Free night on property strategy

[MELSMICE]

Well, if that was your point...

I could use my Disney Visa, get 1 point for every dollar spent and use it to pay for a discounted room at a value resort. I would get free transportation from the airport and access to EMH.

And it would cost me a lot less than 10K points per night.

Your strategy is nothing new.

Disney Visa only gives you 1%. You get $1.00 for every $100 spent.

And the reminder is appreciated. You shouldnt be put upon simply because you don't post much, or because the charge card you use to earn the free room nights is unfamiliar to one or more posters, or because your typical expenditures on necessities are higher than what some posters consider reasonable.

I thought the same thing.

I do use the Disney Visa. I know it doesn't give great rewards, but I put just about everything on it & then pay it off at the end of the month. These charges do add up. I have a few hundred dollars each year to spend on one of our trips. We usually "piddle" it away at CS meals, snacks & things like that.

I also have the SW Visa that I use for my business. We get numerous free flights a year that way.

This intrigues me! I always pay contractors by check. Is that considered paying cash? If so, what is your strategy for getting the cash discount? Do you just ask them if they give a discount for paying cash? I just assumed that everyone wrote out a check to the AC people, the roofing people, etc. I mean, how to you pay a contractor with a credit card?

Don't hold me to this, but it's usually because the contractor won't be reporting the income that they will accept the cash. Don't flame me, it may not be all contractors everywhere, but for the ones that I know, this is the case.

 

[jgates]

Regardless of all the hostility, the best point on here that MANY disboard members may not know is that S/D ARE Starwood properties. I have known this for years, but I am sure there are a ton of members that do not even realize this.

 

[platamama]

I actually opened a Starwood AMEX just for the express purpose of using it to get stays at the Swan/Dolphin. I got a sizeable bonus for signing up at the time. But then the free dining promo came up and so I'm probably staying at a mod instead, and now have all these Starwood points for some future use.

I had a Disney Visa, and honestly got tired of the 1% reward. I know lots of people like it, it's simple, and every place takes Visa. But if I'm going to play the credit card rewards game, I'm going to get the most out of it I can.

My current go-to card is the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred. Grocery stores 6%. Gas and Dept. stores 3%. Everywhere else 1%.

And at my grocery store they sell gift cards. And that's the key. It shows as a grocery purchase. Plus sometimes those gift card purchases get you an extra fuel discount, and getting $1 off a gallon is pretty sweet. Of course that gets paid by the Kroger gift card I bought at the Kroger store.

It does make my bookkeeping complicated, but I can deal (not sure about DH though).

 

[pgianna]

Thank you everybody for the feedback, it was certainly a lively discussion.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Thanks for the post OP! I enjoy the Swan very much also.

At the moment I am using the Royal Caribbean card (also 1 point per $1) for everything. I am allowed to use it monthly to pay DS college tuition/room/board and I think I will have enough points for a free cruise in 2013!

PSA (for anyone just starting out) any cards/points will only work for you if you are paying them off each month. If you have interest on the loan then you lose any financial advantage you gain on the points.

 

[marie1203]

Wow, you've charged $60,000 on your Disney Visa in 8 months?

I don't see how is anyone's business how much i charged to my cc in the past. As i said before we got a 3x the points promotion and I pay for my sister college tuition on it and my dad reimburses me the money.

 

[ilovebassets]

Haven't read the whole thread, but rewards credit cards can be fantastic. We put literally everything we can the AMEX blue cash card which turns about to be about $45,000 a year. We roughly earn 1.25% back in cold cash which can be used for absolutely anything we want with no restrictions since it just gets applied as credit to our account. We pay off the balance in full each month. No annual fee. That means earning an extra $550 a year for basically doing nothing. That's pretty powerful.

 

[MELSMICE]

Haven't read the whole thread, but rewards credit cards can be fantastic. We put literally everything we can the AMEX blue cash card which turns about to be about $45,000 a year. We roughly earn 1.25% back in cold cash which can be used for absolutely anything we want with no restrictions since it just gets applied as credit to our account. We pay off the balance in full each month. No annual fee. That means earning an extra $550 a year for basically doing nothing. That's pretty powerful.

DH uses an AMEX for his business. It gives travel reward dollars which can be used for any kind of travel expenses, airfare, hotel stays, rental cars, etc. No restrictions.

Additionally, I have the SW Visa for my business which we get airfare points with and we have the Disney Visa for ourselves to accrue some extra spending money for our Disney trips.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Another thumbs up for the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex! We used our points to stay near the Anaheim Convention Center for the D23 Expo last summer. 60,000 SPG points gave us 5 nights and 50,000 airline miles. We used another 1,000 points per night to upgrade to the Club Floor, which gave us a continental breakfast and hot hors d'oeuvres with beer and wine in the evenings. -- Suzanne

 

[bedogged]

For those of you that love and shop at Costco, their AMEX card is in my opinion a very good deal! They pay 3% on gas, 2% on travel and 1% on everything else, including purchases at Costco. That is in CASH. You do have to have an Executive Membership at Costco which costs $100.00 or I guess $110.00 for 2012. Costco, in addition, gives you 2% back on purchases. So this year we got back $155.00 from Costco which paid for our membership+ and about $550.00 from AMEX. I expect a bit more from AMEX this year. We are VERY middle class with only one income. I just put everything I can on AMEX and what won't go there goes on Disney Visa.

I love AMEX for customer service! If you have ever had to dispute a charge, they are the most helpful and their extended warranty programs are wonderful.

I do have to say the obvious here...This only works if you pay off the entire balance each and every month.