Strategy for Disney Rewards Visa

[Asnell]

I just got a Disney Rewards Visa card and am trying to figure out how to best use it for our upcoming January 2015 trip.

Normally we pay off all our charges in full each month, so I've started charging all of our normal expenses to that card to accrue the rewards. I'll order a reward card about a month in advance of our trip, and transfer whatever has accrued. If we accrue additional rewards, I'm planning to call as late/often as possible to transfer as many rewards points as possible to that card so we can use them while we're in WDW. Does anyone know if you accrue rewards as you spend, or are they applied at the end of each billing cycle, or something different?

We are staying onsite and currently have a room-only reservation, the deposit for which I paid a while ago on a non-Disney card. Since the cost of our stay will be quite substantial, I'm wondering about methods to turn the cost of our stay into rewards we can use on this trip.

I notice that if I turn our reservations into a package and pay with that on the Visa card, they will give me six months with 0% interest to pay for it. That brings up several questions:
1.) What is the minimum thing I can add to our room-only ressies to turn them into a package? Buying our theme park tickets through Disney would be almost $200 more expensive than buying through the discount outlet and we're not doing DP, so I'm wondering if there's something small I'm allowed to add on that will still make it a package, like a DisneyQuest ticket or ...?
2.)When do Disney packages have to be paid in full? Would that be far enough in advance to show on my statement in time to use the rewards for our trip?
3.)If we put the trip on the Disney card and get six months at 0% to pay, I don't want to accrue interest on other purchases (that we normally would pay off every month), so I'd have to stop using the card for all other purchases at that time. That means we'd have to forgo the 10% offered by Disney Visa on anything applicable while we're there, right?
4.) If we don't transfer the package to our Disney Visa, and instead use the Visa to pay for our room charges upon checkout, I assume our accrued points would be too late to use on this trip. Am I correct?
5.) Does anyone know which stores/restaurants at WDW are eligible for the 10% off $50 or more purchases? (To use that discount, I assume we need to bring our Disney Visa with us, since charging through the Magic Bands wouldn't give them any way to know what card it's going to?)

I appreciate the patience of anyone who's read this far. I'd love to hear any additional tips for making the best use of this program.

 

[Starwind]

I got a Disney rewards card a couple months ago and have been through two billing cycles now.

I managed to put enough on my card the first cycle to qualify for the bonus gift card amount; a few weeks after the close of that billing cycle that Disney gift card was mailed to me -- and it was an actual Disney gift card, not the reward redemption card that the one will normally acrue.

As for the normal reward points, they accrue at the close of each billing cycle, so however many you earned that cycle are added when your statement closes. As far as I know you can't get them added mid-cycle.

I believe you have to have a minimum of $20 in reward points to get your first reward redemption card.

At WDW there are locations you can go to to add more reward points to the redemption card you have been issued. The Disney reward card website has info about where those locations are.


As I understand it, you can't take advantage of the special visa financing unless the entire cost of the package is put on the visa, including any deposit.

You are correct that if you put the rest of the room only charges on the card at checkin the points they earn will not be available until that statement cycle closes, which probably is not during your trip.


the disney visa website has a list of what restaurants and stores have discounts available.


-SW

 

[KangaFan]

Rewards are credited to your rewards balance once per month when your statement is generated.

If your calculate the cost of your room with tax, etc, you can order a Disney Gift card from Disney shopping in advance for the amount you need. By charging the gift card with your Disney Visa, you will earn rewards. Depending on when you're billing cycle ends, you may want to go ahead and order this in November to be sure your rewards are available to spend by January.

We do this for food cost as well since we don't do the dining plan. We get a gift card for our total food/spending money budget minus whatever amount of rewards we think we'll have accumulated by then

Hope you have a GREAT trip!

 

[pooch]

Wow I will give some of this a shot

Points accrue at the end of the billing cycle not as you make purchases.

You must add tickets to your room only to make a package eligible for 0% for 6 months.

