Updated Disney Gift Card Deals and More

[eticketplease]

Speaking of Sam's, I have an offer to upgrade to Plus for $10. Worth it? I'm a Costco person and the nearest Sam's is not convenient. I usually just use it for DGCs of course. Do they have things worth buying and shipping over Costco that would make the Plus membership worth it?

@DisneyaholicRaquel made some good points. We are not rope droppers at Disney and always miss out on the extra early hours at sam's but it is there. The most valuable thing for us is they have online pickup that Costco doesn't have. We have used it when renting vacation homes instead of doing instacart. We also do it locally as rakuten only pays sams for "Online orders" which this counts as. They also have free shipping which we have used occasionally.

The Plus membership is the only way to earn money back and it is similar to the executive membership at Costco.
You earn 2% back on purchases (No gift cards and several other exclusions). If you happen to have/get a Sam's Club Mastercard you would get 5% back at Sam's club (3% from CC 2% Plus) (Regular Sam's MC holders only earn 1% so only incentive for the card is the 5% back for gas)
Unlike Costco you can cash it for actual cash which is what we do instead of putting it towards a purchase. Then we can use our SC Mastercard to earn more cash back and pay that bill with it if we wish but usually just take the cash with us for cast member tips.

It is not hard to spend $500 on non gift card and excluded items to get back your $10 back for the upgrade. After that first year if you are just thinking about DGC I would cash out and downgrade (unless you have the Sam's MC) as you would have to spend $3,000 at that point to get the membership dollars back. (With the card it would be $1,200 spent at sams) Not factoring in the 5% gas as every level gets that.


IMO opinion Costco has higher end merchandise but Sam's does have some nice items.
Sam's for us is only 5 minutes away compared to 20 for Costco and 30 for BJ's so we tend to just run into sam's last minute or do the click and pickup a lot if we have ran out of something.

 

[bnf0522]

I hope Discover repeats the Q2 bonus category from last year where warehouse clubs got 5% cash back. If you stack that on top of the 4% discount on DGCs at Sam’s - it adds up.
Apparently, they also double it for new card members. Definitely gonna apply if history repeats itself. I made out very well using the chase freedom 5% off in Q4 with the 10% Costco DGCs. Saved 14.5% off face value.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/credit-cards/rewards-credit-cards/discover-categories-q2-2023

Me too! I signed up for the Discover It card last year and got warehouse clubs as the 5% cash back category, then signed up for Chase Freedom Flex last year and they also had 5% cash back on warehouse clubs last year! We got to stack them with the discounted GC's at Sam's and saved a ton for our 2023 trip and our future 2025 trip fund already has a good start

 

[TheDailyMoo]

$10 definitely worth it! Free shipping, free pickup and enter earlier the store an hour or 2 before open for regular card members. Also, shop deals early online and accumulate higher % of cash back.

@DisneyaholicRaquel made some good points. We are not rope droppers at Disney and always miss out on the extra early hours at sam's but it is there. The most valuable thing for us is they have online pickup that Costco doesn't have. We have used it when renting vacation homes instead of doing instacart. We also do it locally as rakuten only pays sams for "Online orders" which this counts as. They also have free shipping which we have used occasionally.

The Plus membership is the only way to earn money back and it is similar to the executive membership at Costco.
You earn 2% back on purchases (No gift cards and several other exclusions). If you happen to have/get a Sam's Club Mastercard you would get 5% back at Sam's club (3% from CC 2% Plus) (Regular Sam's MC holders only earn 1% so only incentive for the card is the 5% back for gas)
Unlike Costco you can cash it for actual cash which is what we do instead of putting it towards a purchase. Then we can use our SC Mastercard to earn more cash back and pay that bill with it if we wish but usually just take the cash with us for cast member tips.

It is not hard to spend $500 on non gift card and excluded items to get back your $10 back for the upgrade. After that first year if you are just thinking about DGC I would cash out and downgrade (unless you have the Sam's MC) as you would have to spend $3,000 at that point to get the membership dollars back. (With the card it would be $1,200 spent at sams) Not factoring in the 5% gas as every level gets that.


IMO opinion Costco has higher end merchandise but Sam's does have some nice items.
Sam's for us is only 5 minutes away compared to 20 for Costco and 30 for BJ's so we tend to just run into sam's last minute or do the click and pickup a lot if we have ran out of something.

Ok sounds like I'll try it at least I mean it's only $10! But my membership comes up in April so it'll just be for a few months. Is it easier to use Sam's when staying on property at DW? Or is Costco better? I only Instacart when I'm staying in one of the resorts. My Costco is 5 minutes from me so I'm there WAY more often than I should be! But I have been to the Sam's once and it wasn't bad! I know what you mean by Costco higher end but Sam's definitely had some unique items. Thanks for the tips!

 

[eticketplease]

Ok sounds like I'll try it at least I mean it's only $10! But my membership comes up in April so it'll just be for a few months. Is it easier to use Sam's when staying on property at DW? Or is Costco better? I only Instacart when I'm staying in one of the resorts. My Costco is 5 minutes from me so I'm there WAY more often than I should be! But I have been to the Sam's once and it wasn't bad! I know what you mean by Costco higher end but Sam's definitely had some unique items. Thanks for the tips!

