Best place to USE discounted Disney gift cards?

[Tatebeck]

I was thinking about the best place to use the discounted Disney gift cards that we accumulate when we find deals. I feel that depending on where you use them, you can get better value than others when considering credit card reward points.

When visiting WDW, room charges (including magic band purchases I believe) count as travel on most credit cards, and restaurants count as dining. These both get me 4.5% effective cash back on my cards.

So would the best things to use the discounted gift cards (that you can get for over 5% off) be things like theme park tickets, genie+ (or multipass/singlepass now), after hours, party tickets, or any merchandise locations or booths that don't let you use magicband? These places would earn less than 4.5% and would be a better "value" than using the gift cards on things that would earn the higher cash back like hotels, DVC dues, restaurants, etc.

Is my thinking correct? If you have enough gift cards for everything then that would be the play, but I don't know if I will be able to grab enough at a >5% discount for everything over time, especially for DVC dues every year.

 

[Mle8308]

If your giftcards you bought are just sitting around with value on them for any period of time, you are potentially losing money. Depending on how much you have, you could have put that amount into a short term CD, there are banks/credit unions in my area where you can open up an 8 month CD and get 5.5% interest rate with a minimum $2000 deposit. For $1000 it was 5%. And deposit into them as long as it is $100 or more. And you don't risk losing the GC! Or, put that GC money towards paying off loans or credit cards if you carry balances. Now if you buy discounted GC's right before your trip, that is different, they are not sitting around with money on them that could be used towards either making you money or decreasing debt that is at a rate higher than 5%. Or if you might need emergency cash, can't use it if it's tied up in WDW GC's.

 

[Tatebeck]

If your giftcards you bought are just sitting around with value on them for any period of time, you are potentially losing money. Depending on how much you have, you could have put that amount into a short term CD, there are banks/credit unions in my area where you can open up an 8 month CD and get 5.5% interest rate with a minimum $2000 deposit. For $1000 it was 5%. And deposit into them as long as it is $100 or more. And you don't risk losing the GC! Or, put that GC money towards paying off loans or credit cards if you carry balances. Now if you buy discounted GC's right before your trip, that is different, they are not sitting around with money on them that could be used towards either making you money or decreasing debt that is at a rate higher than 5%. Or if you might need emergency cash, can't use it if it's tied up in WDW GC's.

That's one of the reasons I won't buy gift cards unless the discount is over 5%, and typically I look for closer to 10%. Also, I have been going more often than every 8 months so I wouldn't want to put the trip money in there and tie it up. If I'm looking to invest money I don't put it into savings accounts lol, even CDs. I'm young so that goes straight into longer term stocks, etc. even if it is just an easy investment like a S&P 500 ETF or the like.

I'm not buying more dollars in gift cards than I would typically keep in my checking account anyway so I'm not using investment funds for this, just looking to get the best percent off when we go to maximize value. We don't carry balances on credit cards, just use them for maximum rewards, house is almost paid off and is at a lower percent than our investments would gain, etc.

 

[Mle8308]

That's one of the reasons I won't buy gift cards unless the discount is over 5%, and typically I look for closer to 10%. Also, I have been going more often than every 8 months so I wouldn't want to put the trip money in there and tie it up. If I'm looking to invest money I don't put it into savings accounts lol, even CDs. I'm young so that goes straight into longer term stocks, etc. even if it is just an easy investment like a S&P 500 ETF or the like. I'm not buying more dollars in gift cards than I would typically keep in my checking account anyway so I'm not using investment funds for this, just looking to get the best percent off when we go to maximize value

Put the money in a short term CD that matures before your trip, get that interest, then buy the GC's at a discount. A double dip. Not sure where you are getting WDW gift cards for a 10% discount, you need to share that!

 

[Tatebeck]

Put the money in a short term CD that matures before your trip, get that interest, then buy the GC's at a discount. A double dip. Not sure where you are getting WDW gift cards for a 10% discount, you need to share that!

It doesn't happen often. Last couple times were at costco last year and a cash back deal from rakuten+sam's club.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

I have what amounts to a 4% back on restaurants and I will still go out of my way to buy a GC even if it's only a 5% savings just to say I'm beating Disney for that extra 1%!

 

[Tatebeck]

Only time I would buy 5% is right before a trip or right before DVC dues come otherwise the extra 0.5% savings over my credit card really just dissolves with time.

Edit: or get 5% at places that I can get a 5% discount AND some extra CC points (ie not Target since you have to use their card)

 

[georgina]

okay

 

[VGCgroupie]

My order has always been tickets and ticket add ons, then room charges (only TOT for DVC members), then food, then merchandise. I have never done 5% deals though. If it's not minimum 10% I don't usually do it. Also, I tend to stock right before trips not super far in advance so the put it in a CD thing isnt gonna benefit me. By the time the CC bill is due the trip is usually not that far off anyway.

Also.. Im off to check some of my CC bills because Im thinking many restaurant purchases I have made at Disney did not code as dining.

 

[VGCgroupie]

My order has always been tickets and ticket add ons, then room charges (only TOT for DVC members), then food, then merchandise. I have never done 5% deals though. If it's not minimum 10% I don't usually do it. Also, I tend to stock right before trips not super far in advance so the put it in a CD thing isnt gonna benefit me. By the time the CC bill is due the trip is usually not that far off anyway.

Also.. Im off to check some of my CC bills because Im thinking many restaurant purchases I have made at Disney did not code as dining.

Well my last trip and I was lazy and used the new Disney Visa for everything. Though it seems the restaurants did code as restaurants or fast food.

 

[robinb]

My order has always been tickets and ticket add ons, then room charges (only TOT for DVC members), then food, then merchandise. I have never done 5% deals though. If it's not minimum 10% I don't usually do it. Also, I tend to stock right before trips not super far in advance so the put it in a CD thing isnt gonna benefit me. By the time the CC bill is due the trip is usually not that far off anyway.

Also.. Im off to check some of my CC bills because Im thinking many restaurant purchases I have made at Disney did not code as dining.

For future reference, Target has 5% off Disney gift cards all the time when using their credit/debit card. I have (more than once) purchased an eGift Card while at WDW and transferred it to a physical gift card to use while there. I usually do it when I did not calculate my budget properly and needed another few hundred dollars to cover my shortfall. I've even done this ON THE BUS at WDW, lol. It only takes a few minutes and I'm perfectly happy to pocket an extra 4% over my Disney Visa card.

 

[trenty]

Not sure where you are getting WDW gift cards for a 10% discount, you need to share that!

It happens. Last year I averaged 18% with a little effort. This year I have saved over 13% so far. This does include "free" gift cards I purchased with funds from rakuten cash back, etc.

A few of my better purchases that were not "free":

• My credit card often has offers for 10-20% back at specific merchants that sell Disney GCs: CVS, Disney Store, Best Buy
• When I get a $10 off coupon on my BJs app that is good for any purchase, I use it for Disney GCs.
• Costco recently had a good deal (forget the exact amts)
• Cash app - had some great deals at merchants that sold Disney GCs (target, home depot, rite aid) - but that seems to have dried up for now.
• BJs and Best Buy sometime has sales on Disney GCs. When these coincide with a credit car offer it's a double win!

 

[VGCgroupie]

Put the money in a short term CD that matures before your trip, get that interest, then buy the GC's at a discount. A double dip. Not sure where you are getting WDW gift cards for a 10% discount, you need to share that!

My current stack I am at 15.77% savings averaged on $2820 worth of cards.

Here's a great thread if you havent seen it.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/updated-disney-gift-card-deals-and-more.3784942/