BUT if you do get that 0%, you don't have to stop using your card. As long as you pay all current charges in full each month you will not accrue interest. Payments, by law, are applied to the balance that would carry the higher interest first

 

[georgina]

You could also just pay off the balance of your room only reservation ahead of time; time it so it goes on just before your statement closes for the month and you will get the points before you go. No need to buy a gift card to do it, just call Disney and pay off the room with the Visa.

 

[JeninTexas]

I called Chase and they told me the 0% financing applies to any charge for a package vacation. They said that the $200 would qualify for 0% starting with the first billing cycle after you made the deposit. Your final payment then will qualify for its own 6 month 0% grace period. This is the case whether you paid your initial deposit on your Disney Visa or not.

I just put the balance of our vacation on my Disney Visa and had a zero balance at the time I did it. I know that by law the cc company is supposed to apply your payments to the charges accruing the highest interest charge first but I have found Chase to be one of the sneakier cc companies, so I don't want to give them any room to try and sneak interest charges in.

 

[aribelle]

I'll order a reward card about a month in advance of our trip, and transfer whatever has accrued.

No need to order your reward card in advance. You can go into ANY Guest Services and request a physical card....then you call Chase (the # is with the instructions you'll get with the card). Answer a few questions to prove your identity (including your Disney VISA card #), and then you can move all or some of your rewards to that card. If it is your first reward card a $20 minimum is required. After that you only need $10 to move additional rewards to your card.

The rewards don't post to your card until the cycle date.....so that's a good reason to wait to order your card until you arrive. And if by chance the cycle ends while you're on vacation, you can call the same number as above and have them move any additional rewards dollars to your card.

I use my card for everything....even tiny purchases....because it all adds up in the end. Makes for a long statement, but oh well. I pay it off every payday so I have never paid interest....probably isn't worth doing if you can't pay it off each month, because the interest is higher than the rewards.

And yes, if you are going to use the 0% interest, you do not want to charge anything until it's paid off. It kinda messes up collecting reward dollars on everyday purchases, but if you don't have the funds to pay for your vacation in advance it's better to take the 0% and forego the rewards rather than pay interest.

 

[thumper*]

We received 10% discount at our resort gift shop at AKL, with a min. purchase of $50. We also received a discount at Boma. Yes we had to show our card, but charged it to the room w./ the MB's. I forgot to ask at Mousegears at Epcot if they offer a discount.

When we went to Character spot at Epcot we had to show our card. It was funny how many pple tried to get in w/o a card.

My card statement and new reward dollars rolled around while we were in Disney so I just called them up on my last day and had them put any remaining reward dollars ($80) on my Rewards card. I used this to help pay down part of our final balance upon checkout.

4.) If we don't transfer the package to our Disney Visa, and instead use the Visa to pay for our room charges upon checkout, I assume our accrued points would be too late to use on this trip. Am I correct? Yes you are correct but you can use it for your next trip or at teh Disney store for Christmas/Bday presents

Here is a link that will help find out where to redeem those dollars.
https://disneyrewards.com/where-to-redeem/

I had $1700 worth of reward dollars to use for this trip. I accrued these points over a 4 yr period with a regular Disney Chase Visa. I just upgraded to a premium card 2 mo ago, I had no trouble charging the $500.00 required to receive the free gift card which covers the price of the card for the first year (see rules). I will accrue more points this way and it is ideal for my purchasing style. You may want to check into this to accrue more points.

I also accrued more points by purchasing Disney gift cards (to Pay off deposit to Disney and use while at Disney) at Kroger of course using my Visa card. This also got me points at Kroger to use for dicounted gas. I probably saved about $15 in gas over the course of 6 months doing this.

I personally did not want to waste any time at Disney waiting in line to get a rewards card. I got mine ahead of time like you plan to do and just added to it with that 1 phone call that didn't take 5 minutes.

 

[pooch]

I called Chase and they told me the 0% financing applies to any charge for a package vacation. They said that the $200 would qualify for 0% starting with the first billing cycle after you made the deposit. Your final payment then will qualify for its own 6 month 0% grace period. This is the case whether you paid your initial deposit on your Disney Visa or not.

