Sorry, I guess I'm just stuck on the point that we got a better deal with Amex + disney club - the Amex card has a one point per one dollar rewards, and when it was the official card you could use those points for disney stuff (tickets, etc.) Combine that with the discounts on water craft (which I enjoyed), dining, purchases at wod (20%) and it was pretty nice.
With this new card, the point structure is 1%, and in "doing my research" I can't find what value those magical points will have - is it dollar for dollar?
Just trying to be helpful, but the above seems to be subject to a few misconceptions.
Most important, I think, is the fact that, depending on how you use your rewards, AmEx's Membership Rewards works out to roughly 1% (or less) in most cases, making the rewards value equal to the Disney Visa's earnings. It's true that the Disney Visa earns you only one Dream Reward point per $100 spent, while AmEx earns you one Membership Rewards point for every $1, but the DR points are each worth $1, while the MR points are essentially each worth only a penny! (again, this depends on how you spend them, but a $50 Gap gift card costs 5000 MR points. That's a penny per point! And some rewards work out to even less.) So in both cases, $100 of spending earns you basically $1 of reward.
Second, in comparing that 1% reward to a 20% discount on the DC, I think you may be comparing apples to oranges. Look at it like this: let's say that BEFORE, you spent $52000 per year on your AmEx, paid it in full every statement, and you had a DC card; and NOW instead you will spend $52000 per year on your Disney Visa and pay it in full every statement. BEFORE, you would earn 52000 MR points, which you could trade for a six-day Park Hopper Plus (a $308 value, for a 0.6% reward value, just over one-HALF a percent) with 2000 MR points left over (call it a $20 gift card for the store of your choice at the going 1% rate) and you could use your Disney Club to save 20% on your Downtown Disney Shopping (say $200 off of $1000 worth of shopping). All told you've gotten $508 of "free" stuff out of your DC and MR, assuming you'd spend $1000 at DD or save the $200 in some other form of DC discount. And you are spending $120 in membership fees for these programs, if I am correct. ($50 AmEx, $30 MR, $40 DC). NOW, spending the $52000 on your Disney Visa gives you $520 Dream Reward dollars, which will BUY you a Premium Annual Pass outright. That is, 100% OFF your PAP, just for spending money you were spending anyway. Also that's $52000 expediture for a $520 reward -- a full 1%, while you only got 0.6% when you used the MR points for a 6-day PHP. And there are no fees as long as you pay your balance each statement.
So, to summarize:
AmEx/DC combo:
annual spending: $52000 (for example)
reward value: $508 (assuming you can get $200 in discounts out of DC in a year; you might have to spend another $800 to "save" this $200!)
fees: $120
net benefit: $388
Disney Visa:
annual spending: $52000 (for example)
reward value: $520 (no matter what you use it for at WDW!)
fees: $0
net benefit: $520
Now granted most of us don't spend $52000 a year on our credit card, but in that case the $120 in fees for the AmEx/DC option just weighs heavier against its benefits! For instance, if you spent only $4000 per year on either option, the AmEx/DC option would get you a $25 character breakfast for 3500 of your MR points with 500 left over towards $5 worth of a gift card, and, say, $50 savings on a $250 shopping spree, but you still would have spent $120 in fees, so you are DOWN $40 on the deal. Spending the same $4000 on your Disney Visa, you'd get $40 in Dream Reward dollars to spend as you'd like at WDW. $40 benefit, no fees.
So to some, a 1% "reward" can be better than a 20% discount.
I am by no means THRILLED with the Disney Visa's offerings, but I think that many will find that, for them, the overall benefit is AT LEAST as good as the old AmEx/DC combo!
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So now we only use the Continental Master card for FF mlies and free flights to DVC locations.
