I love credit cards so much!

[LYSE]

What do you mean? I know the packages code as hotels and can be used with a purchase eraser function. Is this what you mean? Are there specific credit cards to earn points with?

I think he just means that you can charge to the MB and have everything code as a hotel charge (because it is) that way you earn points faster with cards like the CSP and CSR, coding like this can also help you use points to cover charges with cards like the Arrival and venture cards.

Disney doesn't have a points program so that sucks, the only way to use points to cover a stay at a Disney owned property is to either use the fixed point value cards to offset the charge or use travel portals like chase or amex and pay with points...it seems like a good amount of people here do that but I HATE it since the value per point is so dang low compared to what you can get if you save the points and xfer them to other hotels or airlines.

 

[Albort]

Disney doesn't have a points program so that sucks, the only way to use points to cover a stay at a Disney owned property is to either use the fixed point value cards to offset the charge or use travel portals like chase or amex and pay with points...it seems like a good amount of people here do that but I HATE it since the value per point is so dang low compared to what you can get if you save the points and xfer them to other hotels or airlines.

its not TOO bad if you have the 1.5 redemption rate with a CSR sometimes...

 

[Christopher Maley]

Disney doesn't have a points program so that sucks, the only way to use points to cover a stay at a Disney owned property is to either use the fixed point value cards to offset the charge or use travel portals like chase or amex and pay with points...it seems like a good amount of people here do that but I HATE it since the value per point is so dang low compared to what you can get if you save the points and xfer them to other hotels or airlines.

Chase or amex have Disney properties in the portals?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

There have been some amazing deals people have booked thru Chase Ultimate Rewards portal but they seem to be last minute (less than a month before travel) and resort availability is limited (i.e. Maybe not your first choice). I booked Poly in February 2018 for 38k points per night.

 

[GPC0321]

What's everyone's best method of earning staying at WDW with miles/points? Like cards to use and bonuses to seek? We already know about the Starwood card for the Swan and Dolphin, but we would like to try Animal Kingdom Lodge or Wilderness Lodge.

Honesly, for staying at a deluxe resort like Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge, look into renting DVC points. You can get a DVC studio for 60% less than a standard room at that same resort. It takes some research and networking (or there are brokers that you can use), but not much more hassle than trying to get a deal via cc points.

As for credit cards, I just went on a sign-up bonus spree over the past year. I earned straight cash back (Chase Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Preferred = $650+$50 for a CFU referral, Barclaycard CashForward = $200, BankofAmericard = $150), airline points (Chase Southwest = 50,000 Rapid Rewards Points) and a gift card (Chase Disney Rewards = $200 Disney gift card). TOTAL = $1050 cash, $200 Disney gift card, 3 round-trip Southwest tickets.

I also got a Sam's Club membership, and used my Chase Freedom card during the bonus quarter that included wholesale stores to get discounted Disney gift cards, which wound up saving me a good chunk of money on our park tickets. I think I still have about $47 on one gift card.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Honesly, for staying at a deluxe resort like Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge, look into renting DVC points. You can get a DVC studio for 60% less than a standard room at that same resort. It takes some research and networking (or there are brokers that you can use), but not much more hassle than trying to get a deal via cc points.

As for credit cards, I just went on a sign-up bonus spree over the past year. I earned straight cash back (Chase Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Preferred = $650+$50 for a CFU referral, Barclaycard CashForward = $200, BankofAmericard = $150), airline points (Chase Southwest = 50,000 Rapid Rewards Points) and a gift card (Chase Disney Rewards = $200 Disney gift card). TOTAL = $1050 cash, $200 Disney gift card, 3 round-trip Southwest tickets.

I also got a Sam's Club membership, and used my Chase Freedom card during the bonus quarter that included wholesale stores to get discounted Disney gift cards, which wound up saving me a good chunk of money on our park tickets. I think I still have about $47 on one gift card.

I have friends who rent thru Davids (dvcrequest.com) for great prices and have been very happy with the service

 

[LYSE]

Chase or amex have Disney properties in the portals?

Chase does for sure, I thought Amex did but I pretty much never use the portals so am not sure.

 

[LYSE]

There have been some amazing deals people have booked thru Chase Ultimate Rewards portal but they seem to be last minute (less than a month before travel) and resort availability is limited (i.e. Maybe not your first choice). I booked Poly in February 2018 for 38k points per night.

Interesting...what was the cash OTD price through Disney?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Interesting...what was the cash OTD price through Disney?

