Disney VISA card experience

[firsttimemom]

And one more "gotcha" we encountered this month... If you rebook on-board and get the 10% discount and stateroom credit, you DO NOT get the 6 months interest free (Disney considers that a double discount and doesn't allow it).

We rebooked in Jan onboard and got the interest free on our deposit. Of course we didn't get the whole 6 months, because I had the audacity to return some things I purchased that got credited against our deposit rather than against our normal monthly purchases (which we pay off each month).

Their accounting system is whacked, frustrating and confusing. While we've really enjoyed getting $400-500 in rewards dollars applied to our onboard account, I think we're going to switch to another card that gives us cash back.

Liz

 

[HeelMD]

You can use them to pay a portion of your cruise fare can't you?

 

[rbork]

Consider keeping your "airline acct" /not cancelling the card AND get the Disney Card. If you keep your old card and have a 0$ balance month after month/ it helps your credit rating. On the other hand if you switch cards often/ cancelling this one or that one to get a new card w/ rewards you can use if will not encourage your credit rating. Just a thought.
We keep ONE credit card and actively charge on it to get the "reward" that is useful to us at the time. The others keep coming in w/ 0$ balance.
Disney Card is great for us right now, we havent run into any free financing problems as we pay off the card EVERY month.
Good Luck and Do What's Right for You!

 

[mommyz]

I totally agree with the "gotcha" issues it happened to us. It took about 3 billing cycles to resolve it and I was at the brink of cancelling the card. We still have it and accumulate the points on our card but after our next cruise we will probably cancel it and get something else. The 0% is good just have a watchful eye!

 

[robinb]

There is a website called Credit Card Goodies that recommends various credit cards, especially cash-back and "miles" type cards. I have the Disney card now and I am thinking about changing to something else to get more cash back. For instance, the Fidelity Investments 529 MasterCard has a flat 2% that is put in a 529 Educational Savings account for your chilren. Other cards have more agressive rewards like 5% on "everyday purchases" such as groceries.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I've been a charter member of Disney Visa and haven't been happy. The "deals" are always confusing and very limited. We are also AP holders so the packages don't work for us.

We did accumulate quite a bit of points before our last visit but because they round down on points ($199 and $100 are both 1 point) I think there are much better reward cards out there.

I wrote to Bank One and then Chase to complain about the lack of incentives and both said that it is Disney that provides those incentives and they have no control over them.

 

[arlenesp]

yes but most of the 5% back are contingent on how much you spend each year and alot of those charges need to be in the specific catagories. Read the terms and conditions very carefully. They aren't all what they seem. Most of us get hooked when we see something like 5% cash back. But what dod you need to do to get it?

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

We've had the card since it came out, and we love it. We have not used it for interest free bookings and the like, though, so haven't encountered the gotchas.

Since we live near Disney World, we use the rewards cards a lot in the parks toward food and other purchases.

We do use a different card for groceries, gas, and other higher reward promotions.

I've had a great experience with customer service when it comes to disputing charges.

 

[robinb]

We did accumulate quite a bit of points before our last visit but because they round down on points ($199 and $100 are both 1 point) I think there are much better reward cards out there.

I didn't even notice that we only earned whole dollars until you mentioned it. Do all credit cards only reward on whole dollars?

 

[nowellsl]

I've been a charter member of Disney Visa and haven't been happy. The "deals" are always confusing and very limited. We are also AP holders so the packages don't work for us.

We did accumulate quite a bit of points before our last visit but because they round down on points ($199 and $100 are both 1 point) I think there are much better reward cards out there.

I wrote to Bank One and then Chase to complain about the lack of incentives and both said that it is Disney that provides those incentives and they have no control over them.

$199.00 would be rounded up to 2 points - anything over $150.00 goes up and $149.00 and under goes down. That's the way it's explained in their brochure and that is what I've experienced. I have never had a single problem with my Disney Visa.

 

[skibum]

For a while on this post, I thought I was the only one with problems. It is good to see many others have problems with this card (misery loves company, I guess).
I want to say I like the idea, but the execution is terrible. It was nice that the reward points covered more than half of our onboard account.
A few posts earlier somebody mentioned that they had good success when dealing with (Bank One/Chase)customer service, and I concur. But not one of my other credit cards have I ever even had to call. We were calling every month.
That is when we decided to go back to other cards, and just use Disney for Disney. And I do love the new retro card.
If you decide to join, just go in with your eyes open!

 

[NY Disney fan]

You have to remember that the Disney Visa and rewards are free. Many other rewards cards have a annual fee (some don't). I don't like paying annual fees so I have no problem with my Disney Visa.

You get what you pay for. The reason I got my Disney Visa is because I love WDW but never had an incentive to save up $$ for vacations. (too many bills getting in the way). Since I don't want to lose free $$/rewards this helps a lot.

 

[ljql_5969]

I have the card too and have been disappointed at times. I charged my cruise deposit as well as my family's on there and apparently for 1 day or something we were over our maximum allowed amount. I knew we were getting close but thought we would eventually get denied. well, we didn't and they ended up charging us a "service charge" even though we pay off every month.

I called and got it taken care of.

To answer a previous question, my TA said we could use our points to pay off part of our cruise and we are going to do that.

