Disney Visa Rewards

[AZMermaid]

We remodeled our bathrooms last year and put more than half of that bill on the Disney Visa. I had $500 of rewards for our Disneyland trip. We are about to do our kitchen and plan to use it as well. We have to split it a little due to card limits, but we put as much as we can on the Disney card and the rest goes on the US Airways card for air miles. I know there are better rewards rates out there, but this works well for us. We hope to have enough to cover one cabana day at Aulani this summer (about $300 after DVC discount). That might be tough since I just cashed it out in January for Disneyland- but we will see!

 

[Best Aunt]

Does anyone here try to max out the value of rewards each month by paying everything (fuel, mortgage, groceries, dining) and paying the balance off each month? They promote this card by saying people pay for behind the scenes tours (i.e. Wild Africa Trek), which costs between $189 and $229 per person). Assuming a 4 person family - the amount of rewards points needed to cover this expense entirely would mean people are charging and paying off anywhere from $3150 to $8300 per month for 12 months on the Disney Visa.

Seems like a lot, but maybe someone has done this?

I haven't paid attention to the promotions, but maybe they were promoting the discount on tours, not the use of rewards points to pay for tours?

15% Off Select Guided Tours and Recreation Experiences9
Receive 15% off the non-discounted price of select guided tours and recreation experiences at Walt Disney World® Resort. Just use your valid Disney Visa Card or Disney Rewards Redemption Card and mention this offer.

Guided tours and recreation experiences include:

Magic Kingdom® Park

• Disney's Family Magic Tour
• Disney's Keys to the Kingdom Tour
• Disney's The Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour
• Walt Disney: Marceline to Magic Kingdom® Tour

Epcot®

• Gardens of the World (offered seasonally)
• The UnDISCOVERed Future World
• Disney's Dolphins in Depth
• Epcot® DiveQuest
• Epcot® Seas Aqua Tour
• Behind the Seeds

Multiple Theme Parks, Backstage Areas and Resort Hotels:

• Backstage Magic
• Disney's Holiday D-Lights Tour (offered seasonally)
• Disney's Yuletide Fantasy (offered seasonally)
• Wilderness Back Trail Adventure
• Carriage Rides at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
• Horseback Trail Rides at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground

Discounts are not available on the following tours at Walt Disney World® Resort: VIP tours, programs exclusive to groups, group team building programs.

 

[coastalhh]

I pay about everything we can on the disney visa then pay it off. It has been very helpful to our disney trips. We don't fly very much and I like getting a disney reward to make our trips less stressful. Between this card and buying a few disney gift cards a month to set aside we never pay for anything out of pocket while on vacation.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

I pay for gas, groceries, department store trips, and day care (!) with my Disney Visa. I got a 50 point bonus for signing up my husband during one of the promotion times, and since our trip in May of 2014 I have 270 points. I would pay the utilities with as well, but just can't get over the nerves on that so I haven't. Our balance is $1000-$3000 every month. I use the card like a debit card, so when I swipe for groceries it comes out of the checkbook right away. I am never caught with a $4000 bill and a $400 bank balance! It works great, I get to see how much we spend annually for groceries and eating out, and I'll pay for Hoop De Doo in 2016 with "free" money. That said, I just applied for and got approved for the JetBlue Amex and hope to get at least one round trip flight for free with the 20,000 sign up bonus and my survey points. Once our 2016 trip is over I'll be looking for another credit card reward system, either toward retirement or a west coast national park trip.

 

[kermitman18]

I have to say after seeing about the Barclays Arrival card on another thread it doesn't seem like the Disney card is such a great deal. I have one, but we use our Southwest card more. I see the perks of 0% APR when doing a Disney vacation and some of the discounts, but when you compare it as far as the rewards points to other cards it is pretty inferior. Also, very limited to just Disney.

We have been going every other year and at the end of the day I would rather have the free airfare with my Southwest card than the Disney gift card for our trip.

 

[BStew]

We put everything on our card and pay it off each month. We usually average about 7-8k (including daycare) we go every other year and the "off" Disney years we take a trip with just my husband and I and everything is put on this card. It makes a big dent and ensures that we get our Disney trips and that the $ isn't spent somewhere else.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I have 2 cards, one Disney and one for airline miles. I put everything I can on them and pay them religiously. My next Disney trip my family will fly for free, and I expect to have nearly $400 to put to my Disney related balances. It takes me a couple years to earn up those balances, but I don't travel to Disney every year anyways, so it works.

 

[casiemay07]

This is the first month my husband and I started using the card for ALL our expenses. I was wondering if anyone knows if we will get penalized for making multiple payments to the card before the billing cycle ends?

I just rather go home and pay off the balance after filling up my car or paying the bills.

We do not have any balance on the card so I am not worried about the 0% apr toward a vacation purchase.

 

[Tardisblue]

This is the first month my husband and I started using the card for ALL our expenses. I was wondering if anyone knows if we will get penalized for making multiple payments to the card before the billing cycle ends?

