Disney Visa Questions

[enomi]

Good morning all and Happy Independence day!!!

I have a few questions regarding the Disney Premier Chase Visa Credit Card. I got an offer from Disney on the mail, but I am not at all familiar with some the "perks". In the end I want to know from those of you that have the card, if its worth it. In my offer I saw no annual fees for the card, but online it shows a fee of $49 for the Premier card.

I am an annual pass holder and will traveling on the 18th to the world. I also have plans already for September and Late November/December. Would getting the card offer me any must have benefits?
Thanks for your help!

 

[Tinkwings]

Have used card pretty much exclusively for long time...upgraded to premier a few years ago because I think it gave me double the points....which makes up for the annual fee.....guess besides the points that I use to help pay for my trip, I like that when I put my resort and tickets on the card I can defer payment with no interest for 6 mo? So I always feel better that worse happens my tax refund will be there when it is due. I usually get 1200 or more a year in points, and its been a few years so now I have 2400! You can use for Disney or actually use to pay towards your credit card bill.....should you not want to go to Disney? Ha...... Think they gave me a nice sign up offer too.....I think of it as saving up for my next trip....and if $49 gives me 900$ in points vs $450 then why not? Note to add: I DO PAY OFF EACH MONTH!

 

[enomi]

Have used card pretty much exclusively for long time...upgraded to premier a few years ago because I think it gave me double the points....which makes up for the annual fee.....guess besides the points that I use to help pay for my trip, I like that when I put my resort and tickets on the card I can defer payment with no interest for 6 mo? So I always feel better that worse happens my tax refund will be there when it is due. I usually get 1200 or more a year in points, and its been a few years so now I have 2400! You can use for Disney or actually use to pay towards your credit card bill.....should you not want to go to Disney? Ha...... Think they gave me a nice sign up offer too.....I think of it as saving up for my next trip....and if $49 gives me 900$ in points vs $450 then why not? Note to add: I DO PAY OFF EACH MONTH!

Thank you TINKWINGS for your reply! What can you use the points towards? I was thinking of getting the card and then renewing our annual passes with it, since we will need to renew before September and accumulate the points, but I'm not sure how the whole thing works

 

[Tinkwings]

Oooh I bet you could use it to purchase that, I have used my points to pay for resort prior, but usually to pay for our families food as we go....that way I don't look at the prices because its free. You have to transfer points a card but can do it online....my son went to the parks earlier this year with a group and I transferred dollars to a Disney Rewards Redemption card prior so he didn't have to worry about cash. I will use same card next time I visit and transfer more money to it. So you can't just use your credit card and say I want to use the points, you need to transfer to a redemption card prior and use THAT card to pay or partial pay for resort, tickets etc....oh yes and used in gift shops....like Disney dollars, anywhere in park....or at Disneystore online. Think you get more points when you use the Visa card for anything actually Disney....like the annual pass.....let us know! I go to my visa account online and there is a separate link for Disney Reward Dollars. You can view your balance there anytime, and it appears on credit card stmt monthly.

 

[enomi]

Oooh I bet you could use it to purchase that, I have used my points to pay for resort prior, but usually to pay for our families food as we go....that way I don't look at the prices because its free. You have to transfer points a card but can do it online....my son went to the parks earlier this year with a group and I transferred dollars to a Disney Rewards Redemption card prior so he didn't have to worry about cash. I will use same card next time I visit and transfer more money to it. So you can't just use your credit card and say I want to use the points, you need to transfer to a redemption card prior and use THAT card to pay or partial pay for resort, tickets etc....oh yes and used in gift shops....like Disney dollars, anywhere in park....or at Disneystore online. Think you get more points when you use the Visa card for anything actually Disney....like the annual pass.....let us know! I go to my visa account online and there is a separate link for Disney Reward Dollars. You can view your balance there anytime, and it appears on credit card stmt monthly.

Awesome and thank you again! I'll look into getting more points with the Annual Passes since I have to renew soon. We might settle on the Disney Credit card and enjoy its perks! Happy 4th of July!

 

[flynnibus]

It's good for the 6mon no financing for booking packages.. But note it's not for all Disney expenses.

