Disney Visa

[pkpope]

i’m hoping this is the correct board to be posting this in..

Does anyone have some information/opinions on the Disney visa credit card? I am debating between that card and the spg american express but I want to be as informed as possible. Both of my parents have the spg amex so I know pretty much all the info about that card, but I don’t know anyone with the Disney credit card. I’m only 22 and want to make sure I know what I’m getting into, and find the information on the disney vise website seems vague and “sales pitch-y”. What exactly are the perks of having the card? Are the rewards points relatively easy or hard to save up and apply to my vacations? does anyone feel strongly about this card one way or the other? Can the points be applied to hotel rooms or just park merchandise and dining?

Thank you in advance for any help!

 

[Pooh2]

There is a $200 sign up bonus for the No Annual Fee version of the card floating around the internet. That gives you a good jump on accruing points. I keep the No Annual fee card for the discounts (10% at our local Disneystore outlet, discounts in the parks over $50 and at some Park restaurants). We recently did the Visa meet and greet at Epcot. And the card is just so darned cute!
The points on the SPG card would go a long way toward at stay at the Swan and Dolphin though.
Maybe try to get both cards a few months apart?

 

[Psychodisney]

Join us over on the I love credit card thread...you'll get all of your questions answered and more. I'll try to help a little. I've had the Disney Visa for ever because it has no fee and of course, gives you some cash for Disney. That said, it earns at 1 point per dollar...ie. very slowly. I did have my DS22 get one for athe $200 cash for his trip with his girlfriend. He'll use them for food and drinks.
There are other cards that can earn you more points for your vacation quicker. The biggest chunk of points will be with sign up bonuses.
Do you have any credit cards on your own yet? Remember, the only way the points are worth anything is if you pay off your bill every month! If you carry a balance, you eat up all of the benefits of earning the points by paying interest.
Ask yourself what you want to use the points for. Then we can help you figure out what card might be best for you.

 

[scard192]

I keep the card for the same reason as other's have posted. No fee, so does not cost me anything. Last year there was a targeted offer to earn 4% (I think it was) if you used the card to pay cable, cell phone, insurance for 4-5 months. I took advantage of that.

Also last year an offer for a $40 Disney GC if you did a telephone call with Disney vacation club. Between those 2 offers I have enough free money for 1 TS meal for our next trip for my family.

the past couple of years Disney Visa card holders have been able to book Free Dining for about ~ 10 dates in August that were not open to the General Public too book.

I applied in 2010 when there was a $200 GC offer for signup.

 

[starry_solo]

Definitely get the no annual fee one and the $200 statement credit offer that's floating around

After I did that (back when it was a $200 gift card), I stopped using it. I only use it for Disney items on Shop Disney and when I'm in the parks (not often).

 

[gottalovepluto]

Short answer: Disney I think...

$200 statement credit is a lousy offer on the SPG personal card. It was 25,000 spg points just last month. That said this card could be going off the market soon with the Marriott merger coming up. If you take it today and a better offer comes out tomorrow too bad, you can only get the bonus on American Express cards once per lifetime for each card. If you take it today and the card disappears in a few months good for you, made the right call! It's like a coin flip. Keeping it long term idk on your situation because, as I'm sure you know but others don't, it has a $95 annual fee after year 1.

Imho if you're basically just looking for a card to score an easy $200 bonus go with the no-fee disney offer available via referral. You can keep it long term since there's no annual fee and use it to build credit history. Is it easy to use rewards from? Personally I hate their rewards program, I don't like that you're locked out of your rewards until you build up a certain amount and even then you can only spend your money on Disney. I MUCH prefer my Chase Freedom Unlimited at 1.5% back because at least I can get cash out of that at the end of every month if something goes wrong or I can extract more value beyond 1.5 because I'm a total point nerd and transfer my points to my Chase Sapphire Reserve. There are 2% cash back cards with are even better than Chase Freedom Unlimited's 1.5% if you want straight up cashback. (Citi has a double cash card that gives 2% on all purchases and is offering a $100 bonus right now.)

Depending on how much you are planning on spending in the next few months and what your credit history is like we could give you some more thought out suggestions over on the i love credit cards thread. (You might already be there, lol I'm not caught up over there today.) Some of us are crazy with numerous cards but others just chime in once in a while looking for a single card for a single reason/long term use which is totally cool as well

Edit: you have the right board! here's i love credit card thread on our board https://www.disboards.com/threads/i-love-credit-cards-so-much.3528202/page-1369#post-59205395 don't try to read the whole thing!! Just jump in with any q's at the end.

 

[addiemon]

I have it and it was well worth the value for our big Disney World trip a couple years ago.

We don't use it as our day-to-day card (we have an Amazon Prime visa for that - 5% cash back, we buy stuff on Amazon ALL. THE. TIME.), but I use it for all my work expenses, so I'm slooooowly building up some points. Even if I was using it as my daily card I feel like the point earnings would be a little slow, though.

Nice to get the free photo shoot and the discount at Disney stores though.

 

[mrsclark]

We use the Disney Premier card for our grocery purchases (2% back on grocery purchases, which is better than what we get on our normal everyday card). We also like to use the card at Disney because it can get you discounts at certain restaurants (10% off), merchandise purchases over $50 (10% off), and on select tours (percentage varies by tour, I believe). That being said, I know that there are other ways to get these discounts such as being an AP holder or DVC owner, but since we are neither of those things, we like the benefits while we are on our trip.

 

[wisteria1019]

Probably a silly question : I know that when I purchase items at a Disney Store, I enjoy a 10% savings. Can one purchase Disney gift cards at a Disney Store and get that same savings with the Disney Visa?

