Critique my trip savings plans

[bwr827]

After an amazing trip last year to WDW and Universal, we haven’t stopped thinking about returning to the magic.

But it’s sooo expensive. Especially for us Canadians.

So this time I’m trying to think of all reasonably possible ways to cut costs (caveat: without compromising on staying on property).

Ideas so far:
1. Try to stay at Swan/Dolphin using Marriott points. Signed up for Marriott Amex to get 65,000 bonus points and get collecting.

2. Focusing on Aeroplan points to cover 1-2 of our 4 round trip flights. Signed up for Aeroplan credit card for bonus points as well.

3. Did a CIBC rewards credit card over the winter and used the hotel refund method to bank $900 for the vacation fund.

4. Skipping the special dining — last time we reserved Space 220 and Homecomin’. Space was very cool and the food was great but not worth the $600ish CDN that hit our Visa. Homecomin’ was not that expensive but it was our second-most expensive and the food was nothing special.

5. Signed up for credit card that charges zero foreign exchange fees. We’ll use this for every trip expense (last year we paid 2.5% transaction fee without realizing).

That’s all I’ve got! Any critiques?

 

[happily single]

Does Target offer the Red Card in Canada? In the US we get 5% off gift cards, including Disney. I’ll pick up a $25 or $50 every time I shop

 

[ElCray]

Does Target offer the Red Card in Canada? In the US we get 5% off gift cards, including Disney. I’ll pick up a $25 or $50 every time I shop

There's no Target in Canada...

 

[ElCray]

After an amazing trip last year to WDW and Universal, we haven’t stopped thinking about returning to the magic.

But it’s sooo expensive. Especially for us Canadians.

So this time I’m trying to think of all reasonably possible ways to cut costs (caveat: without compromising on staying on property).

Ideas so far:
1. Try to stay at Swan/Dolphin using Marriott points. Signed up for Marriott Amex to get 65,000 bonus points and get collecting.

2. Focusing on Aeroplan points to cover 1-2 of our 4 round trip flights. Signed up for Aeroplan credit card for bonus points as well.

3. Did a CIBC rewards credit card over the winter and used the hotel refund method to bank $900 for the vacation fund.

4. Skipping the special dining — last time we reserved Space 220 and Homecomin’. Space was very cool and the food was great but not worth the $600ish CDN that hit our Visa. Homecomin’ was not that expensive but it was our second-most expensive and the food was nothing special.

5. Signed up for credit card that charges zero foreign exchange fees. We’ll use this for every trip expense (last year we paid 2.5% transaction fee without realizing).

That’s all I’ve got! Any critiques?

Not so much critiques but just some ideas...

If there is any chance you can get Platinum or above with Marriott Bonvoy, you would get free breakfast for two every morning at the Rosa restaurant. We traded turns doing that with the others eating in the room. You would also be eligible for a room upgrade if there was one available.

If you can wait til after your one year anniversary with the Amex Bonvoy card, you can use your free night credit at the Swan or Dolphin.

If you are looking for a credit card that can give either Marriott Bonvoy or Aeroplan points, consider the American Express Cobalt card because you get 5x points on groceries and restaurants that take it. Points pile up very quickly.

If you don't mind doing your own food and snacks, you can save a ton of money that way. The Swan and Dolphin have decent fridges, altho small. They also have microwaves on the 6th and 9th floors. We got groceries (and beer) from Publix and had DIY suppers. We also brought non perishable food in our luggage that followed the customs guidelines (bagels, tortillas, granola bars, instant oatmeal, etc).

 

[deedubb]

If you must stay on property, consider one of the values or if you prefer something within walking distance of some parks like the Swan/Dolphin, you could rent DVC points and stay at Beach Club or Boardwalk. As already mentioned, order groceries/snacks. We always order groceries and eat breakfast in the room before heading to the parks.

 

[bwr827]

Definitely — last time we stayed at Pop Century and loved it. But it still cost $1,100 USD for 5 nights, with a discount. We loved the Skyliner and the main pool.