The points system is fine but has some overhead. Redeeming means transferring points to a card... A card that expires. Any points on the card must be used before expiration. You can get the card in the mail, or at certain guest relations locations on property. You can add points to an existing card.

So it works for vacation spending if you plan ahead. It has the risk of expiring if you are sloppy. One way people avoid this is by buying gift cards with their rewards as gift cards don't expire.

The main drawback is that your reward spending is tied to Disney purchases. Some people think of that as forced savings for their vacations.

The free card is fine but only 1% back. The premium doubles the earnings, but you pay. 50 dollar fee up front. Do the math... It takes 2500 in spending to break even and then you are ahead from there out.

Personally I prefer programs that do not lock your rewards up or take extra effort to redeem.

I have a citi double cash back card that gives me 2% back I can use anywhere by simply applying to my balance... And has no fee.

I have a Disney visa because of a promo offer in the past where they gave you like 300 in rewards for free.I keep it for the cool darth Vader card

I'd get it for a promo... But only if they are paying you

 

[Mickey5150]

One of the other cool perks of any Disney Visa is that you get special character meet and greets with free picture downloads. I haven't done it in WDW yet but in Disneyland we got to meet Kylo Ren and Stitch and got a few different pics with each as free downloads. I know there is a character spot in Epcot but haven't used it yet. The characters are random and from what I have heard there can be characters there that you won't see anywhere else.

 

[jrogue]

I have the free one and it is worth it to me if I am going to Disney. That's when I use it the most so I can use my rewards points in the park. You also get 10% off of $50 or more of your Disney purchases, and 10%off in some restaurants in the parks

 

[Tinkwings]

It's good for the 6mon no financing for booking packages.. But note it's not for all Disney expenses.

The points system is fine but has some overhead. Redeeming means transferring points to a card... A card that expires. Any points on the card must be used before expiration. You can get the card in the mail, or at certain guest relations locations on property. You can add points to an existing card.

So it works for vacation spending if you plan ahead. It has the risk of expiring if you are sloppy. One way people avoid this is by buying gift cards with their rewards as gift cards don't expire.

The main drawback is that your reward spending is tied to Disney purchases. Some people think of that as forced savings for their vacations.

The free card is fine but only 1% back. The premium doubles the earnings, but you pay. 50 dollar fee up front. Do the math... It takes 2500 in spending to break even and then you are ahead from there out.

Personally I prefer programs that do not lock your rewards up or take extra effort to redeem.

I have a citi double cash back card that gives me 2% back I can use anywhere by simply applying to my balance... And has no fee.

I have a Disney visa because of a promo offer in the past where they gave you like 300 in rewards for free.I keep it for the cool darth Vader card

I'd get it for a promo... But only if they are paying you

Well actually things have changed recently, I got a redemption card this January and it has NO expiration date, yes it used to, but you could always use it to purchase a Disney giftcard if not used. AND recently when I went into my balance online it had the option to apply it to your balance on the Visa card, so in that sense the points can now be used to pay for anything you charged on said card.
Yes I can do math, do have a finance degree so sure hope so, but IF your reason for obtaining card is because you are a Disneygeek and you want Disney reward dollars over most anything, since a point is equal to a dollar, if I pay $49 dollars and use it as my primary card, for groceries,gas, clothing etc.....and it rewards me points twice as fast....I actually only have to earn 100 points to break even over the other card....like I would earn 49 points on card A and 100 for same purchases on card B.....since I fully intend to spend Disney dollars on my next trip any gains of points going forward are gain. I earned 1100$ this past year alone.....had I kept my prior card I only would have earned 550.....so to me? Its a no brainer. If you use multiple cards to earn points elsewhere then maybe this would not be a wise thing, but depends on your spending habits and your discipline to pay off balance each month. If one carries a balance and pays finance charges either way, the points really don't count. So again, its only tied to Disney purchases IF and when you transfer balance to a redemption Disney card.....you can now apply them directly to your charge card statement balance as well, just recently saw that last month. And in the past yes the card DID expire, but seems they no longer do.....I have an active card and it has a small balance and shows no expiration date online or on the card. Check it out at Manage my Disney Rewards on the Chase site. The other thing? Of ANY credit card I have had, Chase has consistently been in touch if the smallest thing seems out of whack, I trust them and have obtained very good customer service 100% of the time. Seriously!