The cash price was $544 (615 w taxes). I used 30k points and paid cash but staying only 1 night.
Right now the same date in Feb has Kidani @AKL $445(29699 points)
AKL savannah $553(36921) or AKL std $399(26661)
I could never accrue enough points for a lengthy stay so would rather use Chase points for air to WDW but did use Chase points for air & hotel to Disneyland (off property)

 

[Albort]

im not familiar with DVC, but what did Disney recently shut down?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

im not familiar with DVC, but what did Disney recently shut down?

Shut? Only see new openings. Copper Creek at Wilderness Lodge is the newest, I believe.

 

[Chippy4]

I have a question about the Southwest credit card bonus. I signed up for two cards during the 60k bonus offer and I met the minimum spend on both cards during the second billing cycle, which just closed on 8/4. One of the cards credited me the 60k bonus and one did not. I sent a message to customer service about the missing bonus and the response I got what that yes, I did meet my minimum spend, and I should see the bonus in 6 to 8 weeks. Am I to assume it now won't come until my next billing cycle ends on 9/4? I had really hoped to get the companion pass by the time booking for next April opens up on 8/28.

 

[Lain]

im not familiar with DVC, but what did Disney recently shut down?

Disney Vacation Club. Disney shut down the Disney Vacation Account.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Yes, and that is true, but that's what makes it so crazy. When the charge occurs, it codes as "entertainment", therefore no bonus. But when it is cancelled, the refund codes as "dining" and takes away bonus points as if it had given them to me in the first place. They always manually credit for me, but it's such a pain.

Ditto when I booked & cancelled the WDW Safari dinner. Purchase at 1x, refund at 3x. I SMd Chase when I caught it & they refunded my points within a few hours.
ETA: on thinking about it some more... even though we see the same company name it could be Disney charges it from the entertainment division but refunds are issued from a central division that codes as travel...

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

im not familiar with DVC, but what did Disney recently shut down?

Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is the timeshare program. You can rent points from current members (either direct or through a broker) at about $13-$16 per point. How much a room costs in points depends on the resort, weekday vs. weekend, time of year and type of room. So for example, through a broker, you can get a standard studio room at Poly over peak Christmas time for $496 per night or during low season in January for $304 per night. The same room at rack rates direct from Disney would be $747 during Christmas or $507 in January.

 

[Christopher Maley]

im not familiar with DVC, but what did Disney recently shut down?

The Disney Vacation Account was what shut down.


Can credit card points go towards renting DVC points? We were hoping to use the dining plan as well. I know free dining isn't available with DVC points.

 

[speedyfishy]

I have a question about the Southwest credit card bonus. I signed up for two cards during the 60k bonus offer and I met the minimum spend on both cards during the second billing cycle, which just closed on 8/4. One of the cards credited me the 60k bonus and one did not. I sent a message to customer service about the missing bonus and the response I got what that yes, I did meet my minimum spend, and I should see the bonus in 6 to 8 weeks. Am I to assume it now won't come until my next billing cycle ends on 9/4? I had really hoped to get the companion pass by the time booking for next April opens up on 8/28.

Yeah. It should show up on the next statement. The same thing happened to me. You can book the flight and then add a companion when all the points post. That's what I did.

 

[SBWB48]

I have a question about the Southwest credit card bonus. I signed up for two cards during the 60k bonus offer and I met the minimum spend on both cards during the second billing cycle, which just closed on 8/4. One of the cards credited me the 60k bonus and one did not. I sent a message to customer service about the missing bonus and the response I got what that yes, I did meet my minimum spend, and I should see the bonus in 6 to 8 weeks. Am I to assume it now won't come until my next billing cycle ends on 9/4? I had really hoped to get the companion pass by the time booking for next April opens up on 8/28.

It's likely that the transaction that triggered the second sign up bonus was made too close to the closing date. To be safe, the transaction would have had to post at least within a week; we had a transaction post 5 days before closing and the bonus didn't post until the next statement. I would just book the flight for the first person anyways since it's highly unlikely your April flight would sell out right when dates open up. As long as there is a seat, you can book the companion later. I just added myself as a companion to my DBF's flight for 8/20. No issues at all

 

[amalone1013]

The Disney Vacation Account was what shut down.


Can credit card points go towards renting DVC points? We were hoping to use the dining plan as well. I know free dining isn't available with DVC points.

My DVC rental coded as travel with my Barclay Arrival, so I was able to redeem points against it. Our stay is next month, so I can't say anything personally about the company, but I've heard good things

 

[Christopher Maley]

My DVC rental coded as travel with my Barclay Arrival, so I was able to redeem points against it. Our stay is next month, so I can't say anything personally about the company, but I've heard good things

Which company did you use? I wonder since I was on a chat with David's and they said it wouldn't be coded as travel, but they didn't really seem too aware of what I meant. Thanks!