Originally Posted By KatieKate123 So for next years trip, which we are going all out. I was thinking about buying a 100 gift card every week along with our food purchases. This way it won't ever seem like a ouch at the end of the year, and we will be able to go and have fun without owing money to anyone. I usually buy 150 dollars worth of food but I could easily get rid of 50 dollars of that and then just add on a hundred dollars so that it would feel like only 50 dollars more a week. So I guess my question is Has anyone ever done this before? Has anyone ever paid for their trip with gift cards before?
Originally Posted By KatieKate123 So for next years trip, which we are going all out. I was thinking about buying a 100 gift card every week along with our food purchases. This way it won't ever seem like a ouch at the end of the year, and we will be able to go and have fun without owing money to anyone. I usually buy 150 dollars worth of food but I could easily get rid of 50 dollars of that and then just add on a hundred dollars so that it would feel like only 50 dollars more a week. So I guess my question is Has anyone ever done this before? Has anyone ever paid for their trip with gift cards before?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Paying for a trip before you go is great. it's no fun to come home from a vacation to a stack of credit card bills (not to mention paying interest). The problem with buying gift cards is that should something come up and you are unable to make the trip, getting a refund on those cards is not going to be easy. And if they should get lost or stolen... yikes. My own 2¢ is to deposit that $100 into an interest-earning account instead every week. (You won't make any extra $$$ on gift cards). You could build anticipation for the trip with a countdown calendar or some other visual display in your home.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer I've payed fot a Disney trip in gift cards that were actually gifted to me...but hey, this is a pretty awesome idea !
Originally Posted By KatieKate123 I like the gift card idea b/c it would be part of the food bill though your idea is neat too Kar2oonman. Also if we weren't able to make the trip we would go eventually and we would just use the gift cards then.
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS This idea works great, KK123. Before my pay cut, I used to buy a $25 gift card every week while visiting DL. Although I didn't use them for my travel to WDW, I did use them for souvenirs and food while I was there. It was such a relief not to have to worry about all of that expense. I would also use what gift cards I had left for gifts to my family as we are all Disnoids anyway.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 I do what Kar2oonman suggests. Granted the interest rates aren't great now. But it does give you some extra spending money. You don't have to worry about paying when you get back and you don't end up making interest payments. Before you go, turn the money into gift cards.
Originally Posted By KatieKate123 Thats also a good idea. But I think I will do the disney gift card idea. My husband is a very bad saver. If we had money in an account he will use it. If we have Disney gift cards he wouldn't be able to use it. Plus there are times thats we are tight on money we always pull through with no help, but those times it would be too easy to touch the money in that savings account. So for us I think the gift cards would be best and trust me if I couldn't make the trip there are plenty of items I would like at the disney store.
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 I've had guest come into my store and buy gift cards for that very reason. Every month they come back and reload it. I do let them know that if they are lost or stollen they are well..out of luck. I personly have an accout just for my WDW vacations. My bank even has it set up as my Disney account. I put half my paycheck into it every week. Then when we are realy to go, I buy gift cards.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb I would only do the gift cards if you have access to a safe deposit box or fireproof safe. But I'm paranoid that way, I even keep our APs in our safe if I don't think I'll be going to a Disney park soon. Same goes for preordered tickets and hotel reservations .
Originally Posted By KatieKate123 I would be keeping the Disney gift cards in my bank safe which is where I keep all of our important papers.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb I know I'm a total seat of my pants slob type of girl, except when it comes to my travel and vacation stuff, then I'm anal retentive woman (fire proof safes, charts, packing weeks in advance and then repacking it all a week before the trip). It's a sickness :-D.
Originally Posted By judros We have paid with the Disney Gift cards (because we had a few and wanted to use them up), but we are going this October with our son who is in the Coast Guard and daughter in law. We are staying at the Shades of Green (all ready paid for, I paid them 50 or 100 when we had extra) and I have been putting 25.00 on a gift card everytime my husband and I got paid. I also did the same for my son when he got paid, they are station in NC no where near a Disney store, so I will bring it with when we leave on the 9th of Oct. They will then have spending money that his wife knew nothing about. We are doing the same for our trip with our other son and (soon to be fiancé) in December.
