Disney Visa card -- have you saved with it?

[PurplePizza1]

We're pretty much a thrifty family, believing in saving for things instead of buying and paying with credit. That said, we have an Amex and a Visa for booking trips. Would it be worth it to get a Disney Visa if we're planning yearly vacations? Do any of you have one and have you really saved money by getting one?

 

[dreamfinder]

Save money how? If you save up in advance, and then pay the card off as soon as you use it, then yes, you would get the free 1% back in cash to spend at Disney. But you could get better values back from say some of the airline cards. Yes you can get some merch discounts, but I believe its 10% off $50 or more. So not alot. Really depends on your travel habits and how you use it.

 

[PurplePizza1]

I've seen some discounts on rooms when you use your Disney Visa to book them. I was just wondering if there is ever a big enough time window to book your trip about six months in advance. I'm not a 'fly by the seat of my pants' person, and I've seen a few DV discounts on rooms, but they had to be booked in the next 30 days and used in the next 90. I was also wondering if anyone's ever booked a trip with them and actually saved up to 30%.

 

[sxeensweet]

If you are able to pay the card in full each month I say Yes! Also your vacation packages for Disney you get 6 months interest free to pay them off if you use the card to book it and pay it off. We usually in between trips earn as much as $500 -$800 extra money we can use as spending money. We use te card for all groceries, gas, restaurants etc every month and pay it off at the end of the month and it adds up quickly. Also they have the Premier Disney Visa which we have switched too and we make well enough throughout the year to make up for that cards $49 annual fee. On the premier you earn 2% on Disney stuff, grocery stores, gas, and restaurant purchases instead of only 1% with the regular visa. All other charges besides those categories you earn the regular 1%. We love it for us. The Premier allows us to earn more quicker and like I said if we make $500 to $800 we made up for the $49 annual fee with the better card. With the regular one we earned several hundreds less in the same time frame. You have to look and weigh out the benefits for each card and your spending habits. Also in our household it's only DH and me so imagine groceries and expenses each month for a family and you could earn even more than we do possibly.

 

[dreamfinder]

I've seen some discounts on rooms when you use your Disney Visa to book them. I was just wondering if there is ever a big enough time window to book your trip about six months in advance. I'm not a 'fly by the seat of my pants' person, and I've seen a few DV discounts on rooms, but they had to be booked in the next 30 days and used in the next 90. I was also wondering if anyone's ever booked a trip with them and actually saved up to 30%.

There are several different room discount types. Some come out well in advance, others are fairly last minute. You can see here -> http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/ for a listing of when some of the past discounts have come out, along with when they were for.

 

[sxeensweet]

Also with Disney Visa you get 20% off tours (more than AP or DVC discounts). Also on tickets for special events you sometimes can get 20% off.

 

[PurplePizza1]

Also with Disney Visa you get 20% off tours (more than AP or DVC discounts). Also on tickets for special events you sometimes can get 20% off.

What constitutes a tour?

 

[sxeensweet]

Any

What constitutes a tour?

Any Tours offered at all the parks like say the Keys to the Kingdom Tour which we have done and loved it. You can look on this site or on Disneys site at all the types of the tours. You have to call to book and let them know you have the Disney Visa if you ever book any. Many of the tours offered are really informative and fun to do.

 

[PurplePizza1]

Ahh gotcha. Stuff a 7-year-old would enjoy?

 

[sxeensweet]

Ahh gotcha. Stuff a 7-year-old would enjoy?

No not at all!! Actually Keys to the Kingdom you have to be 16 or older b/c you go behind the scenes and in the underground utilidors etc. There are several awesome tours made for older guests. Most of the people on the tours we do were adults. We loved Keys to the Kingdom so much we would probably do it again one day. Backstage Magic is an all day one you have to be 16 or older that visits all 4 parks and goes behind the scenes as well. Animal Kingdom has a few of their own like that as well.