We ordered groceries from Walmart while waiting for the second leg of our flight at Minneapolis airport. That was very handy for breakfasts and snacks.

 

[bwr827]

Not so much critiques but just some ideas...

If there is any chance you can get Platinum or above with Marriott Bonvoy, you would get free breakfast for two every morning at the Rosa restaurant. We traded turns doing that with the others eating in the room. You would also be eligible for a room upgrade if there was one available.

If you can wait til after your one year anniversary with the Amex Bonvoy card, you can use your free night credit at the Swan or Dolphin.

If you are looking for a credit card that can give either Marriott Bonvoy or Aeroplan points, consider the American Express Cobalt card because you get 5x points on groceries and restaurants that take it. Points pile up very quickly. Some people buy gift cards at grocery stores and get 5x for things like gas, Disney gift cards, etc.

If you don't mind doing your own food and snacks, you can save a ton of money that way. The Swan and Dolphin have decent fridges, altho small. They also have microwaves on the 6th and 9th floors. We got groceries (and beer) from Publix and had DIY suppers. We also brought non perishable food in our luggage that followed the customs guidelines (bagels, tortillas, granola bars, instant oatmeal, etc).

I was thinking about the Cobalt! I’ll try that one after we meet the minimum spend on the two cards I’ve added.

Will look into Marriott statuses, good tip.

 

[bwr827]

There's no Target in Canada...

It was so close! Still sad that Target so disastrously mishandled their foray into Canada.

I’ve tried to sign up for the Red card to use when visiting the US but it doesn’t allow Canadian addresses.

 

[ElCray]

Oh yes, a couple more thoughts. We actually just did all of the tips I shared and stayed at the Dolphin... It was fantastic.

If you can collect Air Miles Cash Miles (or another points program like that), you can convert them to Starbucks gift cards. You can use those cards at the Starbucks in the airports and at each one of the parks for coffees, snacks, and light lunches.

There is also a new bus that leaves from MCO that is super cheap to get to WDW. We usually rent a car though. If renting, I've found the best prices through my husband's union discount, followed by Air Canada Vacations (car rental only), followed by Costco. We use the Visitor Toll Pass to save on tolls.

If you got an Aeroplan Visa Infinite credit card, everyone on your itinerary will have free checked bags.

Can anyone else in your family sign up for an Aeroplan or Bonvoy credit card? If a second person signs up for the Amex Bonvoy, along with the 60K points you'd get a second free night. Just remember for them to use your referral code to sign up.

 

[ElCray]

Annnd a couple more thoughts on tickets...

For Universal and Disney tickets, you can consider using Air Miles dream miles to buy them.

Disney's special of 20% off Cdn tickets usually happens in the fall if you are using cash. Some people buy gift cards first to maximize points. Then pay for the tickets using the gift cards.

This 20% off special also translates into a lower number of Air Miles dream miles needed to book.

For Universal, it might be worth buying the entry level annual pass depending on how many days you are going. Or you could buy something like the buy 2 get 2 more days ticket.

This special is also usually available to buy using Air Miles dream miles.

 

[bwr827]

Oh yes, a couple more thoughts. We actually just did all of the tips I shared and stayed at the Dolphin... It was fantastic.

If you can collect Air Miles Cash Miles (or another points program like that), you can convert them to Starbucks gift cards. You can use those cards at the Starbucks in the airports and at each one of the parks for coffees, snacks, and light lunches.

There is also a new bus that leaves from MCO that is super cheap to get to WDW. We usually rent a car though. If renting, I've found the best prices through my husband's union discount, followed by Air Canada Vacations (car rental only), followed by Costco. We use the Visitor Toll Pass to save on tolls.

If you got an Aeroplan Visa Infinite credit card, everyone on your itinerary will have free checked bags.