 

[Tinkwings]

I have the free one and it is worth it to me if I am going to Disney. That's when I use it the most so I can use my rewards points in the park. You also get 10% off of $50 or more of your Disney purchases, and 10%off in some restaurants in the parks

Oooh I had forgotten about that THANKS!

 

[Tinkwings]

Currently on the internet they are giving $100 credit....I did get a better offer via mail when I got mine. That pays for your first two years alone.

https://disneyrewards.com/apply/dis...p=paidsearch&gclid=CIGyvNjq2s0CFQQbaQodQ70FhQ

 

[Tinkwings]

So yes I got my first card with no fee because I do want to go to Disney again, and again, and again....its like a additional savings vehicle to me....and they have let me use the 6mo no interest the last two trips with a room only, not really a package....it just appeared elsewhere on my statement. So if you know you want to use it as a primary card it is worth it imho. I would not pay any annual fee elsewhere, never have, it just makes sense if your goal is to return to WDW again period.

 

[enomi]

It's good for the 6mon no financing for booking packages.. But note it's not for all Disney expenses.

The points system is fine but has some overhead. Redeeming means transferring points to a card... A card that expires. Any points on the card must be used before expiration. You can get the card in the mail, or at certain guest relations locations on property. You can add points to an existing card.

So it works for vacation spending if you plan ahead. It has the risk of expiring if you are sloppy. One way people avoid this is by buying gift cards with their rewards as gift cards don't expire.

The main drawback is that your reward spending is tied to Disney purchases. Some people think of that as forced savings for their vacations.

The free card is fine but only 1% back. The premium doubles the earnings, but you pay. 50 dollar fee up front. Do the math... It takes 2500 in spending to break even and then you are ahead from there out.

Personally I prefer programs that do not lock your rewards up or take extra effort to redeem.

I have a citi double cash back card that gives me 2% back I can use anywhere by simply applying to my balance... And has no fee.

I have a Disney visa because of a promo offer in the past where they gave you like 300 in rewards for free.I keep it for the cool darth Vader card

I'd get it for a promo... But only if they are paying you

Thank you flynnibus! Very informative post. We think the promo offer is great. Soon we will decide.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Haven't read all the replies, but I can tell you it's been worth it for us. The annual fee didn't apply the first year, but it has more than paid for itself this year when we had to pay the fee. We also got the $200 giftcard when we signed up and met the qualifications, so that's essentially like 5 years of the fees paid for right there (when you count the first free year)

Anyway, I put almost every purchase on my card, but especially gas, groceries and restaurants because that's what gets the most points per dollar. If I have cash to use, I save it for places like Target or clothing stores where the credit card doesn't get as many points. DEFINITELY make sure you're keeping up with spending and pay it off each month. It's not worth it at all if you hold a balance and have to pay interest.

I've been really happy using the rewards card in the parks Works just like a giftcard and I always load it up with whatever I have available when we go to the parks.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Love it - absolutely worth it for many of the reasons already mentioned. We find we are able to justify more "splurges" because we use the rewards to pay for part of each trip. We actually just bought our annual passes completely on points and are saving up for future trips.

In addition to the discounts, the points, the meet & greets (we met Mickey & Pluto together at the spot in Epcot with a free photo, but I hear they now have Star Wars characters) there is also a Chase lounge in Epcot during the Food & Wine festival. You just show your card, go in, and you can get out of the weather (rain/heat) for awhile, sit, charge your phone (they provide chargers) get free non-alcoholic beverages, and you can buy wine and beer. I'm pretty sure I remember them offering prime seating for the Eat to the Beat concerts also, but we never took them.

We have the premier card but I think the 2% rewards are only on gas and grocery stores (?) And the new rewards redemption cards do not have expiration dates, which is nice. You have something like 5 years before points expire.

