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Our family loves going to Disneyland and Disney World as often as we can, but the price tag used to keep us from visiting as much as we wanted to.
Then, we discovered that we could take almost free Disney vacations using credit card points and miles to pay for lodging, airfare and even admission. Since then, we’ve been to Disneyland twice, Disney World three times and even Disneyland Paris using credit card points and miles! This fall, we’re even heading to Tokyo and Hong Kong Disneyland using points & miles.
Our goal is to help you learn how to take Disney trips all over the world too, using credit card welcome bonuses!
This post will cover:
Our Basic Credit Card Process
Cards we recommend for Lodging, Airfare & Admission
Timing
The process explained
This is our simple methodology for traveling on points & miles:
1. Open a credit card and put all of our regular expenses on that card until the minimum spend required is reached (collect the bonus).
2. Pay off the card every month (it usually takes us at least two months to reach a minimum spend, and the limit is usually three).
3. Refer partner to the card (if there’s a referral bonus) and repeat the process.
That means opening a new credit card every couple months, and no individual ever applying for a credit card more often than every 90 days, the general rule of thumb. That means it would typically take at least 8 months to open the four cards recommended in this post to earn the points & miles for Disney.
YMMV! It might take you less time if you spend more money that we do–or more time if you spend a little less.
Now, let’s look at specific cards we recommend for lodging, airfare and admission to Disney parks!
L O D G I N G
TIP: I like to book Disney lodging first, so the redemption stays don’t fill up. But you’ll have to assess if flights or lodging are most important to book first based on your needs and timeline.
Card Number One
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Many people’s favorite credit card is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card which you can open and earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening (that’s $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®). For only a $95 annual fee, you’ll earn 3x points on dining and on select streaming services and online grocery purchases, 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, and 2x points on other travel, as well as a $50 Annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit.
How to use a Preferred welcome bonus for Disney trip lodging.
The secret to Ultimate Rewards, like the one you earn opening the preferred card, is that you can increase their value by transferring them to multiple hotels and airlines. One of the most economical ways to book hotels with Ultimate Rewards is to transfer points to Hyatt and book a Hyatt at Disneyland or Walt Disney World (the following article links to the Hyatts at Disneyland and Walt Disney World):
You can usually find a room at Hyatt at the California or Florida Disney parks for 9,000/night, meaning one Preferred bonus will get you six nights lodging at Disney!
Card Number Two
The second card I recommend opening is another Chase Sapphire Preferred. Using your affiliate link (google it or look in the Chase app), refer your partner open their own Chase Sapphire Preferred and earn their own 60,000 welcome bonus plus you’ll get 15,000 for referring them. Now between the two of you you’ll have 135,000 Ultimate Rewards!
I know what you might be thinking, and you are correct: this will only work if I have a partner traveling with me. What about single travelers?
A Caveat for Single Travelers
It’s true–it’s easier to book travel on points and miles when there are two partners who can alternate opening credit cards and referring one another to earn more points. But it’s not impossible! I have a very close friend who is a single mom and travels on points & miles with her three children.
For a single parent (or single person earning points for a group), I would still recommend opening the Chase Sapphire Preferred first. Then, if your spending as a single person is high enough, I would open this card:
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $900 bonus cash back (you can turn it into 90,000 Ultimate Rewards) after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. I know $6,000 might be a lot to spend in three months, but you could always look into buying groups, or buy gift cards you will use later as part of your minimum spend. Try to open a card with a higher minimum spend when you have large expenses coming up, like annual taxes if you’re self employed, or annual car insurance, etc.
*note: if you think you can’t open a business card, think again. My husband and I both open business cards as sole proprietors using our social security numbers, reporting the revenue from our side-gig renting our home on Airbnb.
F L I G H T S
TIP: you can book Southwest Airlines flights six months out. Because the first two cards mentioned both earn Ultimate Rewards that can be redeemed for flights or hotels, these are interchangeable and you can decide if you want/need to book flights or hotel first.
