5 Ways to Save Money with Disney Gift Cards ~

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Disney vacations are full of special moments, unforgettable memories and tons of magic, but they do come with a large price tag. So to get my frugal husband on board with our first family trip years ago, I went hunting for the best way to maximize our vacation budget and found a trick that we still use…Disney gift cards. Did you know that you can use gift cards to pay for your entire vacation including your resort stay, park tickets, souvenirs and so much more? It’s a great option for extended family who want to gift you part of your trip for birthdays or holidays, but it also gives you a way to stack the savings by pairing discounted gift cards with the package deal your travel agent finds for you. So here are a few of my tricks for scoring these gift cards at a discount:

1) Target RedCardMy favorite way to purchase Disney gift cards is also the simplest since it’s a one-step process. If you sign up for a Target RedCard (either the credit or debit option), you will receive 5% off of every purchase that you make with the card both in store and online, and this includes gift cards! This means you can grab a $100 Disney card in the store, but only pay $95 for it. It may not seem like much, but when you add them up to pay for your entire trip, it’s a big savings! And FYI, they carry gift cards for some airlines as well!

2) Sam’s Club or BJ’s Wholesale ClubIf you are a Sam’s Club or BJ’s Club member, you have another option to snag discounted gift cards. Both of these warehouse chains carry packs of Disney gift cards that you can purchase both in-store and online. The discount can fluctuate, but on average it will save you about 4%. You do have to purchase a yearly membership to buy these gift card packs, so I only recommend this option if you are shopping one of these warehouse clubs already or you can snag an online only membership at BJ’s for just $10 a year.

3) Cash-back rewards credit cardsThere are many options out there when it comes to credit cards that give you rewards for your purchases, including Chase, Bank of America and American Express. This option isn’t a direct way to purchase a discounted Disney gift card, but it is a way to further stack your savings. If you use one of these cash-back rewards cards to purchase those discounted gift cards at a warehouse club, not only will get you the 4% off that the club offers, but on average you’ll also get 2% back from the credit card, making your savings roughly 5.9%.

4) Fuel rewards at Kroger storesIf you live near a Kroger grocery store or one of it’s affiliates, then this deal is for you! Every so often, Kroger will offer 4X fuel rewards on gift card purchases when you add the coupon to your free Kroger membership card. This means that for every $1 you spend on gift cards, you will earn 4 fuel points. So if you purchased $250 worth of Disney gift cards during this deal, you would earn 1,000 fuel reward points which equals $1 off each gallon of gas for one fill-up (up to 35 gallons). With this option, the gift cards themselves are not discounted but you are still seeing a savings elsewhere and it’s also stackable with your cash-back credit card as well.

5) Rebate appsThere are many apps out there that give you cash back for your purchases and a few can even be used to earn you gift cards! One example is the Dosh app, which gives you 2% cash-back on your Sam’s Club purchases (hello discount stack!). Another is ShopKick which gives you points simply for walking into stores and scanning certain items, which you can then redeem for $25 or $50 Disney gift cards. Or you can use Ibotta to scan in your receipts, earn rebates on your grocery purchases and then use that cash-back to buy more gift cards. This option does take a bit more work, but it can really add up over time and you’ll be amazed at how quickly it becomes second nature.So what’s the catch? Honestly, the only downside to paying for your Disney vacation with Disney gift cards is that in the rare instance that you would receive a refund from Disney, it would go back on to those gift cards instead of your credit card. But if you are like me and love Disney, this really isn’t a deal breaker because you can then use that refund to pay for part of your next trip or you can pick up some magic at home since these gift cards also work at the Disney Stores or ShopDisney website. This is why I also recommend combining the huge stack of gift cards you’ll accumulate using this method into one gift card. You can easily transfer the balance online and then by using that one gift card to make the payments on your vacation, not only will it simplify the payment process for both you and your travel agent, but it will also guarantee that you know exactly which card would receive any refunds.

And now that you know my family’s secret to maximizing your Disney vacation budget, let’s plan your family’s dream vacation and save you some moola in the process!-Sheena Fratto, [email protected]