Best way to pay for food?

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mshanson3121

DIS Veteran

Joined

Jan 16, 2015

• May 2, 2019

• #1

The exchange is a killer: 38% right now to buy US cash. Am I better off buying cash, using my credit card, or buying Disney gift cards (I can get them at our local Walmart)?

 

youngdeb12

Mouseketeer

Joined

Jul 20, 2017

• May 2, 2019

• #2

Disney Gift Cards will give you a better exchange rate than buying directly through the bank or charging to your credit card. I've been tracking the exchange rate that my Canadian Disney GC converts over to and it looks like they are just taking the end of day FX rate from the previous day and converting at that, which is better than anything you will get from a bank or currency store. The exchange rate will fluctuate, and if you have time before you travel you can watch the rate and buy some cash if you want to lock in a particular rate. When it comes to spur of the moment purchases, if you have the cash on a Disney GC, Disney will give you a better in the moment FX rate than your credit card will as it more than likely will charge you a 2.5% foreign transaction fee.

 

Donald - my hero

<font color=blue>Aww yes. The dreaded "mouse hand"

Joined

Jun 11, 2006

• May 2, 2019

• #3

Well, depending on your relationship with said child, you could always offer your firstborn

All kidding aside, i agree with the above comment about Disney Gift Cards. You can gradually add to your stash of these using CDN funds. OR if you are able to follow the logic of the math behind "converting" either PC Optimum Points or Cash Airmiles you could even get them for "free" at certain stores. To do this you need to tell yourself that the "rewards money" you use to pay for your groceries/whatever you buy, is actually paying for the Gift Card you include in your transaction.

 

Pkltm

Canadian Mouse Girl

Joined

Jun 18, 2013

• May 2, 2019

• #4

another vote here for the gift cards. best exchange rate you will get.

 

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mshanson3121

DIS Veteran

Joined

Jan 16, 2015

• May 2, 2019

• #5

Thanks all! I already had $160 US in gift cards and just added another $200 CDN in gift cards today. That should feed DD and I!

 

hdrolfe

DIS Veteran

Joined

Feb 16, 2014

• May 2, 2019

• #6

I use gift cards for the most part, but I also like the convenience of mobile ordering, and you have to pay with a credit card or dining plan credits for that.

 

isabellea

Combining beach and Disney!

Joined

Jan 22, 2014

• May 3, 2019

• #7

I do both. Brim mastercard to save the 2.5% fee banks and other credit cards charge and gift cards.

 

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tinkerone

DIS Veteran

Joined

Jun 3, 2007

• May 3, 2019

• #8

And I (mostly) dollar cost average. I buy a few US dollars this week, a few next week and so on going forward. Best way to lock in your rate and not worry about what will happen in the future. Full disclosure, I do have a few DGC and will occasionally purchase more mostly using the way Donald-my hero mentioned.

 

dis_guy

DIS Veteran

Joined

Aug 26, 2008

• May 4, 2019

• #9

We have done both US cash and Gift cards for food. The idea of putting small amounts of us cash away regularly is a good one because as the pp said it averages out the exchange rates over time. The down side for me is that I don't like to carry around large amounts of cash. I suppose you could buy US$ Disney gift cards immediately on arrival to solve that.

On our last trip we took three $500CAN Disney gift cards with us and just went to the desk every few days and had it applied to our room charges which were mostly for food. It was easy to do and I think at the end of our stay only about $200US went onto the credit card. The down side here is that you are stuck with the exchange rate in effect during your stay. The upside is not paying the credit card forex fees.

The important thing is to do what works best for you and it all depends on what you're comfortable with.

 

22Tink

BC, Canada

Joined

Apr 25, 2015

• May 4, 2019

• #10

I use a combination of cash and gift cards. It's nice to have it prepaid as well as save that forex fee. The only time I use my cc is for mobile ordering.

 

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Greg36

Mouseketeer

Joined

Mar 30, 2017

• May 4, 2019

• #11

Using certain CCs like the Rogers world elite can be a good choice. The Rogers world elite does add 2.5 percent to foreign charges but then gives you back 4 percent on such charges so you net a 1.5 percent gain.