Disney Visa-is it worth it?

[Verstehen]

Okay, here's my story.

I have lived in Tampa for almost two years now. At the end of October it will be time for my second AP renewal. I'm getting my Master's in January and am hoping to move back to the northeast to be closer to my family shortly after that, but I have decided to renew my pass anyway because A) I don't know how long it will take for me to get a job up north, and since I don't intend to leave Tampa without getting a new job, it means I could go months and months without being able to visit Disney cheaply, which is a priority for me while I'm here and can take advantage of it. And B) Even if I do somehow get a good job right away and have this big pass sitting around, I'm sure I'll find some excuse to go back to Disney and use it at least once before it runs out.

Now that I've had a taste of frequent trips, I don't see myself stopping anytime soon, even if I move out of state. My stepmother and I have just planned a surprise trip for my mom to come visit me, and we both agree that she is most likely to want to do Disney. This will basically be my third time staying on property within a year, and if it doesn't stop soon I will start wondering if I could be getting more bang for my buck. I have been wanting to open up a second credit card for awhile now, and I'm feeling more and more like the Disney Visa might be a good option. But I wanted to get some opinions first.

I know every case is different. I personally have a modest income (at least for a single lady with no kid who rents her place), and I'd like to continue staying on property at least once a year. If the Visa would allow me to stay on Deluxe properties more often, that would really make it worth it for me, as I can usually only do Moderates, but Deluxe is just what I prefer. I have one credit card already which I use mostly to get points and build up my credit, which should be pretty good as I pay the balance off every month.

Can anyone tell me if they'd recommend this card, or would I just be wasting my credit? Also, would the paid one be worth it for me, or should I stick to the free one?

 

[wishing4PA]

My 2 cents worth, coming from someone who recently opened a Disney Visa card ...

Since you've been thinking of doing it anyhow, and you don't have a whole bunch of cards, go ahead!
But -
wait until they make you a decent offer (I got a $200 gift card for signing up. Not everyone gets that offer, but don't sign up for free.)

Having 2 cards may actually help your credit scores, believe it or not. One thing they look at is a ratio of how much credit you use vs. your available credit, so having more credit is (to the crazy people who determined this formula) a good thing, to a certain extent. 2 cards is not excessive.

Don't expect to be making a whole lot of money (i.e., extra deluxe trips) out of the deal, but any Disney money is good money, right?

As for paid vs. free, I went with free. I don't like to pay for my plastic. It might make sense if you were upper income, and going to put everything on the card. At my income it didn't make sense, and I'm guessing from your description the same would apply for you.

JMHO

 

[Verstehen]

Good idea about waiting for a reward. How do I find out about these? Would I have to sign up in the park?

I have a friend who stays at the Grand Floridian every year with her mother and sister on Mother's Day weekend. I was marveling at how rich she must be when she mentioned they usually only pay about $200 OOP...because their father is a farmer and has a Disney Visa he uses to buy all of his business expenses. Oh, to be them!

 

[wishing4PA]

Good idea about waiting for a reward. How do I find out about these? Would I have to sign up in the park?

I hope some other people reply with ideas. I just got lucky and got the usual (if it weren't Disney) junk mail solicitation, which had the GC offer. But there might be some way to call up and speak to the right person who could offer it. I'm not sure?

 

[Verstehen]

Hopefully! And yes, I'm not very upper income. I'm just a thrifty spender. ;-) I'm crossing my fingers, hoping a good deal for WL will come along.

 

[kddisney502]

there is currently a $100 credit offer for the disney visa. It is valid on both the no fee and fee card. FYI.

 

[Verstehen]

there is currently a $100 credit offer for the disney visa. It is valid on both the no fee and fee card. FYI.

Where do I find that? The Disney Visa site says $100 for the fee card and $50 for the no fee card.

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

I got the Disney Visa earlier this year after our trip in January. Here's my take on it:

1. At that time, the special offer was $100 Disney gift card for the premium card and $50 Disney gift card for the free card.

2. I refuse to pay money for the privilege of holding a credit card. My recommendations to anyone starting out and trying to build their credit are a) NEVER pay an annual fee on a card and b) ALWAYS pay off the entire balance at the end of the month. Needless to say, I went with the free card.

3. We put the vast majority of our household expenses on one of our rewards credit cards then pay the entire balance at the end of the month. This way, we aren't paying for our own money (in financing charges), we aren't spending additional money just to get rewards (groceries, day care, etc. are all things we would have to purchase anyway), so the rewards give us a little bit of something back. We have a Hilton card, which pays for the bulk of our typical monthly expenses and gives us hotel points, and the Disney card, which we use for larger household purchases and for my work travel.

4. You're only getting 1 percent of what you'd spend back with the Disney card. So, let's run some random numbers here. Let's say you would normally stay at POR for five nights in mid-October for $967. That same stay at AKL would run you $2,363--a $1,396 difference. In order to make that upgrade using your 1 percent Disney Visa points, you'd need to put $139,600 on your card. I don't know about you, but for us (a two-income family) it would take a long time for our credit card to see that much use.

5. Is it worth it for me? YES! We now have some extra money to cover a few souvenirs/snacks/etc.--because I got 1 percent of all the money I spent on the card back. After October, we won't be back to WDW for a couple of years. So, in the meantime, we'll probably build up a good chunk of change that will make a nice difference toward paying for the trip. BUT, it's not a ton of money unless you'r already SPENDING a ton of money on credit cards.