Sorry can't answer for staying on property. We use magical vacation services (owned by a laid off cast member) for groceries on property.

We have used the pickup at several other vacation homes that we have rented and it has worked for us pretty well but those were not in FL.

 

[Liquidice]

Speaking of Sam's, I have an offer to upgrade to Plus for $10. Worth it? I'm a Costco person and the nearest Sam's is not convenient. I usually just use it for DGCs of course. Do they have things worth buying and shipping over Costco that would make the Plus membership worth it?

Just be careful, Sam's Club once offered me an upgrade to Plus for only $5.00, what I didn't realize at the time was I only had 3 months left on my membership and to keep Plus the next year was going to cost me $60 more than renewing to the normal level. So it ended up being a waste of $5.00 as I lost all of my reward points when I didn't pay the $60 to renew Plus.

OTOH, free shipping from the website can be worthwhile especially if you plan to buy anything like furniture. This year I upgraded to Plus because we were buying a new couch from Sam's Club and the shipping would have been over $100.

Now having had Plus for the entire year (with a month left) - I can see we've earned $52.43 in Plus rewards, not counting free shipping meaning the Plus membership has almost paid for itself.

 

[eticketplease]

Just be careful, Sam's Club once offered me an upgrade to Plus for only $5.00, what I didn't realize at the time was I only had 3 months left on my membership and to keep Plus the next year was going to cost me $60 more than renewing to the normal level. So it ended up being a waste of $5.00 as I lost all of my reward points when I didn't pay the $60 to renew Plus.

OTOH, free shipping from the website can be worthwhile especially if you plan to buy anything like furniture. This year I upgraded to Plus because we were buying a new couch from Sam's Club and the shipping would have been over $100.

Now having had Plus for the entire year (with a month left) - I can see we've earned $52.43 in Plus rewards, not counting free shipping meaning the Plus membership has almost paid for itself.

Good point.

Since you can cash out at any time I went ahead and renewed, cashed out and then downgraded the membership.
They have will refund your membership (It maybe prorated though)
I'm not sure if we had to actually cancel and resign up or they were able to just downgrade us as it was several years ago.
I did get to keep the sams cash though as I had earned and cashed it out as a "Plus" member.

 

[FoxC63]

I hope Discover repeats the Q2 bonus category from last year where warehouse clubs got 5% cash back. If you stack that on top of the 4% discount on DGCs at Sam’s - it adds up.
Apparently, they also double it for new card members. Definitely gonna apply if history repeats itself. I made out very well using the chase freedom 5% off in Q4 with the 10% Costco DGCs. Saved 14.5% off face value.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/credit-cards/rewards-credit-cards/discover-categories-q2-2023

Me too! I signed up for the Discover It card last year and got warehouse clubs as the 5% cash back category, then signed up for Chase Freedom Flex last year and they also had 5% cash back on warehouse clubs last year! We got to stack them with the discounted GC's at Sam's and saved a ton for our 2023 trip and our future 2025 trip fund already has a good start

Every quarter I post about the changes for each credit card, include signup links, spending bonuses and it can all be found on:

Post #3 Credit Card Offers & More

 

[elsbit]

A big thank you to whomever previously posted about getting a credit back on your Southwest flights if they go down in price. I do not fly much (road trip lover) and did not know that. I checked our flights for our upcoming trip to Disney World and was able to save! I will keep checking until we go.

 

[rangerxenos]

A big thank you to whomever previously posted about getting a credit back on your Southwest flights if they go down in price. I do not fly much (road trip lover) and did not know that. I checked our flights for our upcoming trip to Disney World and was able to save! I will keep checking until we go.

Just another FYI, I just found out that if the times of your flights change at all, you are allowed to make up to 2 changes at no charge, it doesn't matter if the price of the flight you switch to is more than you originally paid. And you're able to change within a 14 day window.

I switched to come in a day earlier than I originally planned (flights were a lot more for that date when I originally booked), with an earlier flight that I had originally wanted, but again was a lot more money when I first booked, and it cost me zero. I was surprised, I was expecting to have to pay the difference!

 

[bnf0522]

Every quarter I post about the changes for each credit card, include signup links, spending bonuses and it can all be found on:

Post #3 Credit Card Offers & More

Yep and it's always super helpful! This forum, and your posts, are how I found out about the 5% cash back cards

 

[FoxC63]

Added Offers & Updates ~ 2/01/24 / Discount District
eGifter

• $50 Gap Options Gift Card for $40 with Promo Code: OPTIONS224
  • Members can get $50 for $38
  • Limit 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/15/24.
• $60 Bass Pro Shop Gift Card for $50 with Promo Code: BASS224
  
  • Limit 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/28/24
• $50 Regal Cinemas Gift Card for $40 with Promo Code: MOVIE224
  • Limit 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/29/24.
• $50 H&M Gift Card for $40 with Promo Code: H&M224
  • Limit 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/29/24.
• $100 Uber Gift Card for $90 with Promo Code: UBER224
  • Limit 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/29/24.
• $50 Panera Gift Card for $40 with Promo Code: BREAD224
  • Limit 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/29/24.
• $50 Aeropostale Gift Card for $40 with Promo Code: JEAN224
  • Members can get $50 for $38
  • Limit 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/29/24.