I just put the balance of our vacation on my Disney Visa and had a zero balance at the time I did it. I know that by law the cc company is supposed to apply your payments to the charges accruing the highest interest charge first but I have found Chase to be one of the sneakier cc companies, so I don't want to give them any room to try and sneak interest charges in.

for over 10 years and have NEVER had them screw up applying a payment, never had interest accrue. I pay the current charges in full and send in the promotional balance just prior to its expiration. And I have found Chase Customer Service to be exceptional. They are always polite, friendly and beyond helpful. YEMV

 

[fbb]

This thread smashes the world record for use of the word 'accrue'.

Boo to the poster who slipped in an 'accumulate'.

 

[Virtucomp]

We order our rewards redemption card on the Chase website and then right before the trip just go back to the website and transfer all new accumulated points to the card.

I would not wait on the phone or in line at the park to get a card or to add money to it since you can do it all on your own online.

Chase has been our credit card company for years. They are never off on applying payments correctly even when there are new charges while we have a vacation on the 6 mo payment plan.

Chase also has the best security for protecting you from fraudulent charges. over the last ten years we had two different attempts to use our cards. Both times Chase contacted us over very small charges that they felt did not fit our pattern. One was in a state we never visit but one was made in Florida right after we made a trip to Disney. The charges were removed and they reissued new card numbers right away.

 

[pooch]

We order our rewards redemption card on the Chase website and then right before the trip just go back to the website and transfer all new accumulated points to the card.

I would not wait on the phone or in line at the park to get a card or to add money to it since you can do it all on your own online.

Chase has been our credit card company for years. They are never off on applying payments correctly even when there are new charges while we have a vacation on the 6 mo payment plan.

Chase also has the best security for protecting you from fraudulent charges. over the last ten years we had two different attempts to use our cards. Both times Chase contacted us over very small charges that they felt did not fit our pattern. One was in a state we never visit but one was made in Florida right after we made a trip to Disney. The charges were removed and they reissued new card numbers right away.

has been my experience too. DH's SWA Visa was hacked in the Home Depot breach (at least thats what it looks like) and Chase was on it like white on rice - calls - emails -more calls - letters. Shut the card right down, removed the charges & sent another card in a matter of a few days. Hope retailers like Target & Home Depot are made to compensate CC issuers for all they have to go through (and the charges they have to remove) when something like this happens. Seems truly unfair for Chase/Capital One etc to bear the burden.

 

[Baptist]

Remember to get your free picture/character meet and greet at Epcot. It's a nice little perk for having the Chase Disney card.

 

[winterman]

We order our rewards redemption card on the Chase website and then right before the trip just go back to the website and transfer all new accumulated points to the card.

I would not wait on the phone or in line at the park to get a card or to add money to it since you can do it all on your own online.

Chase has been our credit card company for years. They are never off on applying payments correctly even when there are new charges while we have a vacation on the 6 mo payment plan.

Chase also has the best security for protecting you from fraudulent charges. over the last ten years we had two different attempts to use our cards. Both times Chase contacted us over very small charges that they felt did not fit our pattern. One was in a state we never visit but one was made in Florida right after we made a trip to Disney. The charges were removed and they reissued new card numbers right away.

I have to agree with all of this. I have 2 credit cards with Chase and also had a car loan through them. I love having all the accounts on one page when I sign in to the web site.

I ordered a new rewards card online about 2 weeks ago. I was only required to put $10 on it, not $20 as others have posted. It arrived in about 9 days. I will add to it just before my Nov. trip the amount that I want to use on this trip. In the past I have been at WDW when the billing period ended and I have called to add the new rewards to the card. Remember that the cards expire and any rewards that are still on the card will be lost if the card expires. The card that I just got has an expiration date of 12/15.

