(Photo Courtesy of Chase)
There are two million credit cards in the world, and they all have unique perks that could make them the perfect earning supplement to your Disney vacation. But not all perks are created equal. Depending on how you value certain savings or experiences, your mileage will vary on which card gives you the most bang for your buck when it comes to help paying for your Disney vacation.
Mr. B is a big picture kind of guy, so he can look at all the different kinds of cards and see which one, in the long run is the best value. I am a details lady, so I just want to know, “what’s in it for me right this second?” On this occasion, our two world views lined up. When we opened our no annual fee Chase Disney Visa we knew that it might be not be best overall savings card, but for us, and particularly our 2018 trip, the perks and rewards made the most valuable for us.
This is because, if I may toot our horns a little, we are pretty good at saving. You could almost say, we’ve made a hobby of it. ;) So, the cards that give you major cash back, airline miles, or hotel points don’t hold as much appeal for us as a card that gives you Disney exclusive perks. We can hustle for Southwest points by buying and earning gift cards at a percentage off, saving money for our flights that way. We cannot create a card member exclusive character experience, no matter how hard we try. When looking to open a new card, make sure you’re asking yourself how this this best fits in with your family’s savings and earning styles, as well as how it will affect you in real time during your vacation. Understand which type of perk is more important (and beneficial!) to you BEFORE you apply for any cards.
Some of the perks Chase Disney Visa card holders enjoy:
- Card member exclusive character meet and greets at Hollywood Studios and Epcot, with a free digital download. Also applicable at Disneyland.
- 10% off select merchandise at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland with a purchase of over $50. For this one, I just told everyone at every store we had the Disney Visa. I don’t know what the select merchandise was, but it worked for me every time. Great for making that souvenir budget go a little further.
- 10% off select merchandise at the Disney Store and shopDisney. com.
- Special card member events at the Disney Store.
- 10% off most days and dining locations at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts. Another way to stretch your meal budget if you don’t go with the dining plan.
- 10% select onboard purchases and Castaway Cay packages aboard the Disney Cruise Line.
- Earn 1% back in Disney Rewards Dollars on all purchases. There is no limit to the number of Rewards Dollars you can earn. This is a big one for us. You can use Rewards Dollars to pay for park tickets, hotel stays, shopping, and dining while on vacation. You can also use those Rewards Points for Disney movies in theaters, shopping at the Disney store, or on the Disney cruise lines. We are saving our Rewards Dollars for our next Disney trip.
- If you have a referral from a current Disney Visa holder, you can earn a $200 statement credit if you spend $500 in the first three months of opening your card. Regular applicants will earn a $50 credit statement after their first purchase on the Disney Visa. This was another huge one for us. We opened the card, made our deposit on our trip with the card, and earned $200. We paid off the balance immediately using money from our Disney Fund, so we basically got $200 for our trip for free.
- 0% financing on your Disney vacation package for 6 months.
- Special exclusive vacation offers. This can be in the form of a room discount or even free dining options.
- Early bird offers for touring Disney shows and experiences. Card members are regularly informed about touring Broadway productions as well as Disney on Ice ticket availability before it is released to the public.
- 15% off select guided tours at Walt Disney World.
- 10% off secret recreation opportunities at the resorts loaded on property at Walt Disney World.
- 15$ off Spa services at select Walt Disney World hotels.
- Various discounts at retailers and restaurants at Disney Springs, including 20% off Joffrey’s Tea and Coffee, 10% off purchases of $50 at many merchandise locations, and 10% off House of Blues and Bongos Cuban Restaurant.
Now, many of these perks are applicable only when you use the Disney Visa. But for that, just use the strategy we talked about before. Save up your cash in the Disney Fund, use the Visa for these purchases, scoring the discount, and then pay the balance off immediately with the money waiting in your Disney fund. The best part is that you also earn rewards dollars which can be used for more Disney fun.
I should also mention there is a slightly fancier card, the Disney Premier Visa, which comes with slightly fancier perks as well as the fancy annual fee of $49. For us, the no annual fee was a much better value, but like with all things credit card, make sure you are doing your research to find the card that will have the best benefits for your particular situation.
Which leads me to this: Credit cards aren’t the best earning/savings options for many people. And that’s okay! If you are working on rebuilding your credit, or paying off debt, the Saving to Disney course has lots of other options for you to stretch the dollars in your Disney fund. Remember, the most important thing is that the earnings/savings methods you use work best for your circumstances.
Do you have a Disney Visa? What’s your favorite perk? Hit us up in the comments!
Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey three years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!
TikiKrissy says
Definitely the Rewards Dollars. We use it to buy our meals when we go to Disneyland. When we made our only trip to WDW (so far) in 2014 we paid for our room at the Hilton at Downtown Disney/Disney Springs with Hilton points from our HiltonHHonors American Express and the food with the Disney Visa. We’d had quite a bit of work done on our house and had been saving points from both for several years. Really brought down our out of pocket expenses.