DCL rewards using disney credit card?

[Shoobie124]

We need a new credit card and since we plan on doing several Disney cruises over the next few years would it be beneficial to get the Disney visa? Does anyone have any travel reward cards they recommend?

 

[momof2n2]

We have one and I like it but I'm not exactly sure it's the best thing going. Yes we have the premier card and can earn 2% on quite a few purchases but other cards offer more in the way of benefits that would ultimately give you more spending money per year for your discretionary spending. In three years our family of a earned over $1500 that we could apply to the cruise. But for example a target card would allow you to buy Disney gift certificates and a 5% discount and 5% is more than 2%.

 

[hgon76]

We have it & I agree with PP. At 1st I thought it was great. But after seeing that other cards offer 1.5% & are more flexible than Disney, it doesn't seem like that great a deal. (With Disney visa it's only good to redeem on Disney stuff) This year we had college tuition to put on ours so that was a nice way to redeem points that I was able to use onboard our Wonder cruise last week. But, when I consider that I could've put it on another card at 1.5%, I regret not doing that & going for the cash back instead.

 

[CraigerK]

Don't forget the $50/room on board credit and interest free financing...

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

A few threads on this already, but yes we love it. We love the 6 months no finance on all Disney trip purchases over $200, we love the rewards. In a year, we got over $700 in gift cards and rewards. It paid off half our cruise and now we are working on the park tickets!

 

[Parkerpirates]

We have the disney visa just for the $200 statement credit we received, the 0% interest on our disney vacation and the $50 onboard credit. We use our Barclay Arrival for everything else and pay it off. 2% back on all purchases 40,000 miles (with $400 in travel credit) bonus, no annual fee first year, 10% in miles when using miles for travel rather than cash back, and you can use your miles in any airline, anytime or any travel expense and 0% interest on all purchases for a year. Check into it...my hubby got one too so just from signing on we got $800 in travel credit. But as with any credit card, be very cautious and always pay them off each month. Otherwise the rewards don't matter.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

We have one and I like it but I'm not exactly sure it's the best thing going. Yes we have the premier card and can earn 2% on quite a few purchases but other cards offer more in the way of benefits that would ultimately give you more spending money per year for your discretionary spending. In three years our family of a earned over $1500 that we could apply to the cruise. But for example a target card would allow you to buy Disney gift certificates and a 5% discount and 5% is more than 2%.

I think comparing the Target 5% to the Disney rewards is apples to oranges. You can get the 5% off on gift cards with Target, which is great, but unless you pay it off immediately then you pay interest and lose the advantage. So let's say you decide to book a *gt last cruise that costs $5k. First off, if you pay your balance off every month (which I do) then Target keeps your available credit low (for me it is 3k). So I couldn't buy enough gift cards all at once to pay for the cruise. With those *gt rates I want to be able to book them when I see them.. Second, if you don't want to pay for your cruise in one sitting, then the Target option isn't going to work. But with the Disney Visa I can get 2% back and 6 months to pay, plus another 1% in the form of the $50 OBC.

I usually use the Target option and combine my discount with my pharmacy rewards to get 10% off, but I like the DRV option if I need time to save up to pay for a cruise...

 

[jrabbit]

We have the Disney Premier card (and we said that we would NEVER EVER pay for a credit card).

With our spending habits, we found that we would more than make up the $50 per year fee in the double points.

Many people use their points for Disney "stuff" (vacations, souvenirs, etc). One of the benefits of the Premier card is that you can use your points to pay for airline tickets purchased with the card (and still get credit for that purchase). This way you don't loose out on the Double Points on Disney purchases! Real Win for us.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We have BOTH and are pretty happy. (although hubby not so happy that chase charged a $10 Moneygram fee, so don't use those...) Our Non premier (has a higher limit and we put anything that would only get 1% anyway on it) and the premier (has a lower limit but gets 2% on gas, groceries, restaurants, and Disney trips.) It's a MAJOR win-win for us!

 

[CM Dad]

I think comparing the Target 5% to the Disney rewards is apples to oranges. You can get the 5% off on gift cards with Target, which is great, but unless you pay it off immediately then you pay interest and lose the advantage. So let's say you decide to book a *gt last cruise that costs $5k. First off, if you pay your balance off every month (which I do) then Target keeps your available credit low (for me it is 3k). So I couldn't buy enough gift cards all at once to pay for the cruise. With those *gt rates I want to be able to book them when I see them.. Second, if you don't want to pay for your cruise in one sitting, then the Target option isn't going to work. But with the Disney Visa I can get 2% back and 6 months to pay, plus another 1% in the form of the $50 OBC.

