Link child's MagicBand to gift card?

[emar68]

Hi all,

Wondering if it is possible to link a child's MagicBand to an additional external source (such as a prepaid gift card) in addition to being under my account. The dining plan is paid for, but I'd like to be able to give my daughter some autonomy this summer and set up a (prepaid) spending limit for her on her band for souvenirs, snacks etc.- this will help with my planning, and will be good for her (being able to budget, etc) as well. Any information/ suggestions would be appreciated- thank you!

Mike

 

[Tuvalu]

Gift cards cannot be linked to MagicBands. She will have to use the actual gift card for her purchases.

Welcome to the forums!

 

[emar68]

ok great, thanks for the info!

 

[rt06]

You can't set a spending limit on individual bands. A PIN will give her the illusion of autonomy. The only way to give her a lesson on finance is with straight cash. Here's $20. Don't spend it all at once.

 

[Rob562]

You can't set a spending limit on individual bands. A PIN will give her the illusion of autonomy. The only way to give her a lesson on finance is with straight cash. Here's $20. Don't spend it all at once.

Well...you kinda-sorta can.

Here's what you can do:
You can set up a separate room charge account for your child. This will keep her charges separate from you. To do this you'd have to use a different card from the rest of your accounts. You can also tell them to set a lower charging limit than the default. (You can't raise it, but you can lower it) This may require a manager to assist the CM at the front desk.
The only problem with this is that just like a regular room charge account, once you hit the limit the card will be charged and a new one will be opened. If they have a gift card, they can stop by the front desk and use it to pay-down that balance at some point before the credit card on file is charged.

You may be able to get around this by asking to set the room charge account up with cash. I've never personally done this, but I've read online (I believe it was a former front desk CM) where you can pay cash to start up a room charge and then debit from that. The benefit of that would be that there isn't a re-charge amount once that balance is gone.

-Rob