I love credit cards so much!

[gottalovepluto]

Thinking about it, if you had enough URs, and a CSR, you could book a package at Disney for effectively 33% off by going through the Chase Cruise and Tours department. That's way more than the discount you'd get on those items through any other travel agent. I wonder if Disney doesn't want us to be able to get that discount on rooms AND tickets AND the DDP anymore

Disney did not take the monetary hit on that. Absolutely not. (We know Disney was paid in full on the TA company credit card for the bookings.)

 

[gottalovepluto]

I think I can hit the $150,000 max for the 3x UR.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for everyone wanting to book Disney with URs! That just stinks

 

[afan]

I don't quite understand why Chase would have the contract for the Disney co-brand cards (debit and credit), and yet not allow their own points to be used with Disney. It's baffling. I get that a lot of people were milking Chase for every UR they were worth, but all of this stuff happening at once seems like too much. The backlash will grow, especially if non-churners are getting shut down, and every news article is going to be a negative reminder in a casual person's eye.

How many non churners even knew they could book a Disney vacation with URs outside of the portal? Until people here started doing it, it never crossed my mind that you could book stuff that wasn't available on the portal. I don't remember my CSR ever have information about the cruise and ticket department and that it could do something different. I'm sure it'll get some regular people that figured it out, but I'm sure it hits the churners more than the general public.

Chase dropped sponsorship of something at... Epcot?... last year sometime. But IDK, hard to say whether the relationship shift is Chase’s end, Disney’s end, or mutual. Disney may be wanting to give less of a cut to Chase on package bookings than Chase wants to get.

It probably is Chase's decision, but we really don't know for sure. I wasn't happy when they announced the change to Expedia. I was a bit weary of booking through the portal to begin with because you don't necessarily have full control of what was booked, but now that it's done through Expedia I never would. And that really answers my question in keeping the CSR or not, I'll miss the lounges but the AF isn't worth it when I don't travel that much to use the lounges. I'll PC to a CSP after I use my travel credit and use/keep it so I can still do partner transfers.

 

[speedyfishy]

Now that I’m starting to think it through more as much as I want to blame a RAT a normal quant probably caught it...

Why care? Those TAs weren’t booking stuff at the wholesale rates Expedia can. While Chase may be willing to take that hit on airfare maybe they never planned to have to take it on some hotels & park tickets as well. I booked a Drury once on Chase and while making a room request the guy accidentally quoted me the rate Chase booked the room at, like 30% less than what I paid. At the end of the day I was happy having redeemed my points for cheaper than booking direct, Chase was happy having originally bought the hotel for a rate I never could and then charging me full price. Using TAs to book Disney completely circumnavigated any wholesale hotel discount... My hope is Disney hotels will ultimately still be available via normal online booking with URs but only time will tell

I remember checking the portal though and the rates most of the time seemed to be higher than the Disney website.

MS is easy once you find some places that work lol

 

[gottalovepluto]

...I'll miss the lounges but the AF isn't worth it when I don't travel that much to use the lounges....

I’m amazed at how many PP memberships I have fwiw: CSR, US bank AR, Hilton Ascend... you could still find yourself with lounge access as you go along your churning plan!

 

[Lain]

I’m just spitballing here. Disney hotels have always commanded a premium. I don’t know what kind of room rates Chase’s travel agency is getting from Disney relative to other hotels, but maybe they’re not getting the rates they want to make redemptions for Disney profitable.

 

[Jaime4004]

My favorite age to take my kids was 4. I made sure they each went at 4, but that meant I also had younger too. The youngest I took was 17 months. They are just so fun and easy at that age. My 17 month old was terrified of every character but Jasmine. My son was almost 3 his first trip and he loved every character. Gave them all hugs. It’s just so cute. As they get older it’s actually harder. They have opinions. And their opinion usually is I’m tired of lines, let’s spend the day at the pool. I would say under 6 is the best time to take them!

My kids have been going since they were in utero but my favorite memory of any trip was when my non-verbal, very very shy 2 year old, who hated strangers, gave Mickey a big hug.

 

[Lain]

Thinking about it, if you had enough URs, and a CSR, you could book a package at Disney for effectively 33% off by going through the Chase Cruise and Tours department. That's way more than the discount you'd get on those items through any other travel agent. I wonder if Disney doesn't want us to be able to get that discount on rooms AND tickets AND the DDP anymore

I still don’t understand why Disney would care. They still get their money, right?

Disney did not take the monetary hit on that. Absolutely not. (We know Disney was paid in full on the TA company credit card for the bookings.)

I agree with @gottalovepluto. Disney is getting paid. If anyone’s taking the hit, it’s likely Chase is not getting the terms they want from Disney.

 

[Judique]

Chase dropped sponsorship of something at... Epcot?... last year sometime. But IDK, hard to say whether the relationship shift is Chase’s end, Disney’s end, or mutual. Disney may be wanting to give less of a cut to Chase on package bookings than Chase wants to get.

Chase was a food and wine festival sponsor and had the Chase Lounge in Epcot during F&W. You could go in the morning and get a bracelet for a seat at the Eat To The Beat concerts. This was my original reason for having any Chase card. They also had liquid refreshments up there and you could sit in Air conditioned comfort to rest and charge your phone or use the restroom. They also had preferred seating for Illuminations - all gone last year bam.

