How much money do you typically bring?

[MrsPete]

I like using plastic for everything. Safer and the chances of charge-machines going down is pretty small.

$100 cash (in small bills) between the two of us is plenty. If we were still supporting our children, we'd bring a bit more.

 

[KristaZ]

We figure out how much we need for tips ahead of time and bring that in cash. My husband usually carries some cash in case of an emergency, but we rely on gift cards for all our spending and have never had a problem. We typically put $500 on a gift card and use that for all purchases and we typically don't spend that full amount unless it's a trip where we go especially crazy with the souvenirs (rarely).

 

[disney212]

I normally make envelopes for mousekeeping ahead of time and go ahead and put the cash in those. We use another envelope for tips for ME drivers both ways, bell services, airline check in at resort, Alamo driver if renting a car, baggage handlers at Delta curbside check in at our airport. Each tip is "wrapped" in a post it note so I know which is whose and put in the envelope in order of use. We take a few hundred in cash for miscellaneous tips and purchases. All food is charged to my Disney Visa so we get points. I spend any Disney Visa rewards on something "fun" that wasn't included in the budget. Last trip it was a couple trips to Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar for a magnum of Moscato and cheese plates.

 

[krissynina]

I use to not bring much and just rely on cards, but after losing my wallet on a solo trip at Universal I make sure I have back up emergency cash for at least 1 meal stashed in multiple places (wallet, phone case, backpack). I also now bring $200 or $300 as a just in case emergency so if I can't use my cards, I have enough for food for a couple days.

The emergency cash in my back pack has also saved me at home when I was really low on gas and realized I forgot my wallet at home.

 

[Dina]

we bring about 300 to 500 for tips and emergencies. pretty much end up just using it on tips and bring a good bit home. We use credit cards and disney gift cards while there. As far as budget.... a counter service for our family of four adults costs about $80....that will usually include a cocktail and a beer. brealfast at a counter service costs us about 60. then whatever you want to spend on drinks/snacks/souvenirs. when the kids were younger...we used to bring a big backpack cooler and pack with water bottles and juice boxes which saved alot of money.

 

[disneyseniors]

LOL, it looks like $300 is the magic number? That's exactly what we bring, just for incidentals, tips, or trip related expenses (airport, etc). I also prelabel envelopes with $5.00 tips each day for housekeeping.
We love the ease of using a credit card for all expenses at WDW; ie; dining, souveneirs, tips at restaurants.
We hardly ever spend even a hundred of our "stash".

 

[DisneyTexan]

Just FYI, @chloerux hasn't been back since September 28th. OP, are you still reading the responses?

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We leave on Thursday and
This post just reminded me to get a roll of quarters for tolls.. lol
We keep about 2-300 on us.
My DH likes to keep enough that if something happened to the card we would be able to get food and to the airport.

One time on vacation our bank locked our card for suspected fraud ( using it out of state ) when we called the BOA Fraud number we had even more issues. So from then on always money for food and gas/uber.

 

[bookgirl]

Sorry I tend to go backwards. How much do I have for the trip then I divide how much I'll have per day. In truth I always plan to save as much as I can, knowing that I probably won't spend all of it. I'd say to think about at least $100 per day.

 

[ice cube]

I guess my family is in the minority group.....even though my girls love the use of the MB to charge we never leave Disney without paying for those charges with
gift cards accumulated over the year and cash. Since we never do Disney without a car rental we do spend money off property. Between on/off property spending
which is 95% food and 5% gas, misc. we bring anywhere from $1500 - $3000 depending on the length of stay......I can contest Disney food is expensive!!

 

[Judique]

Almost none. Only enough cash for bag/uber tips. We carry consolidated disney giftcards (1 ea.), and a few select credit cards that have 5.25% travel or dining rewards.

Would you share which credit cards have 5.25% travel or dining rewards?

 

[CapeCodTenor]

I haven't been in about 19 years, but the last few times I've been down I'd usually bring about $400 in Disney Dollars, yes that long ago, and about $300 in cash.

 

[Nick6300]

Would you share which credit cards have 5.25% travel or dining rewards?