 

[Disnee4Me]

I am a charter cardmember (got the card in early 2003). We didn't go down until December 2007. At that point, (4 1/2 years) I had 1148 Disney dollars. That covered at that time four 5-day park tickets and about 200 DD left which I applied to the hotel bill. If you don't go that often (and yes pay off your balance every month), you can save quite a bit. We are not going back until Christmas 2014 (we did go Christmas 2008 & 2009). Right now I have about 1400 (?)DD, along with the $300 gift card my boss just gave me. By Christmas 2014, I am hoping to have 2000 DD, so like i say if you don't go very often, pay your monthly balances, you can make out quite well ... and the ONLY reason we space our trips now is because my DH is retired and my two DS are in college. Also, I am building $$$ up on a Discover card (UCONN will not take a Visa card, but accepts Discover). I will cash those our for cash for our trip next year (have $239 right now).

 

[Takeitforgranite]

We have had a Disney Visa for a couple years now and have utilized it for the last two trips. We got a $100 Disney card after applying and ended up with over $300 in points for each trip. We put everything we can on the card and be sure to pay it off every months. Sure, there are other cards out there with a better reward system for your dollar, but we just like to use the Disney one because it's fun to keep up with and it makes us look forward to the next trip.

We recently upgraded to the Platinum card. We also got a $100 Disney card for signing up. That's enough to pay for a couple year's fees.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

If you spend $50 or more at Disney gift shops you get a discount using your disney visa. I think it is 10%.

 

[sxeensweet]

If you spend $50 or more at Disney gift shops you get a discount using your disney visa. I think it is 10%.

Yes it's 10% over $50 at participating stores. Most take the discount except the store in Japan etc.

 

[zero creativity]

You also get the card member meet and greet at Epcot. A lot of the deals for booking rooms are available to card members first. You could also just apply for the card to get what ever deal they are giving for this trip, gift cards, etc. We use it for everything, pay all our bills off every month. Since we go every other year we save up a good amount for each trip. We hope to have about $1200 next trip.

 

[Minthorne]

The best deal with the Chase Disney visa is the sign on bonus of $100 statement credit after spending $500. That's 20%. The next is the 6 months no finance on Disney Vacation Packages. Otherwise the card is pretty weak on rewards. You can get more than 1% cash on a lot of other cards. Cash that you can use at Disney and other places.

 

[sbkline]

We're pretty much a thrifty family, believing in saving for things instead of buying and paying with credit. That said, we have an Amex and a Visa for booking trips. Would it be worth it to get a Disney Visa if we're planning yearly vacations? Do any of you have one and have you really saved money by getting one?

My philosophy is that there are certain things that you are inevitably going to buy throughout the month whether you use a credit card or not. Things such as gas, groceries, etc. As long as you use it to buy the regular necessities and not just run around charging things just because you have a credit card, then I think the Disney Visa is a good idea. I got mine in March or April of 2010 and I cashed my points out for our April 2013 trip. I cashed out $1,549.46 cents if I remember correctly. So in 3 years, I had accumulated almost $1,550 of free money to use on our trip. My wife, my son and I already had APs from the previous year's trip, which expired at the end of this trip. So we used the rewards dollars to buy our daughter's 8 day pass for the trip,then we used the rest of it for our dining. We used up the card towards the end of the trip, so we had to pay the last few meals out of pocket. But like I said, I am going to buy groceries with or without a credit card. I have to get gas in the vehicles whether I use a credit card or not. So I just put all those expenses on the card and pay it off each month so we don't have interest. Plus, it gives me just that one entry in the checkbook, as opposed to two dozen transactions that I have to remember to write down throughout the month.

 

[okw2006]

We're pretty much a thrifty family, believing in saving for things instead of buying and paying with credit. That said, we have an Amex and a Visa for booking trips. Would it be worth it to get a Disney Visa if we're planning yearly vacations? Do any of you have one and have you really saved money by getting one?

I got one in 2004 and it is the only credit card I have. Normally get 2 to 3 hundred dollars a year that helps pay for the dining plan when we take our December trip. I like free money for using their card!

 

[lostpro9het]

Saved us $84 on 3 Epcot Seas Aqua Tour tickets we purchased this week. The CM told us the discount was better than the AP or DVC member discount for the tour!

 

[pluto77]

Ahh gotcha. Stuff a 7-year-old would enjoy?

There are some toursthat are geared towards younger kids, and some that are geared mostly to adults. We had an 8 year old with us on the Behind the Seeds tour and he loved it. Of course, he is also into nature and that kind of thing.