Canadian Disney Gift Cards

[gypsy_at_heart]

So, I usually just pay for my trip with my credit card because I've have one with no foreign transaction fees. However, this trip I switched up credit cards and decided to buy Canadian Disney gift cards to get points on a different card and still skip the foreign transaction fee. When I did this for the first time, I noticed something interesting... my exchange rate offered by the bank was actually worse than the rate I got with the Canadian Disney gift card. Has anyone else noticed this?

Overall when I added it up, I'll save around $200 due to the difference in exchange rates - not a ton, but worth it I think. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[flower_petals]

Yes - Disney cards get the regular fx rate. So whatever it is - that's what you get. Banks have a fee - it's how they make their profit on exchanging your money.

 

[Ohanaof3]

I thought it would be worth mentioning a problem I had with this method. I hope it’s unique to me. I used disney gift cards to pay for my trip last fall. I also used my credit card for some parts. I paid for MNSSHP, cruellas add on, Cinderella’s, DAH, tours... Can’t remember what else. When we went to go, Hurricane Dorian popped up. When it was not recommended to travel, I cancelled everything the day of my travel, and Disney had no problem with ‘refunding.’

I went to Disneyland instead. I brought all my gift cards with me, and waited the entire week for a refund to go back on my gift cards. At the end of my vacation I called them, as I never got a refund on my cards. I found out that they had a problem returning the amount to one card. So they didn’t refund any of my cards.

I had to give them all of the reservation numbers for things I had booked with cards. They refunded anything I mentioned by mailing out a new card. But I had been buying gift cards for months, and paying for one add on thing at a time. With the exchange, I looked at my credit card balance, and thought ‘it looks like the amount I paid for this event, right?!?!’ Bottom line is, I’m not entirely sure I got the refunds of everything I paid for on gift cards. I had written down the last few things I paid for with cards in the last few months by putting a blank sticker on the card with ‘Mnsshp,’ ect. So at least I asked for refunds on those things. Sigh.

I spent a lot of time calling Disney while I was in California, so anything I saved on the exchange was lost on long distance.
FYI, it was still a good vacation in Disneyland. Just not what we planned.

 

[Davey Jones II]

If I buy a $100 gift card here in Canada, paying Canadian funds, can I still buy $100 worth of stuff in the parks at WDW?

 

[mort1331]

If I buy a $100 gift card here in Canada, paying Canadian funds, can I still buy $100 worth of stuff in the parks at WDW?

Yes,,$100 Can money, but converted to US$ about $74 or so..

 

[Davey Jones II]

Yes,,$100 Can money, but converted to US$ about $74 or so..

Please clarify. If I show up with my $100 Disney gift card purchased in Canada, they will only let me buy $74 of stuff (in the parks) with it?

 

[mort1331]

Please clarify. If I show up with my $100 Disney gift card purchased in Canada, they will only let me buy $74 of stuff (in the parks) with it?

Whatever the going exchange rate is for the day. There are no forex fees. And better exchange rate then your bank. So if the Canadian dollar is trading at .76, then you would get $76 worth of goods.
It will be your best exchange rate from anyone. We do this everytime. Charge all meals and tips to room, and then day before go to front desk and pay all with the Gift Cards.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Whatever the going exchange rate is for the day. There are no forex fees. And better exchange rate then your bank. So if the Canadian dollar is trading at .76, then you would get $76 worth of goods.
It will be your best exchange rate from anyone. We do this everytime. Charge all meals and tips to room, and then day before go to front desk and pay all with the Gift Cards.

OK, thanks.

 

[deedubb]

While the exchange rate will be better with Disney gift cards, if you have a no forex credit card, you have to examine what benefits you would get by putting everything on your credit card before determining which is the better option. In the end, it's probably a wash, and I prefer using my credit card over carrying a bunch of gift cards around.

 

[clarker99]

So, I usually just pay for my trip with my credit card because I've have one with no foreign transaction fees. However, this trip I switched up credit cards and decided to buy Canadian Disney gift cards to get points on a different card and still skip the foreign transaction fee. When I did this for the first time, I noticed something interesting... my exchange rate offered by the bank was actually worse than the rate I got with the Canadian Disney gift card. Has anyone else noticed this?