 

[Verstehen]

Thanks! Hopefully one day, when/if my income is better, I'll have a better chance of racking up points and staying at the Polynesian every time (hey, a girl can dream!). But even if it saves me a few bucks on dining, it still might be worth it. You can't avoid eating, after all, and once Disney's got you through the turnstile, it can be so annoying to go off property to nosh.

 

[DVCMikey]

We have had the card for at least 7 years now. I like it because I use it at home on whatever I can and then pay it off. Than when time comes to visit disney I use the points card on whatever I want.

Also, you can use the card to buy disney vacations and pay it off over 6 months interest free.

I sometimes get perks and other things through the website.

Also, you can use it to buy DVC. Im not sure of the deal they have but I think if you use it as a down payment.

 

[hollygolitely93]

There are much better cards with better interest and better points. Many of which can be issued in gift certificates more valuable tha. Your Disney visa points back. If you google around you will see most financial experts do not think Disney visa is a good consumer deal.

 

[rwdavis2]

We got the new card (w/$50) in the spring and then started running all the expenses we could through it. For the promotional time period (3 month) we got 5% back for gas, groceries, and restaurants. Paid if off every month. 2% for all other charges. We probably piled on an extra $250 in rewards and over the last few years the rewards are approaching $1500.

You do have to be fanatical about paying it off every month. Otherwise the interest can cost more than your rewards.

 

[kddisney502]

Where do I find that? The Disney Visa site says $100 for the fee card and $50 for the no fee card.

It looks like they have changed the offer, sorry. We were able to get the no fee card with a $100 statement credit earlier this year. A friend of mine got the same offer a couple weeks ago. But the website has a different offer, both in amount and type (gift card vs statement credit)

 

[nkereina]

I have a Disney Visa card and I hate it. I have good credit (over 750) and it has an exorbitant interest rate (18%!) and they have never raised my credit line or dropped the interest rate. I have two other credit cards as well and they have both raised my credit line and one lowered the interest rate, both within the last few years. I've had the Disney Visa for about 5 years now and nothing from them.

You get $1 in rewards for every $100 you spend. I think I had like $40 bucks to spend last trip because I don't charge that much. The ONLY benefit of the card for me is to be able to charge your Disney vacation package with 6 months of no interest. Other than the crappy rewards and no interest vacation financing, I've never used any of the other "benefits". Had I researched more, I may have applied for a regular generic rewards type of card just to get more out of it.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

We have the paid card and charge everything we can to it. Over the past year, we racked up over $1k in rewards. The free card would have only yielded about $600. I have no problem paying $50 upfront for $400 nine months later.

That being said, if you don't plan on charging much on the card, there's no benefit to getting the paid card as it'll cost you more than you'll earn.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

I like the Disney Visa card (love my Tinkerbell design!). I always pay my card in full every month, and upgraded a few months ago to the Premium card. I was able to put my entire upcoming trip on the card (and get the promotional 5% back on that amount) plus a higher percentage on various categories (gas, groceries, etc.). For a yearly cost of $49 (I think), I easily earned an additional $350 in reward dollars.

 

[krzykramer]

We have had the Disney Visa since the day it was offered (the free one). We have a family of 4 (2 smaller kids 8 & 3). We use it to pay ALL of our bills and expenses then pay the entire balance when the bill comes. And when i mean all, I mean ALL our expenses and bills. Electric, gas, food, cable, cell phones, car loan, etc. We generally rack up close to a $1000 in Disney Dollars each year. Since we pay off the balance, we don't have to pay interest for what we spend, and we get about $30-70 Disney Dollars each month. Sometimes Chase offers double point options for food and gas, but every dollar at Disney is double points. That will pay for 1/2 a 10 day moderate trip for us with our AP. In our opinion, its completely worth it.
As for resort discounts, they aren't any better than the GP, but sometimes they are offered to us first (like the recent FD offer).

 

[Hardy]

We signed up with the $200 offer and were able to each get one, so a total of $400 of free money for the free card! So yes, worth it for us! I hardly use mine, dh uses his for gas and we are bringing around $200 extra to Disney this time.

 

[newdeal]

I dont know what they have in the states but i have a card inmcanada that gives me 1% back in cash on everything and 3% on gas and groceries...you could just save the cheques they send you and put them towards a trip. If you like to stay deluxe it may be cheaper to rent DVC points than topay disney anyway. My card is an MBNA smart cash card and it is no fee

 

[stocker1042]

I know this might be slightly off topic, but since you mentioned you are more than likely moving to the northeast, I suggest getting a Southwest card. Their rewards program is pretty good. Flights from a few of their larger airports in the NE to Orlando can be had for 5500-7200 points...which is only that much money spent on your card. The wife and I both have SW cards and we go to WDW three times a year..and we have not paid for airfare in years. They have one point per dollar spent deal. Yes..there is a $50 annual fee, but we earn a little over 3 flights per year each so it is well worth it. The SW card also offers all sorts of deals on specific items...like they have a deal with Teleflora...when I send Mom flowers for her birthday and Mother's day...a $40 purchase will net me 1000 points...or 20% of a flight for doing something I normally did anyway. They also do send free drink tickets from time to time if you are a drinker...and even if you're not..I've seen people selling them on ebay!

The savings add up really quickly with the SW card. As with any card, you do have to be vigilant about paying it off each month and not overextending yourself, but if worked properly....can yield some great benefits.