I am considering applying for Disney Visa- is it worth it?

[Lizzybee]

The only reason I would get the card is for possible discounts. Does anyone know if it's worth it? I am hoping to be able to save up enough to take my kids back to WDW in a year and a half to two years. I would plan to use it and pay it off each month. Does anyone have tips for maximizing the benefits of the discounts available from the Disney Visa? TIA
Liz

 

[tkldisney]

With the DV you get 1 point (equivalent to $1.00) for each 100.00 you charge with the max of 750 pts. per year. It might help a little, but personally don't think it's worth it. It should be little better pt. system.

 

[WisMom]

About a year ago I applied for a Disney Visa to take advantage of the discounts. At first I thought I would use it on a package but then we used it for a Disney Visa room only discount. When I calculated the cost of park tickets plus the room, it was quite a bit cheaper to pay for things separately. I got a Disney Visa rate of $85 per night at CSR. Then, about two weeks later, a public code came out for $89 per night at CSR. I never saw anymore Disney Visa discounts after this that were worth much so this past winter I cancelled my card. The lack of worthwhile discounts and 1% back in Disney dollars was not enough to keep me as a customer. It's too bad, I wish they would have offered more bargains.

WisMom

 

[DisneyDotty]

I just wasted a half hour of my time on the phone waiting to sign up for the card. That wasn't worth it. Gave up before I talked to a human.

 

[weluvpluto]

If you're only getting the card for the discounts I would say it's not worth it. There haven't been any Disney Visa discounts on rooms this year.

 

[chill]

What are public discount codes?

thanks.

 

[keys2kingdom]

What are public discount codes?

thanks.

General public discount codes were offered by Disney last year as an incentive to book rooms and packages. It's generally thought that the new MYW system pretty much eliminated any possibility of these discounts for this year.

 

[chill]

Thanks Keys2kingdom.

 

[luvdisney999]

We have been saving our Disney rewards for awhile and they just don't accumulate fast. We have almost 100 and that's what we've gotten over 5 years.

There are NO discounts or benefits associated with this card. Don't waste your time!

 

[Lizzybee]

Wow guys, thanks for the consistent and clear advice. I am bummed it's not a good deal but glad you saved me the trouble of finding it out first hand. Thanks again! Liz

 

[disneyfanfamily]

There really aren't discounts.

However, we use the card for lots of purchases. We are cash only people. But, we have been putting a lot of things on our card and then paying it off every month. We have over $100 to spend in WDW so far, for just paying for the normal life stuff - gas for the car, groceries etc. My son got fitted for braces for his teeth. We even put that on our card and then paid it off when we got our statement. I need knee surgery in a couple of weeks, so that will also go on the card. As long as you pay off your card every month, it is "free" WDW money.

But I do know other cards have better rewards. We just choose to use this card.

 

[robertpien]

As opposed to disneyfanfmaily's family, we are a credit card only type of fmaily. I never carry a balance forward, but charge my card for everything. Over 16 months I saved $350 for out trip this past March. It definitely should not be ordered for the discounts, or great savings, but $350 is better than nothing.

 

[JJsmama]

It is not worth it for the discounts (at least not now) but it is worth it for the points if you use a cc anyway. We use ours for everything instead of writing checks--almost ALL our expenses and we do well with the points. We have used our points to pay for 1 nights at WDW, all our tips on DCL and spending money at WDW. I think it is great.

 

[missypie]

We have been saving our Disney rewards for awhile and they just don't accumulate fast. We have almost 100 and that's what we've gotten over 5 years.

There are NO discounts or benefits associated with this card. Don't waste your time!

How have you had your card for 5 years? I thought it had only been out for slightly under 2 years.

If you charge EVERYTHING and pay it off every month, it can be worthwhile. I've accumulated $968 in reward dollars for our trip.

But as for other special offers, there have been zero WDW offers in 2005. (There are some for DL.) They had special hotel rates one time last year and have not repeated them.

One time I was able to get the free movie tickets...4 of us saw the Incredibles for free. I got the National Treasure tickets also, but the email didn't arrive until the day before the showing and it was on a school night.

 

[denman007]

If you charge EVERYTHING and pay it off every month, it can be worthwhile. I've accumulated $968 in reward dollars for our trip.

But you've had to charge $96,000 worth of stuff unless you got 2 for 1 for a while.

 

[klinlin]

I am a charter memeber of the Disney Visa card, and have had it for about two years. I pay the card in full each month, and use to to pay for things like insurance etc... I have over $200 in disney credit from things I had to pay for anyway. The added bonus is the 0% financing on Disney vacation packages for 6 months.

 

[mamalle]

we just got it and Im waiting for my first 50 reward dollars to show up. Im going to use it to accumulate points for our cruise next year. I figure since I was already making payments for our cruise with our visa debit- why not use the disney visa and pay it off when the statement comes in. Im also using it to pay for our addition to our house and do the same. I figure why not get something back? My mind has been racing with all the possiblities to accumulate those points. I wish I had it when I rebooked on ship and got those points for the $1000 that I put down... I had no idea until I found this board... thanks

 

[leebee]

I'm also a charter member of Disney VISA...big woof! The discounts are lousy, and the 1% back falls far short of the 5% cash back alot of other cards offer. However, we use it for almost everything, so there's a bunch of free money every time we go to WDW. It was really nice to NOT have those large restaurant charges on the bill when I came home. Also, I am purchasing AP vouchers using it before we go to WDW. I'll get reward points from the cost of the APs to use while we are there using the APs...that's gotta be like double dipping or something! The BIG caveat is that you MUST pay the balance every month or you will be in the hole in a big way as they use a 2-cycle balance for calculating interest charged- double dipping in the WORST way!

 

[Bama4Disney]

We just used 690.00 on our DC this past Feb and it paid for tips and other things like shutters. This was from an accumulation of only a year and a half as like many others we charge everything and pay it off every month. It is worth it to book the DC packages or WDW for the 0% for six months. Why pay them before you have too!

 

[missypie]

But you've had to charge $96,000 worth of stuff unless you got 2 for 1 for a while.

When they first offered 2 for one, I got double points for everything over $150 a month. The promotion lasted 4 months and I got $153 bonus dollars. Since then, I'm supposed to receive bonus dollars for every purchase of things like groceries and drycleaning over $2300 a month. Needless to say, I haven't receive a bonus dollar since then.

So, I guess I have charged $81,500 in about 19 months. I paid for my LASIK with it. Our spring break trip to Paris in '04. The expenses for two 50th wedding anniversary parties. A nice donation to our church's building fund. All of our medical expenses. (We have only catostrophic coverage, so all our med. expenses come out of our pockets.)

Before I started using the Disney Visa I was using a Citibank card that gave me Amercian Airlines miles. But just like the David Spade commerical implies, it is really hard to use the miles. When I was planning the trip to Paris, I had enough miles for three of our tickets. I booked in August for a March trip. When I booked, they told me that I had gotten the last three (probably the only three) frequent flyer seats on the plane...SEVEN months in advance!

During our trip to WDW we are going to decide whether to upgrade our tickets to APs. If we do, I'll keep using the Disney Visa until the next trip. If not, I'll switch credit cards.