Ways to maximize savings when purchasing direct DVC contract.. (credit card rewards etc)

[veginaz]

Curious if when you are calculating the difference in annual fee you considered the CSR to be a $550 annual fee or $250 annual fee? Given the $300 travel credit (which would apply to $300 of the DVC purchase), I was comparing an effective $250 annual fee versus a $95 fee (or $45 if you count the CSP hotel credit, which is harder to use). My coffee hasn’t kicked in yet to do the math. I would then just call to downgrade the CSR after a year if I am not enjoying the other benefits.

This is a good catch, I didn't even think about the $300 travel credit being already used with the DVC purchase. Have you seen if paying annual dues also codes as travel?

 

[supercarrie]

This is a good catch, I didn't even think about the $300 travel credit being already used with the DVC purchase. Have you seen if paying annual dues also codes as travel?

I haven’t personally, but other reports confirm they do.

Our Disney cruise deposit did code as travel (as expected) so we used ours for that.

 

[badeacon]

This is a good catch, I didn't even think about the $300 travel credit being already used with the DVC purchase. Have you seen if paying annual dues also codes as travel?

Yes it does. Have been using it for years to pay dues

 

[supercarrie]

The other thing to keep in mind when considering opening new cards (if you have a partner/spouse with whom you share finances) is to make sure one person opens a card and then refers the other person if they are opening the same card or within the same card family. An easy way to pick up bonus points (often another 10k Chase points, for instance!)

 

[obsesseddisneyfan]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet but the US bank reserve card gives you 3 points for every dollar spent via apple pay (think Costco and pretty much anything else) you can then spend that on travel and get 1.5 for every point. So 4.5% back. Then you can use Real Time rewards to use your points as a credit statement for anything that codes as travel. In my research I am told that DVC codes as travel and so you can pay your dues with credit card points. Also your cruise, hotels and park tickets (if you by them though someone who codes as travel)

 

[achinforsomebacon]

Was it only the down payment that gets split or each installment? Buying end of June and planning my CC rewards strategy.

Every payment was split, even if using the same card. Definitely threw wrench into my strategy.

Another thing was they preferred to have everything paid off similarly -- as in follow the same % on every contract if you did multiple vs paying one off at 30 days but the others at 60 or 90. Not sure how firm they are on this since I didn't push it but it impacted how I wanted to use my 2 My Chase Plans.

 

[veginaz]

Checked all of my and DH Chase cards 6 total and the only one that I have a free chase plan offer on is my Disney Chase, its brand new. The INK Biz card tells me the plans are not available at all and all the non biz cards are charging a fee. I have utilized a plan offer before but never free and not on all cards. So Im wondering if there is a time frame from when the card is opened to how long they will offer it fee free.

 

[WeIcomeHome]

Curious if when you are calculating the difference in annual fee you considered the CSR to be a $550 annual fee or $250 annual fee? Given the $300 travel credit (which would apply to $300 of the DVC purchase), I was comparing an effective $250 annual fee versus a $95 fee (or $45 if you count the CSP hotel credit, which is harder to use). My coffee hasn’t kicked in yet to do the math. I would then just call to downgrade the CSR after a year if I am not enjoying the other benefits.

The Ink Preferred is great but they gave me quite a small credit limit (not enough to even get the sign up bonus in one cycle) and wouldn’t let me transfer personal credit from the Sapphire to my Ink. My side business is very small, though.

And yes, if you open a Sapphire in branch, apparently you can sometimes get offered an extra 10k in points. Doctor of Credit has the details on it.

For me the reserve makes sense when the $100 precheck credit can be used. After that though I don't think I'll break even vs the preferred. There isnt a lounge in the terminal I'll be flying from for Disney trips and only one small lounge in the main terminal for work trips so that benefit isn't as beneficial to me.

My DVC dues and flights would only net me an extra $30 over the preferred.

I might open a reserve and then downgrade after the first year.

 

[stat]

For me the reserve makes sense when the $100 precheck credit can be used. After that though I don't think I'll break even vs the preferred. There isnt a lounge in the terminal I'll be flying from for Disney trips and only one small lounge in the main terminal for work trips so that benefit isn't as beneficial to me.

My DVC dues and flights would only net me an extra $30 over the preferred.

I might open a reserve and then downgrade after the first year.

FWIW I view the breakeven point to cover the extra $155 annual fee for Reserve vs Preferred (I'm ignoring the $300 travel credit) as $7,750 in travel spending (valuing chase UR points at 2 cents each). Other benefits for us that add up fast are the $15 monthly Instacart credit + free membership, $5 monthly Door Dash credit + free membership, Lyft perks, and the more generous travel related insurance policies. It all adds to making the Reserve worth approximately $500+ better than Preferred for us.

