Best way to bring money-AAA Visa Debit card???? About This Page:

[krisk11]

I am going to Florida in about 2 1/2 weeks. I will be staying with friends the first half of the week about 30 minutes outside of Disney World and then the 2nd half of the week we will be staying at POFQ. I am wondering the best way to bring down the spending money. I don't want to use credit cards and have saved up a bit of cash (I would just use the cc's in case I run out). I have always brought it all down in cash but was wondering how everyone else does it. I thought about travelers checks or AAA has a debit visa card you can load with whatever amount you want. Has anyone used the AAA Visa debit card and if so how did it work? I could put some of the money on that and then just bring some cash for the smaller stuff. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[TroianRae]

Check out the charges associated with the card before you get one; they look kinda steep!!

[kywdwmom]

We always bring a mix of travelers checks and cash. We use the travelers checks for meals (especially the table service restaurants) and the larger gift shops. We save the cash for snacks, smaller shops, counter service and odds-and-ends.

I am curious to see if anyone has tried the American Express Travelers Card that I have been seeing advertised on TV. I guess you preload it and use it as a debit card. If you have, how did it work for you and are there any hidden charges?

Thanks!!

[luv2sail]

I had received one of these Visa Debit cards for Christmas and it was nothing but trouble!!!!

One thing is that you never know how much you have left on the card....the merchant cannot tell you that so you have to keep close track of your spending.

I had some other issues with the card in dealing with a particular store in our mall....I don't think I could even clearly explain what happened.

Anyway....I would definately think twice before getting a Visa Gift card!

[TravelingTots]

I save the cash but then use it to make a large payment on my credit card before we go. Then, any charges I make during my trip are essentially prepaid. Also, if we go over, there are no embarassing rejections or frustrations, as there might be with a prepaid debit card. During our recent trip to WDW, we took only $100 cash with us, and that was only used to buy fast-food meals while driving to Orlando. Everything else went on the credit card (which was prepaid). Works well for us, as I hate carrying cash and don't like paying a fee to convert to traveler's checks.

[Happymommy]

WE made the mistake of bringing travelers checks our first two trips, and found it a hassle. On our last trip--we put the money in our checking, then charge everything to our room, and they charge our debit card when we reach $1000, and then again at check out. Do you have a visa Check Card (which is like a debit card- but its a credit card-- I know I'm not explaining it very well, but its not the gift card, its a credit card from my bank, but the charges come directly out of my checking account-- so there isn't any interest). If you don't, I think I would just use a credit card and just be sure to pay the balance off as soon as you get home-- that's if you plan to charge things to your room. You can charge to your room and pay with your travelers checks, but once you hit the $1000 mark, they automatically charge your credit card. We stayed at CBR, and it was a pain to run down to the customs house to make a payment. We really like charging to our room because we find it really convenient, and I like having a list of everything I spent at the end of the trip, rather than not knowing where my money went. If you don't plan on charging to your room (which you wouldn't be able to do on the first half of your trip anyway), then I do think I would bring travelers checks, and have a credit card just in case. I know I just rambled-- I'm typing really fast, I hope that wasn't too confusing. Have fun!!!!

[ladyt]

Hope this wasn't mentioned before, but you can also use your room key to charge most anywhere on Disney property. If you charge $500 on it for example, you can pay that off in cash when you check out. That way, you can stash your cash or travelers checks in your room safe and not have to worry about it until checkout.

[Fortissimo]

My 16-year-old niece has been traveling quite a bit this year for dance. My sister gave Stinky a Visa Travel Money Card to use for meals and other items. Stinky has not had a problem with it. She can add to the card and check her balance online, withdraw money at an ATM and we can add to it when needed.

We usually use travelers checks. We are thinking about the Visa Travel Money Card for our upcoming trip but haven't decided.

[Tink and co.]

We paid for our room and tickets in advance, and take a small amount of cash with us. We then used our Visa Debit Card (that's attached to our checking), and charged everything back to our room. We hit an ATM once too, for cash at the airport. This trip we'll do essentially the same thing, but we'll use the Disney Visa(gotta earn points!!) instead, and pay it off when we get home. I also purchase Disney Dollars for the kids spending money, and it keeps them on a budget, too!

My oldest DD is travelling overseas this summer and we purchased a reloadable debit card for her to use and we've tried it and it works well, but there is a $3.00 fee everytime she uses it. But better than cash, and it works well overseas. It's called a cash passport and we got it through Travelex.

[wdw_forever]

I looked at the AAA website to have more infos but it's not available in Canada that would have being an excellent thing to have for my upcoming trip

I never heard about something similar here. I guess I'll go with the usual travelers checks

[Laughaholic]

I thought the AAA Travel Money card was awesome!!

I used it last year, so I know a lot about it! Yes, you do have to keep a close track of your spending, but for me, it wasn't a problem. Although, it would have been easier if they still had those internet kiosks, so I could have checked my balance free online. The website we found was really good, so you knew exactly what you bought was and how much it was. They charge $1.50 if you want to find out over the phone. Also, there is a service charge but you can use the ATMs.

It was so much better than carrying money. I found it so much easier! The smallest amount you can put on it is $250 at a time, and they charge you for cashing out the card all in one go. But that shouldn't be a problem, as you can't ask for cash back at Disney (I found this out too, as I wanted to get some money to carry around!). Hope this helps!

I LOVED it!

[LisaJ]

I got my sister a Visa gift card once, and she had nothing but trouble with it. I'll never do that again.