Visa debit gift cards for room payment?

[zachrupertdsn]

Ok so this kind of sounds odd, but I booked my vacation in September with my actual credit card and that's what's on file. I only put down 94 dollars on the vacation and wanted to pay off the rest before the vacation. I recently did some work for my college and was paid in several 100 dollar visa debit gift cards, my question is can I use these gift cards to pay off some of the balance?

I always assume it's easier to ask all the knowledge wizards on here rather then calling disney first.

A second question is how hard is it to update your booking? I need to drop two people, add the quick service dining plan for two, add a flight, and add the magical express?

Thanks for any help!

 

[erasure fan1]

Im not sure what Disneys actual rules are on this but most of the time you just need to have a credit card on file with them. The form of payment is up to you. You can always just call and ask them but I wouldnt see a problem as long as they have your credit card.

 

[mickeysshoes]

Yes you can use the Visa gift cards. Making changes should not be a problem at all. I have found that calling and make the payment using the gift cards is better that trying to do it online. When I did it on like I could not tell of the system took the payment and when I called I found out it did not. I had 8, each for $100 and the gal on the phone was GREAT! So I would call, make the changes and make the payment all at the same time!

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Visa gift cards work just like cash. Anyone that accepts visa will accept them, so you will be fine to use them to pay the bill. As far as making changes to the reservation, it won't be difficult, but you just need to call the mouse and have them change it.

 

[Poofiesdream]

They will take them, just be sure to keep them if for any reason you need to cancel your reservation the money will be refunded back to each gift card for the amount on that card used. This is true of any gift card, debit card, or credit card used.

 

[cabihler]

keep this in mind

DO NOT prepay your balance if it is NOT a vacation package using the visa debit cards... WHY you ask....

because in the event that you need to cancel you reservation and want a refund well disney's system will try to credit the amount back to the EXACT CARD used. In order words if you use say for argument sake 7 cards to pay off your balance before you check in and go to cancel and want a refund disney will try to credit back those same exact 7 cards.

if the cards are no longer active in the visa system you will have a nightmare trying to get your money back.... oh you will get it eventually but not without a lot of phone calls and time going by.

so if it is NOT a vacation package then just wait till check in and use the cards then no sweat. if it is a vacation package and you must use those cards to pay the balance then wait till the last day possible (45 days before checkin) and make sure you are NOT going to cancel for any reason.

 

[CleveRocks]

Im not sure what Disneys actual rules are on this but most of the time you just need to have a credit card on file with them. The form of payment is up to you. You can always just call and ask them but I wouldnt see a problem as long as they have your credit card.

It's not accurate that Disney needs a credit card on file. This is a rule for almost every other hotelier in the USA, but it is definitely not a Disney World thing.

You can pay your initial deposit with a gift card or by mailing in a check, and you can pay off your balance on check-in day (if you booked a room-only reservation) with cash if you'd like. But at no time do they require any plastic in order for you to check-in to your room.

 

[WDW 3]

Warning!

A $100 Visa gift card will not run through for $100 at a hotel, restaurant or some other types of merchants. I tried it on our last Disney trip. It will try to run through at $120 (not exact just using as an example) because Visa thinks these types of things are risky. And after it all shakes out you would only be charged the $100 but your card isn't for $120 so it comes up as insufficient funds. It would run through for a lesser amount and then you would have the remaining balance to use for groceries (not risky). I didn't know this and went to Disney with $700 in Visa cards fully intending to apply them to our room bill and ended up taking all of them home because they all showed as insufficient. Pretty embarrassing. Took them back to the bank and they had to call Visa to find why they didn't work.

 

[CleveRocks]

A $100 Visa gift card will not run through for $100 at a hotel, restaurant or some other types of merchants. I tried it on our last Disney trip. It will try to run through at $120 (not exact just using as an example) because Visa thinks these types of things are risky. And after it all shakes out you would only be charged the $100 but your card isn't for $120 so it comes up as insufficient funds. It would run through for a lesser amount and then you would have the remaining balance to use for groceries (not risky). I didn't know this and went to Disney with $700 in Visa cards fully intending to apply them to our room bill and ended up taking all of them home because they all showed as insufficient. Pretty embarrassing. Took them back to the bank and they had to call Visa to find why they didn't work.

Good point. But it's not because they think some places are risky. It's because they think you might add a tip to the total. So when your restaurant bill is $100, when they run your card through VISA or MC, it will check for approval for $120 or $125 or whatever, to clear the way for you to add a tip to the charge.

I learned this the hard way after trying to use the $100 gift card my in-laws gave us for our anniversary ... the dinner check was arounf $98, and I was going to tip in cash. But the charge wouldn't go through. I was very embarrassed, and luckily I had the cash on me. I later called the bank and learned about the peercentage/tip thing. That's why it's OK to pay for $100 in groceries with a $100 VISA gift card, because you're not expected to leave a tip in a supermarket.

I'm glad you posted what you did, it's good for people to know!

 

[zachrupertdsn]

This process was going smoothly until I tried to use an additional MasterCard Vanilla gift card. I might as well have been trying to use Monopoly money. I have been on the phone for over an hour and heard at least six reasons why they won't accept them, all of which I believe are wrong.