Can anyone else in your family sign up for an Aeroplan or Bonvoy credit card? If a second person signs up for the Amex Bonvoy, along with the 60K points you'd get a second free night. Just remember for them to use your referral code to sign up.

Good tips! We are planning to get my wife signed up for the Amex Bonvoy as well. Do you know whether the annual free night counts as a points booking? I’ve heard there are usually only a limited number of rooms available for points vs cash.

 

[mort1331]

If going for more than 7 days, check out the tickets from the UK website, cheaper includes photo pass and hopper.
Also start buying Disney gift cards here, use them there and no forex fees, straight exchange on the daily exchange rate. As others have said preload Starbucks and use there, again no forex fees. We Ubered to and from airport, cheaper and quicker for us.

 

[Aladora]

Do you collect Scene+ points? If you do then this is what I do to save for Disney, but depending on where you live and shop for groceries, it might not work for you. I am on Vancouver Island and shop at Thrifty Foods which is part of the Sobey's family.

When Thrifty is having their gift card deal, I buy the max amount. Every $150 Thrifty gift card gets me 1000 Scene+ points and you can do it up to 5 times. Since I know I will spend the money at Thrifty Foods anyways, I buy five gift cards, each with $150. This gets me 5000 Scene+ points.

The next time I am buying groceries at Thrifty's and the total is more than $50, I add a $50 Disney gift card to my order and ask to redeem enough points for $50 off my groceries. This means that I spend the same amount on my groceries as I would have spent but I get the Disney gift card for free.

Alternatively, you could skip the Disney gift card and whenever you redeem points for $ off your groceries, just move that same amount into a Disney savings account!

Scene+ used to have Disney gift cards as a reward you could redeem for online but not only was the points per dollar not as good as the technique I outlined above, but I just checked the site and it looks like they are not offered anymore.

If you collect Airmiles and have your credit card linked to your AM account there are card linked offers for places that sell Disney gift cards like Dollarama. You can go to Dollarama and get Airmiles for using your linked credit card. Right now the offer is 10 Airmiles for a min $30 purchase and that does include Disney gift cards. As soon as you have 95 Airmiles, you can redeem for $10 Starbucks gift card that can pay for coffee or breakfast at the parks.

As someone above me said, buying your park passes from somewhere other than direct from Disney can save you $. There are a bunch of sites that I check and then buy the one that has the best deal for me.

 

[pigletto]

If going for more than 7 days, check out the tickets from the UK website, cheaper includes photo pass and hopper.
Also start buying Disney gift cards here, use them there and no forex fees, straight exchange on the daily exchange rate. As others have said preload Starbucks and use there, again no forex fees. We Ubered to and from airport, cheaper and quicker for us.

We bought the 14 days for 7 tickets from attractiontickets and paid in Euros. With the 7% discount right now ( it might have just ended) our 14 days with park hopper, waterparks, and free mini golf was less expensive than a four day base ticket from the Disney website. We are going in October after the current Canadian ticket promo ends. So make sure to do the math.

 

[bwr827]

Do you collect Scene+ points? If you do then this is what I do to save for Disney, but depending on where you live and shop for groceries, it might not work for you. I am on Vancouver Island and shop at Thrifty Foods which is part of the Sobey's family.

When Thrifty is having their gift card deal, I buy the max amount. Every $150 Thrifty gift card gets me 1000 Scene+ points and you can do it up to 5 times. Since I know I will spend the money at Thrifty Foods anyways, I buy five gift cards, each with $150. This gets me 5000 Scene+ points.

The next time I am buying groceries at Thrifty's and the total is more than $50, I add a $50 Disney gift card to my order and ask to redeem enough points for $50 off my groceries. This means that I spend the same amount on my groceries as I would have spent but I get the Disney gift card for free.

Alternatively, you could skip the Disney gift card and whenever you redeem points for $ off your groceries, just move that same amount into a Disney savings account!

Scene+ used to have Disney gift cards as a reward you could redeem for online but not only was the points per dollar not as good as the technique I outlined above, but I just checked the site and it looks like they are not offered anymore.

