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I’ve been getting some AWESOME reader emails lately. I posted on last week about what to do with some extra cash after being AMAZING at saving. We had super awesome reader feedback in the comments as well, and Laura even came back in the comments to address all the suggestions. Really cool!
Last week, I received another reader email asking about credit card bonus rewards. I’m sure you’ve seen all my posts about this stuff, but Jessica sent an email that I bet a lot of you would be interested in.
She wanted to take her family to Disney ON THE CHEAP. So I responded and showed her one of the many ways you can get to DisneyWorld on credit card rewards. Let me know what you think.
Get Me To Disney On Credit Card Points!
I just read your post on credit card rewards and am very interested in doing something similar for a Disney vacation–any advice?
Thanks!
Jessica
How To Get The Points For A Disney Trip!
Hey Jessica,
Glad you enjoyed it. I’ve been at it for about 8 months, but have rocked a few short vacations already (you can read about them here and here).
For Disney, is really depends on how many are going, which Disney (Florida or California), and how long you want to go? For a typical family of four to Florida, let’s say, you would need 4 round-trip airline tickets, a hotel for 5 nights, and 4-day tickets to the Disney parks. Here’s what I might suggest:
(2) Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ credit cards – For a limited time, they are offering a 100,000 point bonus after a $5,000 minimum spend within 3 months of opening the card. If you and a spouse open a card, this is 200,000 Marriott bonus points + 20,000 more points for spending $10,000 on them = 220,000 total points.
(2) Chase Sapphire Preferred® credit cards – For a limited time, this card is offering 60,000 bonus points each after a $4,000 minimum spend in 3 months of opening the card. If you and a spouse open a card, this is 120,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus points + 8,000 more points for spending $8,000 on them = 128,000 total points.
(2) Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier cards For a limited time, this card is offering 40,000 bonus miles each after a $1,000 minimum spend in 3 months of opening the card. If you and a spouse open a card, this is 80,000 bonus points + 2,000 more points for spending $2,000 on them = 82,000 total miles.
How To Use Points For A Free Disney Trip
Disney Swan (or Dolphin) hotel (near Epcot Center) = 50,000 points a night (Peak – 60k per night / Off-peak – 40k per night). With the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ cards, you’d have 220,000 points, enough for 5 nights. Because when you book 4 nights on points, the 5th night is free!
$1,280 Cash = 128,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points using the Chase Sapphire Preferred® cards. This should help buy tickets for 4 days, though Disney is CRAZY expensive, the best prices are on Undercover Tourist (certified Disney reseller). At last look, it’s about $1,330 for (2) Adult and (2) kids 4-day park hopper passes on there.
Free flights = Using the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier cards, you should get 2 free flights per bonus (Wanna Get Away fares under 20k miles each)). If you and a spouse get 1 card each, that’s 4 free flights. If you have more kids….may need to pay out of pocket for the rest…..but 4 free flights is AMAZING!
Phew! I know that’s a lot of info, but it should save you a few grand or more on your vacation. The hardest thing would be hitting the minimum spending on these cards.
I would space it out. I usually get myself 2 cards every 3 months to help with this, and put EVERYTHING on the cards (bills, utilities, all spending, etc.). Then I get my wife 2 cards, wash, rinse, repeat. If you space them out over a year, you should be good to go!
So basically you get one of each card, your husband (or boyfriend, or friend) gets one of each card, and you should have enough to cover everything I listed above.
Hope that helps, definitely let me know if you have any further questions J
Happy to help!
Thanks,
Jake
After I sent this mail, though I found another sweet deal that might even be a better option here. Check it out:
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I’ve been to DisneyWorld twice on credit card rewards now…..and Disneyland once.
This stuff REALLY works.
If you want to get started and book your own trip to Disney for Free, please reach out to me HERE
For those who want to enjoy free travel and start getting the bonuses now, you can read up on my favorite credit cards HERE.
I would probably sub out the AA cards and do the British Airway cards (depending on where they are located) since you can get super great deals using avios and their distance based award chart. BA also allows you to have family accounts so you could pool your points into one account which makes booking the tickets a little easier.
The other option might be getting a couple Southwest CC’s when they get back to their 50K level. Again, they can be a really great deal because their point value is a little more fixed and if you are really hardcore you can time it right and get the companion pass which is one of the greatest travel perks for domestic travel.
You would then be able to save your ulitmate rewards points and turn them in as a statement credit to pay for some of your disney tickets (while not the best way to maximize the points it still isn’t terrible).
Brian, funny you mention the British card. In a later email, she stated her husband may not qualify for the premium cards, so I told her BA card, and linked her to the distance based award chart.
Great minds…
Good call on the SW. I’m going to look into that next year, as I need a little more bang for the buck on airlines miles once we’ve got 2 kiddos…
And yes, I know UR statement credits are not the best, but can’t buy Disney tickets with other programs, and that’s what they really need the money for.
Cash is good, but doing a little paper napkin math on the points can be lucrative. I’ll probably hit $4,000 – $5,000 in rewards this year 🙂 Let me know if you need any advice on this front 🙂
I agree with Brian you should not use your AA cards for Disney. 40,000 miles gets you to Europe which would be a better use than Disney. Use your Ultimate Reward points and transfer them to southwest and buy wanna get away fares.
You could also use the UR to get cash and then take out the BarclayCard Arrival Mastercard to get a $440 travel credit which should nearly pay for Southwest Wanna Get Away Fares.
There are quite a few options, I just hate using AA for domestic travel when others are so much better most of the time.
I love reading all the comments and getting new ideas. It gets a bit confusing when you think of all the options, but I don’t think I could go back to full priced vacations.
With a 4yo, 2yo and another coming quite soon, I have NO desire to take them to Disney yet. I want the baby to be at least 4-5 so she’ll be able to really enjoy it and not be too worn out.
So, I guess I have plenty of time to do some sort of reward card combo to gradually save up!
Right now, I use a cash back card that gives 1.75% back.
I am a big fan of frequent flier miles and hotel points for travel. I use it exclusively for overseas travel. I think you get more for your miles and points.
That is a lot of spend to get those rewards. I think the rewards are worth it but it would be difficult for me to spend that much. Of course, there are way to manufacture the spend but I’d rather get the cards at a slower rate. It may not be that much spend for many people though.
My parents are considering taking my sister, her husband and their kids along with with me, my wife and son on a Disney cruise next year. If it happens I will be sure to let you know how it turns out!
I just got back from Disney yesterday, and 7 day tickets with water parks, w/ hopper options are just shy of $420 per person.
Barclay also has a solid bonus rewards card that you can use for air travel: Barclay Arrival World Mastercard
Opps, didn’t realize there was a referrer ID in that URL (took it right from barclay cards). Plz remove or replace with your own. 🙂
That is amazing! You’ve got this all figured out, Jacob. I think I’ll have to get the scoop from you when we plan our CA trip next year. All we need is free airline tickets for 5. 🙂
I would used the URs to get cash to spend in Disney (that can EASILY add up) and instead do Southwest points. Southwest has cheaper tickets to FL and CA, so the points will go further AND it lets them take 2 check-in, that can add up for a family of 4 as well. This way they can order souvenirs and stuff online (without telling the kids) and give them while in Disney to avoid buying their overpriced crap.