Paying for charges to the resort with gift cards - timing?

[iujen94]

I’ve bought a bunch of discounted Disney cards that I want to use to pay for meals, etc. during our trip. I’d like to use my MB to charge to our room, and then use the gift cards to pay off the balance at the resort. I tried this on my last trip and messed up the timing, such that when I went by the front desk to use my gift card, they’d already posted my charges to my credit card on file. How/when do I need to go by the front desk with my gift cards to avoid this on my next trip? Thanks!

 

[Ben E N]

I go the morning before the day I check out to pay down the balance, and then try to pay off the rest that evening.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

I usually go every other day just to keep the balance down. Since I stay at deluxes, there is a higher balance they will allow on your account until they run your credit card but I know the balance maximum goes down as you go down the level of hotels.

 

[LilyWDW]

I go by every other day. If you hit a specified amount based off of the resort, they may charge your card automatically. I would rather not risk this so I keep up with it throughout the trip. Seriously only takes a few mins.

 

[Hopefully]

I too go every other night. Also be aware that it is imperative that you go the night before checkout as the charges are run against your card around 2 AM.
OP if that happens again, they can reverse your credit card charge and apply the gift card.

 

[hakepb]

Since they let you combine gift cards online at disneygiftcard.com (max $1000 on a card at a time)
I think it’s easier to carry (1) gift card and keep reloading the same gift card from the comfort of my room with a few hundred $ vs paying off a balance at the front desk.

(I still have to carry ID, DVC and AP cards anyway)

The magic band might be easier if you had many people in your party charging to the room.

 

[iujen94]

So on my last trip (when I tried and failed to use gift cards), I was staying at CBR - checked in on Friday, and checking out Sunday. I went by Saturday night around 9:30 or 10pm, and that’s when they told me they’d already charged my card. Looking at my credit card statement, I think I had around $350 of charges to my room. Was $350 too much at a moderate? Is that why they charged it “early”?

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

So on my last trip (when I tried and failed to use gift cards), I was staying at CBR - checked in on Friday, and checking out Sunday. I went by Saturday night around 9:30 or 10pm, and that’s when they told me they’d already charged my card. Looking at my credit card statement, I think I had around $350 of charges to my room. Was $350 too much at a moderate? Is that why they charged it “early”?

I don't think Disney has ever come out to say the actual amounts but I believe that most people say moderates have a $1000 maximum balance before they run it.

In your case it might be that they just ran your card a bit early instead of the early morning of your check out day. Also, you can now keep track of your balance on MDE so it may be a good idea to keep an eye on it and go down to pay when it hits a certain number of your choice.

 

[dansdad]

So on my last trip (when I tried and failed to use gift cards), I was staying at CBR - checked in on Friday, and checking out Sunday. I went by Saturday night around 9:30 or 10pm, and that’s when they told me they’d already charged my card. Looking at my credit card statement, I think I had around $350 of charges to my room. Was $350 too much at a moderate? Is that why they charged it “early”?

The system starts running balances around 9PM Eastern and finish by 4AM. Yours must have been in one of the first batches.

 

[hereforthechurros]

We did this on our July trip and would stop by every evening to pay off whatever was charged that day to be safe. Most resorts charge your CC at check out (as long as you don’t hit their limit) so just make sure you settle up the evening before check out and they will often charge very early in the morning of your check out day.

 

[starry_solo]

It depends how long you are staying at the particular resort. If for a week, I would go every other day, unless you have a massive lunch or dinner bill (V&A for instance) in which case I'd go and pay it immediately

 

[shocker]

So on my last trip (when I tried and failed to use gift cards), I was staying at CBR - checked in on Friday, and checking out Sunday. I went by Saturday night around 9:30 or 10pm, and that’s when they told me they’d already charged my card. Looking at my credit card statement, I think I had around $350 of charges to my room. Was $350 too much at a moderate? Is that why they charged it “early”?

Personally, I think they've started charging balances at check-in. So you put a deposit down when you book & the remainder due (on room) gets charged to card when you check in. My Oct & Nov trip, I went to front desk, they backed the charges off my CC & applied my GC. I can only recommend you be more persistent.

 

[Hopefully]

Personally, I think they've started charging balances at check-in. So you put a deposit down when you book & the remainder due (on room) gets charged to card when you check in. My Oct & Nov trip, I went to front desk, they backed the charges off my CC & applied my GC. I can only recommend you be more persistent.

Room Only balances are due on checkin. It is often reported that the credit card on file has already been charged when folks actually get to the resort on checkin day.

 

[raytheyounger]

Room Only balances are due on checkin. It is often reported that the credit card on file has already been charged when folks actually get to the resort on checkin day.

This is exactly what happened to me. I had a room-only reservation, and the full amount was charged at check-in. I noticed that as I was going to the room after checking in. I returned to the front desk and had them refund the credit card and apply the gift cards.

 

[buzznina]

First; the Max room charge for resorts are $1500 at Value and Mods and $2000 at Deluxes. With that said, they have charged rooms at the 1/2 way mark ($750/$1000) also. It seems maybe there needs to be some clarification, if you are talking about a RO balance before checking in, then you will need to call in your GC payments before the day you check-in. If you are talking about room charges during your stay, then I always stop and payoff the balance every 2-3 days and then pay the final balance the night before we check out. I also ask for a printout so I can quickly go over the items billed. The poster that was charged at 10PM I would have made them void that charge and use my GCs, they were not suppose to charge your card until they roll over to the next day.

 

[georgina]

Yep, I always call and use my GC to pay off the room a few days before I arrive.

 

[bumbershoot]

The poster that was charged at 10PM I would have made them void that charge and use my GCs, they were not suppose to charge your card until they roll over to the next day.

I don’t think this is a rule. Even back 8 years ago on our first trip they had the final charges charged to our cc by midnight before checkout. The advice to go well before that has been given as advice for years, because this is how they often do things. If it were against their rules then they wouldn’t.

 

[NKHarris329]

I paid off my balance every couple days. Definitely the night before our checkout and then paid with GC from that point forward.

On our last trip, or maybe the one before that, we forgot to pay our final balance the night before. The hotel was very accommodating about reversing the charges and paying with gift cards.

 

[buzznina]

I don’t think this is a rule. Even back 8 years ago on our first trip they had the final charges charged to our cc by midnight before checkout. The advice to go well before that has been given as advice for years, because this is how they often do things. If it were against their rules then they wouldn’t.

I was told they run the checkout bills when they roll over to the next day (I think the CM said 2AM) right before the system goes down for backups. All I can say is that on all our many trips, we never got charged the night before and we normally stay at MK until closing on our last night, and I always stopped at the front desk to pay off any room charges with our GCs. So this goes back to the inconsistencies that wdw has mastered

 

[Deb & Bill]

What's nice is you can watch your spending on the MDE app on your phone.