Best Credit Cards For A Disney World Vacation

How free travel with points and miles works plus my three favorite cards for a Disney World vacation.

The number one way I stretch our travel budget is by leveraging the points and miles I earn through responsible credit card use.

In fact, just using the right card for our everyday spending has earned my family free Disney World tickets, flights, and hotel stays year after year 😳

I’d love to help you start using points and miles for your family’s travels, too! In this post I’ll share the three cards that I recommend for a Disney World vacation – so read on for all of the details.

👉Click here to see all of my picks for the best credit cards for Disney World👈

How Does Travel With Points & Miles Work?

If you are new to traveling with points and miles you probably have lots of questions – I know I did when I got started 15 years ago.

The basic idea is this: credit card companies are eager for your business and offer valuable “welcome bonuses” to encourage customers to open a new card.

Welcome bonuses vary – you could earn (for example) $300 cash back or 60,000 points you can transfer to airline or hotel loyalty programs. Oftentimes you have to meet a minimum spending requirement on a card to earn the bonus.

These welcome bonuses are an incredible way to earn travel just by using the card for everyday spending and paying it off.

I’ve earned over $100,000 in flights, hotels, and more from my points and miles hobby, so we aren’t talking chump change here!

All of my recommended cards have a reasonable minimum spending requirement, i.e. something most people can reach just through everyday spending on bills, groceries, and gas.

Sometimes you’ll also want to put upcoming travel on your card to help meet the spending requirement since you can then “erase” that travel charge with points (more on this soon).

But the basic idea is to use a credit card instead of a debit card for your everyday spending so you can earn valuable points and miles for travel. Now on to my recommended cards!

Best Card For Disney World: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The first card I recommend getting for a Disney World vacation is Chase Sapphire Preferred.

The reason for this is that the points you’ll earn from the welcome bonus and everyday spending (Ultimate Reward points) are ridiculously valuable when you transfer them to airline and hotel partners.

There’s a new welcome bonus of 75,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. 

How much is 75k points actually worth though? Here are some real-life examples that I’d bet will surprise you!

For example, you can transfer your points directly to Southwest and Jetblue for free flights to Orlando – you’ll just pay $5.60 in taxes per ticket.

Most people find that they are able to fly their entire family to Orlando for free just with the points they earn from this one welcome bonus.

A few examples: non-stop flights to Orlando (MCO) from my home airport (Raleigh/Durham North Carolina, RDU) start at 4,000 points this fall. The cash price of the same flight is $69.

That means that your 75,000 point welcome bonus will get you $1,294 worth of flights on Southwest. 😯

My other favorite airline for transfering points is Jetblue. Here’s an example of a non-stop flight from Boston to Orlando this fall:

Book this $124 flight for 8,400 points. That means your welcome bonus is worth up to $1,107 in flights on JetBlue. 

In both of these situations you could fly a family of four to Orlando roundtrip for free on the welcome bonus from this excellent card. 

If you want to fly on American, Delta, or United you can also do this by transfering points to their partner airlines, though this is a bit more complicated.

Alternatively, you can transfer points to my favorite hotel program, Hyatt, for free hotel stays around Disney World.

Here’s a sample night at my favorite Hyatt close to Disney World, the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress: 

This stay would cost $325 out-of-pocket or 12,000 Hyatt points. Point stays aren’t subject to taxes or resort fees so your cost is truly zero. 

That means your 75,000 point bonus is worth up to $2,031 of free hotel stays at some of the best resorts in Orlando. 

I have used Ultimate Reward points for free stays at four different Hyatt hotels in Orlando, including one inside Orlando International Airport and one right outside of Disney World that offers free breakfast and rooms that sleep six!

Click here for more details on my picks for the best Hyatt near Disney World. 

If transferring points to partners sounds complicated, then there are easier ways to redeem your points (though they won’t be worth as much).

For example, you can book travel directly with points in the Chase Travel™ Portal and get a discount when you pay with points.

Or you can just redeem your points for “cash back” statement credit against any purchase. While this is the least valuable route it makes sense for some because of it’s simplicity.

Regardless of how you use them, the points earned from the Sapphire Preferred card will cut the cost of your Disney World vacation by hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars.

Oh and I can’t forget to mention the other valuable benefits of this card, such as the annual $50 annual Chase Travel™ hotel credit and primary rental car insurance coverage. I use both of these benefits every single year which more than justifies the annual fee on the card.

On to my next pick for the best credit card for Disney World…

Chase Disney® Premier Visa® Card

My third pick is a card that offers special benefits for a Disney World vacation that most people sleep on.

There are lots of pros to the Disney Premier Visa card:

• Easy-to-earn “cash back” welcome bonus
• Access to special character meet and greets in the Disney World parks
• Discounts on merchandise, food, and tours that will save you money on your trip

I’ve had this card in my wallet for almost 15 years(!) because of the discounts and perks I use on every trip.

For example, when you pay with your Disney Premier Visa card you’ll save 20% at the over 20 Joffrey’s Coffee locations around Walt Disney World (excluding alcohol).

You’ll also save 10% at many dining locations in the Disney parks and resorts – including my favorite restaurants at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

You’ll now save 10% on all merchandise purchases at Disney World gift shops. In the past this required a $50 minimum spend but that requirement is now gone – I even saved 10% off a Diet Coke I purchased in a Magic Kingdom gift shop.

And I have really come to appreciate the free cardmember character photo opportunities at Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The wait is always short and you get free PhotoPass downloads without having to buy an expensive photo package!

The Epcot character meet is with Mickey and another Disney pal and is located next to the Imagination pavilion. Head towards the Pixar Short Film Festival then veer to the left and you’ll find it. 

Just be sure to have your physical card with you – you’ll need to show it to enter. Click here for the current hours and more info!

Or if you have a Star Wars fan in your party, click here for details on the Hollywood Studios cardmember character photo opportunity. 

If you are planning a trip to Disney World I highly suggest getting this card and carrying it with you for all of the discounts and benefits you’ll get on vacation.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

My next pick is the Capital One Venture Rewards card.

The reason is that the miles you’ll earn through this card are perfect for lowering (or even elimatinating) the cost of your Disney World park tickets.

If you use your Venture card to purchase your park tickets (as part of a Disney World package or through a third party) you can use the miles you earn from the card to “erase” part or all of the cost of your tickets.

I have an entire post to dedicated to this excellent card – click here for the details!

Best Credit Cards for Disney World Summary

One of the main strategies we use to save money on our MANY visits to Walt Disney World is using rewards from our everyday credit card use.

All of these cards will help you not only save money but will improve the quality of your vacation!

There’s no way we could we afford to visit Disney World several times each year without the free flights, hotel stays, and tickets we get through points and miles.

Any questions? Leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to answer your questions right away.

Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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