As for the "double points"... That is a sham in my opinion. The double points are awarded about 6-8 weeks after they were incurred so we wouldn't see them show up on the current statement. They would show up 2 - 3 statements from the time we "went over" the amount we needed to to get the double points. Then, from what I understand, the even though it says it awards double on groceries, entertainment, etc, the place you are purchasing from has to be somehow "registered" as that type of business.

My friend down in Florida told me that some of the park discounts that we are offered are pretty comparable to what Florida residents get though.

 

[logan1_2000]

Another Day 1 Charter Disney Visa Cardholder here. I never tried to get the interest free features, so can't comment, but have read many many posts from cardmembers here to know that some of the administration of the Card was troubled under BankOne. I used to do everything on AMEX, which tied in to Delta (the dominant airline in Atlanta where I live) and could also get Hilton with those points, but we got to the point in our family that the vacations were going to be WDW or DCL. In the post 9/11 world, flying is such a hassle I now drive all trips ip to 500 miles, so I fly less. And since we want to do WDW or DCL and can drive there, dont need to fly so dont need airline miles. When we go to WDW, or when we have meant to go but had to cancel and reschedule, that has been Shades of Green through my sister in the DoD, so couldn't use points for that resort, and we got better pricing for Park tickets through SOG than the price we would have been "paying" with Rewards Dollars, so we used over a thousand accumulated Rewards points toward our cruise fare, paid through DU, for our April cruise this year, and had about another 70 or so rewards dollars on the card that I applied to the on-board stateroom bill.

Other cards can have more than a 1%, sure. What will I do with that that rebate? What may I spend it on? Don't want any of GM's vehicles, so there goes that idea. I know that this rebate of 1% will go toward a Disney cruise, easy for me to track. My 2% or 3% costco rebate from my new Costco, no fee amex gives me store credit at costco--but do i wonder if I just end up buying more 64 packs of toilet paper I wouln't otherwise buy? I like Nathan's franks, but did I really need that 6 pound package of them?

In the meantime, have gotten a Royal Caribbean card, the points there are measured dollar for dollar (a thousand dollars = a thousand points), and while not redeemable dollar for dollar, 75,000 points will get us a 7 night caribbean cruise for two--with the fare value max listed in the fine print as $2500. So I'm about a third of the way there, and that will be when we try the Mariner, I suppose.

 

[arlenesp]

logan1 2000, I agree with you about the rewards on credit cards. Most people do not fully understand how the programs work and usually get burned due to this.
You need to use the program that will help you get closer to your goal.

 

[ashtravel]

Can someone explain how you use your points? I just booked my cabin and two others using my Disney card so we could all get the $50 onboard credit. I will end up charging about $7000. How many points will I get and how can I use them toward my cruise?

 

[arlenesp]

Can someone explain how you use your points? I just booked my cabin and two others using my Disney card so we could all get the $50 onboard credit. I will end up charging about $7000. How many points will I get and how can I use them toward my cruise?

For $7000. you will get 70 reward dollars. Always check with disney to verify you are getting the onboard credit and also check with guest services before you go to lunch upon boarding. It's easier to correct a problem before you set sail.
As long as DCL has to correct code you will get the credit.

 

[ashtravel]

I did mention the $50 onboard credit with the booking code so the Disney rep applied it. 70 points for $7000 does seem pretty lame. So I will be able to use those 70 points as $70 in onboard credit? Do I understand that right? Sorry I am so slow about this. Thanks for the help.

 

[Stinasmom]

Consider keeping your "airline acct" /not cancelling the card AND get the Disney Card. If you keep your old card and have a 0$ balance month after month/ it helps your credit rating. On the other hand if you switch cards often/ cancelling this one or that one to get a new card w/ rewards you can use if will not encourage your credit rating. Just a thought.
We keep ONE credit card and actively charge on it to get the "reward" that is useful to us at the time. The others keep coming in w/ 0$ balance.
Disney Card is great for us right now, we havent run into any free financing problems as we pay off the card EVERY month.
Good Luck and Do What's Right for You!

This is exactly what we do to. Since completing our Disney vacation a couple weeks ago we have switched back to the airline miles reward card.
I might add that after our cruise we went to DL and every day got a FREE stroller because we had a Disney Visa. That saved us $24 real dollars! that would have been another $2400 of charging to earn that much in Disney Dollars.
I really dislike that you have to have a $0 balance for 2 consecutive months in order to NOT incur finance charges. No other card does that. I just make sure to pay it off every month even if it means dipping into the home equity line of credit or rainy day savings...
Get what you can then move on!

 

[sln88]

yes but most of the 5% back are contingent on how much you spend each year and alot of those charges need to be in the specific catagories. Read the terms and conditions very carefully. They aren't all what they seem. Most of us get hooked when we see something like 5% cash back. But what dod you need to do to get it?

Discover is the goofy card where you have to spend certain amts. This card is a flat 5% on gas, groceries and drugstore. I did not have to do anything special to get that. Other purchases get 1%, so still as good as Disney in that category. I did read the terms before I got it. I think I am pretty good with my finances and that is why I won't use my Dis Visa unless it is to my advantage