Disney Visa is it worth it?

[JPorter044]

This is my first post. I'm not sure if it is even in the right thread. If not would a mod please move it.

Is it a good idea to purchase the Disney Visa card? I noticed they are offering free dining from Sept-Dec for card holders.

I was thinking about getting one and using it to pay all of my monthly bills to save up for our first Disney trip in September of 2013.

If you book a trip now and they offer the same package for free dining next year will you still be able to add it to your reservations?

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[JPorter044]

Did I ask in wrong forum? I thought for sure someone would have a Disney Visa.

 

[cmadara]

I think you are in the wrong section, but not sure where this would really go.
Anyway, I have the Premium Disney Visa- I just upgraded recently.
I have had mine since they first started- in fact my card says "member since Day 1".
I love mine. You will get differing opinions on here, but for us, it's great!
I charge everything I can on it- BUT, don't pay a dime of interest b/c everything is paid off each month. We go every 2 years and for a week, it pays for all our food (2 adults and a 14 year old) and goodies- t-shirts, gifts, etc. We always go during the Food and Wine Festival and my husband and I eat and drink our way around the World and our reward $ pay for it all. We also always eat at Ohana's for dinner and at least 1 character breakfast- everything paid for.
I upgraded recently b/c they had a 3 month promotion for 5% back on groceries, gas, restaurants and Disney purchases. I had just put down a deposit on my Disney Visa for my trip. When I paid it off I got 5% back rather than the 1%. Now with the premium there is a $49/year fee. I made that up and then some with the promotion. But what I reallyliked about this was their airline feature. Buy airline tickets (any carier, whenever you want) and you can use your reward $ to pay them off. For examply, if I have $600 reward $, I buy tickets that cost $600. Use my Disney Visa to pay for them, call Disney Visa and they will transfer my reward $ to pay for the tickets. I hope I am making sense.
Any other questions, just ask.
Hey, I could do a commercial for Disney Visa.

 

[JPorter044]

Thanks so much for the info. I signed up for the premium Visa today. I also plan to pay all of my monthly bills with it and pay it off each month.

Have you ever received any discounts on tickets or resorts because of it?

 

[cmadara]

You only get advanced notice and ability to book certain "deals" first. The Free Dining came out to Disney Visa holders last Monday and was open to the general public I believe on Thursday.
You can also get a free 5x7 picture with the Characters in EPCOT- never have done this but aiming to do it this trip.

 

[wishing4PA]

I just got one, the regular version, not premium.

Even though I have had a mastercard for 30 years, the free gift card I was offered with the Disney card sign up pushed me over the edge. I don't worry about interest rate much, since I pay in full almost all the time.

I probably won't get much from it other than the signup offer's GC, though, because most of my credit purchases go on the Discover card. That gives me back money I can use anywhere, and I think is one of the best deals around. But Discover still can't be used everywhere, so I like having the Disney Visa option. And, since I have to spend the rewards on Disney, it's just one more way to feed my WDW addiction. My old card is so old that it didn't provide any sort of cash back. At least this will give me Disney cash.

It doesn't look to me like most of the special offers on WDW packages are that good, at least lately, and they seem to come out to the general public soon after, anyhow. I'd rather have a nice PIN code, but who knows, there could be a helpful offer right when I'm ready to book!

 

[Metro West]

Welcome!

 

[JohnnyB2]

Hi Welcome to the DISboards

 

[rhanson77]

I have the Visa and charge as much as I can. I pay it off each month so I pay no interest. For the last trip, I got a rewards card for $300 which payed for quite a bit during the trip. I don't go for the Premium, but the rewards are definitely worth it.

Also, I got the free 5 x 7 at Epcot twice and it was very nice!

 

[Aliceacc]

We're going to WDW next week, after a 3 year absence, with $580 in Disney points.

It's worth it for us!!!

