# Why TUG is so great (one reason anyway)!! Saving $$$



## LUVourMarriotts (Dec 29, 2013)

Thanks to all of the DVC members here on TUG for posting some very helpful information.  I've also found some great stuff on other sites, like mousesavers, wdwprepschool, allears, etc.  There have also been TUG members that may not be DVC members, but have the knowledge to share, and have.

Here's why I'm excited, today anyway.  Today, we purchased our park tickets for our trip next year, and we paid $260.  We got 2 adult 5 day park hoppers and 1 child 5 day park hopper.  The way we did it:

Signed up for Disney Visa CC and received $200 from them
Used Disney Visa CC and earned another $100 via points (so far)
Used Discover card with cash back points, using promotional multipliers ($400 from that)
Purchased tickets via a friends IBM employee link, which is cheapest we've found ($960 including tax and shipping)

We plan to continue using the 2 CC's to gain more money and will possibly do the dining plan, since our dinner reservations already would be close to the total cost of the dining plan.

I appreciate this site so much, especially when I keep some money in my pockets as a direct result of the knowledge found here!!


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## TUGBrian (Dec 30, 2013)

Glad to have you as a member =)


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## littlestar (Dec 30, 2013)

That's awesome.  

I love saving money.  

The Tug forums have definitely made a difference in our life for being able to travel more often and teaching us how to do it wisely.


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## AnnaS (Jan 5, 2014)

You saved a few dollars there - that's always a good thing.


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## squierjosh (Jan 27, 2014)

Do you know if the rewards on the Disney CC expire, or can you save for a couple years? 

Is this the card you signed up for:

https://disneyrewards.com/

We are planning a January 2015 trip and I'm looking for ways to save money. 



LUVourMarriotts said:


> Thanks to all of the DVC members here on TUG for posting some very helpful information.  I've also found some great stuff on other sites, like mousesavers, wdwprepschool, allears, etc.  There have also been TUG members that may not be DVC members, but have the knowledge to share, and have.
> 
> Here's why I'm excited, today anyway.  Today, we purchased our park tickets for our trip next year, and we paid $260.  We got 2 adult 5 day park hoppers and 1 child 5 day park hopper.  The way we did it:
> 
> ...


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## LUVourMarriotts (Jan 27, 2014)

squierjosh said:


> Is this the card you signed up for:
> 
> https://disneyrewards.com/
> 
> We are planning a January 2015 trip and I'm looking for ways to save money.



Yes, the Disney Rewards Visa is the one we got.  Not the Premium.  But, we got a direct mailing for it and the incentive was $200, not the standard $50.

As for the points, I do not believe they expire.  Once you move the points dollars onto the Disney Dollars card (which is kind of like a gift card), they don't expire.  So as you accrue your increments of $50, you move them over and don't have a problem.

That's the one odd thing, at least from our perspective, about the points is that you have to put them onto a Disney Dollars card.  But I guess that's how they make sure that you spend the money on Disney stuff.

Like I said in my initial post, we also used a Discover card and the incentives that they were offering at the time, to also save money.  They were offering some deal where if you spent $3000 + per month they would give you $400 back after 3 or 4 months of doing that.  So it worked out well.

We also plan on getting some $150 Disney GC's at BJ's, where they sell them for $142.  That isn't a ton of savings, but we will use them for meals and probably only get 4 of them, saving $32 there.

Good luck!!  The planning has been fun for me so far.  I always do that, my wife just wants to go and have me do the planning.  Make sure to sign up for an account on My Disney Experience so you can track everything right there and have everything linked.


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## LUVourMarriotts (Jan 27, 2014)

BTW, in my initial post, I put that we will probably do the dining plan.  Well, now I'm pretty sure we will not.  The reason is, I've already got reservations at several places, all table service (TS).  We would already be over our TS allowance on the dining plan.  Plus, I used the online menus from those places to figure out how much our bills would likely come to.  I then did a calculation of how much our quick service (QS) and snacks would cost.  When I add it all up, we would be saving a total of about $30.  The flexibility we have by not being on the dining plan is more important to me.  What if we want to eat at more TS than QS, or want to make our own meals (staying in a 2BR villa) more than we expect to?  My wife also wants to bring in a small backpack with snacks for my daughter, and us, so she is not always on a sugar high.

Anyway, that's my thinking as of right now, which is where the Disney GC's in my previous post comes into play.


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## AnnaS (Jan 27, 2014)

I also have the regular Disney Visa (not premier).  You can accumulate points for a few years before they expire.  At the bottom of your bill  it will tell you when they expire.  

Once you redeem your points - transfer them into the Disney reward card - they will expire at the end of that year.  If you are going to use them yearly, you will need a new Disney Reward card each year.  Be careful because they will expire December of that year.  If you don't plan on using/redeeming them - just leave them in your account.


