About this Guide:
Disney vacations are such a popular family destination, but they can be pricey! While there are occasional deals on Disney tickets and accommodations, there is no other way that will save you money on Disney expenses on the same scale as using credit card points and miles!
This guide will teach you step-by-step how to leverage specific credit card welcome offers to book your flights, hotel, and Disney tickets for as close to free as possible!
Note that your “points mileage” will vary depending on your family size and time of year of your visit. If your flights, hotels and Disney tickets don’t end up being 100 percent free with your credit card points, I promise you they will be steeply, steeply discounted!
Before We Begin:
This guide will work for a vacation to Walt Disney World or Disneyland!
This guide is VERY beginner friendly - it does not require that you open business credit cards or to transfer your points!
I recommend waiting 90 days between credit card applications for best chances of approval, to keep your credit score healthy and to keep a good relationship with the banks. This isn’t a hard and fast rule - it’s a risk tolerance thing so its up to you if you want to wait less than 90 days. I ALWAYS recommend waiting at least 30 days between credit card applications!
There are other cards, points, strategies that can get you to Disney for nearly free. I chose this method because it is EASY. (I will share some easy alternative strategies as well)
Note: I am able to provide free guides like this thanks to credit card affiliate links. When you use my credit card affiliate links instead of googling a credit card offer, it supports my small business at no cost to you! I appreciate your support!
Each parent opens a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. These points will cover airfare.
STEP-BY-STEP METHOD AT A GLANCE
STEP 1
Each parent opens The World of Hyatt Credit Card. These points will cover the hotel.
STEP 2
Each parent opens a Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. These points will cover tickets.
STEP 3
Flights to Disney
Each parent opens a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to cover flights to Disney.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is my favorite credit card and one of the most beginner friendly credit cards! The standard welcome offer is 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening.
Your points are worth 25 percent more through Chase Travel℠ which means that the standard welcome offer of 60,000 points is worth $750 worth of travel booked through Chase Travel℠.
Step 1: Parent 1 opens the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Step 2: Parent 1 DOES NOT add Parent 2 as an authorized user.
Step 3: Parent 1 REFERS Parent 2 to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Step 4: Parent 1 earns the 60k point welcome offer.
Step 5: Parent 1 earns the 10k referral bonus.
Step 6: Parent 2 earns the 60k welcome offer.
You now have at least 130k Chase points to use for flights! 130k points are worth $1,625 in Chase Travel which you can use to book your flights!
(Or you can transfer your points to an airline partner like Southwest or United and book your flights through Southwest/United!)
Alternative method: open airline specific credit cards for flights. Southwest is a great option!
Hotels Near Disney
One or both parents opens a The World of Hyatt Credit Card, depending on how many nights you want to book. These points will cover the hotel.
The standard offer on The World of Hyatt Credit Card is 30k points after spending $3k on purchases the first 3 months. Plus, up to 30k points by earning 2 points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15k spent.
Step 1: Parent 1 opens The World of Hyatt Credit Card.
Step 2: Parent 1 DOES NOT add Parent 2 as an authorized user.
Step 3: Parent 2 opens the World of Hyatt Credit Card (depending on how many nights you need at Disney)
There is no referral bonus for this card.
You now have at least 60k Hyatt points to use to book your hotel for Disney!
Hyatt Properties Near Disney:
Walt Disney World Category 1-4 Hotels:
Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort (12k - 18k Hyatt points per night)
Hyatt Place Orlando/Lake Buena Vista (6.5k - 9.5k Hyatt points per night)
Hyatt Regency Orlando (12k - 18k Hyatt points per night)
Disneyland Category 1-4 Hotels:
Hyatt House at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center (12k- 18k Hyatt points per night)
Hyatt Place at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center (12k-18k Hyatt points per night)
Hyatt Regency Orange County (12k - 18k Hyatt points per night)
Hyatt House Cypress/Anaheim (9k - 15k Hyatt points per night)
Alternative method: check out this blog post for other hotel options to book on points for Walt Disney World. Some of these properties have on property Disney perks like 30 minute early entry that these Hyatt properties do not offer.
Disney Tickets
Each parent opens a Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. These points will cover tickets.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has a standard welcome offer of 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4k on purchase in the first 3 months of account opening.
Step 1: Parent 1 opens the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Step 2: Parent 1 DOES NOT add Parent 2 as an authorized user.
Step 3: Parent 1 REFERS Parent 2 to the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Step 4: Parent 1 earns the 75k point welcome offer.
Step 5: Parent 1 earns a 25k referral bonus (you are only eligible to earn the referral bonus if the person you refer is a new Capital One cardholder)
Step 6: Parent 2 earns the 75k welcome offer.
You now have at least 175k Venture Miles to use for Disney tickets. This will cover $1,750 worth of tickets!
How to Redeem Your Miles for Tickets:
In order to cover your Disney tickets with Venture Miles, you will purchase the tickets with your Capital One Venture card and then reimburse your travel expense with miles. 175k Venture miles will cover $1,750.
IMPORTANT: Tickets purchased from Disney’s website do NOT code as travel and they NEED TO CODE AS TRAVEL in order to use your Venture Miles. However, you can purchase Disney tickets through a trusted third party website like Undercover Tourist or Getaway Today that DO code as travel. An added bonus to this is that these tickets are often slightly cheaper than purchasing through Disney!
Alternative Method: Check out this blog post for more ways to save of Disney tickets!
Frequently Asked Questions
What about the annual fees?
Each of these cards have a $95 annual fee. Considering the value you get from the welcome offer alone, I’d say the annual fee is worth it the first year! After the first year of opening the card, you can consider downgrading to a no-annual-fee credit card or canceling the card if you no longer see the value in paying the annual fee. Check out my blog post for more info on this —> Do you Keep All Your Credit Cards?
What if I already have one of these credit cards?
There are other credit cards you can use! I chose these cards as a beginner friendly strategy because they have low annual fees and are easy to earn and redeem! If you would like more ideas of how to use points for Disney, check out these two blog posts:
Can I use points for a different vacation?
Yes! I recommend reading my Free Beginner’s Guide to Points & Miles and taking our FREE Masterclass: Your First Free Vacation on Points to get started!
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EDITORIAL NOTE:
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 with the post.