 

[DISvirgin1]

I love my Disney Visa. Like others we pay ours off in full every month (as we do with all our credit cards) so we never run a balance. We were able to pay for some of our meals on the points we had earned. We also have Discover so we typically use that for the cash back option, but when I can't use the Discover, I use the Visa. I could upgrade I suppose, but haven't thought about it. For someone who is responsible with their cc's then I think it's a good way to go. Because we can only go during busier times, we don't get the FD offers though

 

[bellaally]

It's also useful for paying for your Disney trip. They have zero interest six month financing for all Disney trips. Plus you earn back 2% of the purchases. You also get 10% off all Disney merchandise of fifty or more bucks. Also some extra perks like character meet and greet, it's not the best rewards credit card but if you love Disney it's definitely worth it.

 

[cmadara]

I forgot about the 10% off the Disney Store at your local mall and the Disney Store in DTD. We always head to DTD on one of our last nights to buy our take home goodies and save the 10%

 

[serene56]

Disney Visa dollars do expire.

I have been saving my visa dollars since Sept 2010 and I now have 285.00 to spend in Disney when we go in Dec 2013.

Like above posters I put anything on there that I can pay off by the end of the month with nothing to carry over.

I book all our trips on there-- airline tickets-- it does add up nicely.

I do not know if i would get a card to get free dining-- as free dining is also offered to general public a week or two later.


I dont think I recall getting a discount based on having that card.

 

[missymouse]

I have had the disney visa since 2009. Every 3 years I have been able to accrue anywhere from $550-$750 on it which covers souvenirs, drinks, and tips at WDW. This last trip I actually have money left over on it which we will spend next summer at Hilton Head at the resort on mixed drinks by the beach house pool.

The first time I used it for a very nice crystal paperweight thingy that they cut our pictures into with lasers at Epcot. Definitely not something I would have spent the money on if it had not been rebate money which is sort of like free money in my opinion compared to spending the same money on a credit card that doesn't give you anything back.

So for me it has been worth it just because it gives us earmarked money to spend at Disney when we go. Just don't transfer money to the reward card until shortly before you are about to use it because the reward card does expire.

 

[disney613]

I have the Visa too. When should I call to get my gift card? Do they send you a gift card with your Disney Dollars on it?

 

[missymouse]

I normally "cash out" about 3 months before the trip. I cashed out in Feb or March for our June trip. Any money not used by December 2013 will be lost.

 

[smitch425]

I have the Visa too. When should I call to get my gift card? Do they send you a gift card with your Disney Dollars on it?

They say to allow 3 weeks for your rewards card to come via mail. It will not be a gift card, but what is referred to as a rewards card. It is acceptable wherever Visa cards are accepted on property. You can use it to pay for just about everything at WDW. We have used rewards for tickets, food, souvenirs, resort stays, etc. When you order your card, it will come with an expiration date of Dec 31 of the following year, so if you ordered one today, the expiration would be Dec. 31, 2013. If you order Jan 1, 2013, the expiration date would be Dec. 31, 2014. You can order a card with as little as 20 reward dollars and then add rewards to it with a minimum amount of 10 reward dollars. Adding rewards to an existing rewards card takes literally seconds online or by phone. I have added rewards mid-trip at the POP bus stop to MK. It is that simple to do.

BTW, to the Disboards!

 

[mid630]

I have the Visa too. When should I call to get my gift card? Do they send you a gift card with your Disney Dollars on it?

I just spoke with CS about this a few days ago, and this is how they explained it: It takes about 3 weeks to get your rewards card. So say for instance you are going to Disney on Sept 15th. Then you would want to order your rewards card no later than about August 20th. And say, your credit card cycle was up on the 25th of the month. You'd want to pay off your Disney trip no later than July 24th, so those points would also be available when you ordered your rewards card in August.

I'm glad I know the details......it will be so nice to have all the extra dream dollars we earn for paying for this trip when we actually go on it.

 

[ammama]

I have been a member since day 1. We saved up for about 4.5 years before taking our first trip. I was able to save up about $1200 in Rewards dollars. Since that trip, we have been putting EVERYTHING on our card and always pay it off at the end of the month, so I haven't paid a dime in charges. We are going back in 39 days and I just paid off the vacation with my Rewards Dollars. My grand total was $1772.28 !!!!! So it is basically costing me less than $1100 for 8 days at POFQ, tickets, and food (we got Free Dining for that!).

Sooo, to make a long story even longer, yes I think the Disney Visa is well worth it