The Most Economical Way to Use Ultimate Rewards for Flights
Depending on the length of your trip and point cost of your Hyatt hotel, after you transfer ultimate rewards to Hyatt to book lodging, you can transfer the remainder of the ultimate rewards you booked from the cards above to Southwest Airlines for flights.
From most places in the country, Southwest Airlines flights are one of the most affordable ways to fly a family to Disney. Generally speaking, 75,000 Southwest airlines will fly many families to Disneyland or Walt Disney World from many airports.
The other great Southwest Airlines perk is their famous companion pass, which allows you to bring a companion with you anywhere you fly for under $6! You can earn the pass by opening credit cards, and there is even a way to earn two passes per household, as we outline in this blog post:
A D M I S S I O N
Cards Number Three and Four
After you’ve opened the two Preferred cards (or a Preferred and an Ink) and booked your hotel and airfare, it’s time to open cards that will pay for your admission. Disney tickets generally cost $100/day per person for one park per day if you’re going for at least three days, so for a family or group, you’ll often need two welcome bonuses to cover most of your ticket costs.
1. Capital One® Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel. You’ll always earn 2x miles purchasing anything on this card, which sets it apart.
The Venture X is hands down our favorite travel card, mostly because it gives us Unlimited Priority Pass, which is access to free airport lounges (you’ll also enjoy unlimited access to the Capital One Lounge at Dallas Fort Worth Airport). It has a $395 annual fee, an annual $300 travel credit and 10,000 miles bonus every card anniversary.
TIP: You can book Disney Resorts for Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris through Capital One Travel portal. You’ll earn 10x points booking on your Venture X in the portal, and then you can erase the charge with Capital One miles off your statement (it will also trigger your $300 annual travel credit!).
One lucrative aspect of Capital One cards that is that you can earn 25,000 points referring family or friends; however, this ONLY applies if the person using the referral has never had a Capital One card before.
If you’re not interested in a premium travel card, consider its sister card:
2. Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. For only a $95 annual fee, you’ll be able to visit the Capital One lounge in Dallas Fort Worth airport twice every year! This 75k bonus is elevated and will probably decrease at some point back to 60k.
TIP: Capital One cards are great for when you’re staying on property at Walt Disney World. Connect your Capital One card to your room, and when you make park purchases using your MagicBand, the charges will code as “travel” and you can erase them off your statement with miles.
Both the Venture and the Venture X card will earn you $750 towards Disney admission. You’ll need to purchase your Disney tickets through a third party like Undercover Tourist or Getaway Today so the tickets will code as “travel” on your statement and you can then erase them with your Capital One miles.
The third card we recommend for tickets is:
3. Citi Premier® Card
Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
TIP: This card earns 3x on dining in the parks.
The Citi Premier bonus will earn you $600 to apply towards Disney tickets, so if you open two of them you’ll potentially have $1600 towards admission. After purchasing the tickets on the card, cash out your rewards points as a statement credit to pay yourself back for the tickets.
Timing
Ideally, you’re planning this trip a full year before you’ll be traveling. Let’s be honest, though: in actuality, you might only be planning six months out or less. That’s ok! Open as many cards as you can in the time you have, and remember, if you run out of time and still have trip expenses to pay for, open your next card anyway, pay for the remaining expenses as part of that minimum spend and you’ll be earning points for your next trip. Try to think of your spending and traveling as earning and burning: sometimes you’re paying for travel expenses to hit a minimum spend and earning points in the process, and other times you’re burning points you’ve accumulated to pay for travel. Both have their place.
If You’re new to Points & Miles
This is a lot to take in, isn’t in? If you feel like you need a primer before jumping into the world of traveling on points & miles, we have just the resource for you:
Takeaways
Everyone’s travel needs are different: some people drive to Disney and don’t need flights, or maybe your lodging is covered. Perhaps you have annual passes or were gifted tickets; whatever the case may be, make this plan work for you based on your traveling party’s specific needs. It’s always a more magical time with the mouse when you’ve saved thousands of dollars redeeming credit card points and mile for travel!
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