Inside Disney Cash Back Categories

[MickeyGMoney]

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@TampaBAY86 wrote:

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@ngoaa wrote:

Well that changes things a bit. Yeah I can't think of any part of Disney World that would code as Transit (maybe the bus/monorail if there was a fee? Wait Disney, I was only kidding).  As @ChargedUp said, it's very YMMV. 

Honestly at this point, the best and least stress-free card I would use is your Chase Freedom Unlimited for everything. If your purchase codes as a dining, sweet, you get that 3%. If you think it will code as food but for some reason it codes as something else (has happened plenty of times), you get 1.5%. For everything else, 1.5%. 

With the SavorOne card, you might get lucky and get 3% for Entermainment but if ends up not coding as Entertainment, you end up with 1% instead of 1.5% like you would with the Chase Freedom Unlimited. It is way too difficult to determine what codes as Entertainment inside the park whereas you can guarantee a 1.5% on the Chase card. Perhaps you can get some datapoint from people over at the Disney forums.

BTW, you're going to Disney World  for just a day? How is that even possible? 

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I should have mentioned it in my previous post, but that is what we do when we go.  The only exception is we use Amex Gold at restaurants we already know code as dining.  We are annual passholders, so we are there pretty often.  As I mentioned before, the Epcot festival kiosks are the biggest wildcard I have found (I have seen them change coding from one festival to the next).

After responding yesterday, I went and looked at my chase account for the coding on the passholder payments.  Oddly enough, they code as Bills/Utilities, not even entertainment after setting them at the ticket booth.  It may be since we do the Florida monthly payments, but still unexpected.

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Oh wow, I'll keep that in mind. So paying the annual passes all at once is probably entertainment, but doing monthly payments was Bills/Utilities in your case.

[ngoaa]

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@MickeyGMoney wrote:

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@ngoaa wrote:

Well that changes things a bit. Yeah I can't think of any part of Disney World that would code as Transit (maybe the bus/monorail if there was a fee? Wait Disney, I was only kidding).  As @ChargedUp said, it's very YMMV. 

Honestly at this point, the best and least stress-free card I would use is your Chase Freedom Unlimited for everything. If your purchase codes as a dining, sweet, you get that 3%. If you think it will code as food but for some reason it codes as something else (has happened plenty of times), you get 1.5%. For everything else, 1.5%. 

With the SavorOne card, you might get lucky and get 3% for Entermainment but if ends up not coding as Entertainment, you end up with 1% instead of 1.5% like you would with the Chase Freedom Unlimited. It is way too difficult to determine what codes as Entertainment inside the park whereas you can guarantee a 1.5% on the Chase card. Perhaps you can get some datapoint from people over at the Disney forums.

BTW, you're going to Disney World  for just a day? How is that even possible? 

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We moved to Florida recently and have family visiting so figured it's a good moment for our first time ever! As soon as annual passes open up again, we'll probably get them. Yeah I was also thinking of doing a 3% dining and whenever I wasn't sure on what something would be, try the 2% paypal. Might be simpler to just use the Chase freedom.

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How exciting! Despite being only about 20 minutes away from Disneyland, I love Disney World (no, not you summer weather).

It's insane how differently the merchant code works inside a Disney theme park. With an annual pass, I'd be tempted to create my own spreadsheet of all of the merchant codes just to maximize my Cashback lol. 

[GatorCowboyLion]

It's worth noting that this is one of the differences between the Elan Max Cash Preferred and US Bank Cash+. While Cash+ has only a movie theaters category, Max Cash Preferred has an entertainment category that includes Movies, but also "Theme Parks" then within the sample list, "Disney Theme Parks tickets purchased through Disney Parks" as well as "Sports & Performances" eg. Ticketmaster, StubHub, and VividSeats.