I use bank of america cash rewards and the slew of BOA's other branded cards like U.S. Pride, MLB cards (they're essentially all the same cards so you can have multiple for both the $200 spend bonus and to have different bonus categories picked), where you can pick between dining, travel, gas, online shopping (i.e. Amazon), home improvement, and maybe a couple of others like drug stores. These aren't rotating, they stay in place until you change them, but can't change again until following mo. The catch is that it's actually 3%, but 5.25% for me because I have my banking/brokerage relationship with them for a 75% bonus. They gave me like $600 to move over my IRA, and I left it there given the bonus on credit cards, discounts on loans/mortgages, fees, etc. The Cash Rewards cards also have 2% on groceries and warehouses like Sam's, so I get 3.5% with my 75% relationship bonus at Sams Club plus the 4% discount they offer on Disney $50 cards for 7.5% off. Wife & I keep 1 card permanently for 5.25% for dining, and rotate a different one for online, gas, or whatever.

The BOA Premium Rewards card, which has like a $500 spend bonus for $3K in 90 days, has a 1.5% everyday and 2% for travel/dining, so it's our go to for everyday spending for the 2.62% for purchases that don't fit a category. That one has like a $99 fee but a $100 airline annual incidental credit, which on our Sept WDW trip, used for seat assignments.

 

[Judique]

I use bank of america cash rewards and the slew of BOA's other branded cards like U.S. Pride, MLB cards (they're essentially all the same cards so you can have multiple for both the $200 spend bonus and to have different bonus categories picked), where you can pick between dining, travel, gas, online shopping (i.e. Amazon), home improvement, and maybe a couple of others like drug stores. These aren't rotating, they stay in place until you change them, but can't change again until following mo. The catch is that it's actually 3%, but 5.25% for me because I have my banking/brokerage relationship with them for a 75% bonus. They gave me like $600 to move over my IRA, and I left it there given the bonus on credit cards, discounts on loans/mortgages, fees, etc. The Cash Rewards cards also have 2% on groceries and warehouses like Sam's, so I get 3.5% with my 75% relationship bonus at Sams Club plus the 4% discount they offer on Disney $50 cards for 7.5% off. Wife & I keep 1 card permanently for 5.25% for dining, and rotate a different one for online, gas, or whatever.

The BOA Premium Rewards card, which has like a $500 spend bonus for $3K in 90 days, has a 1.5% everyday and 2% for travel/dining, so it's our go to for everyday spending for the 2.62% for purchases that don't fit a category. That one has like a $99 fee but a $100 airline annual incidental credit, which on our Sept WDW trip, used for seat assignments.

Excellent! Thank you for sharing. I will do some research but upfront, do they have a minimum balance/deposit for a banking/brokerage account? I really hate moving money but it might be worth it.

 

[Nick6300]

Excellent! Thank you for sharing. I will do some research but upfront, do they have a minimum balance/deposit for a banking/brokerage account? I really hate moving money but it might be worth it.

There are 3 tiers for the BOA Preferred Rewards: Gold requires $20k and gets you 25% more rewards on your cards, and other perks which you can view here:
https://www.bankofamerica.com/preferred-rewards/details/
2nd tier for rewards is Platinum is $50k (50% more card rewards), and Platinum Honors is $100k (75% more). The easiest way for us to hit the tiers was to move our old 401K into an IRA. They do have totally free checking accounts (the interest ones have min balance requirements or fees), but their CDs and money mkt accts are not competitive against the Marcus, Synchrony, Discover online only money market savings rates; much like most big brick/mortar banks that don't need to offer those rates. As a former BOA employee, I was forced to keep my 401k there so I just moved in my IRA from prior job for the additional $600 bonus (tiers for bonuses for that too).

For many, unless wanting to move an IRA for the bonus, and decent investing platform, which had commission free trades before everyone did, it's sort of a hassle to try to hit the rewards tiers. IMO, the cash rewards cards, without any banking relationship, for the $200 bonus and 3% on great categories, and 2% for groceries/warehouses, and $0 annual fee is pretty decent as is. Before we were Plat. Honors, we mainly used Sams Club Card for 5% gas 3% dining, paired with BOA cash for groceries. I think there is an AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card that offers 6% on groceries (annual fee), and the new Chase Freedom Flex that has 5% on groceries. But I never qualify for AMEX or Chase since I apply for about 8-10 cards a yr. My wife has less tolerance for my card schemes, so she only gets a couple per yr.... maybe we can get the Freedom Flex soon.

