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If you’re like us you’re always looking for a deal when it come to traveling, particularly with Disney. While we’ve been searching and sharing the best deals for over 10 years, there are few that stick around that we would consider tried and true methods. Park Savers has been partnered with Undercover Tourist who offers the best pricing on Disneyland tickets and we wholeheartedly recommend them. Our preferred method of purchase is a travel credit card for Disney and both go hand in hand.
While saving on your actual purchase is amazing, what if you could make things even cheaper before the purchasing process? We’re not talking just $30-$50 but rather several hundred to over a thousand dollars. Below we’ve listed the #1 way to save on your Disney vacation whether you’re headed to Disneyland, Walt Disney World, a Disney Cruise, Aulani or an Adventure by Disney.
The Best Travel Credit Card For Disney
So far for 2024, the best travel rewards card with the best welcome bonus is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. This is the best travel credit card for Disney on the market when it comes to building up rewards to use on your vacation as well as during your vacation. So what would be the process to maximize its use once you’ve applied and received the card? We’ll show you what we did and then show you the ideal way:
- Learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and see how to qualify for the 60,000 point welcome offer that’s worth $750 in travel with Chase Ultimate Rewards.
- After being approved and receiving the card you’ll need to qualify for the 60,000 point welcome offer. We put all of my vacation (and future vacation on the card). This included our hotel, tickets, airfare and some Disney Gift Cards.
- After receiving our 60,000 point welcome offer we applied it as a statement credit which ended up coving the cost of our theme park tickets.
- How much did we save? $600 off our vacation plus we had additional rewards totaling 8,000 because of our spending.
Now this is the way we used it initially but there’s a better way to maximize this process. Here are the steps:
- Checkout the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and learn more about it.
- After being approved and receiving the card you’ll need to qualify for the 60,000 welcome offer. Put almost all your vacation purchases on the card except for your hotel or airfare. Just pick the most expensive one and don’t purchase it yet.
- After receiving your 60,000 point welcome offer, purchase your hotel or airfare using your reward points. Why? Because when you use your points with the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program you get 25% more value out of them which means your $600 is now worth $750!
- How much did you save? $750 plus an additional $100 (you earned 8,000 points with your spending) for a grand total of $850 off your hotel or airfare! Plus all your future spend goes towards more travel discounts.
And that’s the ideal way to maximize your welcome bonus offer and 2x the points on travel with this Disney travel credit card. Like most things it’s just one step at a time and if you’re having a hard time figuring out how to redeem your points for travel online you can always call Chase Ultimate Rewards® and they can help you book.
Here’s a break down of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and all its perks just so you know you’re getting more than just a welcome offer.
- Earn a 60,000 point welcome offer after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after account opening. That’s $750 in travel rewards when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
- Earn 2x the points on travel and dining at restaurants. 1 point on everything else.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
The 2x points on travel and dining goes a long way, especially if you use it on your vacations. Most of your money spent is going to be towards food and other travel items like tours or rentals, which means more points for you.
We would suggest learning more about this card as soon as possible as welcome offers change all the time and this is the best one they’ve had for this card.
Top 5 Cards for Disney Travel
Of course there isn’t just one travel credit card for Disney out there but the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is currently the best offer. That’s our number one pick for Disney travel but here are our other top 4 choices:
- Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card – Right now you can get a 50,000 welcome offer with this card after spending $3,000 in the first three months. That’s worth $500 in travel for airfare or hotel. The $95 annual fee is waived for the first year and you’ll receive 2x the points on every purchase making it a great travel credit card for Disney vacations. Learn more about this card.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card – Earn a welcome offer of 40,000 points to use with Southwest of any of its partners after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. Each year you’ll receive a 7,500 points bonus just for having the card. Plus you’ll get 4 upgrades per calendar year for early boarding when available.
- Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card – Receive a $150 statement credit when you spend $500 in the first 3 months plus get a 0% APR intro on all balance transfers for the first 15 months. Mostly though, take advantage of the unlimited 1.5% cash back on all your spending. No categories or special intro offers. If you spend all over the place, this is your card. Learn more about it. It’s a top travel credit card for Disney vacations.
- Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card – Own a business and want to score some serious points? This is your card! Earn 80,000 points as a welcome offer after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. That’s worth $1,000 when you use your points with Chase Ultimate Rewards. Plus earn 3x points on travel expenses, shipping costs, internet, cable, phone and advertising services up to $150,000 annually.
How To Maximize Your Card
Getting your new card is one thing but hitting the welcome offer minimum and beyond that may be a little difficult for some. That’s why we’ve put together our top ideas for hitting your spend and continuing that spend so that you can earn the most rewards possible each month.
- Spend your travel on the card. For Disney, if you’re going soon then book your hotel, flights, tickets, transportation and even your regular spend at the parks. We purchase Disney Gift Cards on our card ahead of time knowing that we’ll be using them at the parks. You can use Disney Gift Cards to purchase your tickets, resort hotel, dining and merchandise. All this really adds up fast!
- Pay your bills with your card. Most insurance and utility companies allow you to pay your bill with a credit card as long as you set up auto-payments. Log-in to your account online or call them and see if you can set it up. The nice thing about these is that they are recurring every month and you don’t even need to think about it.
- You can use you credit card to pay any taxes you might owe at the end of the year online. Make sure that the fee (if any) is less than your rewards. If it evens out then it’s not bad but if it’s more think of another way to pay.
- If you socialize a lot over lunches and dinners than you’ve probably been in that situation where the check comes and you have to decide if you’re going to split it or just do one. We always request one check and pay for the whole thing. Then we have the rest of our party Venmo or Apple Pay us their portion of the bill. It’s a great way to rack up the points for a Travel Credit Card for Disney.
Disney Credit Card By Chase
If you’ve ever been to the Disney theme parks or their websites there’s a good chance you’ve come across the Disney credit card by Chase. This card has been around for a long time and offers some great perks for those who apply and spend on it. While we still think that the Chase Sapphire we mentioned above is a superior card, we totally understand the desire to have the Disney Card.
As long-time holders of this card we can say that we’ve always been happy with it. One of the things that we love and, something we feel like draws in a lot of people, is the card designs. From castles to Mickey, Star Wars and Toy Story, there are over 10 designs available to choose from. Every-time we use our card with the castle on it, the person at the register always compliments it in one way or another. It’s fun to be able to choose and continually switch card designs as a holder.
Outside of the design on the cards, people are drawn to the fact that they can earn Disney Rewards from their spending that can then be used at the parks or online. We’ve racked up well over 5,000 Disney Reward Points in our lifetime and can say that the process to earn them and spend them is very easy. You earn them from your everyday spending on things like groceries, bills, dining and of course Disney purchases.
DISNEY VISA CARD
There are two cards that are available to get, one with an annual fee and one without. The basic one with no annual fee allows you to earn 1% on every purchase no matter what. It’s clean and simple and most people like that. This particular card is offering a $100 statement credit when you are approved. It typically varies between $100 and $50 so if you see the $100 bonus offer you should jump on it.
DISNEY PREMIER VISA CARD
This card does have an annual fee at $49 per year. It works the same as far as rewards go but you can earn more points as it offers 2% earning on the following categories:
- Grocery Stores
- Gas Stations
- Restaurants
- Disney Stores
This card has a bonus offer of $200 upon approval that is applied as a statement credit. Minus the $49 fee and that’s a free $150! Even though the welcome offer sounds better, you’ll want to make sure that after the first year you’re spending enough to cover the annual fee. If you aren’t then you may want to look at getting the basic card.
Other ways to save on your Disney vacation
We’ve put together a few guides to putting welcome offers to use for free things such as hotels, flights and tickets. Plus as you spend on your card overtime you’ll find yourself earning even more rewards that will get you going on more vacations sooner.
- Free Flights to Disneyland
- Free Tickets to Disneyland
- Free Hotel Stay at Disneyland
- Free Disney World Tickets
- Free Disney World Hotel
- Cheap Flights to Disney World
We continually update all these articles to ensure you get the most out of your new cards and savings a ton of money on your Disneyland vacation. Right now the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card in our top Travel Credit Card for Disney and we highly recommend it for all your travel spending. Be sure to read our guide on buying discounted tickets for your vacation to Disneyland as well.
Park Savers has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Park Savers and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