[SunriseEarth]

At WDW (and Disneyland, as well), permanent quick service dining locations all code as Fast Food (this works even within the app), and table service dining all codes as restaurants.   I typically use Cash+ at quick service for 5% CB.   For restaurants (table service), I'll usually use Go Altitude for 4% CB.   However, if you have the Chase Disney Visa, a few dining locations have 10% discounts for using that card (of course, if you have other discounts like AP or DVC, this might be a moot point, as you usually can't stack discounts).

For souvenirs, I have used my Apple Card for 2% with Apple Pay.  I'm not sure if Apple Pay is everywhere yet at WDW, but it was at Disneyland.  Otherwise, any 2% card will work well.  

**edited to clarify what I meant by "quick service"; this does not necessarily include festival booths, as many members have already attested to.  YMMV at the booths.  

[NRB525]

I used a Savor card to get tickets to Legoland San Diego at the gate in 2019, expecting Entertainment coding. No joy, 1%. 

The Freedom Unlimited method sounds most appealing, however if the POS terminal sign says you get 10% off for using the Disney card, that sounds like a good deal. 

[unsungivy]

Yeah, I was going to bring up the Chase Disney card earlier, but since it's such a very very specific card, decided not to.

I've been recently helping a friend's with her credit setup (SQUEEEE!!! When you're gardening on yours, find someone else to work on, lol). She apparently has a tendency to open a new card for every type of trip she takes... So had a Delta AmEx with a 250 AF, an American Airlines Citi with a 95 AF, the Chase Disney Premier with a 49 AF, and a brand new BofA Norwegian Cruise Lines for a cruise we're all taking next year that she didn't even open the envelope for within the 90 days to work on the 20k welcome bonus 🤦‍♀️

So, in discovering that Chase offers both an AF version and no AF version of their Disney Visa (phew, glad she could downgrade and doesn't have to cancel... she literally never uses it and it has a 2k limit), I discovered that you get the same special discounts and rates on a bunch of things like character photos etc. whether or not you have an AF. So yeah, for "all things Disney", get one of these cards if you will use it enough to justify the hard pull. The AF version looks worthwhile if you actually visit the park a few times a year, since that doubles your Disney Dollars (which can then only be spent on Disney things, and have an expiration date unless you add them to a redemption card) for the big 3 daily categories (dining, gas, groceries) as well as "Disney Purchases"... and literally everything inside the park should count for that.

[MickeyGMoney]

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@unsungivy wrote:

Yeah, I was going to bring up the Chase Disney card earlier, but since it's such a very very specific card, decided not to.

I've been recently helping a friend's with her credit setup (SQUEEEE!!! When you're gardening on yours, find someone else to work on, lol). She apparently has a tendency to open a new card for every type of trip she takes... So had a Delta AmEx with a 250 AF, an American Airlines Citi with a 95 AF, the Chase Disney Premier with a 49 AF, and a brand new BofA Norwegian Cruise Lines for a cruise we're all taking next year that she didn't even open the envelope for within the 90 days to work on the 20k welcome bonus 🤦‍♀️

So, in discovering that Chase offers both an AF version and no AF version of their Disney Visa (phew, glad she could downgrade and doesn't have to cancel... she literally never uses it and it has a 2k limit), I discovered that you get the same special discounts and rates on a bunch of things like character photos etc. whether or not you have an AF. So yeah, for "all things Disney", get one of these cards if you will use it enough to justify the hard pull. The AF version looks worthwhile if you actually visit the park a few times a year, since that doubles your Disney Dollars (which can then only be spent on Disney things, and have an expiration date unless you add them to a redemption card) for the big 3 daily categories (dining, gas, groceries) as well as "Disney Purchases"... and literally everything inside the park should count for that.

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Oh I didn't notice they have a no AF disney card. I could be interested in that. I think I'd mainly benefit from the discount for food. It looks like the card can get a 10% discount at some places but doesn't combine with other offers/discounts. The annual passes provide a 10-20% discount at some places so it may just be worth using the annual pass and combining with a good cashback on dining card.