I love credit cards so much!

[wendow]

I didn’t much like Poly. Love heavenly beds at Dolphin (& Swan I assume)

I did ok at the Poly. I prefer the DVC beds to their regular rooms though. I have read that Swolphin has good beds

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Do you think the new categories will mean the same scenario would be much less lucrative? Anyone think there's a chance things could get better for cats. 6-9?

I have no idea. I just want to hedge against the unknown.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I did ok at the Poly. I prefer the DVC beds to their regular rooms though. I have read that Swolphin has good beds

I just thought for the price it was “ok” not great. I did love monorail to MK in the morning. I would repeat what we did, which was 1st night Poly, hang at resort, dinner at Ohana. Then the next day, off to MK while our luggage went to Dolphin.

 

[570traveler]

I've been following along for the past few days trying to find the best new card for me. We don't put a lot on credit cards so it won't be like we can put 1000's on each month. Just looking for something with a good sign up bonus. We are saving for a Disney trip so a card that would have perks when purchasing disney gift cards would be great. I currently have a Discover card and Disney Visa. I just cancelled my Delta Amex (since we haven't used the benefits lately and the $95/yr fee was coming due). I read a lot about Chase Freedom...do you think this would be a good fit for me??

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I've been following along for the past few days trying to find the best new card for me. We don't put a lot on credit cards so it won't be like we can put 1000's on each month. Just looking for something with a good sign up bonus. We are saving for a Disney trip so a card that would have perks when purchasing disney gift cards would be great. I currently have a Discover card and Disney Visa. I just cancelled my Delta Amex (since we haven't used the benefits lately and the $95/yr fee was coming due). I read a lot about Chase Freedom...do you think this would be a good fit for me??

Are you flying or driving to Disney? Would free flights be a help?

How much realistically could you put on a card in 3 months (total)? $5,000 vs. $2,000 vs. $1,000 would result in some pretty diverse recommendations

 

[570traveler]

Are you flying or driving to Disney? Would free flights be a help?

How much realistically could you put on a card in 3 months (total)? $5,000 vs. $2,000 vs. $1,000 would result in some pretty diverse recommendations

We are driving this year (cheaper since there's 4 of us). Next year (Thanksgiving time) we may fly as it will just be 2 of us. So not really looking for miles at least not at this time.
We still have $2000 to pay on our Disney trip and I have most of that saved already, so that and our regular bills that we could put on a new card would be an additional $500 or so over the 3 months (for about $2500 total/first 3 months)
My son is going to college so there may be some additional costs that we could put on there as well but unsure at this time what can be paid via credit card and what needs to come directly from his college fund!

 

[DisneyMandC]

ANA should have a non stop from Dulles, the race team used to fly from there when they raced in Japan. If you're looking to connect consider Seattle, we have a lot of flights going to/from Asia on several airlines and it would help break the trip up if you don't want as long of a flight. Here's the airlines they have that do international https://www.portseattle.org/sea-tac/airlines-destinations I know Delta does as well, it's one of the things they advertise here.

Yes, looks like direct flights from IAD to Japan on ANA! I actually prefer to just fly nonstop rather than connecting. Even though I'm sure I'll regret these words after a 13 hour flight, I really don't care about where we sit on a plane. I'll make due with whatever. Guess I need to start figuring out what cards to get and points to accrue!

 

[DisneyMandC]

--Highly recommend MaxPass for the additional $10 per person per day at DL. The ease of getting FP via the app instead of having to walk to the designated FP dispensing location for each right is worth the price of entry alone (e.g., you can get a FP for a ride at DCA while you are still physically at DL). And the return windows are much sooner via the app with MaxPass than they are at the dispenser locations. And it also seems like the ability to get the next FP is also sooner via MaxPass than if you go the paper route. We did MaxPass both our days and it was totally worth it.

I'm doing two days at DL in July and trying to decide if I should get Maxpass our first day. We won't arrive until probably 9:30-10 to DL the first day. Should I still pay for Maxpass, or is it the type of thing you should start early in the morning with at rope drop? Definitely getting it for our second day, but wasn't quite sure how it would work for us the first day.

 

[Calfan]

I'm doing two days at DL in July and trying to decide if I should get Maxpass our first day. We won't arrive until probably 9:30-10 to DL the first day. Should I still pay for Maxpass, or is it the type of thing you should start early in the morning with at rope drop? Definitely getting it for our second day, but wasn't quite sure how it would work for us the first day.

