DCL Costco Paying with Disney Gift Cards

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Ladybugx87

Mouseketeer
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Apr 23, 2014
Has anyone booked through Costco but paid with Disney Gift Cards? When I called to make some payment on my cruise balance, the woman answering the phone told me I should buy Gift Cards at Target with Red Card (for 5% off) and then call Costco with the cards, which they would then call Disney with. She insisted we could do that but I am not sure and before I go buy a bunch of Disney Gift Cards, I wanted to ask.
 
Yes, we’ve done this for all of our cruises! Buy gift cards at Target with the red card discount, combine them up to $1000 per card at Disney’s gift card website (so I don’t have to read off so many numbers over the phone), then call Costco and they call Disney and give them the numbers for payment.
 
It works because Costco is the agent for DCL. DCL is being paid, not Costco. You can't use Costco cash cards to pay for a cruise for this reason and can use Disney gift cards to pay for a Disney cruise. (so don't buy Disney gift cards to pay for your RCCL cruise, lol).

The agent takes your card numbers and phones Disney. Since Disney accepts their own cards, it's a valid payment method. Likewise, don't forget to keep your cards in case anything happens and you cancel or need some type of refund, as it will be back to those cards.
 


If you have a Meijer near you they currently have 10% rewards on gift cards up to $500 per Mperks account. Since the account is tied to your phone number we each have our own for times we need to buy more gift cards. I've been keeping track and they seem to run this deal every 6-8 weeks but don't heavily advertise it.
 
Yes, just did it this week (and did it for our previous DCL cruise as well). The Costco rep will get the DCL rep on the phone and then you read the GC # to the (DCL) rep.
 
I used to when I could get a better discount on them through target (raise, then target). But at 5% it’s not worth it vs charging on my Costco visa and getting 3%
 


Does anyone know if you can still do this? Pay through Costco for a Disney trip with a Disney gift card?
 
Does anyone know if you can still do this? Pay through Costco for a Disney trip with a Disney gift card?
Yes, I've paid using Disney gift cards when booked via Costco. No problem. When you pay for your cruise, even when booked via Costco, the money goes directly to DCL, not Costco, so Disney gift cards are fine. You would not be able to pay using a Costco gift card, for this reason.
 
Thank you for responding. I had previously read on this site that you could. Attempted to pay with a Disney gift card and was told no.
 
Thank you for responding. I had previously read on this site that you could. Attempted to pay with a Disney gift card and was told no.

When did you try? I am hoping it's just a misinformed agent rather than a change in policy.

LAX
 
I tried today. He seemed a little unsure so I asked him to confirm with a manager. Came back with the same response. Now I have well over $2k in Disney gift cards. I know some can be used for food and souvenirs, but geez. Haha. The hold time to speak with someone is well over an hour so before I called back tomorrow and waited over an hour again I figured I’d ask here.
 
I tried today. He seemed a little unsure so I asked him to confirm with a manager. Came back with the same response. Now I have well over $2k in Disney gift cards. I know some can be used for food and souvenirs, but geez. Haha. The hold time to speak with someone is well over an hour so before I called back tomorrow and waited over an hour again I figured I’d ask here.
When I’ve used Costco Travel for DCL, the Costco TA has to call DCL with me on the phone to provide the Disney GC numbers. I would assume it is the same for a Disney package.
 
When I’ve used Costco Travel for DCL, the Costco TA has to call DCL with me on the phone to provide the Disney GC numbers. I would assume it is the same for a Disney package.
Every time I asked. The Costco TA just kept saying it wasn’t a valid payment and kept repeating it needed to be Visa, MC or Costco Shop Card.
 
Every time I asked. The Costco TA just kept saying it wasn’t a valid payment and kept repeating it needed to be Visa, MC or Costco Shop Card.
You spoke to one agent? That person was misinformed. You can't pay for a cruise with a Costco Shop Card at all. I have paid for Disney cruises with Disney gift cards, via Costco agents, giving the Costco agents the gift card numbers over the phone. For multiple cruises. Call back & you can talk to someone else. If they are clueless, ask for a supervisor. Are you actually trying to pay now, or did you just call to ask if it were possible?
 
I tried today. He seemed a little unsure so I asked him to confirm with a manager. Came back with the same response. Now I have well over $2k in Disney gift cards. I know some can be used for food and souvenirs, but geez. Haha. The hold time to speak with someone is well over an hour so before I called back tomorrow and waited over an hour again I figured I’d ask here.

That's concerning to me. A manager should know the policy. I wonder if we can start calling DCL to making payments with Disney GCs if Costco stops "accepting" them. I know the "payments" have always been made to DCL with Costco "relaying" the payment info.

LAX
 
When I’ve used Costco Travel for DCL, the Costco TA has to call DCL with me on the phone to provide the Disney GC numbers. I would assume it is the same for a Disney package.
Yes, this is exactly what happens. Maybe the agent the OP was talking to didn't know this & was trying to pay without calling Disney. Sounds like a newbie agent who just doesn't know. You can get that occasionally with Costco. I got one once who didn't understand that when I changed categories I wouldn't have to pay prevailing rates. Oh well. Politely end the conversation and call back and you'll get someone else.
 
Yes, this is exactly what happens. Maybe the agent the OP was talking to didn't know this & was trying to pay without calling Disney. Sounds like a new agent.

The OP did mention something about the agent checking with a manager (supervisor?) and got the same response.

LAX
 
I tried today. He seemed a little unsure so I asked him to confirm with a manager. Came back with the same response. Now I have well over $2k in Disney gift cards. I know some can be used for food and souvenirs, but geez. Haha. The hold time to speak with someone is well over an hour so before I called back tomorrow and waited over an hour again I figured I’d ask here.
Call back & try again, as this either just isn't right & they're both ignorant (which is possible as Disney's rules are often different from other cruise lines), or they just recently changed the policy, because I paid Costco with Disney gift cards last year. If you talk to a manager again who insists you can't, ask them when the policy changed, because Costco used to allow that. If they say it's never been policy it means they're just clueless. I'm still assuming they're clueless as they're saying you can pay off a Disney cruise with a Costco Shop Card, which is impossible as the money goes directly to Disney, not Costco.
 
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Has anyone booked through Costco but paid with Disney Gift Cards? When I called to make some payment on my cruise balance, the woman answering the phone told me I should buy Gift Cards at Target with Red Card (for 5% off) and then call Costco with the cards, which they would then call Disney with. She insisted we could do that but I am not sure and before I go buy a bunch of Disney Gift Cards, I wanted to ask.
We bought Disney gift cards at target and paid for our cruise in 2019, nomproblems at all We just went back a lot because there was a limit each time , that you could buy it did not deter us.
 
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