Ways to maximize savings when purchasing direct DVC contract.. (credit card rewards etc)

[intamin]

Are you open to business cards?

Probably not since I'm not self employed or have a side hustle unfortunately?

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

Any thoughts on what's best now? I had considered doing SW for the companion pass but we probably won't benefit from that in the near future since we'll likely be having children in the not so distant future so probably will take at least a 1 year break from visiting WDW/Hawaii at that time. I think we should probably be focusing on the 6 month 0% APR which maybe I should be going with Disney to at least guarantee that and 2% cash back?

FWIW, I just bought a direct contract and put it in my CSR - it’s still pending but I’m not holding my breath it’ll offer any 0% APR…I took the risk bc I wanted the points but heavily debated putting in on my Disney Visa for the 6 months…

 

[davidhr]

Probably not since I'm not self employed or have a side hustle unfortunately?

Look for something in your house you’re not using. Sell it on eBay.

Congrats! You now can apply for a business card. You don’t need that, but if you really want to play it fully by the rules, that’s enough.

Just a side note, I wouldn’t use a business card regularly for personal expenses. Not because the banks care, but they don’t have the same protections as personal cards.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Probably not since I'm not self employed or have a side hustle unfortunately?

You dont really have to be in business for long. Selling on eBay, posting on SM are all businesses as a sole proprietor. If 0% is your main goal then there's a Wells Fargo for 21 months 0% no earnings.

If you decide on business Amex Gold Business is 0% for 6 months and can get you 100-200k points. Amex Blue Business can get you 12 months 0% and 50-75K points.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Is general consensus to still do CSR? Im a complete noob when it comes to the credit card game but would like to accumulate points for domestic flights since we’ll be moving back to the west coast in the not so distant future. Planning to purchase before the start of my next UY in April of 2026 so just thinking in advance should I sign up for it like a month before making the direct purchase? Would be nice to get 0% APR for at least 6 months too if possible

Forgot to anwser this. You can setup a 60 pay plan for your purchase so you wouldnt need to get a new card that far in advance. Hopefully something better on personal cards pops up before then.

 

[intamin]

You dont really have to be in business for long. Selling on eBay, posting on SM are all businesses as a sole proprietor. If 0% is your main goal then there's a Wells Fargo for 21 months 0% no earnings.

If you decide on business Amex Gold Business is 0% for 6 months and can get you 100-200k points. Amex Blue Business can get you 12 months 0% and 50-75K points.

How do you know how much credit they’ll even give you? I have enough cash to buy the contract outright but not sure if the credit they give me will be enough to cover it?

I’m okay with 0% for 6 months if it means more points? Although I don’t even know how much the points are worth and what I can redeem them for? LOL. Obviously I have a lot of homework to do :X

 

[VGCgroupie]

How do you know how much credit they’ll even give you? I have enough cash to buy the contract outright but not sure if the credit they give me will be enough to cover it?

I’m okay with 0% for 6 months if it means more points? Although I don’t even know how much the points are worth and what I can redeem them for? LOL. Obviously I have a lot of homework to do :X

Chase tends to give lower credit limits on business cards. Personal they give large limits. Amex gives very high limits on all cards. For my direct purchase I got quite a few new cards to cover it all.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Chase tends to give lower credit limits on business cards. Personal they give large limits. Amex gives very high limits on all cards. For my direct purchase I got quite a few new cards to cover it all.

There is also Cap One. They give large limits but right now the sub on it isnt as high as it once was.

 

[eticketplease]

How do you know how much credit they’ll even give you? I have enough cash to buy the contract outright but not sure if the credit they give me will be enough to cover it?

I’m okay with 0% for 6 months if it means more points? Although I don’t even know how much the points are worth and what I can redeem them for? LOL. Obviously I have a lot of homework to do :X

If you the cash upfront and your CL is small you could do an online bill pay to the card for a considerable amount then once your payment posts call the CC company and tell them you are making a purchase that is over your limit and you want to make sure it is not rejected and mention your balance situation.

 

[PolyRob]

@intamin what airline partners do you value the most? If you want to transfer points that would play into it. Certain points work better with different airline partners (Amex -> Delta, Chase -> United, etc)

Business cards are great because you can carry a balance without it ever showing up on your credit report. Only the hard pull shows.

If you truly want extended 0% financing some cards offer 21+ months and you could prioritize that over accumulating points.

 

[intamin]

@intamin what airline partners do you value the most? If you want to transfer points that would play into it. Certain points work better with different airline partners (Amex -> Delta, Chase -> United, etc)

Business cards are great because you can carry a balance without it ever showing up on your credit report. Only the hard pull shows.

If you truly want extended 0% financing some cards offer 21+ months and you could prioritize that over accumulating points.

Right now we fly Southwest but we're open to switching with all the changes they're making. Maybe it would be nice to go for AA since they have a lounge at LAX, MCO and HNL? And ohhh thats good to know about only the hard pull showing up!

The extended financing on a business card would be nice if that's option so the balance doesn't show up on my credit report if that's an option?

