How to pay for extras at WDW?

[Anne64]

The last time that DH and I visited WDW was in 2007 where we used traveller's cheques and dollars to pay for food, taxis and souvenirs and I was wondering what was the best current option to pay for extras both in and out of the parks.

DH and I are currently 99% cashless at home, relying on our debit & credit cards.

Thank you in advance for your advice

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Ah, we remember those traveler's cheques! Used them all the time. Now no one wants them! I'd say you can probably stick with what you're used to - debit and credit cards - and dollars! That should cover just about everything on your list, including taxis.

 

[leiaorgana]

We just get a preloaded card (FairFX) and transfer more dollars on to it as we need them.

 

[Kate_45]

I would get either a credit card (eg barclarcard) or a debit card (eg starling) that doesn't charge for foreign currency transactions. That way you can hook it up to your mydisney app and use it for mobile ordering, shopping without the queues etc.

Take a few dollars but really, card is easier - many places only take card now. I'd you're staying on site you can charge things to your room and so pay it off in fewer transactions if you aren't able to get a fee free card.

 

[Ruttangel]

So many cards have zero international fees, I have Halifax Clarity Card and works really well at Outlets/anywhere in WDW/Airport, just have a few dollars to tip housekeeping.

 

[itf]

We used a Chase debit card - exact exchange rate + cashback.

 

[Ruttangel]

We used a Chase debit card - exact exchange rate + cashback.

Cashback is now capped at £15 per month

 

[itf]

Cashback is now capped at £15 per month

Disappointing but still better than nothing. There's a barclaycard that's no exchange rate but the cashback is pitiful - 0.25%

 

[Ruttangel]

Disappointing but still better than nothing. There's a barclaycard that's no exchange rate but the cashback is pitiful - 0.25%

Yeah, have to spend £4k just to get £10.

 

[jf256]

Chase is the way forward. Its capped at £15 per month but you also get 1% interest which is calculated daily. So for a disney holiday where you have some money in there you can definately earn more than that in the month.

Plus you will get 5% on roundups - and the cashback has just been extended.

What i did is stuck everything in a savings acount for chase and just transferred what i needed for the following day. Chase does not allow overdrafts so your card will get declined.

I think the most important thing with Chase at the US is if you do need cash - you can go to a cashpoint and not get charged an extortionate rate for it. It is capped but its plenty if you are just using it for tips etc.

 

[itf]

Chase is the way forward. Its capped at £15 per month but you also get 1% interest which is calculated daily. So for a disney holiday where you have some money in there you can definately earn more than that in the month.

Plus you will get 5% on roundups - and the cashback has just been extended.

What i did is stuck everything in a savings acount for chase and just transferred what i needed for the following day. Chase does not allow overdrafts so your card will get declined.

I think the most important thing with Chase at the US is if you do need cash - you can go to a cashpoint and not get charged an extortionate rate for it. It is capped but its plenty if you are just using it for tips etc.

This is exactly how I did it although the cashback was uncapped at that point. I then used the Barclaycard with 0.25% and no fee as the deposit card for the hotel for incidentals so that the chase card didn’t get any money tied up and if anything landed on that card there would be both some cashback and no fees. It also meant I had a fallback for any issues with the chase card.

But on the final day I settled the account with the Chase card at the desk to maximise cashback.

 

[jf256]

This is exactly how I did it although the cashback was uncapped at that point. I then used the Barclaycard with 0.25% and no fee as the deposit card for the hotel for incidentals so that the chase card didn’t get any money tied up and if anything landed on that card there would be both some cashback and no fees. It also meant I had a fallback for any issues with the chase card.

But on the final day I settled the account with the Chase card at the desk to maximise cashback.

If your holiday is spread over two calendar months you might even be able to still maximise the cashback. I was lucky and got the full amount. But we did split stays over Feb - March so would have been able to do this anyway.

 

[gavvy]

Chase card is def the best, you get spot rate plus 1% cashback on purchases and as all the Disney ATMs are chase there are zero fees for cash withdrawal, makes it the best option overall.

 

[gavvy]

If your holiday is spread over two calendar months you might even be able to still maximise the cashback. I was lucky and got the full amount. But we did split stays over Feb - March so would have been able to do this anyway.

Another option if there is more than one of you is to both open an account, as long as it's not joint you can both then max out the Cashback.

Chase only do a soft credit search too, no hard credit check so won't affect credit score

 

[jf256]

Another option if there is more than one of you is to both open an account, as long as it's not joint you can both then max out the Cashback.

Chase only do a soft credit search too, no hard credit check so won't affect credit score

Might not be worth it for £30. But their easy-access savings account at the moment is one of the better out there its 3.4% I think currently but going up to 3.8% on the 3rd of July.

So might be worth splitting any savings over 2 people so you don't need to pay tax on the interest

As a note - another thing I really love that I found out the other day - you can download a statement at the end of the year with just your interest earned - which I thought was really useful for doing your returns.

 

[BingoJoe]

I am from the UK and I use a starling card for the zero percent foreign currency charge etc.

One thing definitely not to do any more is to pay for things with your magic band, no matter what card you have linked to it. A few years ago they changed the way they do room charging, so it now pre authorises all the way through the holiday (which stay on for a month) AND it also regularly makes those charges without removing the pre auth. This means you end up charging double on your card.

The first Christmas after the pandemic I spent about 4k on my magic band and it was doubled to 8k! Ended up having to transfer extra money onto my card.

I think they made the changes to stop people leaving without settling their bill but it has made charging to your room on any sort of scale worthless. All the machines work with apple pay so you can just use your phone.