 

[Rex1993]

It always amazes me that these credit card threads never seem to mention the BofA cards. If you have the Premium Rewards or Premium Rewards Elite cards, you will get 3.5% cash back on the DVC purchase so long as you are Platinum Honors with BofA. We did a mix of Sapphire Reserve and Premium Rewards for our direct purchase on VGF but I still haven't used any of the UR points. UR points are great but I have tons of them and I've found that recently the value for using them has significantly declined.

 

[veginaz]

It always amazes me that these credit card threads never seem to mention the BofA cards. If you have the Premium Rewards or Premium Rewards Elite cards, you will get 3.5% cash back on the DVC purchase so long as you are Platinum Honors with BofA. We did a mix of Sapphire Reserve and Premium Rewards for our direct purchase on VGF but I still haven't used any of the UR points. UR points are great but I have tons of them and I've found that recently the value for using them has significantly declined.

I'll have to take a look at that. I doubt I would have a plat honors since I hold no BofA accounts. That 3.5% is pretty great

 

[Rex1993]

I'll have to take a look at that. I doubt I would have a plat honors since I hold no BofA accounts. That 3.5% is pretty great

All Platinum Honors takes is $100,000 within BofA and/or Merrill. For me, I have my investments with Merrill but even if you held one 100K IRA, it would count. Where the card really shines is 2.62% back on all purchases. There is just nothing that comes close. I have put an absurd sum on that card with estimated tax payments.

 

[veginaz]

All Platinum Honors takes is $100,000 within BofA and/or Merrill. For me, I have my investments with Merrill but even if you held one 100K IRA, it would count. Where the card really shines is 2.62% back on all purchases. There is just nothing that comes close. I have put an absurd sum on that card with estimated tax payments.

ahh yes okay I am familiar with that. My mom has it and always tells me how great her BofA rewards are.

 

[Tatebeck]

Chase Sapphire Reserve + Chase Freedom Unlimited give effective 4.5% on travel (beating the BoA card by 1%) and 2.25% (just shy of the BOA card by 0.37%) on everything else. If you have a couple free rotating category cash back cards you can probably get that 2.25% up to or better than that 2.62% anyway. The fee on the Reserve isn't that bad if you travel a lot and can use their numerous perks and credits. We used points for free flights to Fiji last year that would have been over 1k each, got them to pay for pre check and global entry for us, used it to get into lounges for free food and drinks in the airport, etc.

If you have BoA already it sounds like a good deal, but moving 100k+ of assets over if you aren't with them already doesn't seem worth it to me for a larger drop in travel rewards and a smalller increase in miscellaneous rewards.

 

[Rex1993]

Chase Sapphire Reserve + Chase Freedom Unlimited give effective 4.5% on travel (beating the BoA card by 1%) and 2.25% (just shy of the BOA card by 0.37%) on everything else. If you have a couple free rotating category cash back cards you can probably get that 2.25% up to or better than that 2.62% anyway. The fee on the Reserve isn't that bad if you travel a lot and can use their numerous perks and credits. We used points for free flights to Fiji last year that would have been over 1k each, got them to pay for pre check and global entry for us, used it to get into lounges for free food and drinks in the airport, etc.

If you have BoA already it sounds like a good deal, but moving 100k+ of assets over if you aren't with them already doesn't seem worth it to me for a larger drop in travel rewards and a smalller increase in miscellaneous rewards.

I wouldn't have disagreed a few years ago but since Chase made the backend switch on their rewards portal I'm not seeing the same sort of redemption value. It used to be that the absolute cheapest way to rent a car was through the UR portal, regardless of whether you were paying with points or cash. Now I can never justify it because it's so much cheaper to go somewhere else. I also see limited hotel offerings and even tried to book a very expensive cruise through UR. It ended up way cheaper through Costco. Moral of the story is that 1.5x on UR travel redemptions isn't what it used to be. In almost every case, I'd rather have straight cashback and use that cash to pay off the next travel charge that gets me another 3.5% cashback on that purchase.

FYI: The airport restaurant benefit with CSR (priority pass) goes away on July 1. The BofA Premium Elite will be one of only two cards left with that benefit.

 

[Tatebeck]

I have been using it on flights to weird places (to Orlando I just buy from southwest since only they and spirit fly direct from my airport) and on hotel stays at universal (I really hope they include the new Epic Universe hotels!). Both of those have seemed about 1:1 to rack rates when I checked over the last few years. I guess you just have to be careful and check rack rates vs chase rewards' price before seeing if a redemption is still worth it.

Also, it looks like they still have the priority pass, they just don't give extra credit back at some airport restaurants like they used to. I thought you meant they were dumping priority pass/chase lounges all together for a second lol.