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Right now we fly Southwest but we're open to switching with all the changes they're making. Maybe it would be nice to go for AA since they have a lounge at LAX, MCO and HNL? And ohhh thats good to know about only the hard pull showing up!

The extended financing on a business card would be nice if that's option so the balance doesn't show up on my credit report if that's an option?

Like others have said you really don't need a business to open a business card. You can find the AMEX Gold Biz with 200000 points and 15k spend by going to incognito window or different browsers pretty easily. Those 200k points transferred can get you a couple of flights (depending on time of year of course).

You could also try to get the personal platinum for the 175000 points with lower spend but thats got the 695 fee and it's going to be "refreshed" soon meaning probably higher fee but for travel it gives a lot of nice perks and you can always cancel after the first year.

 

[eticketplease]

Right now we fly Southwest but we're open to switching with all the changes they're making. Maybe it would be nice to go for AA since they have a lounge at LAX, MCO and HNL? And ohhh thats good to know about only the hard pull showing up!

The extended financing on a business card would be nice if that's option so the balance doesn't show up on my credit report if that's an option?

If you might continue with southwest in addition to united as @PolyRob mentioned chase also transfers to Southwest.

As of right now nothing transfers to AA but there are rumors that the new Citi card will.

 

[Steelers0854]

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is widely considered the best entry level card for the points & miles game. It has a lower annual fee, still gives good bonuses and some of the best travel partners. But as other have said you need to figure out what airlines you travel most and which bank has those partners. With the exception of Hyatt I think transferring to a hotel is the worst idea, so I would focus on airlines. Also, if your re loyal to a single airline getting the airlines co-branded card can be beneficial. You’ll likely earn higher points per dollar and get additional perks like free baggage, elite qualifying points etc.

Even with the recent change I think the Capital One Venture X is one of the best cards for lounges at a reasonable fee (its basically free after you use the $300 travel credit and 10,000 anniversary bonus points). IMO the Capital One lounges are far and away better than Chase or Centurion Lounges, and you get the same priority pass access (minus the guest privileges).

 

[eticketplease]

Even with the recent change I think the Capital One Venture X is one of the best cards for lounges at a reasonable fee (its basically free after you use the $300 travel credit and 10,000 anniversary bonus points). IMO the Capital One lounges are far and away better than Chase or Centurion Lounges, and you get the same priority pass access (minus the guest privileges)

VentureX is a keeper for us but I must point out that not all priority pass cards are the same. Cap1 didn’t have a lot of what was on my AMEX or Chase. The AMEX was then missing some that Chase had. So if the airports don’t have bank specific lounges and you are relying on the Priority Pass ones then the one that comes from Chase is the one to have imo.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

I'll add you mention you're moving to the west coast and although I personally never use it being an east coaster with Delta and JBLUE as my go tos, I think maybe look into Alaska miles? They have some great offers coming out and some available currently.

 

[IDSkinner]

I'm contemplating paying off my DVC direct purchase loan balance on the a new Disney Premier Visa, but after reading the details I'm reading "Cardmembers get 0% promo APR for 6 months on select Disney vacation packages from the date of purchase, after that a variable APR of 18.24% - 27.24%."

When reading through the details of what is included in vacation packages I'm not reading anything DVC. Has anyone had success using the latest promo to pay off their contract?

Thanks,

 

[VGCgroupie]

I'm contemplating paying off my DVC direct purchase loan balance on the a new Disney Premier Visa, but after reading the details I'm reading "Cardmembers get 0% promo APR for 6 months on select Disney vacation packages from the date of purchase, after that a variable APR of 18.24% - 27.24%."

When reading through the details of what is included in vacation packages I'm not reading anything DVC. Has anyone had success using the latest promo to pay off their contract?

Thanks,

While the 0% for Disney is very unreliable DVC purchases has worked for everyone so far. It worked for me for my deposit. Prior to DVC I booked a cash stay of $5500 and got the card solely for that 0% and it didnt apply.

 

[airjay75]

I'm contemplating paying off my DVC direct purchase loan balance on the a new Disney Premier Visa, but after reading the details I'm reading "Cardmembers get 0% promo APR for 6 months on select Disney vacation packages from the date of purchase, after that a variable APR of 18.24% - 27.24%."

When reading through the details of what is included in vacation packages I'm not reading anything DVC. Has anyone had success using the latest promo to pay off their contract?

Thanks,

You definitely get 6 months 0% on direct DVC purchases. I just did this and it is very clearly laid out on my credit card statement and they give me a very clear amount I have to pay in order to avoid any interest.

On the "Disney vacation packages," I looked into this - it has to be an actual package you book on the DW website. That is, it can't be just a hotel room or just park tickets, but when you book everything at once in a total hotel + park and/or dining package. If not, you don't get 6 moths 0% on it.

 

[intamin]

While the 0% for Disney is very unreliable DVC purchases has worked for everyone so far. It worked for me for my deposit. Prior to DVC I booked a cash stay of $5500 and got the card solely of that 0% it didnt apply.

It's funny because I called them when I bought my last set of points and they told me they wouldn't do 0% APR on it which seems to not be the case