Best Credit Cards for Disney Travelers

My family loves taking Disney vacations, but the cost of visiting the Mouse can really add up. One major way we save - and also afford to visit destinations like Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Disney's Aulani more often - is through credit card rewards. Frequent flyer miles, hotel loyalty points, cash back, and other flexible currencies all can add up to a lot of super discounted and almost free Disney travel!

I know anything involving credit may be intimidating for some. Indeed, credit card misuse and overuse gets a lot of Americans in real trouble. But for anyone who can use credit responsibly - paying bills in full each month - there is no reason not to rack up some of these rewards for the spending you are already doing. 

How to Keep Track of Credit Card Rewards for Disney?

If you are brand new to travel rewards credit cards, be sure to start off on the right foot by tracking important dates and data. Back in the day, those of us who loved points and miles had to track it all ourselves with old fashioned spreadsheets. But there are now several services that do it all for you with ease.

The one I use most, Award Wallet, is a tool that lets you tally and track your frequent flyer miles and points balances - including points you earn on rewards credit cards. Use it as a central place to store passwords for everyone in the family for airline frequent flyer programs, hotel points, and credit card flexible points. (A basic account at Award Wallet is free, but 10 first time users can upgrade to Award Wallet Plus free for 6 months with my code free-ztqfuc so use it while it lasts!)

So now that you have your organization in place, let's get on with the credit cards options to get you to Disney!

5 Best Credit Cards for Disneyland and Disney World Travel

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is a smart choice for all kinds of travelers because it earns bonus points on all travel and dining spending. That's something you probably do already and will definitely be doing on a Disney vacation!

The best feature though in my opinion is that the card earns very flexible Ultimate Rewards points that essentially work like cash toward future trips. These points can be redeemed for hotel rooms, flights, and more - simply book your travel directly in the Chase portal.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are often even more valuable when transferred to partner programs. Connect your Ultimate Rewards account with many major airline frequent flyer or hotel loyalty accounts and move points over when you need them. Partners that Disney travelers might often use include Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, and United Airlines. I often transfer my Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest when I need a few more Rapid Rewards points for a flight down to Southern California or Orlando.

The bottom line is that this card really gives you a lot of flexibility to respond to deals and sales as they pop up. It doesn't lock you in to any one airline or hotel or even a particular date or season of travel.

Another thing I love about this card from a Disney traveler perspective - all purchases from Get Away Today code as travel. Haven't heard of Get Away Today? It's a third party travel agency that is authorized by Disney to sell discounted park tickets. So you can use this card to purchase Get Away Today's already discounted theme park tickets and then also earn 2% back on that purchase! Who doesn't love a savings and earning double dip? (Book your discounted Disney Tickets from Get Away Today here.)

If you are headed to a Disney destination by air, chances are pretty good Southwest Airlines can get you there these days. Southwest is one of the largest carriers at Orlando International Airport (MCO). And it also has a huge presence at the three closest airports to Disneyland - Orange County's John Wayne (SNA), Long Beach International (LGB), and Los Angeles International (LAX). The airline can even now fly you to Disney's Aulani, thanks to Southwest's Hawaii flight options into HNL. 

Related: Tips for Flying to Walt Disney World

Related: Complete Guide to Flying to Disneyland

For anyone living in or near a city served by Southwest, a Southwest credit card is a pretty safe bet to help you rack up points for flights to Disney destinations.

There are a couple of different Southwest credit card options, as detailed in my guide to which Southwest credit card is right for you. But I prefer the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card for most would-be Disney travelers - especially families.

Yes, it has a higher annual fee than the other options, but it includes a benefit that most families really value - seat selection. If you want to ensure that sit together with your kids, you'd need to buy up from Southwest's Basic fare to Choice, and that usually costs $30 or more each way per person. For a family of 4, that could easily mean $240 or more in airfare. Holding this card, however, means you don't need to pay more for seats and that benefit more than covers the annual fee. Throw in a few checked bags and you are way ahead.

A big part of the cost of a Disney vacation is a hotel, so a credit card that can help you save on lodging is a smart option. Whether you are headed to Walt Disney World or Disneyland, you are going to find the widest variety of nearby off-property hotels under the Marriott umbrella. 

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card has a lucrative welcome bonus that you can use towards 3 free nights at hotel in a Disney destination. These depend, of course, on the hotel's points prices, but the certificates are good for 50,000 points and can be topped up further with additional points (up to 15K) from your Marriott Bonvoy account. And if you keep the card in future years the card for a full year, you'll have an extra hotel night certificate (up to 35,000 points) to consider too.

