Target Gift Cards vs Disney Visa Credit Card

[sparrow10_]

Which one would be better to use to pay for the cruise?

 

[squirk]

Which one would be better to use to pay for the cruise?

Target gift cards (and I assume you mean Disney Gift Cards purchased at Target) are 5% off when using your Red Card. Disney Rewards on the Premier Visa are -what?- 2%?

Assuming your Red Card is a debit or, if credit, you don’t carry a balance over to the next month, seems like 5% beats 2%.

If you do need to carry a balance, then the 0% interest for 6 months on the Disney Visa might make more sense. Even just a couple of months of interest will likely eat away at the money saved.

This question might be better-posed on the Budget Board, maybe?

 

[auntlynne]

What @squirk said. I get 1% in charges with the basic Disney VISA. Depending on your credit card’s cashback program, gift cards at Sam’s is a better % off.

 

[squirk]

What @squirk said. I get 1% in charges with the basic Disney VISA. Depending on your credit card’s cashback program, gift cards at Sam’s is a better % off.

Good point. The best deal I get is 5% cash-back on my Discover at wholesale clubs. Sam’s gives you about 3.5% discount, and then the 5% on top of that gets you into the 8.25% range. Unfortunately, it’s only once a year on Discover, and caps at $1,500 of purchases.

And there’s also the Costco deal, too, if you shop there.

 

[shosh1530]

If you go the gift card route, keep in mind that if you end up canceling and getting a refund it will go back to the gift card. You can also only put/transfer a max of $1000 per card, so you will have several cards/card numbers you will need to keep track of.

We did a combination of Disney gift cards (a few purchased at Target, several at Best Buy when they periodically offer 10% off, and a few from Disney Store when they have good cash back deals on my Chase Visa). The rest I put on my Chase Visa directly. I will say I spent a lot of time buying up gift cards and consolidating them, but I find that kind of fun.

 

[loislane]

If you go the gift card route, keep in mind that if you end up canceling and getting a refund it will go back to the gift card. You can also only put/transfer a max of $1000 per card, so you will have several cards/card numbers you will need to keep track of.

This is true but disneygiftcard.com makes it easy to keep track of your different cards -- and move money between gift cards. I like to buy the e-cards from Target so I get them in my email right away, add them to the DGC site and then transfer the balance to one of my existing gift cards.

 

[RivShore]

Good point. The best deal I get is 5% cash-back on my Discover at wholesale clubs. Sam’s gives you about 3.5% discount, and then the 5% on top of that gets you into the 8.25% range. Unfortunately, it’s only once a year on Discover, and caps at $1,500 of purchases.

And there’s also the Costco deal, too, if you shop there.

A Costco Disney Gift Card deal? I have never seen them at Costco.

 

[squirk]

A Costco Disney Gift Card deal? I have never seen them at Costco.

If you book your cruise through Costco Travel, I believe you get a huge credit via a Costco store card.

Not dissimilar in size to OBC you would receive from a travel agency, but a credit you can use on practical expenses, like groceries, which you are going to buy regardless.

 

[RivShore]

If you book your cruise through Costco Travel, I believe you get a huge credit via a Costco store card.

Not dissimilar in size to OBC you would receive from a travel agency, but a credit you can use on practical expenses, like groceries, which you are going to buy regardless.

Ahh, OK. That I knew about and have taken advantage of. I thought you were talking about a Disney gift card deal. Thanks!

 

[Calantha]

Which one would be better to use to pay for the cruise?

I do both. I put the initial payment on my card to take advantage of the 6 mo no interest and then I buy the rest of the cost with the Target gift cards, a few per month until PIF date.

 

[squirk]

Ahh, OK. That I knew about and have taken advantage of. I thought you were talking about a Disney gift card deal. Thanks!

I don’t have all the particulars on the Costco credit, since there are no Costcos near me, but I suppose you could …..book with Costco for the store credit, but pay off the cruise with Disney GC’s bought with either a 5% Red Card, or a 5% cash-back offer used to buy the cards at Sam’s at another 3.5% discount?

So, in a perfect world where you have no ceiling on your cash-back rewards, Costco credit + 5% cash-back + 3.5% Sam’s.