And still available

• $50 Bath and Body Works Gift Cards $42.50 with Promo Code: WORKS124
  • Limit 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/05/24. Post #22214
• $50 Fanatics Gift Card for $40 with Promo Code: FANS124
  • Limit 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/14/24. Post #22418
• $50 Express Gift Card for $40 with Promo Code: EXPRESS124
  • Limited 5. Direct link
  • Expires 2/15/24. Post #22322

 

[FoxC63]

Update: Martin's and Stop & Shop have been added

GIANT, Martin’s and Stop & Shop​

• Earn 5x Points On Select Gift Cards
  • Includes: DoorDash, IHOP, Panera, The Cheesecake Factory, Uber and Ulta Beauty
  • $2,000 limit per household.
  • GIANT Weekly ad
  • Martin's Weekly ad
  • Stop & Shop Weekly ad
  • Offer valid 2/02/24 – 2/15/24. Post #22636

 

[FoxC63]

Giant​

• Earn 4x Points On Select Gift Cards
  • Includes: DoorDash, IHOP, Panera, The Cheesecake Factory, Uber and Ulta Beauty
  • $2,000 limit per household.
  • Giant Weekly ad
  • Offer valid 2/02/24 – 2/15/24.

 

[FoxC63]

Newegg

• Buy $25 Domino's eGift Card & Get Free $5 Domino’s gift card w/ purchase
  • Limit 15. Direct link
  • Expires 2/01/23. Maybe.

 

[FoxC63]

Staples

• Buy $200 Visa Gift Cards With No Purchase Fee
  • Limit 8 per customer, per day
  • Weekly ad
  • Offer valid 2/04/24 - 2/10/24.

 

[FoxC63]

Weis

• Earn 4x points on all $100+ 3rd Party Gift Cards
  • No limit on the number of points you can earn!
  • Points are awarded in $100 increments.
  • Points are awarded for purchases in a single transaction.
  • Any gift card activation fees will not count toward the 4x Weis Reward Points. The promotion only counts the dollar value loaded to the gift cards.
  • Excludes: Weis Markets gift cards, All financial cards (American Express, Mastercard & Visa), All prepaid reloadable debit cards (Amex Serve, Green Dot, Netspend, Paypower, ReloadIT, T-Mobile GPR & Univision) and All phone cards.
  • Monthly Home Ad 2/01/24.
  • Offer valid 2/02/24 - 2/13/24.

 

[FoxC63]

Weis

• Earn 4x when you spend $5 + On Select Gift Card
  • Includes: Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Chipotle, Domino’s, DoorDash, Instacart and Lowe’s
  • No limit on the number of points you can earn!
  • Points are awarded in $5 increments.
  • Points are awarded for purchases in a single transaction.
  • Any gift card activation fees will not count toward the 4x Weis Reward Points. The promotion only counts the dollar value loaded to the gift cards.
  • Excludes: all other gift cards
  • Direct link
  • Expires 2/11/24.

 

[FoxC63]

Albertsons Companies:

ACME, Kings Food, Star Market & Shaw's​

• Buy $50 Select Gift Cards & Save $10 on your next shopping order
  • Includes: AMC Theaters, Bass Pro Shops, Bath & Body Works, Bloomin Brand, Chili’s, Disney, DoorDash, Fanatics, Foot Locker, Hulu, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, PetSmart, PlayStation, Texas Roadhouse and Uber
  • ACME Weekly ad
  • Kings Food Market Weekly ad
  • Star Market Weekly ad
  • Shaw's Weekly ad
  • Offer valid 2/02/24 – 2/15/24.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Have any of you tried the American Airlines shopping portal? I'm new to and am giving it a try. Seems to work very similarly to other shopping portals, but you earn AA miles instead--which I've recently found can be very valuable for international travel.

One neat thing I've found is the "fixed miles" offers in which you get a set number of miles for making a specific purchase or subscription. For example, 7400 miles for signing up for T Mobile home internet or 3500 for signing up for Hello Fresh. I didn't use these buy I'm going to try to keep in mind to check this portal more often.

 

[mickey916]

Just another FYI, I just found out that if the times of your flights change at all, you are allowed to make up to 2 changes at no charge, it doesn't matter if the price of the flight you switch to is more than you originally paid. And you're able to change within a 14 day window.

I switched to come in a day earlier than I originally planned (flights were a lot more for that date when I originally booked), with an earlier flight that I had originally wanted, but again was a lot more money when I first booked, and it cost me zero. I was surprised, I was expecting to have to pay the difference!

This has been a bargain day for you! Very exciting!