Penalized by not getting the points before the billing cycle ends? I don't think so. You made the purchase, you should receive the points. We've just started doing the same thing this month and the billing cycle ends on the 23rd. We've made 5 or 6 payments already this month. Some may think this is crazy/excessive, but it helps us keep track of what we've bought and paid for.

 

[kymom99]

This is the first month my husband and I started using the card for ALL our expenses. I was wondering if anyone knows if we will get penalized for making multiple payments to the card before the billing cycle ends?

I just rather go home and pay off the balance after filling up my car or paying the bills.

We do not have any balance on the card so I am not worried about the 0% apr toward a vacation purchase.

The card company still collects the merchant fee so they don't care when you pay it off.

In response to those who ask why you would pay it off before the cycle closes, I think it is because some want to make sure they don't spend the money on something else before the bill comes. Paying it right away is the safe way to do it.

 

[casiemay07]

Thanks for the responses. Yes I just want to make sure everything is paid off.

 

[Tardisblue]

In response to those who ask why you would pay it off before the cycle closes, I think it is because some want to make sure they don't spend the money on something else before the bill comes. Paying it right away is the safe way to do it.

Precisely.

 

[msmama]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Chase had a limit to how many times you could pay down your balance each month.

I can find no record of where I heard that (I follow several budget/finance forums), but I remember reading about people being upset about it. I don't want to post false info, but I remember reading about it somewhere and seems like it might be better info to share (even if it's wrong) than not share and have it be right.

(I've been waffling about posting this for awhile now).

 

[Tardisblue]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Chase had a limit to how many times you could pay down your balance each month.

I can find no record of where I heard that (I follow several budget/finance forums), but I remember reading about people being upset about it. I don't want to post false info, but I remember reading about it somewhere and seems like it might be better info to share (even if it's wrong) than not share and have it be right.

(I've been waffling about posting this for awhile now).

I don't doubt that you may have read that somewhere, but it seems like a poor business practice. A card member can make as many purchases each month that they want (up to their credit limit), why couldn't they also make as many payments. I pay electronically through my bank so there is no manual intervention and, therefore, no cost to process the payment.

However, to be sure, I have requested a card member agreement and will let you know what it says in 10 business days or less.

 

[lanejudy]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Chase had a limit to how many times you could pay down your balance each month.

I can find no record of where I heard that (I follow several budget/finance forums), but I remember reading about people being upset about it. I don't want to post false info, but I remember reading about it somewhere and seems like it might be better info to share (even if it's wrong) than not share and have it be right.

(I've been waffling about posting this for awhile now).

I'm not aware of a limit on number of payments, but maybe what you have in mind relates to multiple payments made when carrying a promotional balance. If there is a promotion balance (such as 0% interest for Disney vacations), only 1 payment per month will be applied to the regular charges with any additional payments applied to the promotion balance. (see post #13)

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

My card is used for anything I have the cash to pay for and I don't get a fee.
I just upgraded to the Premier card since I had an offer for 50 reward points which negates the $49 fee for the year. As long as I cancel shortly after the one year mark, I can move back to regular rewards card with no fee. At first I didn't want to risk paying the fee but the costumer service person pointed out that I could look at the end of my statement summary area on line and see the category for all my spending in 2014 and it was obvious that the 2% on groceries, gas, and restaurants will make up the difference and then sum. Our local walmart is a super walmart so even non grocery items get the 2% and my husbands work cafe was in the 2% category.

Also my son's college does not charge a fee for me to use my Visa to pay his tuition, so because his tuition was higher than my credit limit, I payed a portion of the tuition, paid off the visa bill, then as soon as my credit limit was back up, I made another tuition payment. It all adds up fast.
The funny part was when I made the extra payments, after a few months of doing it, Chase upped my credit limit.
So my bills have been anywhere from $2000 - $12000 in a month and I have not held a balance.

Please note that when the cycle ends it still takes a couple days for the statement to come out and reflect new balance and rewards points.

I'll be moving more utility bills, cell phone and so on to autopay as soon as my new card arrives. I like being able to just pay the one bill through my online banking and not worrying about plugging in amount for multiples.
Since I've been doing this, my credit score has soared and my budgeting is easier.
It does require you to pay attention to your spending but it's working for me.

To answer why I don't look into a better incentive card, at this time Disney is my vacation destination plan and this is a forced savings for me.
Prior to doing this, we never seemed to make the time and money available to vacation. At this point, I am content to just hang at the resorts if I points to take a long weekend. But I'm saving to justify it's ok to stay in the Boardwalk/Beach club area the next trip.

Be strategic and don't carry a balance or it becomes not worth it.
peace and Pixie Dust!

 

[Tardisblue]

However, to be sure, I have requested a card member agreement and will let you know what it says in 10 business days or less.

I received the card member agreement and could not find anything regarding a limit on the number of payments that can be made each month. In March, we began using the card for most expenses and made 7 separate payments with no penalties. We earned a little over $19 in Disney rewards. I realize this is not the best rewards card out there and it has my wife a little freaked out by how much we're using it. However, we're monitoring it every day and are paying it off as we go. We should be able to accumulate around $240/year that we can use on our annual trip. Better than a sharp stick in the eye.