Chase Disney Rewards Visa

[flynnibus]

Cash is king....no credit cards here. A good friend of mine likes to talk about his "reward dollars" then I politely ask him how much interest he has paid over the months to have that "special reward!" Not a wise investment in my humble but accurate opinion.

Why not borrow money when it's free? and get paid to borrow that money..

The wise pay it off and never pay interest or fees.

 

[JIMINYCR]

We are charter card members and have reaped all the benefits without ever having experienced any negatives. Looking forward to using those accumulated reward points on our upcoming trip. It really stands out, gets a lot of comments when I hand the waitresses our card to pay for meals at home.

 

[dreamfinder]

We are charter card members

I wish they offered $50 gift cards back then. All I got was a lousy pin. Which I haven't seen in a few years.

 

[NX2I85]

I wish they offered $50 gift cards back then. All I got was a lousy pin. Which I haven't seen in a few years.

Very true. They did however offer 5% rewards for three months when we switched to the premium card though. That really helped pile on some reward points -far beyond 50 in our case

 

[Hot Lava]

Unless you are one of those "oh, let's go on a spending spree because I have a credit card" types, I don't see why you could not pay off the entire balance each month. The way I look at it is that I am buying gas, groceries, etc each month, whether I have a credit card or not and I have to budget our money as best as I can so I live within my means each month. So if I can pay out of pocket for gas, groceries etc, each month, then what difference does it make if I just put it all on a card and pay that one balance each month? I'm paying the same amount of money either way, right?

And far safer than using a debit card. I only use a debit card for the ATM. If your cc number is stolen, you have protections. If your debit card number is stolen, your bank account is drained and it is often quite difficult getting your money back from the bank. Yes, you do have to have some fiscal discipline for a cc. But nowadays it is so easy to check your cc online, it is easier than the old days of keeping a check ledger. Better than using checks, IMO.

 

[R W B]

My girlfriend got her Disney Visa in downtown Disney last December on our trip. She got the premier one and a $100 gift card too. With the gift card, the annual fee is paid for for the next 2 years plus she has about $75 in rewards already. I on the other hand have enough credit cards so I got the Disney Visa Debt card so I can have all the same perks but just no cash back which is fine, I have other cash backs cards.

 

[PRNCSAurora]

I have had one for a few years. We put all our groceries and gas on it and any other purchases we can pay off that month. The reward cards are great because they can be used almost anywhere in the world. This is how we plan on buying our daughter souvenirs when we go next year.

 

[sbkline]

And far safer than using a debit card. I only use a debit card for the ATM. If your cc number is stolen, you have protections. If your debit card number is stolen, your bank account is drained and it is often quite difficult getting your money back from the bank. Yes, you do have to have some fiscal discipline for a cc. But nowadays it is so easy to check your cc online, it is easier than the old days of keeping a check ledger. Better than using checks, IMO.

Yes, and not only is it more convenient to have one check to write, as opposed to dozens of entries in the checkbook, but gone are the days of putting pants in the laundry with debit receipts still in the pockets that I forgot to write in the checkbook. lol

 

[Michelle]

I don't think anyone has mentioned the 6 months you get interest free to pay for a WDW vacation if you book it thru WDW travel? This is the reason we keep the card!

 

[sbkline]

I don't think anyone has mentioned the 6 months you get interest free to pay for a WDW vacation if you book it thru WDW travel? This is the reason we keep the card!

I was aware of that, but I wasn't sure how you go about taking advantage of it when you are constantly using your card for everyday expenses on a regular basis.

I can understand if you use the card to book your trip, then put the card away and don't use it anymore after that. Then your only balance is what you have on the Disney trip and you can make payments with no interest.

But what if, like me, you use the card for everything. How do they "sort out" the Disney trip portion of the balance from everything else, to know not to charge you interest for it? My billing cycle runs from the 21st of each month through the 20th. Let's say, on the 21st, I buy groceries. On the 22nd, I get gas. On the 23rd, I go out to eat, etc. Then, on the 2nd of the following month, I book and pay in full my WDW trip for $2500, just to use an even amount. I get groceries again on the 3rd. I get gas again, on the 4th, etc. So at the close of the billing cycle, on the 20th, I have a balance now of $4500, $2500 of which is the Disney trip. On top of that, while I am waiting for the statement to come in the mail, I am still using my credit card for everyday expenses. By the time I get the statement and put a payment in the mail, I may have a balance of $5,000. If I want to pay in full the $2000 of gas, groceries and other misc expenses from the previous billing cycle, plus, say, $200 of my WDW trip, how do they know to specify that the $2,000 is going to my misc expenses and to specify the remaining $2300 balance as being a Disney trip with deferred interest for 6 months? What's to stop them from applying that $2,200 to the Disney trip and then accruing full interest on the remaining money, by designating it as the gas, groceries, etc?

 

[allgiggles]

We've used the Disney Visa for years..always pay it off each month so it hasn't cost us anything and we still stick to the same budget for purchases that we would if we were paying cash for everything. We typically earn $700+ in rewards every year. Last year we also started using a Chase Freedom card for whatever the bonus category is for that quarter (you earn a 5% bonus plus the standard 1%. So right now we're earning 6% rewards on purchases at Restaurants, Movie Theaters, and Lowe's), everything else goes on the Disney card. In less than 20 months, we've accumulated over $1500 in rewards towards our June trip.

 

[allgiggles]

It's a great card. Keep in mind, though, the expiration of points - points that are sitting on your account are now good forever (which is great!), but they do expire at some point when you load them on a gift card to use. So while they are in the "bank" they don't expire, but when put on a gift card they expire whenever the gift card does. So - don't move them over to the gift card thing until you are sure you are going to use them.

