Alternative to Disney Visa

[drgnfly30]

If you are unhappy with Bank One's Disney Visa, I haven't seen any threads on these two cards- both issued by Chase. The I-Card MasterCard earns you Webcertificates and Universal Entertainment Card that gives you points towards Universal products including park tickets and vacations. I happen to work for the company & by all means am not gaining anything by mentioning the cards but I happen to have the I-card & use it to pay for everyday things, then I pay it off each month. You get 1% credits for Webcertificates - I use that & Mypoints to credit my Webcerts 'Credit' card & use my Ebay sales to credit my Paypal Debt Card all towards my next trip to Disney - & the best thing is that I can choose how & where to spend the money.
HTH
Christine

 

[mad4themouse]

I've had a Chase-i Mastercard for over a year now and I like it a lot. The rewards are automatically sent every month that they are earned and I can use my Webcertificates anywhere that MasterCard is taken when I use my plastic Webertificate MasterCard. It works like a pre-paid MasterCard.

I especially like the fact that they can be combined with Webcertificates earned from other rewards. My Webcertificate account has become like a Disney savings account!

 

[tink2dw]

Read all fine print or you could lose!!

Most web certificate sites will only allow to save for 11 months,then in the 12 month start charging your account a service charge!!

Or some Delete any unused money after a certain number of months!!!

 

[jgates]

Originally posted by tink2dw
Read all fine print or you could lose!!

Most web certificate sites will only allow to save for 11 months,then in the 12 month start charging your account a service charge!!

Or some Delete any unused money after a certain number of months!!!

Say what? That is NOT what their disclosures say:

*Account Dormancy Fee($3): A fee will be applied to Inactive** accounts after the 6 month anniversary date. The charge will be recurring each month unless the account becomes active or the balance of the account is $0.00.
Inactive**- An account which meets the following criteria:

It's been 6 Months since the last Webcertificate was claimed to the account.
There have not been funds added to your Webcertificate Account in last 90 days
There have not been a purchase made with your Webcertificate in last 90 days
^Overlimit Fee: At the discretion of C/Base Inc., a fee can be applied to the account if the total balance is less than $0.00. C-Base reserves the right to collect the fee against the funding source of the account or initiate collection activity directly with the customer.

So, the 2nd half of the statement is somewhat accurate. The first half is not - if you are making consistent deposits you will not be considered dormant. So I don't know where the part about allowing you to only save for 11 months comes from. The unused money part would be accurate - if you do not do ANYTHING (deposits, withdrawals, purchases) it will be considered dormant after 6 months.

If you are using an i-card, you will receive a certificate each time your account reaches a total of $1000 in purchases ($10 certificate), so if you are charging $300 to $500 each month you would receive one every 2 to 3 months and you will have NO problem keeping it from becoming dormant. You do not have to do these in multiples of $10 - we charge $1800 in a month and we receive an $18 certificate - $2400 we receive a $24 certificate - you get the picture.

We add the Mypoints, Memolink, LuckyPoints & PCH Points certificates to this account also (I think LP & PCH have them- those are newer programs to me).

Dormant fees are also something many banks & cu's do - so watch that savings account you haven't used in a while - I have one I do an auto deposit every month into it of $2 to make sure it stays active (l.o.l)

 

[jgates]

As an addition, I will give these comments on what NOT to use your webcertificate for:

1. Do not use it for a motel reservation when you check in, unless they will process the entire payment up front (doesn't normally happen that way). In multiple years of processing debit cards at our bank, one of the most common problems we have run into is - customer gives their card for a hotel stay - hotel authorizes $95 for a $75 room charge. (in case of movies, etc). When customer checks out it processes at $75 because they have added nothing, but VERY COMMONLY the folio is not closed properly and the original authorization hangs out there for 5 BUSINESS days. Consequently you cannot access that $95 and the $75 is already withdrawn. If you aren't holding much of a balance on your card, it can be bad. And normally with a webbie, it isn't going to be a really huge balance. Your vacation could be done before the other authorization disappears.

Normally restaurants will NOT have this problem. Probably because the transaction is authorized with 15% tip and then actually closed out at the 'real' amount within 5 minutes.

2. If you purchase gas the webbie won't work at the 'pay at the pump' feature. You need to pump it and then take it into the store. Most likely because these pumps only authorize $1 when you begin to pump -they have no idea how much gas you will put in - you may be driving a Neon or an Explorer!!! So when they authorize they do $1 to make sure the card is valid and they take their risk from there. I have never been able to get a webbie to work at the pre-pay pump and I imagine there is a block in there because it is a stored value card and not a 'high-transaction' card like a debit or credit card.

And thank you drgnfly for these suggestions - I'm sure you can tell the i-Card is my favorite!!! I also like their online payment function and online viewing.

If you belong to a rewards program, check to see if there is a sign-up link. We did ours through memolink (I think) and received around 4000 points- enough for about a $20 gc.