I usually use the Target option and combine my discount with my pharmacy rewards to get 10% off, but I like the DRV option if I need time to save up to pay for a cruise...

You may not be able to buy all the gift cards you need all at once, but you could buy up to your credit limit, then go to rcam.target.com and schedule an electronic payment to pay off the balance. No need to wait for your monthly bill. Once the payment is credited, go buy some more. Still has the problem of having to come up with enough cash to pay off in a short time and avoid finance charges.

 

[su_A_ve]

The Disney Visa rewards credit card gives you 1% on any purchase as rewards points you can use at any Disney location (store, parks, cruise).

You also get a 6 months zero interest finance on DCL or parks bookings of $200 or more. You get it on the deposits, and on any payments (each gets it's own deferred term). You do not get it on settlement (room or folio) charges.

For cruises, you can get a $50 On board credit if you pay in full using the Disney Visa, the Disney Visa Rewards card (this is what you get once you have points to spend - it's like a credit card) and Disney Gift cards. But it cannot be combined with some DCL offers (like on board booking).

If you are planning a cruise, you may want to consider upgrading to the Disney Visa Premier. It has a $50 annual fee, however, it increases the percentage to 2% for purchases at Disney (resorts, cruise, store, etc including packages) and gas/grocery/restaurants. It also allows you to redeem the points towards a credit on your account towards any booked airline travel.

The Premier card (at least - not sure about the regular one) is also considered a Visa Signature card. For example you can purchase Fandango gift cards or tickets at a discount.

It also has special parks offers, including a free 5x7 picture with characters at an exclusive meet-n-greet - this is good for one picture per day And, parks and broadway shows offers are typically released a few days ahead of time over the general public.

 

[su_A_ve]

You may not be able to buy all the gift cards you need all at once, but you could buy up to your credit limit, then go to rcam.target.com and schedule an electronic payment to pay off the balance. No need to wait for your monthly bill. Once the payment is credited, go buy some more. Still has the problem of having to come up with enough cash to pay off in a short time and avoid finance charges.

There's no point in having a Target credit card. You can have a Target red card that simply links to your bank account (like a debit card). This still gives you 5% and you don't have to worry about paying it every month. And you can use your credit somewhere else.

But if you do get prescriptions at Target, you can then get pharmacy rewards every so often, which gives you an additional 5% coupon, which can be applied towards Disney GCs. There are some restrictions (like only valid in NJ for those 65+).

I buy WalMart GCs at my local WalMart. My store is considered a grocery store and they trigger 2% back in rewards (I have Premier). I then use the WalMart GCs to purchase Disney GCs at Sams Club (they only accept Mastercard) who sells them at about 5-7% off.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

You may not be able to buy all the gift cards you need all at once, but you could buy up to your credit limit, then go to rcam.target.com and schedule an electronic payment to pay off the balance. No need to wait for your monthly bill. Once the payment is credited, go buy some more. Still has the problem of having to come up with enough cash to pay off in a short time and avoid finance charges.

I always pay in person at the store, and it does take a few days to post. Is it faster online? This was a problem for me over Christmas when I wanted to use the 20% off with my red card but had a balance on the card so couldn't max out my savings. I had paid off the balance 5 days earlier, but still wasn't posted...

There's no point in having a Target credit card. You can have a Target red card that simply links to your bank account (like a debit card). This still gives you 5% and you don't have to worry about paying it every month. And you can use your credit somewhere else.

But if you do get prescriptions at Target, you can then get pharmacy rewards every so often, which gives you an additional 5% coupon, which can be applied towards Disney GCs. There are some restrictions (like only valid in NJ for those 65+).

I buy WalMart GCs at my local WalMart. My store is considered a grocery store and they trigger 2% back in rewards (I have Premier). I then use the WalMart GCs to purchase Disney GCs at Sams Club (they only accept Mastercard) who sells them at about 5-7% off.

I know a lot of people love them, but I NEVER use debit cards, and finally got my husband out of the habit of using them. For me, credit cards are better. We pay off the balance every month, and this way I can choose what kinds of rewards I need for an upcoming trip (hotel, airline, Disney) and concentrate on using that card and know I am stacking up points on that card. That is nice that Target allows you to get the 5% back with the debit card, but from what I have heard they are even more restrictive on the limits with a debit card.

That is a good deal with the Wal-Mart/sam's club, I'll keep it in mind if they ever stop letting us use pharmacy rewards at Target on Disney Gift cards. For now though, the 10% is a better deal, and I don't have to purchase a Sam's club membership.

I've seen people post on the Budget Board about the Kroger gas rewards, but it looks way too complicated for me....

 

[PrincessShmoo]

There's no point in having a Target credit card. You can have a Target red card that simply links to your bank account (like a debit card). This still gives you 5% and you don't have to worry about paying it every month. And you can use your credit somewhere else.