If you collect Airmiles and have your credit card linked to your AM account there are card linked offers for places that sell Disney gift cards like Dollarama. You can go to Dollarama and get Airmiles for using your linked credit card. Right now the offer is 10 Airmiles for a min $30 purchase and that does include Disney gift cards. As soon as you have 95 Airmiles, you can redeem for $10 Starbucks gift card that can pay for coffee or breakfast at the parks.

As someone above me said, buying your park passes from somewhere other than direct from Disney can save you $. There are a bunch of sites that I check and then buy the one that has the best deal for me.

Don’t have Thrifty Foods here but we do a similar “trick” with PC points and groceries. Whatever works!

I just read about that UK/Europe ticket site in another thread - will definitely keep it in mind.

 

[ElCray]

Good tips! We are planning to get my wife signed up for the Amex Bonvoy as well. Do you know whether the annual free night counts as a points booking? I’ve heard there are usually only a limited number of rooms available for points vs cash

So it's a free night certificate worth 35,000 points which you can "top up" using 15,000 points. You'd have two of those with two credit cards.

Those are booked separately from points bookings. So for example, for my last trip, I had 3 reservations for 4 nights. One free night certificate, a second free night certificate, and two nights as a points booking. Then the Dolphin linked my 3 reservations together. I had to get the key cards rekeyed for each reservation. I just did that on the way home from the parks.

To find the points rates, search in the Bonvoy App using flexible dates. About 3 months out, the points requirements for my dates halved and I was able to use my free night certificates with the top ups for them.

 

[bwr827]

So it's a free night certificate worth 35,000 points which you can "top up" using 15,000 points. You'd have two of those with two credit cards.

Those are booked separately from points bookings. So for example, for my last trip, I had 3 reservations for 4 nights. One free night certificate, a second free night certificate, and two nights as a points booking. Then the Dolphin linked my 3 reservations together. I had to get the key cards rekeyed for each reservation. I just did that on the way home from the parks.

To find the points rates, search in the Bonvoy App using flexible dates. About 3 months out, the points requirements for my dates halved and I was able to use my free night certificates with the top ups for them.

Were you able to stay in the same room with those separate-then-linked reservations?

 

[ElCray]

Were you able to stay in the same room with those separate-then-linked reservations?

Yes! We got upgraded to a suite for the 4 nights we were there with my Titanium status. I just had to exchange my keys on the days the reservations turned over.

 

[CanucksRock]

For Space220 - just do the Lounge! Way cheaper. We had 5 people and it was about $180 USD for food & drink. …and we were full! (We had to split into party of 2 and party of 3, but that was no big deal - we still passed Apps between the tables)

The reason I can do multiple trips per year…no kids. I just have to pay for myself. If we stay on property we don’t rent a car, if we stay off property - it’s in a timeshare. (My friend has one and my mom has one …so I’m fortunate I don’t have to pay the maintenance fees, they just charge me my share of exchange fee)

…and then there is the AP. For me it’s been 100% worth it. Including the money I have saved for the non-AP’s that have travelled with me. (The money saved on Parking, Merch & Food add up!)

 

[bwr827]

For Space220 - just do the Lounge! Way cheaper. We had 5 people and it was about $180 USD for food & drink. …and we were full! (We had to split into party of 2 and party of 3, but that was no big deal - we still passed Apps between the tables)

The reason I can do multiple trips per year…no kids. I just have to pay for myself. If we stay on property we don’t rent a car, if we stay off property - it’s in a timeshare. (My friend has one and my mom has one …so I’m fortunate I don’t have to pay the maintenance fees, they just charge me my share of exchange fee)

…and then there is the AP. For me it’s been 100% worth it. Including the money I have saved for the non-AP’s that have travelled with me. (The money saved on Parking, Merch & Food add up!)

Great tip! Had no idea I could have experienced this awesome location on a relative shoestring.