 

[Nick6300]

Excellent! Thank you for sharing. I will do some research but upfront, do they have a minimum balance/deposit for a banking/brokerage account? I really hate moving money but it might be worth it.

I hate moving money around too. But you wouldn't think so given I've done it 14x already this yr for various $150-500 new customer bonuses. Much easier going after credit card bonuses, and also not taxed/have to report 1099s. There are some BOA bank acct promos (I did one for a BOA savings acct for $150), but generally, there are much better savings/checking acct bonuses out there (i.e. Huntington Bank).

 

[Judique]

There are 3 tiers for the BOA Preferred Rewards: Gold requires $20k and gets you 25% more rewards on your cards, and other perks which you can view here:
https://www.bankofamerica.com/preferred-rewards/details/
2nd tier for rewards is Platinum is $50k (50% more card rewards), and Platinum Honors is $100k (75% more). The easiest way for us to hit the tiers was to move our old 401K into an IRA. They do have totally free checking accounts (the interest ones have min balance requirements or fees), but their CDs and money mkt accts are not competitive against the Marcus, Synchrony, Discover online only money market savings rates; much like most big brick/mortar banks that don't need to offer those rates. As a former BOA employee, I was forced to keep my 401k there so I just moved in my IRA from prior job for the additional $600 bonus (tiers for bonuses for that too).

For many, unless wanting to move an IRA for the bonus, and decent investing platform, which had commission free trades before everyone did, it's sort of a hassle to try to hit the rewards tiers. IMO, the cash rewards cards, without any banking relationship, for the $200 bonus and 3% on great categories, and 2% for groceries/warehouses, and $0 annual fee is pretty decent as is. Before we were Plat. Honors, we mainly used Sams Club Card for 5% gas 3% dining, paired with BOA cash for groceries. I think there is an AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card that offers 6% on groceries (annual fee), and the new Chase Freedom Flex that has 5% on groceries. But I never qualify for AMEX or Chase since I apply for about 8-10 cards a yr. My wife has less tolerance for my card schemes, so she only gets a couple per yr.... maybe we can get the Freedom Flex soon.

Great rundown, again, thank you!

Perhaps you have something that you can PC to a Flex?

 

[RamblingMad]

How much money do you typically bring for the week for 2 people?

We will not be dining at any restaurants.

Thank you in advance.

I usually don’t carry cash. I put everything on my credit card.

What are you spending money on?

 

[Nick6300]

Great rundown, again, thank you!

Perhaps you have something that you can PC to a Flex?

When you state PC, does that mean go down to a Flex from like a Sapphire, maybe? My wife has the lower Sapphire (never uses it), along with regular Freedom, and 2 lesser Ink cards (Unlimited and the other one). Maybe instead of waiting for 5/24, we can get the Flex now and just not get the $200 bonus. Assuming you're not eligible for bonus if you convert down to a card. She could move her Ultimate Rewards from Sapphire to one of her other accts, I think, just before getting rid of it. I'm not super familiar with the Chase cards.

 

[Judique]

When you state PC, does that mean go down to a Flex from like a Sapphire, maybe? My wife has the lower Sapphire (never uses it), along with regular Freedom, and 2 lesser Ink cards (Unlimited and the other one). Maybe instead of waiting for 5/24, we can get the Flex now and just not get the $200 bonus. Assuming you're not eligible for bonus if you convert down to a card. She could move her Ultimate Rewards from Sapphire to one of her other accts, I think, just before getting rid of it. I'm not super familiar with the Chase cards.

Yes, you can product change, but when you product change you don't get the bonus. A product change would allow you to get the value of the perks from the Flex, while not paying the annual fee for the CSP. And, if you've had the CSP for 48 months, you could apply again for a sapphire once you get under 5/24. The sign up is 80k right now for a few weeks.


Later on (when under 5/24) if you decide you want that bonus for the Flex, you can also apply. Chase allows you to hold more than one Freedom.

Your wife's points could also be moved to one of your UR cards if you have one.