Any tips or tricks for managing gift card balances in the park?

[Momof4girls]

For the first time, we bought (Target) Disney gift cards for our spending money to save a little bit.

I have four gift cards total. Any tips or tricks on keeping track of how much is left on each?

What do you do? Maybe wrap a receipt around it? (Do dining receipts contain the card balance like a regular store would?)

Thanks!

 

[PopGirl26]

Yes, dining receipts include a balance.

One thing I've done is number them with a Sharpie and write the beginning balance too. We only use number 1 until it's completely used up, then throw it away and move on to number two. It doesn't keep your exact balance, but it keeps you from having a bunch of cards with random amounts on them.

 

[WebmasterJackie]

I cut the top (sticky part) off of sticky notes and stick that to the back of the card so I can write each dollar amount as the balance dwindles!

 

[Momof4girls]

Ohh good idea!

 

[Eighty8Keys]

We just returned from Disneyland last week where we used a Disney gift card to pay for all meals and souvenirs. I used DisneyGiftCard.com to combine the balances of eight $50 cards into one card so I only had to carry one card with me. You can combine up to $1,000 on a gift card and manage four cards at a time on the site. During our trip the CM's were great about pointing out and circling the remaining balance on each receipt. I also still have the old Disney Gift Card app on my iPhone and was able to load my gift card into the app and it kept track of the remaining balance on the card. So sorry to see that this app is no longer available in the app store but I'll keep using it as long as it continues to work on my phone.

 

[Marionnette]

We just returned from Disneyland last week where we used a Disney gift card to pay for all meals and souvenirs. I used DisneyGiftCard.com to combine the balances of eight $50 cards into one card so I only had to carry one card with me. You can combine up to $1,000 on a gift card and manage four cards at a time on the site. During our trip the CM's were great about pointing out and circling the remaining balance on each receipt. I also still have the old Disney Gift Card app on my iPhone and was able to load my gift card into the app and it kept track of the remaining balance on the card. So sorry to see that this app is no longer available in the app store but I'll keep using it as long as it continues to work on my phone.

Here's my plan, using the Disney GC website:

• I have one GC with a $0 balance stored on there. That GC will go with me to Disney.
• I have 4 other GCs also stored in my account. Once I get to Disney, I will combine one of those GCs onto the physical GC that I am carrying. When it gets low, I'll add transfer the funds from another GC and so on.
• I also have several more GCs that are not stored in my account due to Disney limiting you to 5 stored GCs. I took pictures of the back of the cards and I have them stored digitally. I can add them to my account when the others get zero'd out.
• Wash, rinse, repeat as many times as necessary.
• I can check my balance at any time from my smartphone by visiting the Disney GC website.

This means that I won't be carrying a stack of GCs with me, nor will I be carrying GCs with large amounts of money on them. I can load up my card with the amount that I think I'll need for the day and not worry about losing all my hard-earned Disney money if I lose the card.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

Here's my plan, using the Disney GC website:

• I have one GC with a $0 balance stored on there. That GC will go with me to Disney.
• I have 4 other GCs also stored in my account. Once I get to Disney, I will combine one of those GCs onto the physical GC that I am carrying. When it gets low, I'll add transfer the funds from another GC and so on.
• I also have several more GCs that are not stored in my account due to Disney limiting you to 5 stored GCs. I took pictures of the back of the cards and I have them stored digitally. I can add them to my account when the others get zero'd out.
• Wash, rinse, repeat as many times as necessary.
• I can check my balance at any time from my smartphone by visiting the Disney GC website.

This means that I won't be carrying a stack of GCs with me, nor will I be carrying GCs with large amounts of money on them. I can load up my card with the amount that I think I'll need for the day and not worry about losing all my hard-earned Disney money if I lose the card.

I really like this plan and will definitely try this out next time. I did bring one extra $50 gift card that was stored on the GC website, plus I had two additional GC's stored on the website that I didn't bring with me. I figured if I lost just the one high-value gift card, I could immediately transfer the remaining funds onto my backup card. If I lost my wallet with both gift cards, I could transfer the values onto one of the stored GC's, provided I noticed the loss before the GC's were drained of their funds. I do like the idea of starting with a $0 balance card and then moving over smaller amounts each day. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[worm761]

Here's my plan, using the Disney GC website:

• I have one GC with a $0 balance stored on there. That GC will go with me to Disney.
• I have 4 other GCs also stored in my account. Once I get to Disney, I will combine one of those GCs onto the physical GC that I am carrying. When it gets low, I'll add transfer the funds from another GC and so on.
• I also have several more GCs that are not stored in my account due to Disney limiting you to 5 stored GCs. I took pictures of the back of the cards and I have them stored digitally. I can add them to my account when the others get zero'd out.
• Wash, rinse, repeat as many times as necessary.
• I can check my balance at any time from my smartphone by visiting the Disney GC website.

