Really need help with choose credit card

[RedGhost]

We really don’t want apply credit card.even the sign up bonus is great .
We are planning to purchase DVC membership directly . It’s best for our family with all the perks specially our kids are very young. My questions is is any one confirmed that the direct DVC purchase will qualify the 3* points for the Chase Sapphire Reserve ? I don’t want make mistake because it is a lot of money . And 3* points are a lot. Thanks for helping !

 

[E2ME2]

We really don’t want apply credit card.even the sign up bonus is great .
We are planning to purchase DVC membership directly . It’s best for our family with all the perks specially our kids are very young. My questions is is any one confirmed that the direct DVC purchase will qualify the 3* points for the Chase Sapphire Reserve ? I don’t want make mistake because it is a lot of money . And 3* points are a lot. Thanks for helping !

Is a DVC purchase considered Travel?? The Chase Sapphire offers 3*/$ on Travel, and 1*/$ on all other, and doesn't that come with a steep annual fee??
I put mine on my Chase Disney Visa and got 2% in Disney Reward Dollars, plus free interest for 6 months, just as an FYI.
Good luck on your decision, RedGhost!

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

I just looked back at my DVC add-on back in 2017 and the way the DVC purchase came up on my statement was "DVC ESCROW PAYMENT" so I don't think it will code as travel to earn the points you want.

Both times we paid for our DVC points, we had money in the bank but wanted to earn some cash back so we used our Quicksilver card which earned us 1.5% cash back. We wanted to use a card that earned us cash versus reward dollars. We didn't consider the Disney Visa because that card (regular one) only earns 1% cash back and the rewards is locked in as Disney dollars. The 6 months interest free is nice for some people but I felt that I would not earn 1.5% from my bank even if I left my money sitting there for 6 months.

 

[andycat]

Consider buying Disney gift cards. You mentioned the Sapphire Reserve, but do you have any other cards that would give a bonus on buying DGCs? They're sold at office supply stored (Chase Ink cards), groceries (AMEX Blue/Gold cards) and warehouse clubs (Chase Freedom).

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

Consider buying Disney gift cards. You mentioned the Sapphire Reserve, but do you have any other cards that would give a bonus on buying DGCs? They're sold at office supply stored (Chase Ink cards), groceries (AMEX Blue/Gold cards) and warehouse clubs (Chase Freedom).

You can’t pay for the membership with GCs. You can use them to pay your dues.

 

[BillPA]

You would make out better buying resale. Instead of 3% you save 30-40%

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Buying DVC or paying dues will not code as travel. It is real estate.

 

[RedGhost]

You would make out better buying resale. Instead of 3% you save 30-40%

Thanks for your suggestions. I do like other perks that direct purchase have. My kids are young . I want have the cruise option and events.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks for your suggestions. I do like other perks that direct purchase have. My kids are young . I want have the cruise option and events.

Not certain how many points you are considering but it's almost always better to rent out points and pay cash for the cruise. Not certain if you've looked at the charts about points required for cruises but it takes a lot of points to "pay" for the cruise. If you're buying a small, or smallish contract it won't be enough. Personally I'd pull that off the table as a reason to purchase direct. And David's now makes it easy to rent points and book a cruise if you want to remove a bit of the transaction.

APs are the other direct perk that can have some value but you need to go often enough or long enough to be a perk you would use.

For credit card purchase though it's going to be a card that offers cash back or points on general purchases. I've not had anything DVC code as travel.

 

[DSVinNJ]

OP payment of dues or a direct DVC purchase will ABSOLUTELY code as travel and earn 3x ultimate rewards on the Chase Sapphire Reserve. I recently just completed a CCV direct purchase and the down payment coded as travel and I earned the 3x. I anticipate the remaining payment to code the same.

 

[RedGhost]

OP payment of dues or a direct DVC purchase will ABSOLUTELY code as travel and earn 3x ultimate rewards on the Chase Sapphire Reserve. I recently just completed a CCV direct purchase and the down payment coded as travel and I earned the 3x. I anticipate the remaining payment to code the same.[/QI will definitely try!I planning buy it out right. Not finance.

 

[kmc8826]

OP payment of dues or a direct DVC purchase will ABSOLUTELY code as travel and earn 3x ultimate rewards on the Chase Sapphire Reserve. I recently just completed a CCV direct purchase and the down payment coded as travel and I earned the 3x. I anticipate the remaining payment to code the same.

Agreed it codes as travel. I did it in June.

@RedGhost come over to the Budget Board section on the “I love credit cards so much” thread. Super nice group over there where we can direct you how to go about maximizing the credit card bonuses you can get from the direct purchase. A bunch of us over there are DVC owners as well. Just jump in and state as you did in your above post.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Worth mentioning: the ability to exchange points for cruises can be discontinued at any time, for everyone. It is a contract, not a deeded right.

 

[Ben E N]

Worth mentioning: the ability to exchange points for cruises can be discontinued at any time, for everyone. It is a contract, not a deeded right.