Since you can't actually buy MaxPass until you are in the park, you can make a game-day decision by taking a look at the crowd level when you arrive and maybe perusing wait times on the app. That's what we did. I'll tell you that we entered DL at 11:40 a.m. (which was awesome given that we left Boise at 7:05 a.m., had a layover in Oakland, Ubered to the Grand Californian, checked in and stored our bags and still made that timing!) and still got total value out of MaxPass that first day. I think we ended up using 6 MaxPasses that first day. We took a look at the standby times while eating an early lunch after entering the park and decided MaxPass was the way to go.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

We are driving this year (cheaper since there's 4 of us). Next year (Thanksgiving time) we may fly as it will just be 2 of us. So not really looking for miles at least not at this time.
We still have $2000 to pay on our Disney trip and I have most of that saved already, so that and our regular bills that we could put on a new card would be an additional $500 or so over the 3 months (for about $2500 total/first 3 months)
My son is going to college so there may be some additional costs that we could put on there as well but unsure at this time what can be paid via credit card and what needs to come directly from his college fund!

So I definitely don’t want to force you to “stretch” to meet a spend. A Chase Sapphire Preferred Card could be nice but that would be a $4,000 spend in 90 days. If you felt like that was doable then we can get you some more info.

If that’s out of your comfort range a Chase Freedom could be a good card. You’d get $150 for spending $500 Plus this quarter you get 5% back on groceries (up to $1,500 in spend) so that could be another $75. You could also save those points and maybe get a Chase Sapphire Card later and redeem them for even more towards a trip.

Also, do you have a spouse that would also sign up for cards too? Maybe you could get a Freedom now and then refer them to a Freedom later and get $250 for that signup ($150 + $100 referral).

If you’re interested in supporting another DISer when you sign up let me know and I can send you info on our Reddit group where we share support links. Let us know what other questions you have too!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Since you can't actually buy MaxPass until you are in the park, you can make a game-day decision by taking a look at the crowd level when you arrive and maybe perusing wait times on the app. That's what we did. I'll tell you that we entered DL at 11:40 a.m. (which was awesome given that we left Boise at 7:05 a.m., had a layover in Oakland, Ubered to the Grand Californian, checked in and stored our bags and still made that timing!) and still got total value out of MaxPass that first day. I think we ended up using 6 MaxPasses that first day. We took a look at the standby times while eating an early lunch after entering the park and decided MaxPass was the way to go.

Thanks! We'll be flying out of DC at 6 AM and arrive in LA at 8:30 AM, so I figured we'll probably be around 10 by the time we get over there and get situated. It sounds like MaxPass might be a good option for us. I'm hoping crowds won't be insane even though it's summer. I know our first day there is an AP blackout day, so maybe that will help.

 

[trenty]

To those that say they don't quite understand Amex MRs as well as Chase URs:

• MRs can transfer to travel partners (some not 1:1) - I use Delta (1000 MR = 1000 Delta) and Jet Blue (250MR = 200 Jet blue). There are other airlines and three hotel chains - Choice (1000=1000), Hilton (1000=2000) and SPG (1000=333). They also run sales. The one and only time I needed a Jet Blue transfer they were running a 250=250 sale.
  
• Amex has a travel portal where you can book travel. Works similar to Chase. Check point redemption to see where you can get the best value. I have never used the Amex travel portal as I have more UR and prefer to use them before my MR.
  
• You can use points to cover your charges, but I would not recommend it.
• You can redeem for gift cards, but I would not recommend it.
• You can shop with points, but I would not recommend it.

I do prefer Chase UR over Amex because Chase has much more flexibility and generally gives more value per point. But I collect MRs too, mainly for Delta and Jet Blue Flights.

 

[Calfan]

Thanks! We'll be flying out of DC at 6 AM and arrive in LA at 8:30 AM, so I figured we'll probably be around 10 by the time we get over there and get situated. It sounds like MaxPass might be a good option for us. I'm hoping crowds won't be insane even though it's summer. I know our first day there is an AP blackout day, so maybe that will help.

The AP blackout should definitely help.

 

[DaveL]

Got our Magic Bands today and noticed that it included a Magic Extras plastic RFID? card. Thats new, didn't get that for our December trip. Kinda bummed that they sent identical luggage tags!

 

[kmc8826]

I've been following along for the past few days trying to find the best new card for me. We don't put a lot on credit cards so it won't be like we can put 1000's on each month. Just looking for something with a good sign up bonus. We are saving for a Disney trip so a card that would have perks when purchasing disney gift cards would be great. I currently have a Discover card and Disney Visa. I just cancelled my Delta Amex (since we haven't used the benefits lately and the $95/yr fee was coming due). I read a lot about Chase Freedom...do you think this would be a good fit for me??

The Discover and Freedom have a lot of overlap. I haven’t used my Freedom at all this quarter as I am just concentrating on maxing out Discover. So it probably wouldn’t be my first choice. The Freedom Unlimited is a good overall card with a low required spending limit. It is my fall back go to card when I want to use a Visa, it doesn’t fit into a category, and I don’t have a minimum spend I am working on.