Overall when I added it up, I'll save around $200 due to the difference in exchange rates - not a ton, but worth it I think. Has this happened to anyone else?

Noticed this about 2yrs ago. Now we try and strictly pay for our WDW trips with Disney cards. Plus, we get 4% cash back at all grocery stores. So the FX fee savings and the cash back really add up.

$200 is pretty significant. Banks are taking $200 for the exact same transaction(s).

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

While the exchange rate will be better with Disney gift cards, if you have a no forex credit card, you have to examine what benefits you would get by putting everything on your credit card before determining which is the better option. In the end, it's probably a wash, and I prefer using my credit card over carrying a bunch of gift cards around.

You can consolidate your cards up to five separate cards up to $1000CDN per card. No need to carry tons of cards.

 

[Griffin11]

Noticed this about 2yrs ago. Now we try and strictly pay for our WDW trips with Disney cards. Plus, we get 4% cash back at all grocery stores. So the FX fee savings and the cash back really add up.

$200 is pretty significant. Banks are taking $200 for the exact same transaction(s).

Does Disney post the rate they use on any particular day anywhere? I'm interested to compare it to the MasterCard rate.

 

[hdrolfe]

Does Disney post the rate they use on any particular day anywhere? I'm interested to compare it to the MasterCard rate.

I have never seen it posted by Disney but my experience has been that it matches the exchange rate I get when I google exchange rates.

 

[clarker99]

I have never seen it posted by Disney but my experience has been that it matches the exchange rate I get when I google exchange rates.

Not aware if it being posted anywhere.

 

[clarker99]

I have never seen it posted by Disney but my experience has been that it matches the exchange rate I get when I google exchange rates.

I think it matches the previous days close. Do not think the rate Disney gives is real time but I could be wrong.

 

[Griffin11]

I have never seen it posted by Disney but my experience has been that it matches the exchange rate I get when I google exchange rates.

I read somewhere that if you log in to check your balance it will show the balance in US $? So maybe that's how you can figure out the exact rate used. I may have to pick up a gift card myself and experiment!

 

[clarker99]

I read somewhere that if you log in to check your balance it will show the balance in US $? So maybe that's how you can figure out the exact rate used. I may have to pick up a gift card myself and experiment!

https://www.disneygiftcard.com/ I am pretty sure it does show USD but I don't have a card with a balance to double check.

 

[hdrolfe]

I read somewhere that if you log in to check your balance it will show the balance in US $? So maybe that's how you can figure out the exact rate used. I may have to pick up a gift card myself and experiment!

This is true, when I was paying off my trip last year I would add the CAD card, it would give me the amount in USD and I would apply that to my bill, the exchange rate was always whatever I had googled, so nothing extra added on. However I don't have any left now to check, and I didn't keep track of the comparison. I believe it saved me a few hundred dollars over using my credit card to pay the balance.

 

[clarker99]

This is a quick breakdown of the savings you can have if you use Dis gift cards vs paying with a credit card that charges an FX fee. It is a bigger savings than most would think:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/pc-optimum-lets-share-deals-offers-info.3737241/post-61459902

The FX fee is the only thing I despise about my credit cards. It is a completely unnecessary fee that banks charge for a simple math function built into a computer system. Plus, the CC company is charging Disney a fee at the same time on the same transaction.

Also, reminder that if you use Mobile Order in the parks that is charged directly to you credit card. To pay with a gift card you have to wait in line. Would be nice if Disney allowed you to add gift cards to your Disney acct like adding an iTunes gift card to your Apple account. Bill the gift cards 1st then use credit card as a back-up.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Also, reminder that if you use Mobile Order in the parks that is charged directly to you credit card. To pay with a gift card you have to wait in line. Would be nice if Disney allowed you to add gift cards to your Disney acct like adding an iTunes gift card to your Apple account. Bill the gift cards 1st then use credit card as a back-up.

If paying via mobile ordering does it get billed back to your room? if so, just go to the front desk and make a payment with the gift card.