And, while I forget the exact amount, they value the exchange at only $7-8 per point. Not even enough to cover the purchase price for current direct purchasers, not even to mention the MFs.

 

[EC0323]

My down payment cleared today on Csr. It coded at 3 points per.

 

[pineapplepalms]

We paid for our direct CCV purchase and dues using our CSR card and they both coded as travel with 3x the points.

 

[Dean]

Is a DVC purchase considered Travel?? The Chase Sapphire offers 3*/$ on Travel, and 1*/$ on all other, and doesn't that come with a steep annual fee??
I put mine on my Chase Disney Visa and got 2% in Disney Reward Dollars, plus free interest for 6 months, just as an FYI.
Good luck on your decision, RedGhost!

I can't speak for DVC but paying dues for both Bluegreen and Marriott does code as travel with both AMEX and CSR. I suspect it will code for dues, less sure for the purchase. While the CSR costs $450, it gives a $300 travel credit, Priority Lounge access, pays for global entry/TSA recheck and covers rental car insurance as primary coverage. Each point is valued at over 2¢ so the return is still likely more than 2% using the Disney $49 card. CSR also returns 3X on dining, plus they cover roadside and many items often covered by travel insurance. I have the old Chase Disney card that's free and I don't intend to upgrade it because I feel the CSR gives me more even used for Disney.

 

[E2ME2]

I can't speak for DVC but paying dues for both Bluegreen and Marriott does code as travel with both AMEX and CSR. I suspect it will code for dues, less sure for the purchase. While the CSR costs $450, it gives a $300 travel credit, Priority Lounge access, pays for global entry/TSA recheck and covers rental car insurance as primary coverage. Each point is valued at over 2¢ so the return is still likely more than 2% using the Disney $49 card. CSR also returns 3X on dining, plus they cover roadside and many items often covered by travel insurance. I have the old Chase Disney card that's free and I don't intend to upgrade it because I feel the CSR gives me more even used for Disney.

Thanks, Dean - Great info!
I may have to consider the CSR, based on those benefits.
Can the travel credit be used anywhere/anytime? No Black-outs ??

 

[Dean]

Thanks, Dean - Great info!
I may have to consider the CSR, based on those benefits.
Can the travel credit be used anywhere/anytime? No Black-outs ??

The travel credit is cash back to the card. I prepaid Marriott fees with the AMEX and Bluegreen fees with the CSR to hit the spending requirements for the bonus and to kick start the credit. Both worked perfectly in that regard. I can't image Disney won't be credited as travel but it's not hard to spend $300 on travel if you're taking vacations.

I went through this thought process very recently so it's fresh in my mind. I queried a number of people who knew well some or all the the products I was looking at, did some extensive web review and looked at our situation. When I went in to this I wasn't even thinking the CSR card at all and became convinced this was the best single option for us.

I started this journey a year ago when I became Platinum elite lifetime with Marriott. Previous to that I generally met the criteria for Platinum elite based on the number of credited nights but also qualified based on our level with the Marriott Vacation Club. Marriott will only upgrade ONE owner to the status, the one that has their number listed on the MVC account. At that time I had CCs that I was using and paying off monthly including the Chase Disney (free one), Chase Marriott ($85/yr not the upgraded one at $95/yr) and the Delta AMEX for free checked bags mostly using the Marriott card except for Disney related items.. So a year ago we changed to Kim's number for MVC so she'd get the status, got her the Chase Marriott ($85) and canceled my Chase Marriott using her Marriott card as the primary. We had plans to get her to lifetime Platinum as well expecting it to take 5-7 yrs. There are reasons the lower Chase Marriott was better in that situation rather than the Premier card at $95 because you got extra nights based on spending.

With the changes in the Marriott Rewards program some of our plans went out the window so I started looking at options. We've since added the CSR AND the AMEX SPG Luxury card, both $450 but with relatively similar coverages and options that will make them essentially free to us. We'll use them for things we'd usually use cards for anyway to get the bonus (50K Chase reward its with CSR and 125K Marriott points with the AMEX). I'm about to cancel our Delta AMEX as I was waiting on our last Delta trip, it's $95 but includes free bags up to I think it's 8 people on the itinerary. I'll keep the Disney because it's free an we'll still likely keep Kim's old Marriott card since it has a free nights stay making it free and has options we might need in the future, it's no longer available to get as a new card. We're going to try both high end cards, get the bonuses and see how it goes. We may cancel the AMEX after that if the CSR and chase points work as well as people are saying.

So with both cards you get the credit, making them $150 each with no other allocations. IF you do TSA precheck or Global entry, that's another $85 pr $100 every 4 years per card. The rest of the benefits have variable and individual value but there are lots of articles out there comparing high end cards and valuations for the points you get where applicable. The primary rental car coverage for insurance was the one that caused me to go with CSR and to make it our main card though even without that it's likely our best option depending on how the chase points work out. The 1:1 air miles transfer and 50% air discount are also intriguing. I'm sure there are those out there who have CSR and DVC and can answer your question for certain on how fees work, maybe not on purchases.