Disney Gift Card Deals

[MinMou]

Well today was a weird day. I had several Sears gc's and decided that I didn't want to use them to buy anything at Sears, so I took the day off (it's pretty slow right now at work) and drove to the closest Kmart, which is over 2 hours away. I also decided to try shop my way, even though I still need to watch the tutorials to figure out what I should be doing. Despite going through a terrible storm, I got there as the clouds parted, and went through the store looking for things I needed. I had already planned to get my DS a toy, and I found some pens, but the store was not that nice. Nothing looked very inviting, and the bathrooms needed some work. Then I went to the gift card rack, which was by the only open register.

Then things got Really interesting. The only loadable cards were Kmart and Sears, and the only cards over $50 were Southwest, and Kmart. So I am looking at $25 ebay cards, and $50 and $25 Disney cards. I didn't want to convert all my Sears cards into $25 cards, but I also didn't want to plan to go to this store again for a second churning trip. I decided to pick up 4 ebay cards for $100 and move the rest to the $50 Disney cards. Not happy about reducing my churning this much, but hey, if I can still churn, then I can still make money for Disney. Checking out was a bit nerve-wracking, because the register only accepted one of my gift cards. I started to get nervous, but I just kept apologizing to the people behind me in line. Then they brought in a manager, and while one of the cashiers asked if the cards weren't working because I was buying gift cards, the manager was focused on getting my cards to work! Yippee! Having that toy in my basket may be the reason the first card worked, but it was worth more than the toy, so probably not.

So I learned several things:
1- Before deciding to use a new type of churn, go to the store and see what kind of inventory they have, in dollar amounts as well as brand of cards.
2- It's good to have something else to buy besides the gift cards, just in case the rules have changed about gc to gc purchases. That way, you haven't held up people behind you for no reason.
3- It's good to have at least 2 kinds of cards to buy, in case the store has low stock in your first choice.

After this, I went to an IHOP to eat lunch and wait out the storm. On the way home, I went into a Kroger's, bought an ebay gc to bring my points up to 1000, allowing me to buy gas for $1 a gallon.

All in all, I'm still on track for Disney, although I do need some ebucks promotions if I want to stay that way.

 

[PerfessorZ]

Well today was a weird day. I had several Sears gc's and decided that I didn't want to use them to buy anything at Sears, so I took the day off (it's pretty slow right now at work) and drove to the closest Kmart, which is over 2 hours away. I also decided to try shop my way, even though I still need to watch the tutorials to figure out what I should be doing.

[snip]

Wow - 2 hour drive to the nearest Kmart. I doubt I would've churned for Sears/Kmart cards knowing I'd have to invest that much time/gas/wear & tear on my car to cash out the meager profits I'd earned through ebay, especially not knowing the store policy ahead of time! I'm very glad it worked out in the end, though.

How'd you make out with learning about Shop My Way?

 

[SarahSlink]

Well today was a weird day. I had several Sears gc's and decided that I didn't want to use them to buy anything at Sears, so I took the day off (it's pretty slow right now at work) and drove to the closest Kmart, which is over 2 hours away. I also decided to try shop my way, even though I still need to watch the tutorials to figure out what I should be doing. Despite going through a terrible storm, I got there as the clouds parted, and went through the store looking for things I needed. I had already planned to get my DS a toy, and I found some pens, but the store was not that nice. Nothing looked very inviting, and the bathrooms needed some work. Then I went to the gift card rack, which was by the only open register.

Then things got Really interesting. The only loadable cards were Kmart and Sears, and the only cards over $50 were Southwest, and Kmart. So I am looking at $25 ebay cards, and $50 and $25 Disney cards. I didn't want to convert all my Sears cards into $25 cards, but I also didn't want to plan to go to this store again for a second churning trip. I decided to pick up 4 ebay cards for $100 and move the rest to the $50 Disney cards. Not happy about reducing my churning this much, but hey, if I can still churn, then I can still make money for Disney. Checking out was a bit nerve-wracking, because the register only accepted one of my gift cards. I started to get nervous, but I just kept apologizing to the people behind me in line. Then they brought in a manager, and while one of the cashiers asked if the cards weren't working because I was buying gift cards, the manager was focused on getting my cards to work! Yippee! Having that toy in my basket may be the reason the first card worked, but it was worth more than the toy, so probably not.

