Disney Visa Card Question

[hollnagelc]

I was reading past threads, where it looks like you can prepay for onboard credit. And it’ll qualify for the 0% for 6 months. Just wanted to make sure this was correct. Because neither DCL or Chase was helpful when I asked. Both were unsure.

My wife and I are going to Alaska in September and probably are going to do lots of excursions.

 

[eeyoresbestfriend]

That is true! We have done 15 cruises with DCL and we do this everytime! Just call and use your Disney Visa to add onboard credit, and it will be 0% for the 6 months!

 

[BlueRibbon]

We just need to figure out a way to pay that Disney Visa balance down with discounted gift cards...

 

[hollnagelc]

That is true! We have done 15 cruises with DCL and we do this everytime! Just call and use your Disney Visa to add onboard credit, and it will be 0% for the 6 months!

That’s great! I was hoping so. Just so we have more options.

We just need to figure out a way to pay that Disney Visa balance down with discounted gift cards...

That would be nice!

 

[Spartan86]

We just need to figure out a way to pay that Disney Visa balance down with discounted gift cards...

Probably asked and answered before but can’t you use your discounted gift cards on board? Or perhaps you mean later in the 6 mo payoff period? Thx.

 

[shoes99]

When we were planning Alaska we calculated what our shore excursions would be (including dogsledding on the glacier) to be $900+. So we put a obc to our account and used the Disney Visa. It was eligible for 6 month no interest financing.
But then you can’t use Disney gift cards to pay CHASE. You have to figure out what works best for you.

 

[hollnagelc]

Probably asked and answered before but can’t you use your discounted gift cards on board? Or perhaps you mean later in the 6 mo payoff period? Thx.

Yes you can use discounted gift cards on the ship. We have in the past.

 

[Spartan86]

Yes you can use discounted gift cards on the ship. We have in the past.

Thanks! We just stocked up .

 

[hollnagelc]

Thanks! We just stocked up .

Just have to take them to guest services and have them applied for onboard credit.

Or you can probably call and have them added as onboard credit before you get on the ship. Not sure as I’ve never done that. Just make sure to keep the cards. In case you don’t spend all of it. I’m sure they’ll refund it back to the gift card.

 

[Lita]

Just have to take them to guest services and have them applied for onboard credit.

Or you can probably call and have them added as onboard credit before you get on the ship. Not sure as I’ve never done that. Just make sure to keep the cards. In case you don’t spend all of it. I’m sure they’ll refund it back to the gift card.

I added on board credit in the form of Disney Gift Cards prior to boarding the ship during our last Oct cruise. I would add them as I acquired them. I then added more at guest services when we boarded. I also linked my Disney Visa Card to my account so that I could take advantage of the onboard discounts.

 

[Spartan86]

I added on board credit in the form of Disney Gift Cards prior to boarding the ship during our last Oct cruise. I would add them as I acquired them. I then added more at guest services when we boarded. I also linked my Disney Visa Card to my account so that I could take advantage of the onboard discounts.

That sounds like a good way for us to do it! Thanks!

So, you don’t have to pay with the Disney visa to get the discount?
ETA: So you “strategically” pay with the Visa and charge the rest to the room/GC?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just have to take them to guest services and have them applied for onboard credit.

You can use Disney Gift Cards directly in the gift shops onboard. At least you could on my last cruise.

 

[Lita]

That sounds like a good way for us to do it! Thanks!

So, you don’t have to pay with the Disney visa to get the discount?
ETA: So you “strategically” pay with the Visa and charge the rest to the room/GC?

As long as your Disney Visa card is linked to your onboard account, you'll get the discount. Your KTTW card will have "DV" printed on bottom right corner indicating that you are eligible for the discounts in the gift shop.

 

[Mommb]

ETA: So you “strategically” pay with the Visa and charge the rest to the room/GC?

To my knowledge, there is no way to specify how charges that are charged to the room are paid. As mentioned above, you may be able to pay in the onboard shops using a Disney Gift Card, but anything charged to the room goes into the same bucket. Then (once the account reaches a certain amount, and at the end of the cruise) the room account is paid off by non-refundable credits, refundable credits, gift cards put toward the account, and the payment method given at check-in (credit card or cash) in that order. If a Disney Visa was used as the payment method at check-in, then any on-board purchases that give a discount for Disney Visa users will be discounted, even if other payment methods are used first to pay off the room account.

 

[Kpitts17]

Yes! DCL and Chase are really bad about communicating how it works. It took a few times to understand. It will come up on the statement and appear that you have to pay for that month, but when you look towards the bottom, it'll say the 0.00% APR costs associated and you'll have to do some math when paying the credit card as to not accumulate that crazy interest price and make it not really worth it.

Another thing to note is the 0.00% APR applies to a lot of things, but not everything. For instance, it doesn't let you wait 6 months to pay off the disney cruise bus to the ship. It's usually packaged deals like a my way vacation package at the park or the disney cruise. One awesome way to use the 0.00% APR for 6 months is to pay off those tips ahead of time and create an onboard account with money from the card that you can prepay. I've heard other people have done this and it means you're palo and remy and drinks all can be paid for 6 months later! It's a great tool for budgeting!

