Creative Ways to Pay for Disney Vacation

CarolinaGuy21

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Hey Everyone,

So I wanted to hear some creative ways to pay for a Disney vacation. I’ve read about using Swagbucks but it seems very tedious for a small pay off.

I wanted to know if there are any other creative ways out there to pay for a Disney Vacation (like credit card points, etc). We live in driving distance of Disney so we don’t need the frequent flyer miles.

Thanks!
 
You can use Chase UR points. There are people in the I Love Credit Cards thread that can tell you how. Post this question in that thread and you will get specifics on how to do this.
 


Once you get into a grove swagbucks is a really great easy way to earn extra cash. And if you want to try it ask a friend for their referral so they can get a few extra points. And you get the bonus.
 
I sold a bunch of stuff on ebay. Have a yard sale. I also use Target gift cards (when Target has a "spend $40 on clothing, get a $10 target gift card) to purchase Disney gift cards. Just in the last 2 weeks I got Target gift cards for purchasing cleaning products ($5.00 GC); clothing ($10.00 gc) and Up & Up products ($5.00 gc). In turn I got a free $25 disney gift card.
 
I sell things on eBay.

We source things we personally know about -- for me it's vintage game consoles, 80's toys, records, 90's Disney memorabilia, etc. My DH knows sports memorabilia. I check Craigslist, yard sales/block sales, and estate sales for items that I know I can sell at a quick profit. We used to also have a lot of luck buying sports jerseys and hats at places like TJ Maxx but they don't seem to stock as much as they used to.

Secondly -- I just pick up extra side work. I'm a web developer by profession. I tried using Swagbucks, but if I can pick up a client and spend the same amount of time on a small side project as I was sitting doing Swagbucks stuff, my per hour income is obviously significantly higher.

And lastly I do "small money" things like scanning my receipts with the Ibotta app. I am not a huge spender and I don't buy a ton of name brand products so this isn't enormously fruitful for me, but even if I only cash out $20 or $30 with it, I have "free" money to buy snacks/desserts/Starbucks in the parks.

You might also browse http://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney for some more ideas.
 


We use mostly cash to pay for things and all change goes in jars (I have one for each type of coin). I also will take random bills I have extra of at the end of the 2 weeks and put them in a jar. In just a few months I've gotten about $100 without any real effort or thought. We're also having a yard sale in a couple weeks.
 
Hey Everyone,

So I wanted to hear some creative ways to pay for a Disney vacation. I’ve read about using Swagbucks but it seems very tedious for a small pay off.

I wanted to know if there are any other creative ways out there to pay for a Disney Vacation (like credit card points, etc). We live in driving distance of Disney so we don’t need the frequent flyer miles.

Thanks!
Great post thank you
 
Hey Everyone,

<snip> We live in driving distance of Disney so we don’t need the frequent flyer miles.

Thanks!

Anymore, frequent flyer miles (often referred to as "points" by credit card companies) are not really relegated to use only on airlines. As someone earlier mentioned, if you can get a good credit card with a high initial awards bonus (they are usually anywhere between 40,000 and 80,000 point rewards), you can pay for your hotel stay for 5 nights using nothing but points you earned buying things you already buy anyway. If you have anywhere between $3,000 - $5,000 in expenses over a three month period, this is something you REALLY might want to look into, as you can pay for your entire hotel stay in three months, doing nothing but paying the bills you already pay, and buying the things you already buy.
 
Hey Everyone,

So I wanted to hear some creative ways to pay for a Disney vacation. I’ve read about using Swagbucks but it seems very tedious for a small pay off.

I wanted to know if there are any other creative ways out there to pay for a Disney Vacation (like credit card points, etc). We live in driving distance of Disney so we don’t need the frequent flyer miles.

Thanks!

I have the Disney credit card. The points per dollar exchange isn’t the greatest but I use it for everything and it adds up over time. We also found the annual pass to be a great investment, between the hotel and dining savings alone it pretty much paid for itself.
 
Over the years there have been several discussions of people selling their blood and plasma for Disney funds.
 
If you have Chase Ur card, you can transfer to Starwood and use points to stay in Swan / Dolphin. Although it's not a good use of points.
Try to get into SB. I average at least $75 a month. That's enough to pay for gas even if you're doing it for just a month or 2.
 
depending on who your insurance carrier is you might be able to save some vacation money by looking into insurance company credit cards. we have one through ours that has no fee and pays triple points if we pay for our insurance products through them on it. since auto, homeowners and such can add up over the year that's a 3% savings we can set aside for vacations. we also get 3% on fuel and home improvements so while we don't spend much on gas we did do well on a recent furniture purchase. I let the rewards sit on the card and then a few weeks before we go I exchange them for a statement credit-then use that credit on vacation.
 
Once you get into a grove swagbucks is a really great easy way to earn extra cash. And if you want to try it ask a friend for their referral so they can get a few extra points. And you get the bonus.

I've found that I tap out on Swagbucks. When I first started on there I did well with surveys and such, but then your success drove up your swagbucks needed to meet your goals in weeks/months to come. Also, I found that I wasn't eligible for hardly any surveys and I would just get the 1 SB for trying up to the daily limit of failures. I still use the search bar function and get random amounts, but I go back like once or twice a month now and try surveys. I still hardly have any luck.

OP, I use Ibotta with fairly good success. It's a rebate app that you scan your receipt when you go shopping at certain stores (Walmart, Target, etc). If you do a lot of online shopping you can do Ebates, and I have friends that are saving a good chunk of money using the Acorn app. Acorn takes your transactions (you have to link your bank card) and rounds it up to the next dollar. So if you spend 5.25 on a purchase, it rounds up to 6.00 and puts .75 in your Acorn bank. That's great if you can afford it.
 
I find I do best with a combination of credit card points (I charge everything I possible can) and finding items at local flea markets, garage sales, auctions, etc. and reselling on eBay. I sell vintage items, jewelry and collectibles.
 
If you have Chase Ur card, you can transfer to Starwood and use points to stay in Swan / Dolphin. Although it's not a good use of points.
Try to get into SB. I average at least $75 a month. That's enough to pay for gas even if you're doing it for just a month or 2.

You can transfer to Marriott, then Starwood (for now until they become one in August). Like you said, not the best use of UR points. It's like paying $360-$450 a night.
 
As a canadian...it takes more $$$ for us to do a trip to see the Mouse or the dark side. For me...I am collecting Airmiles...where we can use the airmiles to purchase tickets into both Disney and universal, for hotel rooms and car rentals, and flights. I am also using a different reward program, that once you have sooo many points, you can use those " points " for certain $$$ off of your groceries. I turn around and take the cash " saved " from my groceries and either buy a disney giftcard or just keep the cash for our vacation fund. Last year I saved over 400.00 in free groceries and this year already...I'm at 250.00. I work both programs as much as I can, and don't purchase things I don't need just to get the points or the airmiles. But it sure does help the vacation fund. It's a game I play with myself. To see how many rewards I can get to make our trip cheaper ::yes::
 
I got a job! LOL, but seriously. I stayed home for 11 years raising my babies. Those babies are 8 & 11. I was getting bored during the day. So I went back to work 3 hours/day, 5 days a week. I paid off my daughters braces. Now I'm helping pay for our 2019 trip.
 

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