So I learned several things:
1- Before deciding to use a new type of churn, go to the store and see what kind of inventory they have, in dollar amounts as well as brand of cards.
2- It's good to have something else to buy besides the gift cards, just in case the rules have changed about gc to gc purchases. That way, you haven't held up people behind you for no reason.
3- It's good to have at least 2 kinds of cards to buy, in case the store has low stock in your first choice.

After this, I went to an IHOP to eat lunch and wait out the storm. On the way home, I went into a Kroger's, bought an ebay gc to bring my points up to 1000, allowing me to buy gas for $1 a gallon.

All in all, I'm still on track for Disney, although I do need some ebucks promotions if I want to stay that way.

My closest store (45 minutes away) only had $25 eBay cards as well, this last time! It was a bit tedious buying $500 worth, but aside from the time involved, everything went very smoothly!
It was even more tedious entering a bunch of them through the eBay app yesterday...

 

[MinMou]

Wow - 2 hour drive to the nearest Kmart. I doubt I would've churned for Sears/Kmart cards knowing I'd have to invest that much time/gas/wear & tear on my car to cash out the meager profits I'd earned through ebay, especially not knowing the store policy ahead of time! I'm very glad it worked out in the end, though.

How'd you make out with learning about Shop My Way?

I forget how I ended up with Sears cards, but yes, I don't recommend planning a churn based on a 2 hour drive. I thought I would be able to combine it with something else, but the weather changed that.

I still don't know much more about ShopMyWay. As soon as I mentioned ShopMyWay, they asked me if I wanted to sign up in the store. That process easily added 4-5 minutes to my sale. I forgot to check if a small coupon I had through them went through (it didn't) when the drama with my gift cards started. When I checked my email, it said I had Surprise points, but I need to redeem them in the store or online. I also earned 1% from the sale of the toy and pens.

 

[havaneselover]

I forget how I ended up with Sears cards, but yes, I don't recommend planning a churn based on a 2 hour drive. I thought I would be able to combine it with something else, but the weather changed that.

I still don't know much more about ShopMyWay. As soon as I mentioned ShopMyWay, they asked me if I wanted to sign up in the store. That process easily added 4-5 minutes to my sale. I forgot to check if a small coupon I had through them went through (it didn't) when the drama with my gift cards started. When I checked my email, it said I had Surprise points, but I need to redeem them in the store or online. I also earned 1% from the sale of the toy and pens.

I am trying to figure out Shop Your Way too. I haven't made much progress.

 

[Limes96]

I am trying to figure out Shop Your Way too. I haven't made much progress.

Same story here.

 

[JamieOak]

Firstly, nobody is going to be able to replicate this "deal" and for that I am sorry, but I just had to share my happiness with someone who would understand! My work has a system where you can get awarded/recognized with points for various reasons. I just received a Silver Award for a critical task I worked on and had to work a good bit of overtime. These rewards are pretty rare, I've only gotten 2 since the program was initiated about 2 years ago. The website is a typical points conversion site where you can buy an iphone charging cable for 500 points or some obscene amount. But thankfully they do have gift cards. Normally I'd go straight for a Lowes/HD gift card, but now my focus is on Disney so I looked for that first. They actually have Disney!

I was able to get a $100 Disney gift card and pay just $35 OOP. I didn't have enough points for the $100 card, but I had a good bit more points than the $50 gift card, so I decided to go with the $100 card and pay the balance instead of leaving points in my account. That's a 65% savings!


I still have $1,250 more to go in Disney before my late November trip. I just started buying gift cards in May of this year and already have $3,250 and my total percentage saved is now 17.5%, which I'm very happy with since I don't have the time for much "churning". I'm so happy I found this thread because I never would have thought to get Disney gift cards at a discount to pay for all these things.

 

[MinMou]

I'm glad I'm not alone! The Shop Your Way app is not helpful, and the website has lots of videos, but no written instructions.

Just saw that Raise is offering at extra 3% off on certain gift cards, and one is Walgreens. https://www.raise.com/special?utm_s...185&l=546_HTML&jb=1357&mid=7223546&u=45740087
Their Walgreens page shows only red cards, which are the kind that work, but it also says that these are for instore only. These are going for 11% off now, before the promotion. If you do regular shopping at the store, then this is good, but if you are only going there to do gc shopping, these may or may not work

 

[ellie05]

I'm glad I'm not alone! The Shop Your Way app is not helpful, and the website has lots of videos, but no written instructions.