That said, make sure you request your gift card a month or so before your trip just to make sure you get it in time. They usually come quickly but you don't want to be disappointed. I know at some point they were able to actually issue you one at WDW (Epcot Guest Relations?) but I haven't heard that for awhile so I'm not sure if they still do that.

Is this only for the Premier card? Because my regular Disney Visa still lists the amounts and what month they expire. Doesn't really matter -- I always spend them on a trip way before they expire and if I did have some coming close to expiring, I'd just put them on a rewards card and buy a Disney gift card with it. I was just curious about the no-expiration thing.

 

[Michelle]

At the bottom of your bill, it will tell you which portion qualifies for the 6 month interest free period. t will also tell you when it expires. That portion will not accrue interest. Any other charges you make will accrue interest if you carry a balance from month to month. I pay any other expenses in full every month so I am never charged interest, plus divide my vacation package bill by 6 and add that amount every month until paid in full. I've done this for 10 years and never had a problem. If you make a partial payment of the package, you will see it noted on your next bill. Also, the big Disney shops at each park plus World of Disney gives a 10% discount for purchases totaling $50 or more. Many sit-down restaurants also discount 10%, but I believe none of the ones in World Showcase do. I have found that you have to request the discount, not all cashiers automatically do this for you. World of Disney has always been great for me, though. Last trip, I didn't ask for the discount at MouseGears and didn't get it.

 

[sbkline]

At the bottom of your bill, it will tell you which portion qualifies for the 6 month interest free period. t will also tell you when it expires. That portion will not accrue interest. Any other charges you make will accrue interest if you carry a balance from month to month. I pay any other expenses in full every month so I am never charged interest, plus divide my vacation package bill by 6 and add that amount every month until paid in full. I've done this for 10 years and never had a problem. If you make a partial payment of the package, you will see it noted on your next bill. Also, the big Disney shops at each park plus World of Disney gives a 10% discount for purchases totaling $50 or more. Many sit-down restaurants also discount 10%, but I believe none of the ones in World Showcase do. I have found that you have to request the discount, not all cashiers automatically do this for you. World of Disney has always been great for me, though. Last trip, I didn't ask for the discount at MouseGears and didn't get it.

But do you have to enclose a note saying where you want the payment to go? Again, using my previous numbers, I have a Disney balance of $2500, which is interest free for 6 months. Throughout the same month, I have also charged $2000 worth of other everyday expenses. I understand what you are saying when you say that at the bottom of my bill, they will tell me that $2500 qualifies for 6 months deferred interest. But my question is, do I have to specify which balance I am paying when I enclose a check for $2200? Do I need to enclose a note, or write on the memo line of the check that I am paying $2000 towards the monthly expenses and an additional $200 towards the Disney vacation? Because otherwise, they might just take the entire $2200 payment and apply it towards my $2500 Disney vacation, leaving me a balance of $300 on the Disney trip and a balance of $2000 on the everyday expenses, and then charge me interest on the $2000.

 

[ypcat]

They apply payments to the highest interest balances first. We always charge our vacations as well as day to day expenses. I just pay the balance minus the amount shown as 0% every month, then just pay the rest before the date shown on the bill. Have never paid a cent of interest this way.

 

[Hot Lava]

Yes, and not only is it more convenient to have one check to write, as opposed to dozens of entries in the checkbook, but gone are the days of putting pants in the laundry with debit receipts still in the pockets that I forgot to write in the checkbook. lol

LOL! When my dad got me my first checking account (tied to him as well), he got me checks with the carbon copy. Apparently my mom had always been bad about putting stuff in the ledger.

 

[Hot Lava]

How soon can you pull out the reward points on the card? And do you have to have a minimum balance of points to do so?

I am just wondering if I got a card, say, today, is there a waiting period to using the reward points?

 

[sbkline]

How soon can you pull out the reward points on the card? And do you have to have a minimum balance of points to do so?

I am just wondering if I got a card, say, today, is there a waiting period to using the reward points?

The only waiting period is that you have to wait for the next billing cycle. I first got our card in March of 2010, with the free $200 rewards points for using the card the first time. We went to WDW in April and I was able to pull out my points and put on a card and use on that trip. But any points you accumulate throughout the month are not "official" until the billing cycle closes. Then when the new billing cycle starts, you can cash out the points from the previous billing cycle.

 

[stargrl33]

How soon can you pull out the reward points on the card? And do you have to have a minimum balance of points to do so?

I am just wondering if I got a card, say, today, is there a waiting period to using the reward points?

I think you need to have at least $20 worth of rewards points in order to put them on a Disney Gift Card. If you already have a rewards gift card, you can add to it in increments of $10.

I got a Disney Chase Visa a few months ago because they told me if I put $500 on the card in the first two months, I'd get a $200 gift card. I got my gift card in the mail already and I'm going to use it to upgrade to park hopper passes.

 

[sbkline]

It's a great card. Keep in mind, though, the expiration of points - points that are sitting on your account are now good forever (which is great!), but they do expire at some point when you load them on a gift card to use. So while they are in the "bank" they don't expire, but when put on a gift card they expire whenever the gift card does. So - don't move them over to the gift card thing until you are sure you are going to use them.

That said, make sure you request your gift card a month or so before your trip just to make sure you get it in time. They usually come quickly but you don't want to be disappointed. I know at some point they were able to actually issue you one at WDW (Epcot Guest Relations?) but I haven't heard that for awhile so I'm not sure if they still do that.

I just wrote the check for my most recent credit card bill and put it in the mailbox for tommorrow. I cashed out all my points for the WDW trip we took earlier this month, so as of now, the only points I have are the ones accumulated for the billing cycle of March 21-April 20 2013, which is about $43. And on the statement, it said that those 43 points expire in 2018, and I have the Premier Card. So I'm not sure where you get the idea that points no longer expire.