 

[pmaurer74]

We love our Disney Visa. We have had it for several years and pay for the premium card to get extra earnings. We put everything we can on the card so phone bills, cable bills, cell phone bills and all charitable donations. We get about $750 per year towards out trip and love having 6 months to pay it off.

- for it to be a package you need the room and tickets.
- you pay in full 45 days out from your arrival date... that is the 6 month count down.
- they are great at tracking stolen cards. we have had ours stolen about 3 times and they send out an alert every time they are suspicious. They are very friendly on the phone and we have never had any trouble. They even flagged an $8 purchase and last weekend declined a purchase for shoes that we did not make.
- you get rewards points for your package when you pay it off, this usually gives us some money when we are down there. Points are awarded at the end of the billing cycle.

 

[pmaurer74]

has been my experience too. DH's SWA Visa was hacked in the Home Depot breach (at least thats what it looks like) and Chase was on it like white on rice - calls - emails -more calls - letters. Shut the card right down, removed the charges & sent another card in a matter of a few days. Hope retailers like Target & Home Depot are made to compensate CC issuers for all they have to go through (and the charges they have to remove) when something like this happens. Seems truly unfair for Chase/Capital One etc to bear the burden.

We think ours was stolen too through the Home Depot thing. Our CC was used unauthorized a few days ago.

 

[traciruns]

We took advantage of the free gift card offer a few months ago. Such an easy way to get $200 towards our trip! A neighbor gave us the information. I've been watching for a similar offer to come up as my parents said they'd like to do this, too, but I haven't seen one. Any idea how often they come out? Do the cards come in your statement or in that seasonal magazine they send? Thanks!

 

[JeninTexas]

for over 10 years and have NEVER had them screw up applying a payment, never had interest accrue. I pay the current charges in full and send in the promotional balance just prior to its expiration. And I have found Chase Customer Service to be exceptional. They are always polite, friendly and beyond helpful. YEMV

I hope I have the same good luck with them. However, I am more skeptical. After being a Chase customer for years (with another Chase reward card) and after having always paid my balance in full each month, one month I transposed some numbers in my payment and instead of paying my $3998 balance, I accidentally paid $3989. Instead of charging me interest on the $9 carry over balance, they charged me interest on the entire $3998 balance. When I called to complain, they could care less and said my credit card agreement allowed them to charge interest on the total month's purchases and not just on what was unpaid. Needless to say, I quickly stopped using that card and cancelled it. I have never had another credit card company do that. The thing that I disliked the most was how rude the customer service person was. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me!

 

[pooch]

I hope I have the same good luck with them. However, I am more skeptical. After being a Chase customer for years (with another Chase reward card) and after having always paid my balance in full each month, one month I transposed some numbers in my payment and instead of paying my $3998 balance, I accidentally paid $3989. Instead of charging me interest on the $9 carry over balance, they charged me interest on the entire $3998 balance. When I called to complain, they could care less and said my credit card agreement allowed them to charge interest on the total month's purchases and not just on what was unpaid. Needless to say, I quickly stopped using that card and cancelled it. I have never had another credit card company do that. The thing that I disliked the most was how rude the customer service person was. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me!

Interest is charged usually on an average daily balance unless paid in full by the due date. This is standard with all credit cards. I have never had a rude CS person and am sorry you did. Did you ask to speak to a supervisor? They often have the ability to make accomodations that the front line staff can't, just like at Disney!

 

[pmaurer74]

I hope I have the same good luck with them. However, I am more skeptical. After being a Chase customer for years (with another Chase reward card) and after having always paid my balance in full each month, one month I transposed some numbers in my payment and instead of paying my $3998 balance, I accidentally paid $3989. Instead of charging me interest on the $9 carry over balance, they charged me interest on the entire $3998 balance. When I called to complain, they could care less and said my credit card agreement allowed them to charge interest on the total month's purchases and not just on what was unpaid. Needless to say, I quickly stopped using that card and cancelled it. I have never had another credit card company do that. The thing that I disliked the most was how rude the customer service person was. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me!

This happened to me once and they took care of it. I calculated wrong too and was off by a few dollars.