Just saw that Raise is offering at extra 3% off on certain gift cards, and one is Walgreens. https://www.raise.com/special?utm_s...185&l=546_HTML&jb=1357&mid=7223546&u=45740087
Their Walgreens page shows only red cards, which are the kind that work, but it also says that these are for instore only. These are going for 11% off now, before the promotion. If you do regular shopping at the store, then this is good, but if you are only going there to do gc shopping, these may or may not work

No matter what they show by the amounts you can tell it is most likely store credit and you can't purchase GC with those.

 

[smellyia]

Has anyone attempted the Raise Walgreens gc? They say they r gc not store credit and they r red like the gc I get from SVM. Just curious as they are 11.3% plus part of the extra 3% off this weekend....

 

[Wsmagee]

Newbie here, and have skimmed through this forum (but whoa, 1072 pages!!!) Can someone answer this for me? I get giftcards to Target and Home Depot through work as rewards, and I am curious what is the best way to convert these to Disney? Are you easily able to just buy disney giftcards with store giftcards (specifically at these 2 stores)? Is there a way to get the target giftcard amounts onto my target debit card account and save the 5% too? I don't have time to do the long churns that I've seen some of you guys accomplish, but wondering how I should approach this to get the most bang for my buck? TIA!

 

[havaneselover]

Newbie here, and have skimmed through this forum (but whoa, 1072 pages!!!) Can someone answer this for me? I get giftcards to Target and Home Depot through work as rewards, and I am curious what is the best way to convert these to Disney? Are you easily able to just buy disney giftcards with store giftcards (specifically at these 2 stores)? Is there a way to get the target giftcard amounts onto my target debit card account and save the 5% too? I don't have time to do the long churns that I've seen some of you guys accomplish, but wondering how I should approach this to get the most bang for my buck? TIA!

Take the Target gift cards and use them to buy Disney gift cards at target.com. As long as your red card is set as default payment method, you should get 5% off (but are paying with the gift card). I don't think you can convert HD to anything else but I'm not sure.

 

[Ktreat627]

Where would you suggest is the best place for an easy one purchase discount? Target? SAMs?

 

[StuckInKS]

Just saw that Raise is offering at extra 3% off on certain gift cards, and one is Walgreens. https://www.raise.com/special?utm_s...185&l=546_HTML&jb=1357&mid=7223546&u=45740087
Their Walgreens page shows only red cards, which are the kind that work, but it also says that these are for instore only. These are going for 11% off now, before the promotion. If you do regular shopping at the store, then this is good, but if you are only going there to do gc shopping, these may or may not work

No matter what they show by the amounts you can tell it is most likely store credit and you can't purchase GC with those.

Has anyone attempted the Raise Walgreens gc? They say they r gc not store credit and they r red like the gc I get from SVM. Just curious as they are 11.3% plus part of the extra 3% off this weekend....

I received two Walgreens cards from Raise last week and both were the white/blue store credit ones. Raise said in an email that most "in-store only" cards are store credit.

 

[havaneselover]

Where would you suggest is the best place for an easy one purchase discount? Target? SAMs?

Sam's is fine, especially if you have a Chase Freedom card. Target is fine too. If you have a Kroger, I find it's easy to buy Target gift cards there (earning fuel points and cash back from my credit card) and use those online with my red card as default payment to buy Disney gift cards from target.com.

 

[MinMou]

I received two Walgreens cards from Raise last week and both were the white/blue store credit ones. Raise said in an email that most "in-store only" cards are store credit.

This is very important, so I am bumping this comment. I had seen Raise's special on Walgreen's today, but as stated before, most of the those cards were probably store credit and not gift cards.

 

[Ktreat627]

Sam's is fine, especially if you have a Chase Freedom card. Target is fine too. If you have a Kroger, I find it's easy to buy Target gift cards there (earning fuel points and cash back from my credit card) and use those online with my red card as default payment to buy Disney gift cards from target.com.

That's doable! Can I use large amounts?

 

[havaneselover]

That's doable! Can I use large amounts?

You can order ten $100 Disney gift cards at a time from target if they are in stock. Many of us try to spread out our purchases since target has banned some buyers (saying they are resellers). No clue on Sam's club.

Is that what you meant by use?

 

[Bree]

Just successfully flipped Kmart cards for Disney cards in South Florida. It was only $100 since I was testing the waters.

 

[MichelleB]

For those that have a Chase Freedom, how do you get your rewards? Is there an annual fee? I'm looking at the website and can't find an annual fee.