I have a Disney Visa card very similar to the ones shown above, only mine is extra special.  Why?  Because mine also says “Cardmember Since Day 1″ and, under my name, it also says “Charter Cardmember”.  If memory serves me right, we got the offer to become charter members of the Disney  Visa not long after our first family trip, when we took our then recently-turned-5-year-old daughter for her first visit.  It seemed silly to turn down the  chance to earn Disney rewards simply for spending money that we would be spending anyway, so we went for it.  And I’m so glad we did! 

That little 5 year old girl is now 19.  And, since that first visit, we’ve added two more children to our family. We’ve taken them to visit Walt Disney World as often as possible.  And, we have our Disney Rewards Visa card to thank for it!

On our first few visits after becoming Visa cardholders, we were so proud to be able to purchase our Disney tickets for our entire stay using the points we had accumulated on our card.  Now, years later, we can say that we have paid for our entire visit using our Rewards.  Pretty amazing when you consider that we are a family of 5 who has no choice but to stay in a moderate resort, and we like to  stay at least 8 nights!

So, how do we do it?  I have to give full credit to my husband.  He’s a “finance guy”.  (Me, personally, I hate even talking about finances!)  But, essentially, we use our Disney Visa Card like a debit card.  We use it for ALL our purchases (and I do mean “all” – I rarely have cash on me).  Each time we use it, we mark it in our checkbook (just like we would a debit card purchase).  This way, we are sure to never spend more money than we have; and we pay our bill off each month (sometimes even bi-weekly, because my hubby is hyper like that).

The points add up pretty fast.  1 point per $100 spent means that, if you’re anything like me, each trip to Walmart will earn you at least one point!

Recently, Disney introduced an upgrade – the Premier Disney Visa.  We really weighed the options earlier this year, and decided that it would be in our best interest to upgrade.  I would highly encourage you to sit down with pen and paper and do some calculating before making this decision for yourself.  Why?  Because this card includes an annual fee of $49.95.  Sure, you’ll be earning 2% at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and several Disney locations (as opposed to the normal 1% with the regular Rewards Visa); but unless you plan on charging enough to earn you at least that much back in rewards points, it’s probably not worth it.

There are other perks involved with having a Disney Visa Card also.  You can check them out and find out how to get your own Disney Visa card here.

When you’re reading to spend those points, simply call Visa and have them issue you a Rewards card. You’ll notice in the picture of my personal rewards card, above, that the Rewards do expire.  You’ll want to take this into consideration when ordering your card, and requesting the number of points you’d like added to it.

We love traveling with our card and using it for purchases at the various stores on Disney property.  We also love that we can use our Rewards at local Disney Stores and at DisneyStore.com.  In fact, I used the rest of my Rewards (that were set to expire) to order a few more Christmas gifts for my kids this year.  (If you’re curious what gifts I chose, you can find out at my personal blog.)

So, what about you?  Do you have a Disney Visa?  The original Rewards one or the new Premier?  Do you like it as much as I do?

If you’re new to the Disney Visa and have any questions, I’d be happy to try to answer them.  Leave a comment!

Related articles

• Use a Disney Visa Rewards Card to save for your next Disney Vacation (chipandco.com)
• When is the best time to visit Walt Disney World? (chipandco.com)