Disney Visa- Points from vacation cost ?'s

[MommyBryn]

*PLEASE don't move this to the rewards board!! I asked the same question there but no answers, but I know I've seen this subject touched on in this board so hoping I can find the answers here!!

I'm a Disney Visa newbie. If I put my vacation on my card and pay it off before we go, that's probably too soon to "cash out" my rewards. If I understand correctly, you can get them IN Disney? Where do you do this and how is it done?

Also, we don't ever carry a CC balance, Disney vacations will be no different. We will only go if we have the money IN FULL to do it beforehand. So...if we pay it off in full, and THEN they release a discount/code after it's paid for, how will that affect things? Do they credit the card? Does that take away points I would have earned?

(though I guess if you can get your rewards in Disney and don't have to do it ahead of time, you could wait until closer to the vacation to pay off the card as long as it's still the billing cycle BEFORE you travel (in order to make sure you get the rewards), right??)

 

[singnring]

You can "cash out" your rewards as soon as you have $20 in rewards. That is the minimum to transfer the first time.
So if you charge the vacation and earn $20 rewards dollars, you can order a rewards card and have the $20 transferred to it as soon as the rewards post to your account.
You do not have to pay off the balance before earning the rewards.

If you pay off a vacation and then want to change it due to a better promo, yes, they will credit the original amount back to your card and take back your reward points.
As long a you book your new vaca on the card, it will get back whatever reward points will be earned for that purchase.
If there is a deficite, and you have already transferred the rewards, I am not sure how they will handle that.

 

[Ava]

You can get a Rewards card in Disney, I believe at DTD. I'm sure someone else here knows the exact location.

As far as the points, they are posted to your account at the end of each billing cycle. You can also order the card ahead of time if you have at least 20 points, and then just refill it by phone if your billing cycle ends during or right before your trip.

Also, we don't ever carry a CC balance, Disney vacations will be no different. We will only go if we have the money IN FULL to do it beforehand. So...if we pay it off in full, and THEN they release a discount/code after it's paid for, how will that affect things? Do they credit the card? Does that take away points I would have earned?

This part I'm not sure of. I believe that once you've paid off your trip, you'd have to cancel & then rebook to take advantage of any discount/code that might come out. For credits in general, yes you will lose points earned on that amount. The points you get is based on your balance at the end of your billing cycle.

 

[MommyBryn]

Thank you! I knew this would be a better place for this question!

So are rewards always posted right after each billing cycle? So if our billing cycle ended the week before we went on vacation (that's just random...I have NO idea how it will work out in reality), would we be able to get those points in WDW or would it be too late (or I guess, too soon)? Just trying to get an idea of when we should plan our last "active" month on the card to be, in order to get and use our points for our trip (since we don't go regularly enough or shop Disney enough to have the "left over" points be beneficial, really).

I'm hoping we won't run into an issue with when we pay it off vs when (if) they release a discount. We'd be going at the end of Jan 2011 so it seems like usually those discounts are released at least a month or two ahead of time. But then again, that brings me back to my first question...of how soon after your billing cycle ends you can get your rewards.

 

[tzolkin]

So are rewards always posted right after each billing cycle? So if our billing cycle ended the week before we went on vacation (that's just random...I have NO idea how it will work out in reality), would we be able to get those points in WDW or would it be too late (or I guess, too soon)? Just trying to get an idea of when we should plan our last "active" month on the card to be, in order to get and use our points for our trip (since we don't go regularly enough or shop Disney enough to have the "left over" points be beneficial, really).

But then again, that brings me back to my first question...of how soon after your billing cycle ends you can get your rewards.

You can get the points immediately after your billing statement comes out.

Here's what I've done... For the last two years we've gone to Disney mid-May. My billing cycle ends on the first of the month. (So the only points I wasn't able to use were the ones I earned in May right before our trip.)

So, what I did was order the card about two months before our trip. (You just need 20 points to order the card, but it does expire so you wouldn't want to get it way in advance.) Then right before we left (or when you get there), I called to add our remaining points onto the card I already had. (I believe you need a minimum of 10 points to redeem them.)

 

[MommyBryn]

Thank you, that gives me an idea of how to go about redeeming the rewards.

So is 2 months a safe timeframe to assure you get your card before the trip? What happens if you order it and it does NOT arrive before the trip? Can you just get it in Disney then?

So you have to have 20 points to cash out, but you only need 10 to add?

 

[Best Aunt]

I believe people have posted on other threads that you can go to Guest Relations at any of the Disney theme parks or Downtown Disney. They can give you the card. Then you call on the phone and have your points added to the card.

 

[MommyBryn]

Can you add the rewards to ANY Disney Gift Card if you already have one, or does it have to be a specific Disney Rewards Points GC?

Oh, and another question (sorry!! but I didn't want to bug everyone with another thread!)- how long can I leave the points in my account? I JUST activated the card today and our vacation will be in a little over a year (Jan/Feb 2011). Will I have to worry about any points expiring during that time? And if I understand correctly from reading other threads, once I transfer the points to a GC, the GC is good until the end of the NEXT year, correct? So if I redeem any points at any time in 2010, they'll be good until Dec 2011, right?

 

[singnring]

You must add points to a disney visa rewards card, not a regular Disney gift card - not the same thing.

Your points are good in your account for 5 years.

Your points are good on the rewards card until the card expires, I don't recall the exact time it is good.

I always wait until a month or two before our trip to order the card.
Then I put the points on just before I go or even when I get there.
That way if something unforeseen happens, I don't have those points on the card, but they're till safe in my Visa account.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

I believe people have posted on other threads that you can go to Guest Relations at any of the Disney theme parks or Downtown Disney. They can give you the card. Then you call on the phone and have your points added to the card.

I know that you can get a rewards card from Guest Relations at the International Gateway of Epcot, because we did last week. I used the card we had with $1098 on it to pay for our DDP upon checkin. Our billing cycle ended that day, so we wanted to transfer the rewards $$ for Sept. When DH called to do that, he learned that we had suspicious activity on our account. Turns out our card number had been stolen (not at WDW - the charges had posted 1-4 days before). So, we canceled the card & Chase sent new credit cards to us at the Beach Club. They told DH that it would also cancel our rewards card. But they didn't send that to the Beach Club; they sent the new one to our house! Anyway, long story long, we were able to get a new one at the Guest Relations. Then we just called the number on the back of the card and they immediately transferred the reward dollars.

 

[tzolkin]

So is 2 months a safe timeframe to assure you get your card before the trip? What happens if you order it and it does NOT arrive before the trip? Can you just get it in Disney then?

It only took a few days for the card to arrive in the mail, so two months should be good

So you have to have 20 points to cash out, but you only need 10 to add?

Yes. So, if you get the card shortly before your trip, you'll need to make sure you'll earn at least 10 more points if you want to add them to the card

Oh, and another question (sorry!! but I didn't want to bug everyone with another thread!)- how long can I leave the points in my account? I JUST activated the card today and our vacation will be in a little over a year (Jan/Feb 2011). Will I have to worry about any points expiring during that time? And if I understand correctly from reading other threads, once I transfer the points to a GC, the GC is good until the end of the NEXT year, correct? So if I redeem any points at any time in 2010, they'll be good until Dec 2011, right?

The points in your account expire 5 years after you earn them (It should list on your statement when they expire.)

Both rewards cards I have received had an expiration of December of the following year. (So, the one I got in May expires Dec 2010). Others on this board have posted the same in the past.

Hope that helps

 

[MommyBryn]

Thank you! You guys are great!