This means that I won't be carrying a stack of GCs with me, nor will I be carrying GCs with large amounts of money on them. I can load up my card with the amount that I think I'll need for the day and not worry about losing all my hard-earned Disney money if I lose the card.

The flaw in your plan is that not all of the gift cards are able to be combined with the other gift cards. And no one seems to know the connection. I have managed to get all of my gift cards down to 2. What happens if you are down there and it won't let you combine one or all of your physical GCs you left at home? Why not play it safe and take them with you but put them in the safe if you don't want to carry them. This way it's just a trip back to the room if that happens.

To keep track of the balance I have Ledgerist. I use this app for my checking and savings too in every day life. I named my 2 GCs and put them in as additional accounts. As I spend I will record it in my ledgerist app. I won't toss the cards until I verify that they are empty via the website though.

 

[Marionnette]

The flaw in your plan is that not all of the gift cards are able to be combined with the other gift cards. And no one seems to know the connection. I have managed to get all of my gift cards down to 2. What happens if you are down there and it won't let you combine one or all of your physical GCs you left at home? Why not play it safe and take them with you but put them in the safe if you don't want to carry them. This way it's just a trip back to the room if that happens.

To keep track of the balance I have Ledgerist. I use this app for my checking and savings too in every day life. I named my 2 GCs and put them in as additional accounts. As I spend I will record it in my ledgerist app. I won't toss the cards until I verify that they are empty via the website though.

The glitch where GCs from different retailers could not be combine has been resolved. I have been able to transfer balances from Disney GCs purchased at Staples, Target, Lowes and Disney to GCs from other sources within the past couple of weeks. Regardless, the majority of them were obtained from Target, so I would just move on to another GC if one doesn't transfer.

I have alternate methods of making payments. I would never travel without some cash, an ATM card and at least 2 CCs. If, for some strange reason I cannot combine GCs on the physical GC that I have with me, I can always fall back on my other forms of payment. There's no way that I'm dragging a stack of GCs with me and then leave them in the safe. Those safes not as secure as you would like to think!

 

[worm761]

I have multiple forms of payment too but my entire Food and Wine budget is on those cards. I'd not be happy if I had to pull from another source because I left them at home. That festival can get expensive!

 

[Marionnette]

I have multiple forms of payment too but my entire Food and Wine budget is on those cards. I'd not be happy if I had to pull from another source because I left them at home. That festival can get expensive!

You do it your way. I'll do it my way. And we'll both be happy with our choices.

 

[pam95]

We stay onsite, and charge everything to the room. Then I take our gift cards to the front desk and have someone there apply the cards to our room charges. I do this every other day or so during our stay.

 

[han22735]

We also do as the PP stated. To me using my MB is way easier. I just went to the front desk and paid down my bill with the gift card I brought

 

[PatMcDuck]

I have the Gift card app on my phone, it keeps track of all my GC balances.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

Embarrassingly low tech here. After paying I wrap the receipt around the card. It shows what the remaining balance is. Next time I use the card I throw that one away and wrap the new one around it. It works

 

[MinnieMSue]

The Disney gift card app works great for me.

 

[Iheart3]

I'm low tech also. I did the wrapped receipt as well. Also I held onto the receipts to figure out what I had spent where so I could adjust the next day by spending less on souvenirs or food. Also I had alloted a certain amount for DD11.

 

[Pembo]

Low tech - used a sharpie. We had one with us for autographs so after I used the card, I wrote down the balance and xd out the previous balance. Worked for us

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We stay onsite, and charge everything to the room. Then I take our gift cards to the front desk and have someone there apply the cards to our room charges. I do this every other day or so during our stay.

This is what I do now too. I used to wrap the last receipt around the gift card and kept track that way but it drove me nuts.

Now I just grab a couple of the gift cards and take them to the front desk in the morning on my way to the food court. That seems to work better for me and I'm much happier dealing with less paper being carried around.

 

[Marionnette]

I just wanted to come back to report that I had no problems using the Disneygiftcard website to transfer GC balances to the physical GC that I took to Florida. It was so easy and instantaneous. I didn't have to walk around with a high-value GC in my bag, nor did I have to haul a stack of GCs with me. I moved $50 at a time onto my GC so that I could enjoy Food and Wine while still holding myself to a budget.