Remember to rack up those points! I'm almost at 500 points I plan to use for Remy! So exciting!

 

[macyprestonmom]

Yes! DCL and Chase are really bad about communicating how it works. It took a few times to understand. It will come up on the statement and appear that you have to pay for that month, but when you look towards the bottom, it'll say the 0.00% APR costs associated and you'll have to do some math when paying the credit card as to not accumulate that crazy interest price and make it not really worth it.

Another thing to note is the 0.00% APR applies to a lot of things, but not everything. For instance, it doesn't let you wait 6 months to pay off the disney cruise bus to the ship. It's usually packaged deals like a my way vacation package at the park or the disney cruise. One awesome way to use the 0.00% APR for 6 months is to pay off those tips ahead of time and create an onboard account with money from the card that you can prepay. I've heard other people have done this and it means you're palo and remy and drinks all can be paid for 6 months later! It's a great tool for budgeting!

Remember to rack up those points! I'm almost at 500 points I plan to use for Remy! So exciting!

Hello! First time cruiser here and new to the Disney Visa. Can you tell me exactly what I need to do to make sure my tip are included with the 6mo no interest? What about other charges, like purchasing tees or towels on the boat, will they be included in the no interest?

 

[Kpitts17]

Hello! First time cruiser here and new to the Disney Visa. Can you tell me exactly what I need to do to make sure my tip are included with the 6mo no interest? What about other charges, like purchasing tees or towels on the boat, will they be included in the no interest?

It can be complicated sometimes. If you call ahead of time before your cruise and say I want to prepay my tips, usually that will come up on your cc statement under the 0% APR. as far as purchases go, to my understanding, if you prepay an amount to add to your onboard credit say $500 to use for any additional purchases on cruise, it should be added to the 0% APR. but I’ve never done it. Only heard about it.

 

[macyprestonmom]

It can be complicated sometimes. If you call ahead of time before your cruise and say I want to prepay my tips, usually that will come up on your cc statement under the 0% APR. as far as purchases go, to my understanding, if you prepay an amount to add to your onboard credit say $500 to use for any additional purchases on cruise, it should be added to the 0% APR. but I’ve never done it. Only heard about it.

Thank you!

 

[Mommb]

What about other charges, like purchasing tees or towels on the boat, will they be included in the no interest?

Anything purchased onboard (that is, charged to your Disney Visa after the cruise begins) will not be part of the 6 months with no interest. The 0% deal applies to vacation packages, not to individual purchases at the shops, Palo, etc.

As KPitts17 described, if you make a payment toward your onboard account before the cruise, it should be considered part of the cruise “package” and get the 0% APR. We recently asked our travel agent to pay our suggested gratuities along with our final cruise payment, and that amount was included in the interest-free section on our credit card bill.

I have not tried making a payment outside of our final payment, though.

 

[Bonnie1222]

It can be complicated sometimes. If you call ahead of time before your cruise and say I want to prepay my tips, usually that will come up on your cc statement under the 0% APR. as far as purchases go, to my understanding, if you prepay an amount to add to your onboard credit say $500 to use for any additional purchases on cruise, it should be added to the 0% APR. but I’ve never done it. Only heard about it.

I have done both multiple times. Call DCL (or your travel agent) and say you want to prepay your gratuities. If you have already paid in full, they will process a new charge or if you still have to pay the balance they will add it to your total. As for the on board spending - you call and tell them how much you want to do and they add it to your account. I do my spending money the week before we leave (you must do it before your window closes to book activities etc) this way I don't have to start paying for it until after I return from the cruise. Each statement period you charge a new qualifying item (deposit to hold the cruise, place holder when on board, on board spending) it starts a new 6 month zero interest item. If you do not spend all the money - they will refund it to your credit card 7-10 days after the cruise. If you spend more, they just charge your credit card - but be careful because the over spending is not subject to the financing. The only charge on board that counts for the free 6 months as far as I know is booking a place holder.

Example - My statement each month reflects a breakdown, from my last statement I have 3 qualifying events:
1. The balance of my April cruise and how much I owe and when my pay off is due to avoid interest (I paid for the cruise in 1 payment in February)
2. My Deposit for my 2020 cruise and how much I owe and when my pay off is due to avoid interest (deposit was made in early April)
3. From my late April/early May cruise - I added $500 to my account for spending and also did a place holder for another cruise of $250. My statement shows this as one $750 event to be paid over 6 months.

When you make payments above and beyond any current spending that is not eligible for the free financing Chase applies the over payment to the OLDEST qualifying event first. It sounds confusing, but as long as you plan accordingly to be sure you pay the balance by the due date - it is pretty easy. My only complaint is you cannot view this information on their website - it is only seen on your statements.

I hope this helps.