If you have been following along you might have seen talk about business cards. If you have a business or even a “business” (i.e. sell to neighbors/friends crafts) you could get the Chase Ink Cash. My husband just got his and I love it. No annual fee and 5 times Ultimate Reward points at office supply stores. The reason that is important is you can get Disney Gift cards. Get the gift cards and use it to pay your remaining balance on the Disney trip. The CIC is also great since it is 2 times the points on gas and eating out. You can use it for the travel UR points or simply cash it out.

You didn’t say if you have the regular Disney or premier. If you don’t have the premier it could be worth upgrading it at least for a while and getting 2% back on your Disney purchases (and gas, groceries, restaurants). An upgrade wouldn’t count against your card count and the fee would be offset by the money they give you to upgrade.

 

[570traveler]

So I definitely don’t want to force you to “stretch” to meet a spend. A Chase Sapphire Preferred Card could be nice but that would be a $4,000 spend in 90 days. If you felt like that was doable then we can get you some more info.

If that’s out of your comfort range a Chase Freedom could be a good card. You’d get $150 for spending $500 Plus this quarter you get 5% back on groceries (up to $1,500 in spend) so that could be another $75. You could also save those points and maybe get a Chase Sapphire Card later and redeem them for even more towards a trip.

Also, do you have a spouse that would also sign up for cards too? Maybe you could get a Freedom now and then refer them to a Freedom later and get $250 for that signup ($150 + $100 referral).

If you’re interested in supporting another DISer when you sign up let me know and I can send you info on our Reddit group where we share support links. Let us know what other questions you have too!

Thank you! I will look into how much we could possibly spend in the next few months!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thank you! I will look into how much we could possibly spend in the next few months!

Don’t forget that, as long as you pay it off every month and accrue no finance charges, many bills are easy to pay free with a credit card. I can pay Comcast tv/Internet, Sprint, and gas company. I can’t pay electric company without a fee, so I don’t do that one.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thank you! I will look into how much we could possibly spend in the next few months!

I would also agree with @kmc8826 on the CIC (Chase Ink Cash) if you’re comfortable applying for a business card. That has a $3,000 MSR (min. spend requirement).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

The Discover and Freedom have a lot of overlap. I haven’t used my Freedom at all this quarter as I am just concentrating on maxing out Discover. So it probably wouldn’t be my first choice. The Freedom Unlimited is a good overall card with a low required spending limit. It is my fall back go to card when I want to use a Visa, it doesn’t fit into a category, and I don’t have a minimum spend I am working on.

If you have been following along you might have seen talk about business cards. If you have a business or even a “business” (i.e. sell to neighbors/friends crafts) you could get the Chase Ink Cash. My husband just got his and I love it. No annual fee and 5 times Ultimate Reward points at office supply stores. The reason that is important is you can get Disney Gift cards. Get the gift cards and use it to pay your remaining balance on the Disney trip. The CIC is also great since it is 2 times the points on gas and eating out. You can use it for the travel UR points or simply cash it out.

You didn’t say if you have the regular Disney or premier. If you don’t have the premier it could be worth upgrading it at least for a while and getting 2% back on your Disney purchases (and gas, groceries, restaurants). An upgrade wouldn’t count against your card count and the fee would be offset by the money they give you to upgrade.

The CIC is a great idea and probably the top plan for an “achievable” spend and great rewards.

Behind that I’d still rank a CF above a CFU in this scenario. If they just went and bought $1,500 of Disney GCs at a grocery store they’d get $225 back (15%). On a CFU they’d get $172.50 on that same $1,500. Can always apply for a CFU in a couple months then or PC the CF to a CFU once maxing the 5% for the quarter.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I've been following along for the past few days trying to find the best new card for me. We don't put a lot on credit cards so it won't be like we can put 1000's on each month. Just looking for something with a good sign up bonus. We are saving for a Disney trip so a card that would have perks when purchasing disney gift cards would be great. I currently have a Discover card and Disney Visa. I just cancelled my Delta Amex (since we haven't used the benefits lately and the $95/yr fee was coming due). I read a lot about Chase Freedom...do you think this would be a good fit for me??

Hi!!!

Are you interested in rotating categories for 5%? Chase Freedom! $150 back after $500 spend.

Want 1.5% back in everything? Chase Freedom Unlimited. $150 back after $500 spend.

I would not upgrade that disney card, that locks in your rewards to disney only and you aren’t working on a bonus by doing that. If you want 2% back on everything Citi Double Cash is 2% back after you pay and currently has $100 sign up bonus for $500 spend.

I would be careful hitting more than one. If you expect you could have expenses in the next couple years that could give you a chance to hit big minimum spends I wouldn’t take more than 1 “5/24” spot for a card right now. Due to your low spend right now I would hit the biggest bonus (a Chase card) and probably pick Freedom due to the ability to hit 5% back sometimes, the extra 0.5% back from the Unlimited just isn’t a very big drop in your bucket right now.