I wonder if Disney doesn't want us to be able to get that discount on rooms AND tickets AND the DDP anymore

Not sure if its Chase or Disney. Chase also issues the Disney card. UR's are a definite improvement over those benefits so I could see Disney saying 'no' to that relationship and making Chase tow the line. I now wonder if Chase pulled out of F&W or if Disney kicked them to the curb? If you remember (at least a few of you old folk) American Express was the Official Sponsor for Disney at one time. 'The White Glove Treatment'. That went down the tubes and then Chase took over with a much smaller presence. In the beginning Disney needed big name sponsors - not so much anymore. Now it's more if you get to partner with Disney - you are benefitting. They are making enough gate money that they can easily finance their own big tickets. Disney may have pulled the plug.

Editing to add that I've donned my own tinfoil hat. Disney is a proprietary animal. They've even gone after little Etsy businesses for using their characters (and not paying the fees) and even to myself - years ago I was a cast member for a hot minute. I got the job at the Disney Store to get Disney benefits and I bought DVC at a discount. The DVC contract allows rental of points and on 'one' occasion in 18 years, long after I was no longer a CM, I rented out some points and promptly received a letter about 'competing with Disney for room sales' or something to that account - sort of a warning when I rented out some points. I was a CM just over one xmas season and then wasn't interested in returning as I had a great job and really only wanted the fun and discounts. Disney doesn't play.

 

[afan]

I’m amazed at how many PP memberships I have fwiw: CSR, US bank AR, Hilton Ascend... you could still find yourself with lounge access as you go along your churning plan!

I'm sure I'll get it again and I'll still have it for my Nov trip since I got the card last year Nov. Once you pay the CSP AF and then get the travel credit, there's really not much difference between the two. But since I know I won't redeem through the portal and I don't get enough out of the card at this point to justify the extra 55 bucks.

 

[babyready]

anyone else see the DP on reddit that you can not use UR points to purchase Disney tickets and packages???

WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!?! Bad news after bad news after bad news!

How many non churners even knew they could book a Disney vacation with URs outside of the portal? Until people here started doing it, it never crossed my mind that you could book stuff that wasn't available on the portal. I don't remember my CSR ever have information about the cruise and ticket department and that it could do something different. I'm sure it'll get some regular people that figured it out, but I'm sure it hits the churners more than the general public.



It probably is Chase's decision, but we really don't know for sure. I wasn't happy when they announced the change to Expedia. I was a bit weary of booking through the portal to begin with because you don't necessarily have full control of what was booked, but now that it's done through Expedia I never would. And that really answers my question in keeping the CSR or not, I'll miss the lounges but the AF isn't worth it when I don't travel that much to use the lounges. I'll PC to a CSP after I use my travel credit and use/keep it so I can still do partner transfers.

Honestly, the ability to book Disney with URs was still pretty unknown. Except I did see that mommypoints wrote a tutorial on how to do it right after the move to tpg, so maybe Chase is just finally catching up with all these blogs.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

For repeating RMN offers, do you need to wait until the offer is approved before you can do it again or is pending ok? I'm specifically asking about the Walgreens 5 off 50 that expires tomorrow.

 

[MrPTato]

I really hope so. I wanted to go back in December, March and June lol how am I supposed to afford that now? What else can one use URs for? Lol

Cash!

I think I can hit the $150,000 max for the 3x UR.

Dang!

 

[GPC0321]

Forgive me if this has been discussed in the thread and I missed it, but the CapOne Savor card says 4% on dining and entertainment. My understanding is theme park admissions is included in entertainment, right? Anyone have any experience with using a Savor to purchase ticket directly from Disney? And would I be right that purchasing tickets from UT would not code as entertainment (since they code as travel with the Sapphires, I'm just assuming).

Just trying to see if a Savor has a place in my life. LOL

ETA: Meh...nevermind. After doing the math, I'm still far better off buying tickets from UT and using my Sapphire.

As you were!

 

[babyready]

For repeating RMN offers, do you need to wait until the offer is approved before you can do it again or is pending ok? I'm specifically asking about the Walgreens 5 off 50 that expires tomorrow.

Yes. It won't let you add it again until after it is approved.

 

[GlamMistress]

So last year I used Citi TYP to book Caribbean Beach for 4 nights for food and wine. I just pulled that up - yes, Citi uses Connexions and here was the cost:

73,287 Points + $127.95 USD
Refundable (fees may apply)
2 guest(s), 4 Night(s) (Saturday, Oct 21, 2017 - Wednesday, Oct 25, 2017)

This was a room only reservation, an "upgraded" pirate room with water view. (I don't remember any view at all). DH had the Prestige at the time and I think the 4th night free was in force on this reservation.

I don't know if this is considered expensive or not - I think cash at the time CBR was doing $250 per night (under construction) so I was happy to not pay much of anything.

Hopefully this helps someone - sorry to all who were screwed by Chase today.

I'm telling you, cash back is looking better and better.

 

[Albort]

my friend goes through that in about 2 months. small case. :]

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Yes. It won't let you add it again until after it is approved.

thanks!

 

[speedyfishy]

my friend goes through that in about 2 months. small case. :]

Goals...