Where might you want to stay at a Marriott near Disney? Disneyland has the most hotel choices - over a dozen within the immediate Anaheim resort area. Within easy walking distance of Disneyland alone, there are the following Marriott properties:

• Fairfield Inn Anaheim Resort
• Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance
• SpringHill Suites at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center
• Residence Inn at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center
• Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort
• JW Marriott, Anaheim
• Element Anaheim Resort Convention Center
• Westin Anaheim Resort

At Walt Disney World, there are not quite as many super-close Marriott properties, but there are dozens within easy driving distance of the parks. And three hotels under the Marriott brand loom large in Orlando - the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin, plus the brand new Swan Reserve.

These hotels have a hybrid status that make them both on and off property. They are located near Disney's Beach & Yacht Club and have a walking distance location to Hollywood Studios and Epcot, as well as bus, boat, and Skyliner access. They also offer guests 7 day Lightning Lane Multi Pass booking privileges and early theme park entry daily.

The Capital One Venture X Credit Card is another excellent card that earns a flexible currency that works well for Disney travelers. This card has a high annual fee, but its incredibly easy to cancel that out with minimal effort using just one or two of the benefits - even for families who aren't frequent travelers. And the signup bonus is currently as high as it's ever been which makes worth trying this card out for a year at least!

The easiest way to get most of the annual fee back is through the $300 travel credit for bookings made with Capital One Travel. There are lots of Disney area hotels on the portal (including a number of Disney on-property ones) or you can use this credit for travel bookings on other trips.

You've probably seen the commercials for Capital One cards generally, but this one specifically works by earning you 2x miles per dollar spent on all purchases. You can then redeem those miles as a statement credit for travel purchases within the last 90 days at a value of 1 cent per mile. So if you earn 50,000 miles on the card, you can use those miles to erase $500 in travel purchases.

Remember - since Get Away Today purchases code as travel, you can use this card to erase some or all of the charges for any discounted Disney park tickets you purchase! You'd earn 2x miles on the purchase of the tickets in the first place too.

The card also gives a $120 statement credit for purchasing either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck to shortcut airline lines if you are flying for your Disney vacation.

Note: For more advanced users, the miles can also be transferred to a variety of partner airlines and hotels for even more value than 1 cent per mile. I think the transfer partner list isn't super-useful for most Disney travelers (and the few partners that are good fits like JetBlue are poor value transfers). But even if you don't use this feature, the card still has so many other benefits that make it a great fit.

Last and actually maybe least is the Disney Visa card. Why didn't I lead with this card? Although the name and co-branding may make it seem like an obvious choice, it's not a great card for travel rewards, even for Disney travel.

The Disney Premier Visa Card earns Disney dollars that can be redeemed like cash towards Disney hotels, park tickets, and some other Disney purchases. The Disney Premier Visa Card is also the only Disney co-branded card where cardmembers can also use their Rewards Dollars for airfare. Just purchase airline tickets on the the card and pay yourself back as a statement credit.

So what's not to like? There are much better cards out there that earn more than 2x on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants. And there are many cards that offer equivalent or better airfare redemptions. The welcome bonus is also pretty weak when compared to all the other more lucrative offers on this list, all of which are good for $500-1000 or more. And most importantly, this card actually won't get you the best deal on Disney tickets - you'll be using your Rewards Dollars to pay full price direct from Disney, missing out on the double dip discounts from Get Away Today other cards help facilitate.

Don't get me wrong - the Disney Premier Visa Card is a card that I do think makes sense for many Disney travelers to get. But you should get it for the perks, discounts, and extras -- not as a card to put regular spending of any significance on. Get it, but only in combination with another more lucrative earning card on this list that you will use for most of your spending and redeeming. Use your Disney Premier Visa Card only for accessing benefits like the exclusive character meet-and-greets or obtaining dining and merchandise discounts.

There is a no annual fee version of this card with fewer perks as well as a debit card version available. Check out my complete comparison guide to the Disney credit cards for the deep dive analysis!

The Final Word

It's so easy to save big on a Disney vacation with just a single credit card or two. But choose carefully based on your families spending patterns and travel needs! And most definitely maximize the rewards available to you by making sure you have the most lucrative cards - some are most valuable when they have a big sign up bonus and others are more valuable for daily spending and worth holding on to year after year.