How to Pay for a Disney World Vacation With Points

Traveling on a Disney World vacation can be an amazing experience for your family but also a significant financial burden for the average household. Our family searched for ways to make the expense a little more manageable and were surprised to find several rewarding credit card offers that helped bring the cost down. If you follow the suggestions below you can get most or possibly all your travel expenses paid for with credit card sign-up bonus points and cash back bonuses. We'll show you how to pay for round trip flights to Orlando, hotels near Disney World, Disney World tickets, and more.

The information below is using current point prices and credit card bonuses in our examples. This could change at a given moment so if you’re thinking of scheduling your trip don’t delay and grab these current offers while they are available.

Staying at a Hyatt Hotel using the World of Hyatt Loyalty Program is a great way to maximize your credit card rewards points for a Disney vacation. While Disney World hotels offer a wonderful experience, the optimal utilization of credit card points for value is achieved through Hyatt properties. Hyatt has 11 hotels in the Orlando area and World of Hyatt members receive a variety of perks at each property. Our favorite Hyatt property in the area is the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, which provides a free shuttle connection to Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.  If you don’t want to wait for the shuttle it’s only a 15–20 minute Uber ride away from each of the parks and Disney Springs.

The most direct way to get Hyatt points is to sign up for the Chase World of Hyatt Visa card. Their current offer is 30,000 points after you spend $3,000 in your first 3 months. ($95 annual fee)  The card comes with complimentary World of Hyatt Discoverist status, which includes one free night each year after your anniversary date, 2:00 PM late check out, premium internet, free bottled water, and more.  View all the World of Hyatt benefits here.

A second way to get points to book Hyatt stays is to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points by using the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. The current offer for a Chase Sapphire Preferred card is 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 in your first 3 months. ($95 annual fee) Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to your Hyatt account on a 1 to 1 basis.

Much like Hyatt, Southwest Airlines provides significant value for your credit card points through the Southwest Rapid Rewards Program and Southwest has a strong presence around Disney World, operating many flights in and out of Orlando each day. Southwest is great for families traveling with young children because Southwest’s family boarding policy allows families flying with children under the age of 6 to board between Groups A & B, regardless of assigned boarding numbers.  Southwest also offers 2 free checked bags per ticket.

When you sign up for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card you can earn 50,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. ($69 annual fee)

Again, like with the World of Hyatt Loyalty Program, you can transfer points from your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account on a 1 to 1 basis.

Besides airfare and hotel expenses, the other big cost ahead of a Disney vacation is the purchase of Disney Park tickets. Although there is not a card that can directly help you save on the admission tickets, we found one that can help for additional trip expenses.  This offer is available through Capital One for those with Excellent Credit. See our Credit Score Resources section for tips on increasing your credit score if you need a boost.

The Capital One SavorOne Rewards card gives you a one-time $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. ($0 annual fee). What's great about this offer is that as soon as you spend the $500, the $200 bonus is credited to your account right as the minimum spend is met.

Bonus Tip to Earn an Extra $350

Once you reach the $500 minimum spend, you can refer another member of your household to the same card for an additional $150 bonus. When your family spends another $500 on the second card, you will get another $200 statement bonus. The combined total of the two sign-up bonuses and the referral bonus comes to $550 back on $1000 spent. If you know anyone else that may be interested in the SavorOne you can also refer them for more $150 cash bonuses for each person that gets approved (up to $500 per year). Capital One makes referrals easy by using their refer-a-friend site.

We recommend you meet the $500 minimum spend on the first SavorOne Card before referring someone because the $150 referral bonus will appear as a statement credit on your account and will decrease the amount you’ve already put toward the minimum spend. This means that you would need to spend $650 before you receive your first $200 bonus.

Just remember that you may owe taxes at the end of the year for these “refer a friend” bonuses. An explanation from Forbes.com can be found here: Are Credit Card Rewards Taxable?

This $550 back would get you up to 5 park tickets based on current Disney ticket prices.

Capital One SavorOne Card Benefits

The Capital One SavorOne credit card can be used ahead of your trip for park tickets but is also a great option for expenses during your vacation. The card earns an unlimited 3% back on dining, entertainment, and groceries (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target). The SavorOne also earns 10% cash back on Uber and the card comes with a complimentary Uber One membership. Most other purchases will earn 1% back. Considering all of this, we feel the SavorOne is the best card to use during the trip to earn the most back for your expenses, especially considering that the SavorOne comes with a $0 annual fee.