 

[TreeOfLife]

Universal's Entertainment card is still the top in rewards for entertainment, according to Quicken and Money...

 

[drgnfly30]

Obviously reward cards are a very personal choice, for me this was the most versatile one... jgates - I'm glad you like the card! And yes the Universal Entertainment Card is touted as one of the better rewards cards out there... in fact we now have instant decisioning at the park... you can apply on your way into the park & if approved can pick up a temporary card that can be used during your stay. If anyone has tried this please LMK how the experience was... amongst my ever growing job responsibilities I do "Voice of the Customer" analytics & it would be great to hear some feedback!
HTH
Christine

 

[sln88]

These reward cards all pay around 1%(my Amex cash card is more like 1.5%). Why not just get a cash reward card so that you can use the $$ on whatever you want instead of worrying about certificates, expiration dates, only being able to use them on certain thngs at certain places, losing them, ect?

I could see if these cards gave better than 1%, but they don't. What's the point?

 

[jgates]

The biggest appeal to the i-card is you receive it continually. Discover I always had to wait a full year before I received anything. GM would only let me apply towards a new car (and I am NOT buying a new car - money down the drain in my opinion) and would not let me apply towards a program/leased vehicle. Elan's new cash reward card is also only paid once a year.

With i-card, I get that webbie within 3 days of statement cut- I have had the plastic card since the old Free Ride days and it is so nice to see that balance go up and be able to accumulate via other rewards programs also- they all go into one little vacation pot. This summer I had the card with $335 in stored value on it. It was great - I bought some stuff during my Missouri trip without worrying about my credit card balance!

Drgnfly 30 - can you give me a little more info on Universal card - I thought they were a straight 1% also - is their reward payback better on their own product? We will probably spend 2 or 3 nites at Royal Pacific if I can get an Entertainment Rate and need 2 passes. Just wondering if I would get more 'bang' for my buck during the next year if I temporarily used the Universal card.

 

[drgnfly30]

You get 1 point for every $1 for general purchases; 2 points for every $1 on select purchases at Hollywood and Orlando Universal Theme Parks, Universal hotels, Universal Resorts and select Universal websites. You also get 10%off of some admission tickets through the Chase/Universal website; merchandise at the parks; food & non-alcholic drinks & 20% off Citywalk admission.
At the hotels you get discount certificates for food & shopping throughout Orlando (show the card to the concierge), compliementary spa & recreation equipment use, Extended checkout (2pm). If you'd like to see what the points can be redeemed for you can go to www.chaseuniversalcard.com.
Hope this helps.
Christine

Drgnfly 30 - can you give me a little more info on Universal card - I thought they were a straight 1% also - is their reward payback better on their own product? We will probably spend 2 or 3 nites at Royal Pacific if I can get an Entertainment Rate and need 2 passes. Just wondering if I would get more 'bang' for my buck during the next year if I temporarily used the Universal card.

 

[NancyIL]

You can utilize the cash-back bonus from Discover Card as soon as it reaches $20. You can also get up to double the amount of the cashback with certain partners. That part has been disappointing lately, since Red Lobster and Borders add only $5 to a $20 gift card, instead of doubling it as they used to.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by sln88
These reward cards all pay around 1%(my Amex cash card is more like 1.5%). Why not just get a cash reward card so that you can use the $$ on whatever you want instead of worrying about certificates, expiration dates, only being able to use them on certain thngs at certain places, losing them, ect?

I could see if these cards gave better than 1%, but they don't. What's the point?

You are absolutely right from a technical standpoint. The thing is, there is a psychological issue for many people. Handing the clerk a certificate for a free room/meal/flight/etc. makes that item seem "free" in a way that having the extra money in your pocket doesn't.

Also, many people don't have the discipline to not spend the cash back reward. With a designated reward, they know they won't blow it somewhere else.

Personally, I think that a designated reward card is perfectly fine as long as you know the rules and restrictions that apply to the rewards and they are for something that you will actually use. We charge everything we possibly can to our 2 reward cards and have gotten hundreds (?thousands maybe) of dollars in rewards. They didn't come to us in cash but they were just as valuable.

Plus I love going on line each month and seeing how many Marriott Reward points we've racked up and planning where to go on our "free" vacation. We recently did 4 free nites in Boston thanks to this. Also, the points we earn with the Visa get added to the points we earn from staying at Marriott properties which gets us those free nites even quicker.

Steve

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

Originally posted by NancyIL
You can utilize the cash-back bonus from Discover Card as soon as it reaches $20. You can also get up to double the amount of the cashback with certain partners. That part has been disappointing lately, since Red Lobster and Borders add only $5 to a $20 gift card, instead of doubling it as they used to.

Oh Nooo - I loved that Red Lobster cert. for $40! I am not that close to another certificate, so I didn't realize that they are not doubling anymore.