 

[flynnibus]

Well actually things have changed recently, I got a redemption card this January and it has NO expiration date, yes it used to, but you could always use it to purchase a Disney giftcard if not used. AND recently when I went into my balance online it had the option to apply it to your balance on the Visa card, so in that sense the points can now be used to pay for anything you charged on said card.

The premier card now offers statement credit option for airline purchases. It's supposed to be limited to that... I don't know if they enforce it..and is only available for the premier card.

Yes I can do math, do have a finance degree so sure hope so, but IF your reason for obtaining card is because you are a Disneygeek and you want Disney reward dollars over most anything, since a point is equal to a dollar, if I pay $49 dollars and use it as my primary card, for groceries,gas, clothing etc.....and it rewards me points twice as fast....I actually only have to earn 100 points to break even over the other card....

Earn vs spend... It's the same thing. Your math is still off. You earn up to 0.02c per dollar spent... So you have to charge 2500 dollars to break even on your $50. 2% of 2500 is $50

The other catch is the extra 1% earning on the Disney card is category limited. So you aren't earning the max credits you could be.

like I would earn 49 points on card A and 100 for same purchases on card B.....since I fully intend to spend Disney dollars on my next trip any gains of points going forward are gain. I earned 1100$ this past year alone.....had I kept my prior card I only would have earned 550.....so to me? Its a no brainer.

Well at the start you can say you could have earned more than 1100... Would that be a no brainier?

2% cash back , no limits on earnings, no categories, can apply direct to statement balance, and no fees.
https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/credit-card-details/citi.action?ID=citi-double-cash-credit-card

Their is no reason to pay chase for the 2% limited rewards. Just get the normal Disney visa for free, and use it for the all the perks outside reward dollars. Then use the best possible rewards card payout you can for other purchases.

If you want the simplest way to get Disney dollars cheaper.... Just buy Disney gift cards from target with a red card and get 5% savings.

I prefer my 2% being free and not limited to Disney

 

[Tinkwings]

My point is that it can be advantageous for someone whose goal IS to use points for Disney. Since I do make up the $49 in less than 2 months of earning, the other 10 is only beneficial double points. The 2% categories are mostly what I use it for, and with a few teenagers in the house the groceries alone will do it! I agree if you want to use money elsewhere find a different card for yourself....we are only debating if the premier is better than the basic and in what circumstances. I did just go to the site and they changed it since last visit, it does now say only statement credit for airlines, whereas before it simply said apply to statement balance. I had never seen either before so it must have been something they were working out. My card has NO EXPIRATION for point redemption, none on card and on Chase site with expiration for existing card it says N/A. SO if ones goal is to go to Disney this can be a good vehicle to help save money.....and yes there are other ways. I fully understand Disney wants me to use card to give money back to the mouse....but that is what I want, to go back to my favorite place as soon as possible. And yes I too got a nice sign up credit that helped finance a trip same year as well....so if you spend a lot on one card, Disney is your destination, and if you consider the bonus and pay if off monthly its a good thing!!! One can always cancel once they have utilized the benefit and no longer want it.

BTW Flynn, I have never rec'd 5% on purchase of ANY gift card at Target with my Redcard....that is interesting but has that actually worked for you? Recently? Guess earning points on what I purchase is easy peasy to me.
Thanks

 

[steviej]

I upgraded to the premier before my trip in january, so I got the double points out of that. I've used the card scarcely and just hit $50 worth of reward dollars the other day (costco gas stations, lowest prices, only take visa cards, 2% rewards)

So it already paid for itself. I ALWAYS do the Innoventions meet n greet, and we did the star wars one on this previous trip.

In inno was Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto. And in Star Wars was Darth Vader!

the premier is definitely worth it

 

[Tinkwings]

Seems to me they offered 5% for first 3 months or 6 months too......just noticed on the Disneystore site they give 10% discount if you use Visa card OR the Rewards redemption card. Now its good just to have a points redemption card, you can get one with $10 in points minimum I think, and then once you have it its super easy to transfer your dollars to the card....think it works same day. That way you don't have to wait for it in the mail and can be more spontaneous when need arises.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Can you use the redemption card to put tips on when you eat at restaurants? Was planning to use it on alcoholic drinks and tipping if allowed...