Is it worth having a Disney Visa?

[Tinkerbellish]

My dad was thinking about getting one, and he would like to know if it's worth getting. Please help me out!

 

[frannn]

I had one credit card, with no rewards attached to it. The card I was already using was from the same company. Plus, I love everything Disney! I did not make a large effort to charge everything (my home bills, etc) on my Disney VIsa, just what I would normally charge. The end result is that I will have about 70. reward dollars towards my Oct DW trip that I wouldn't have gotten with my old credit card. DH is thinking of getting one as well because his cards have VERY high rates, and annual fees. I am sure you could get a better rewards program from a different card (maybe Amex?) if you are wiling to take the time to research it. Disney Visa was a step up for us. We may take another step, but probably in the future.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I think that's a matter of opinion. I have the Amex Blue and use their rewards. Well they are good but when I want extras for vacation they stink. To use their car rental rewards certificates you have to use their code - I can save more money using my DC discount (okay maybe not for much longer) but most of the other codes out there beat it. So there's no benefit there....and I just don't charge enough to even gain airline tickets so that leaves "other" stuff. Granted I'll be able to get a $100 gift card for Babies R Us which will come in handy in about 3 months....and I guess that money we would have used there can go towards vacation but overall I'm not thrilled with the program. Disney is only 1% BUT it adds up and it's money I would spend anyway so it works for me.

 

[Tinkerbellish]

Ok, thank you. I totaly agree that 1 percent really does add up! How bad is the intrest if anyone doesn't mind me asking? He sounds interested, and I know this could get me to WDW faster so I need to look in to this.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I don't think it is too bad - I'm thinking my rate is like 12.99% but I think that varies depending on credit ratings, etc. I'm sure they use all kinds of factors in determining that. But I couldn't swear to it....the first 6 months was interest free and I pay it off every month anyway so since I wanted the rewards I didn't worry about the interest rate since I don't carry a balance.

 

[Tinkerbellish]

Doesn't look my my Dad will be getting one, he says it had to be under 12%.

 

[WIcruizer]

I have the card, but honestly it's one of the worst rewards card around. You would be much better off with an airlines reward card, GM, etc... Even the hotel chains you get more bang for the buck.

I got it because I want to see if any of the other offers for card holders are any good. I'll give it another year or so, but so far I'm nbot impressed.

 

[Tinkerbellish]

Really? Wow...maybe he could get one with airline rewards and we could use that for out flight there.

 

[WIcruizer]

Yes, most airlines FF credit cards give you 5,000-10,000 miles just for signing up (depending on the promotion at the time) Then you generally get 3- 5 miles for every $1 spent.

 

[Tinkerbellish]

0.0 WOW!!! That is a lot better. Since we are from Cali. the cost is a bit high. Hmm.

 

[crusoe2]

We got the Disney Visa thinking that we would charge all our regular stuff and pay off every month. But what we have run into is that using the Visa for many of our bills (especially the larger ones like car payments, elec., etc.) will either be considered a cash advance (which doesn't earn points) or will incur a service charge that cancels out the rewards we earn. Since we had always paid our bills by cash or check we didn't know that so many of them would not help us with earning rewards points. This means that we are not earning rewards points nearly as fast as we had anticipated. We will still have enough to help a little on our next trip but not as much as we had hoped. Just something else to consider.

 

[LKS]

That's odd what crusoe2 says about the bill paying being a cash advance or incurring a service fee. I don't have the Disney Visa, but I have an LLbean Visa and a Discover card that I have started charging everything to and I can do my phone bill, power bill, car insurance etc... to earn rebates, pay them off in full every month and I earn my rebates and don't get charged any fees for cash advances or service charges from the vendors I am paying. We rack up points like crazy.

 

[cindala]

Originally posted by crusoe2
But what we have run into is that using the Visa for many of our bills (especially the larger ones like car payments, elec., etc.) will either be considered a cash advance (which doesn't earn points) or will incur a service charge that cancels out the rewards we earn.

I think paying a loan, mortgage or lease with the credit card is considered a cash advance because they want to make sure you actually have the money to pay for it, and are not just charging it because you don't have the cash.

I have to check if my car insurance company will take the Visa. Our town won't accept it for our tax bill though, and that would be a huge chunk...$8500!!!

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by Tinkerbellish
My dad was thinking about getting one, and he would like to know if it's worth getting. Please help me out!

To us it is. We only charge things that we were going to buy anyway so the reward points are just an added bonus of buying stuff we were going to buy anyway. So far we have $50 is rewards built up. We are going to use it for spending money for our trip in Jan 2004.

Our plane tickets for our Jan 2004 were "free" as we used miles that we built up using our Delta SkyMiles CC that is backed by AmEx.

 

[crusoe2]

LKS, we do have a few bills that we can pay with the Disney Visa and still come out ahead. Things like our phone bills (house and cell), gas bill and I believe our insurance company takes it without adding any service charge. As luck would have it, tho, these are not our larger bills - we only get about 3 or 4 points per month from all of those charges combined. I figure we lose out on at least about 19 or 20 points a month because of bills that would actually be more expensive to pay with the Visa or would not earn any points at all.

 

[sln88]

Sorry, but the reward is just not worth it. I also have an Amex Blue, and use it to charge as much as I can(and pay it off every month). At the end of my reward period, I got a credit of about 1.5% on my bill. I can spend that credit on Disney, or whatever else I want.
I have read that with the Disney card, you get to spend $20 of reward on $50??!! That is useless, unless you are going to make a big purchase.
And, what would happen, if for some reason you could not go to WDW to use the reward? A job loss or death could change your plans.
I signed up for one last week because I am hoping to get some coupons out of it(and a pin), but I don't think I will actually charge anything on it.
Remember- cash(as in cash back reward) is king!

 

[Aisling]

I think it's worth it.

I pay my son's monthly $400 college tuition on it, my groceries, 2 cell phone bills, regular phone bill, cable, and all the little extras that I can. Most of the utilities don't accept it, and the opnce that do, require a fee. so I don't use the Visa for those. Vacationing in-laws have purchased plane tickets to Asia and got me a bundle of points (they paid me the cash on the spot! Not taking ANY chances!)
So for my family, it's worth it. I have to pay those bills anyway, so why not get some free money to use at Disney. They're good for 5 years, so I expect my whole vacation to be be paid for with Disney Rewards Dollars!

 

[ceecee]

We have an airline card and the miles seem to add up a lot faster than the Disney rewards. We get miles for long distance calls as well. We have gotten 8 tickets that way. There is a $50.00 yearly fee and I don't know what the interest rate is as we pay them off every month.

 

[Crazy4mandms]

I think people have made a good point about the cards that earn air miles might be better, however, some of us don't need air miles!! I drive to Disney and earning air miles are useless to me and others who drive...so for some of us the disney visa would be better since air miles are worthless....as anything...just depends who u are and what ur needs are...besides, if ur like me and nuts about disney..ya just LOVE pulling out that Mickey emblazened card!!!!

 

[GoofItUp]

You might can tell from all the posts that different rewards programs are more/less valuable to people depending on what THEY do. I have a card that earns FF miles, and I'm 1 1/2 tickets into a trip to Hawaii for DH and me! That is much more valuable to me than $50 - $100 that I might have earned in Disney credit. However, the $50 - $100 might be completely worth it to you. There are loads of sites on the internet that detail different reward programs...do a little research and then decide what's best for you! Good luck!