We learned some valuable lessons by signing up for the cards mentioned above. Our family saved a lot on our most recent Disney vacation but there were some places we could have saved more or timed out the card bonuses better to give us more of an advantage. Below are some suggestions on when to sign up for each card to maximize your cash back savings and efficiently use your points.

1 Year or More Before Your Disney Vacation

Sign up for the Chase Hyatt Visa card just over 1 year before your trip. On your account anniversary each year, you will earn a free night award that can be used at any Hyatt Category 1-4 hotel.  All of the Orlando-area Hyatt properties are Category 1-4 hotels so you can redeem the free award night at any Orlando Hyatt, as long as the hotel has a standard room available. If you get the Hyatt Visa Card a year before your trip, you can use the free night award along with your bonus points to pay for your stay. Once you get the card you can use it anywhere you typically use a credit card so you can get to the $3,000 spend mark in the first 3 months.

Another member of your household can sign up for the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Card at the same time so you can start spending to earn your points for airfare. Southwest doesn't allow you to book flights more than 9 months ahead of time so you can also wait until you've hit your Hyatt Card spend mark to get this card.
 

When you’re near the minimum spend requirement on the Hyatt and Southwest cards, you can next sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card so it arrives in time for use once you’ve received your other sign-up bonuses.

It may sound hard to reach these spend marks with normal spending but consider anything you can pay with a credit card. Here are some tips on where the cards can be used that can help get you there: electric bill, tv/internet and other utilities, tax/sewer bill, daycare, summer camp, car insurance, and any other yearly expenses that you can pay with a card. If your family needs more time to hit the limits consider getting the cards staggered 2 years ahead of your trip. We started planning our trip more than 2 years out. Not only did it give us time to build up our bonus points but we also did our research on the parks and learned how to get the most out of our time there. We watched way too many episodes of Disney Food Blog and All Ears on YouTube but we learned a lot ahead of the trip.

1-2 Months Before Your Disney Vacation
If you plan on using the SavorOne Rewards card for Disney tickets you can get it any time ahead of your trip. But if you plan on using the card or multiple cards only for erasing expenses while on your trip then make sure to get your card(s) a couple months before the trip. It could take a few weeks for your card to arrive after approval so factor that in not to cut it too close.

If you follow the suggestions above, you will have at least the points below to pay for your Disney vacation.

• 30,000 World of Hyatt Points
• 50,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards Points
• 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Remember that these are just the points you will earn through sign-up bonuses. You’ll earn at least 1 additional point for every dollar spent while reaching the minimum-spend requirement for each card.

For our example we will use the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress. It's centrally located in the middle of all the Disney parks, offers complementary transportation to Disney World, has a giant collection of pools, and is one of our all-around favorite Hyatt hotels.

Hyatt Regency Orlando Standard Room with 2 Queen Beds - Average of 15,000 Points Per Night (12,000-18,000 range)

Southwest Airfare to and from Orlando varies by your departure city. You can use the Southwest Low Fare Calendar to determine your typical costs. We booked our recent family of four trip to Orlando from the northeast for 80,000 total points round trip and that was traveling during a busy holiday week. If you time it correctly you can find an even better deal and save more money.

A flight to Orlando from the average US city typically ranges from 6,000-10,000 points per passenger per flight

If you split the 64,000 Chase points evenly between your Hyatt and Southwest rewards accounts, you would end up with the following:

• 60,000 World of Hyatt points = 3 to 5 nights (plus 1 more night if you use your free 1 year anniversary night)
• 80,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points = 4 to 6 round trip tickets depending on the low fare calendar from your departure city

Remember, if you sign up for a Capital One SavorOne Card for you and another member of your household you will get $550 cash back for up to 5 Disney park tickets based on current Disney ticket prices. Make sure you reach your minimum spend and referral as we described above.

If you happen to get a great deal on airfare you don’t necessarily have to split your Chase points evenly and can transfer more to Hyatt to pay for more nights. If you time it correctly and get a great deal on your point price you may even have some leftover Chase points to convert to cash back or save up for your next vacation. Here’s a quick explanation on how to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to World of Hyatt and Southwest Rapid Rewards.

A vacation to Disney World can be costly but we showed you how to pay for Orlando flights, hotels near Disney World, Disney tickets, and other travel expenses with points and cash back. We hope you have a blast and make some great memories with your family!  

Remember we’re using current point prices and credit card bonuses in our examples.  This could all change at a given moment so if you’re thinking of scheduling your trip don’t delay and grab these current offers while they last.