35CAD/USD, CIBC may charge $1.37, BMO may be $1.38, and then they add the 2.5% foreign transaction fee on top of that. You're never getting the straight exchange rate, which is what the Disney Gift Cards give you - the $1.35.

the main advantage as another poster mentioned is the 4% you get back on certain credit cards at grocery stores. For our $10K DC, this could have added up to an extra $400 saving, plus the % saved on forex. However, we only used DGCs for the deposit, the rest we paid with the Scotia Infinite Passport Visa, which has no forex fees, free trip cancellation/interruption, (which for a family of 5 would have been $300), a $250 signing bonus, now $300 :/, that we used for an Atlantis excursion, this plus the 1% back on the 75% you need to pay on the balance in order to lock in the insurance, made the choice easy for us.
 
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Yes that’s true, but even when using my us credit card, I have to change my Canadian funds at some point to pay the bill. When I do this, I incur fees because I’m buying US dollars. Using the gift cards avoids all that. I get the exact us exchange rate right on the card that I bought with my Canadian money. At no point do I buy US dollars.

Not sure how you pay or what accounts you use, but using a Canadian credit will not require you to change the money into American funds to pay the bill. My home trust Visa is a no forex fee card that simply converts the USD to CAD at the posted rate. Once the transaction posts, I just pay it off using my normal Canadian bank account just like any other purchase. No additional fees are incurred.

Also, as someone mentioned if you have cash back or other rewards associated with the card, its east to come out ahead.
 
One thing everyone needs to remember is the advantage of dollar cost averaging. Yes, you may save money buying Disney gift cards however you can also lose. If you buy $100 gift card you will not know the rate till you use it. That means it could be the value of $1.35 or $1.45 or $1.00 but your still at the rate of the day.
If you bought your US dollars as you do Disney gift cards, $100 here, $100 there, you can cost average that and you know exactly what you are paying. There's no guess work. Using the same senerio as above, you pay $135.00 and $145 and $100 then average what you paid. Your average on a $100 is $126.66 and your sure of your cost, its not up to crossing fingers when the day comes to pay. Even taking into account extra fees the bank may charge you chances are you will come out ahead. Any financial advisor would suggest dollar cost averaging for any investment and this is an investment.
Before anyone says 'but I don't have $100 for gift cards' this method works for any dollar value. It just guarantees the rate with no guess work. Not a method for everyone but certainly something to think about if your purchasing for a future visit. The extra plus is your not locked in to Disney when you purchase the cash instead of the gift cards.
Something to think about.
 
One thing everyone needs to remember is the advantage of dollar cost averaging. Yes, you may save money buying Disney gift cards however you can also lose. If you buy $100 gift card you will not know the rate till you use it. That means it could be the value of $1.35 or $1.45 or $1.00 but your still at the rate of the day.
If you bought your US dollars as you do Disney gift cards, $100 here, $100 there, you can cost average that and you know exactly what you are paying. There's no guess work. Using the same senerio as above, you pay $135.00 and $145 and $100 then average what you paid. Your average on a $100 is $126.66 and your sure of your cost, its not up to crossing fingers when the day comes to pay. Even taking into account extra fees the bank may charge you chances are you will come out ahead. Any financial advisor would suggest dollar cost averaging for any investment and this is an investment.
Before anyone says 'but I don't have $100 for gift cards' this method works for any dollar value. It just guarantees the rate with no guess work. Not a method for everyone but certainly something to think about if your purchasing for a future visit. The extra plus is your not locked in to Disney when you purchase the cash instead of the gift cards.
Something to think about.

you lock in the currency conversion rate when you consolidate your cards on disneygiftcards.com, the same day you buy the GCs if you want. I'm pretty sure this is what everyone is doing?
 

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