American Express Gift Cards

[britlightyear]

Does anyone know if they take the American Express gift cards at WDW? We have a vacation package already paid for so I'm just wondering if they can be used at restaurants and stores/gift shops. Is there anywhere they can't be used?
*Also wondering if they can be used at Universal?:shrug:
Thanks!

 

[Rob562]

Gift cards branded with a major credit card logo work just as if they were that company's credit card. That's the convenient thing about them. So if the locations accept AmEx (which most do), you can use it.

Just make sure that you read the instructions that came with the card carefully in regards to using it at places where they might put a hold on the card (such as a restaurant or gas station's pay-at-the-pump). Also make sure to read the instructions on how to make a purchase with the card where the purchase price is more than the balance left on the card. (It's not as simple as using a store gift card where the register can look up and know the remaining balance)

A few years ago I used a Mastercard gift card on a couple trips, purchased through the guest services desk at my local mall (cheapest fees I could find). The first time I ordered it early enough where they could customize it with my name and mail it to me.

The other time I left it too late, and just bought it right from the desk. But the at-the-desk cards are all pre-made generic cards with "Simon Mall Customer" as the name on the card. On that trip I got called "Simon" or "Mr. Customer" a couple times by cashiers...

Lastly, you could also just open a room charge account at your Disney hotel (assuming you're staying at one) and just use the AmEx card to pay-down the balance on the room charge account... Of course, that won't help when you go to Universal.

-Rob

 

[britlightyear]

Thanks for that great info! I have been given a couple of these cards and wanted to save them for our Disney trip but wasn't sure if I would be able to use them everywhere. Thank you so much! :wave:

 

[slappy magoo]

Lastly, you could also just open a room charge account at your Disney hotel (assuming you're staying at one) and just use the AmEx card to pay-down the balance on the room charge account... Of course, that won't help when you go to Universal.

-Rob

That's how I would do it. Leave the gift cards in your room safe (unless you're going offsite and for some reason have no other way to pay for anything besides those cards). When you check out, pay as much as you can with the gift cards, then pay the balance however you choose.

I'd also add, you're probably safe when it comes to AmEx gift cards, but you may want to call the number on the card to make sure the cards still have their original value. Sometimes cards have expiration dates, or at least lose some value in certain increments.