But if you do get prescriptions at Target, you can then get pharmacy rewards every so often, which gives you an additional 5% coupon, which can be applied towards Disney GCs. There are some restrictions (like only valid in NJ for those 65+).

I buy WalMart GCs at my local WalMart. My store is considered a grocery store and they trigger 2% back in rewards (I have Premier). I then use the WalMart GCs to purchase Disney GCs at Sams Club (they only accept Mastercard) who sells them at about 5-7% off.

Can you tell me about this? How large are the cards, and what's the price typically for them?

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I was considering the Sams GCs, I suppose I could load up a few and use them towards on board credit, but there is one big difference I have noticed...and that is the 6 months interest free.

What would you guys do?

Twinkie has about $600 OB stuff booked and I have about $350. That's $950 right there. I also wanted to buy the the 2 Day Base tickets (I don't need anything special or different like land resorts so I was just going to buy them when I bought the on board credit, can anyone see any disadvantages to that or should I buy it separate?) The base tix will total $800 (I'm going off of base rates, since I don't fully know how many rewards I will have to take off of it, but so far its at leas $180)

Apr 8 is my last opportunity to get rewards before we go on our trip. Can you believe it's that quick? We will be at WDW on May 3 and getting off the cruise on May 9, so there might be some opportunity but not much to use any rewards especially since I'd like to take away from the anniversary dinner expenses at EPCOT...

My plan was to put the $950 for the two Onboard Expenses and the Disney tickets on the Premier card before Apr 8 so that all of it can qualify for 6 months deferred interest AND I can have the rewards for April and roll them on to the card to use at dinner on May 3 (happy anniversary to me!) Based on about $1500 for the tix/OBC, I would be expecting at least $30 in rewards alone (plus all the gas and grocery rewards) which might help towards dinner at EP. And then my non premier regular points I can redeem towards the end of April and that will be it, we will already be down there and so not much point in using it for much else for this trip.

So I was wondering if I would do better with the Sams GFs but I kinda really like the idea of interest free, which the Walmart cards and then Sams cards would end up not being... 6 months to pay for Sea Lions and Palo and 2 days at Disney same as cash might go further than 7% off...interest payments are NO FUN! NO FUN AT ALL...

Thoughts?

 

[SuperRob]

Yeah, the Disney rewards are a bit weak compared to a lot of cards. But the on-board credit is basically free money. And six-month financing is very nice as well. That makes the math a little difficult to do ... could you do better with a better rewards card? Depends on how long you take to pay off a cruise, plus the credit you get. Tough call.

We'll be using our DRV card for our cruise, but we don't have a lot of credit cards, so we're happy to take the rewards we can get, which will be fun to spend on our excursions.

 

[Leslie41]

We have a Disney Premiere card but we are going to downgrade when it renews. We don't put our cruises on the Disney card because our Chase Sapphire offers free travel insurance (though not as comprehensive as the stuff that costs several hundred dollars, it's worth more than the $50 credit that paying with the Disney card might offer in some situations).

I discovered that I don't use any of the Disney perks that aren't covered by the Sapphire card, which also offers 2% on grocery, gas, etc. The Barclay's card looks great too and I have just gotten that as well for the travel money and perks.

I will say that the Disney card is uber-cute--our premiere card has Mickey and Minnie on it and it's pink. I'm not sure that the cute is worth $50 a year, though. They also started us off with what seems like a very low limit--like $3000 or something. I think they upped it but maybe to $5000.

The Barclay's card I just got gave us a $12,500 limit. I pay off our cards every month but there were a couple of times I was trying to pay with Disney and it refused the card because we'd hit our limit.

 

[jenf22]

We got the Disney premier card for the $200 gift card with signup (after first purchase). We then only used for Disney-related purchases *if* we had a Disney trip coming up. I used it to pay off 3 cruises, got the $50 OBC on 2 of them (one was booked onboard), and then used the 2% I earned on the cruise purchase as OBC onboard the ship (I used my rewards card at Guest Services). I normally don't pay fees for cards, but I did for 2 years on this one. I just recently cancelled it because we are trying other cruise lines later this year and next year (and the fee came due). It kind of broke my heart to cut up Sorcerer Mickey, but it had to be done.

For all other purchases, I recommend the AMEX Blue Cash card. We've had ours for a while, so I think we may be on a different rewards system, but we get 5% cash back at grocery stores, gas stations, and drug stores. Everything else is 1%. We get a little over $1000 every year in cash back. They also have SYNC offers where if you spend a certain amount at a certain store, you get a credit. We've had $250 in those in the last year too.