 

[addiemon]

Probably a silly question : I know that when I purchase items at a Disney Store, I enjoy a 10% savings. Can one purchase Disney gift cards at a Disney Store and get that same savings with the Disney Visa?

Nope. Exclusions from the official website (fine print item #1 at the bottom):

"Offer excludes taxes, Shipping & Handling, Theme Park Passes, Disney Electronics, DVDs, Blu-ray™, CDs, Video Games, Books, Art & Collectibles, Jim Shore, Lenox®, Enesco Busts and Figurines, Olszewski, Precious Moments, Vinylmation, Limited Edition and Limited Availability merchandise, Ethan Allen, Bikes & Scooters, Disney Store 30th Anniversary merchandise, Electronic Toys, D23 Memberships, D23 Merchandise, gift cards or certificates, The Walt Disney Company Collectible Shareholder Certificate, 3-D printed merchandise, Subscription products, personalization, gift wrap and gift boxes and items not in stock."

I didn't realize all LE merch was excluded, bummer.

 

[leebee]

I've had the Disney VISA since the program started, and last year opened a premier card. EVERYTHING goes on our Disney Visa cards and I pay them off every month. Right now I have about 900 in rewards points from about 2 years of saving. That'll take care of our food for our trip in August. I love that the money is ear-marked (see what I did there ) for Disney. If it was strictly "cash back" I know I'd just drop it in the checking account and use it for everyday things. I also like that I can get a 10% discount at some Disney restaurants, including Boma and Biergarten, two of our favorites!

 

[wisteria1019]

Nope. Exclusions from the official website (fine print item #1 at the bottom):

"Offer excludes taxes, Shipping & Handling, Theme Park Passes, Disney Electronics, DVDs, Blu-ray™, CDs, Video Games, Books, Art & Collectibles, Jim Shore, Lenox®, Enesco Busts and Figurines, Olszewski, Precious Moments, Vinylmation, Limited Edition and Limited Availability merchandise, Ethan Allen, Bikes & Scooters, Disney Store 30th Anniversary merchandise, Electronic Toys, D23 Memberships, D23 Merchandise, gift cards or certificates, The Walt Disney Company Collectible Shareholder Certificate, 3-D printed merchandise, Subscription products, personalization, gift wrap and gift boxes and items not in stock."

I didn't realize all LE merch was excluded, bummer.

Thanks for the info

 

[Arazia]

I picked up the no annual fee card recently due to a special offer for $200 gift card and the fact that we're going to be visiting a number of restaurants with the 10% off so it seemed worthwhile to go ahead and pick it up. It's not as good for earning rewards as my main credit card, so it's mostly only being used for secondary purposes.

 

[Juliet25]

Does the 10% off work at all shops in Disney World? I can’t figure it out. They list the restaurants but only merchandise exclusions. Is it $50 minimum?

 

[Marionnette]

Does the 10% off work at all shops in Disney World? I can’t figure it out. They list the restaurants but only merchandise exclusions. Is it $50 minimum?

It is a $50 minimum to get the discount. Not all stores honor the discount. The best course of action is to ask before purchasing. Some Epcot shops do not participate in the discount, a lot in Disney Springs, Basin in the GF all come to mind from past experiences.

 

[LoganBrown1990]

I've had the Disney VISA since the program started, and last year opened a premier card. EVERYTHING goes on our Disney Visa cards and I pay them off every month. Right now I have about 900 in rewards points from about 2 years of saving. That'll take care of our food for our trip in August. I love that the money is ear-marked (see what I did there ) for Disney. If it was strictly "cash back" I know I'd just drop it in the checking account and use it for everyday things. I also like that I can get a 10% discount at some Disney restaurants, including Boma and Biergarten, two of our favorites!

So do you have both the regular Disney Visa and the premier now? If you have both, did that mean you got the new card member bonus instead of the upgrade bonus? We got an upgrade offer, but the new signup offer is much more enticing!

 

[wendow]

So do you have both the regular Disney Visa and the premier now? If you have both, did that mean you got the new card member bonus instead of the upgrade bonus? We got an upgrade offer, but the new signup offer is much more enticing!

You are eligible for the new card member bonus every 24 months (from when you received the bonus, not opened the card!). And yes, you can hold both Disney cards. In fact, you and a spouse can each have your own.

 

[LoganBrown1990]

You are eligible for the new card member bonus every 24 months (from when you received the bonus, not opened the card!). And yes, you can hold both Disney cards. In fact, you and a spouse can each have your own.

Good to know. Thanks so much! Are both cards considered the same when it comes to the bonuses? I'm not exactly sure when we opened our Visa and got the bonus. I'll have to look before I go further!

 

[wendow]

Good to know. Thanks so much! Are both cards considered the same when it comes to the bonuses? I'm not exactly sure when we opened our Visa and got the bonus. I'll have to look before I go further!

They both have bonuses but one may be better than another depending on what is being offered. I know the current offer on the no-fee Disney Visa is a $200 statement credit after spending $500 in 3 mos. If you or your SO have the card already, one could refer the other and that person would earn $100 in Disney $$

If you are unsure when you got the card, pull your credit report to verify. Add 3 mos for the bonus since you may be unsure when that was issued and then use that date to count forward 24 mos.

 

[MonorailNate]

We have been Disney Visa members since the first day it was available. We use it to pay for most everything that we can. I had $2040 in rewards for our trip next month. I had $1600 in rewards for our last trip. I’d say it’s worth it if you plan to make Disney trips. When we were going yearly, we would usually have $600-$800 in rewards.