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## LUVourMarriotts (Jan 27, 2014)

AnnaS said:


> I also have the regular Disney Visa (not premier).  You can accumulate points for a few years before they expire.  At the bottom of your bill  it will tell you when they expire.
> 
> Once you redeem your points - transfer them into the Disney reward card - they will expire at the end of that year.  If you are going to use them yearly, you will need a new Disney Reward card each year.  Be careful because they will expire December of that year.  If you don't plan on using/redeeming them - just leave them in your account.



Wow, I was way off, huh?! My wife handles our bills (she's in finance), and I must have heard her wrong when she told me about this stuff a few months ago. I hope she got our Reward card after the new year!! I will ask her when she gets home.


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## AnnaS (Jan 31, 2014)

LUVourMarriotts said:


> Wow, I was way off, huh?! My wife handles our bills (she's in finance), and I must have heard her wrong when she told me about this stuff a few months ago. I hope she got our Reward card after the new year!! I will ask her when she gets home.



Once you have your Disney dollars transferred to the rewards card (which expire) you can turn around and purchase Disney Gift Cards - they should not expire - or at least not right away.


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## vacationhopeful (Jan 31, 2014)

LUVourMarriotts said:


> .[....  My wife also wants to bring in a small backpack with snacks for my daughter, and us, so she is not always on a sugar high...



I took my 12 year old nephew to AKV just about 2 years ago. I went to his house (2.5 hours from mine) the night before flying out. He was packed, I was packed --> each of us had one suitcase. I got out my empty 2nd suitcase onto the kitchen table. Now my sister and I opened the cabinets and emptied all types of non-perishable food. We asked him what things he might like to eat for the week. I told him, don't even ASK for even a soda or a cracker at WDW - the food is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE - this is what yu will have to eat for the WHOLE week.

SHOCK on his face - then a greatly enhanced interest in WHAT was in the suitcases and what more he could take out of the kitchen cabinets.

At the start of our WDW stay, I showed him around the Lodge and the Boma buffet - explaining the smells and taste of Africian food. Said if we saved money and did good in eating at the unit, DINNER for our last night would be at Boma.

We really did not suffer - snacks in our backpacks, good meals of chili, mac & cheese, and soups, oatmeal for breakfast - 2 boxes of Enternman's chocolate donuts. And did we both enjoy Boma greatly!


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## pedro47 (Feb 1, 2014)

AnnaS said:


> Once you have your Disney dollars transferred to the rewards card (which expire) you can turn around and purchase Disney Gift Cards - they should not expire - or at least not right away.



This is some great information.  I have one more grandchild that I must take to Disney.


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## LUVourMarriotts (Feb 1, 2014)

AnnaS said:


> Once you have your Disney dollars transferred to the rewards card (which expire) you can turn around and purchase Disney Gift Cards - they should not expire - or at least not right away.



I would have to buy the Disney Gift Cards at a Disney Store, correct?  I believe this is true because the Rewards Card can only be used for Disney purchases, right?

I get what you mean that this would be a good last minute option.  For our particular situation, we are going on the trip this year, and most likely will just cancel the card and deplete our points before/at the time of our trip.


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## Inhislove (Jul 13, 2014)

*Disney gift card are at Target!*

Using our red card debit card, I get disney gift cards for 5% off at Target regularly.


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## ml855 (Jul 14, 2014)

AnnaS said:


> I also have the regular Disney Visa (not premier).  You can accumulate points for a few years before they expire.  At the bottom of your bill  it will tell you when they expire.
> 
> Once you redeem your points - transfer them into the Disney reward card - they will expire at the end of that year.  If you are going to use them yearly, you will need a new Disney Reward card each year.  Be careful because they will expire December of that year.  If you don't plan on using/redeeming them - just leave them in your account.



I do the same thing, I've had my Disney Rewards Visa since it started from day 1 and every Disney Reward Card I've had are good for 2 years depending on when you order it.  I transfer my reward points onto the rewards card and then order my Disney gift cards from the Disneystore.com.  The gift cards don't expire, where the rewards card will expire, this way I don't lose my points.  I usually use my reward points for our tickets and our meals.


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## chunkygal (Jul 31, 2014)

LUVourMarriotts said:


> Yes, the Disney Rewards Visa is the one we got.  Not the Premium.  But, we got a direct mailing for it and the incentive was $200, not the standard $50.
> 
> As for the points, I do not believe they expire.  Once you move the points dollars onto the Disney Dollars card (which is kind of like a gift card), they don't expire.  So as you accrue your increments of $50, you move them over and don't have a problem.
> 
> ...




My experience with the gift cards for Disney dollars is that they DO expire and have limited use outside the parks.


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