I know credit cards are not for everyone but if you are disciplined and have self control with your spending habits, they can actually prove to be in your favor and you can capitalize on the perks. We’re from Canada, so if you’re reading this and are from another country, seek out and do your research on other potential travel points/rewards systems in your area. Just ensure you don’t go above and beyond your monthly spending habits. For us, every dollar counts, so even the smallest purchase like a cup of coffee went to the credit card! The bottom line is that we took 3 years and many travel destinations before we can save up for Disney, so don’t expect this to happen overnight. All the hard work will be worthwhile when you see your children’s reactions and the unforgettable memories you’ll have.
Here’s the breakdown of how we actually did it!!
1) We used Air Miles to get our FREE plane tickets
2) We used our SPG points to get FREE hotel stay for 5 nights
3) We used our TD points from our Travel Rewards Visa to get FREE Disney Park Passes for 4 days
1. BMO Airmiles World Elite Mastercard
As a long time and avid air miles collector, this credit card had particularly caught my attention with their amazing credit card sign-up promo. At the time, BMO Air Miles mastercard was offering 3000 bonus airmiles and waiving the $120 annual fee. On top of this, they were offering a free companion flight when you book 2 flights using your air miles points. Lastly, the rewards conversion was 1 air miles for every $10 purchase. Based on our average monthly spending, it was at least an extra 20+ airmiles per month. You can also double up on bonus air miles if you gas up at Shell gas stations and often they offer bonus points as a loyal customer.
By earning 6000 air miles a calendar year, you can achieve the the Onyx premium rewards status. Click here to check the benefits of attaining the status and you can also enroll in an Air Miles card, should you not be a member already. The only disadvantages of booking flights/hotels with Air Miles is that you have to pay fees and taxes on top of the points you are redeeming and there is no way to waive this.
2. SPG AMEX card
(*recently updated to the new Marriott Bonvoy AMEX credit card)
The SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) American Express credit card has been one of the most rewarding credit cards for us. As an SPG member you can stay at anyone of their top notch worldwide hotel lines and earn points that you can use towards your future travels. The welcome bonus for this credit card, was 20,000 SPG points (enough for up to 2 free nights on a mid-high level SPG hotel). They also had a referral program, in which if you referred any family/relatives/friends to this credit card and they get approved, you would earn 5000 SPG points. Every referral made, could easily help to increase your points total. Every dollar spent on this credit was equivalent to one SPG point. We earned a total of 5 free nights at one of Disney’s premium hotel.
Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
3. TD First Class Visa Infinite Card
TD bank has partnered up with Expedia to create, by far our most favourite travel rewards credit card – TD First Class Visa Infinite Card. In fact, we’ve been using this card since 2003 and have earned many FREE travels with it. Quite possibly the most flexible rewards card available in Canada. You earn 4.5% on anything travel related bought via Expedia for TD, including plane tickets, hotels, car rentals and even admission tickets to any shows or conventions. As long as Expedia sells it, you earn 4.5%! TD is the only to offer such unprecedented rates, as most credit card companies only offer 2% return rates. You also earn 1.5% on anything else you charge this card with. There are no blackout dates or restrictions when you redeem and the bonus, taxes could be covered by points so you could pay absolutely nothing for your travels, with enough points saved up. TD is offering a 20,000 welcome bonus points (equivalent to $100) towards your travels and if you are a customer of TD, you can waive the annual fee if you are signed up for the TD all-inclusive banking plan, but only sign up it this plan is suitable to meet your needs as there is a $30 monthly fee (but can also be waived if you maintain $5000 in your account). Nonetheless, we were able to save up enough points to earn four free 4 day passes at Walt Disney World!
If you want to read more about this card in detail, check out this awesome blog review.
Unconventional as it may seem, combining all three credit cards, over a few years, was a form of savings for us and helped us to create the most magical dream vacation ever for our kids. I understand that this method may not work for everyone, as many credit card companies have minimum eligibility criteria, but there are many other ways to save for a Disney vacation, i.e, putting away a small savings every month could help as well. We were tempted on many occasions, on spending our ‘Disney savings’ on another epic vacations, but we stayed patient and disciplined on our goal and saved every travel points and dollars up until we knew that the time was right.
If you want to find out how much fun we had, CLICK HERE to read about our first family adventure to Disney World!
There’s nothing more unforgettable than surprising your kids with their dream vacation and we figured that 5 and 7 years were the perfect age for their first Disney experience. Check out our surprise Disney video and see their priceless reactions!