Universal Orlando spending

[Plague]

OK, a bit off topic on the Disney forum but like many others I am spending a bit of time at Universal this year, though only a fraction of my Disney time.

My question is about money. I put most of my Disney spending (food, drink, gifts) on my account, so no cash or cards directly involved - it all goes to my card as a lump at the end. Unless that has all changed in the last few years ...

At Universal that obviously isn't an option (AFAIK), so I expect I'll be paying with cash or card for food, etc.
So ...
- How easy is it to use cards at Universal/outside Disney these days? Is contactless a majority or is it print and sign?
- Is it easier to use cash?
- And how much daily spend would you allow, in total?

Really just trying to work out how much cash $ to take with me - I still have several $00 left over from 2019

 

[Karnor00]

I was able to use cards/apple pay at Universal without any issues. Almost everything was contactless - I think I only had to sign once when the contactless didn’t work.

I was staying at a Universal hotel so I could also charge things back to my room with my room card.
This did have one issue however - everytime I charged to my room I had a hold put on my card for the amount charged (fair enough). But then at the end i also got a hold for the total spend - before the previous holds were released. So I now had double the spend held on my card.
Finally the card was charged for the full amount and all then holds released but it seems a poor way of doing things. Luckily I had a big enough credit limit for the holds not to be an issue but something to be aware of.

I didn’t really use cash other than for some tipping (room service/concierge).

i can’t really comment on daily spend as that’s really up to what you want to buy

 

[Plague]

I was staying at a Universal hotel so I could also charge things back to my room with my room card.

I'm also staying at a Universal hotel, so that's handy. Can you do that most places in the parks and plaza?

Strange about the card holds. With easy access to view my accounts these days it's quite interesting/alarming seeing these amounts appear, sit around (maybe for several days if a weekend is involved), and finally resolve. Occasionally I've seen charges appear twice in the pending area, but eventually it sorted itself out.
Like you I generally have headroom on my credit to cover those sort of things.

Yes, I tip cash as far as possible. If I can charge most purchases to room or card then the $$ I have left over from '19 could be enough to cover that.

i can’t really comment on daily spend as that’s really up to what you want to buy

Yes, sorry, a poorly put question.
Obviously there is food and drink which for me is probably about $30-$40/day (I'm cheap to run), but I was thinking more in terms of incidentals. In Disney, transport, etc. is free, but within the Universal area are there any surprise extras, like admissions to specific shows or the like. (I've already got an express pass for one of my days.)

 

[Jangles]

Transportation between the hotels and the parks is free. It’s a while since I have seen the tuktuks on the walkways, but those you just tip what you see fit.
As PP said you can charge back to your UOR hotel room, contactless is accepted everywhere. If places use a card reader , I have to unlock the stripe on my card app, before the card is accepted. Some of the smaller carts are cash only.
The better restaurants are generally cheaper than Disney and there alcohol free pours are very generous.

Unless you are buying merchandise, wands etc., I can’t think of anything that charges extra. You get a Citywalk pass with your hotel booking.

 

[jf256]

Jumping on. I was thinking about getting a few separate prepaid dollar cards for universal, Disney (when we are not staying on site) might help with budgeting. Does anyone know if this is a viable option? with the hotel holds etc?
We will have to make hotel on the amex card because we are using a FHR rate. But I dont want to pay their huge foreign transaction fees for anything else.

 

[Plague]

But I dont want to pay their huge foreign transaction fees for anything else.

Check out your own or other available-to-you credit cards. I have a Nationwide members' Visa card and foreign transactions are converted using the standard Visa rate for that day (which is a decent rate) and no commission or other charges at all.

Obviously no budget and the rates can vary, but at least I don't feel I'm being shafted by the bank every time I use it

 

[Plague]

I have to unlock the stripe on my card app, before the card is accepted.

That's a new one on me. Though I can't recall when I last used a swipe terminal.
A sort of 2FA I suppose.

 

[Jangles]

That's a new one on me. Though I can't recall when I last used a swipe terminal.
A sort of 2FA I suppose.

Revolut and Monzo have a setting that you can use to switch the ‘swipe function’ on and off.

 

[Jangles]

Jumping on. I was thinking about getting a few separate prepaid dollar cards for universal, Disney (when we are not staying on site) might help with budgeting. Does anyone know if this is a viable option? with the hotel holds etc?
We will have to make hotel on the amex card because we are using a FHR rate. But I dont want to pay their huge foreign transaction fees for anything else.

Have you thought of using Revolut? You can change your money into dollars whenever you wish and use a vaults function to create different pots. They also have virtual and one use virtual cards for online transaction.

 

[Plague]

might help with budgeting

Do you really need to budget?
If you are a regular visitor you know what you are likely to spend, and if this is your once-in-a-lifetime trip do you want to spoil it by worrying about a few $$?

For the most part you know what's coming - you've paid for flights, accommodation and park tickets in advance, and possibly airport transfers and some other stuff.
What's left, that is essential, is basically sustenance - food and drink and really snacks, which you can estimate pretty well based on your eating habits.
Outside of that you have 'shopping'. That is really the gotcha item, but a bit of common-sense and restraint is probably a better way to deal with that than setting arbitrary spending limits. (It's a very nice set of ears but $30 and they'll go in the attic when we get home ... )

Just my take on things - I know it won't fit everyone