WHY DO YOU WANT FLEXIBLE CURRENCY CREDIT CARDS?

Common statement I get when people hear I travel on points to Disney parks is “oh so you open a Disney visa then right?”. Nope! I have over 20 credit cards and I haven’t opened that card yet. Here is the plan I would do instead:

You want what are called “flexible currency” credit cards these allow you to use them in a variety of different ways  This allows you to use the points for:

1. You can use them on their travel portal (think like Expedia ). For example, Chase bank you would go onto their portal and could book hotels, flights, or a rental card.
2. You can transfer them to free rewards programs. Airline programs like Southwest Airlines or Hotel programs like world of Hyatt
3. Many also cash them out for gift cards or on amazon. Please don’t do this if you like to travel! You return on your points is a lot lower than if you just used them the two ways listed above..

GENERAL RULE OF THUMB WITH CREDIT CARDS

You can personally open a credit card every 90 days as a general rule. My player 2 and I can open them every 45 days. Weird misconception is it will hurt your credit score over time. When you apply for a new card, your score will dip maybe 3-5 points. The following month it will go back up and actually be higher usually. My credit score has grown by 50 points since I started doing this.

Step 1

Player 1 of 2 people in a household is going to open this card. It has a 95 dollar annual fee.  The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the one I think 99.9% of people should have in their wallet. It offers 3x the points on restaurants and online grocery pick up orders (like kroger for example).

You will get 60,000 sign up bonus points for spending 4,000 in 3 months. You will also get points for any spending you put on the card.

Step 2

Player 2 will then open this card, the Capital one venture Card. They will earn 75,000 points for 4,000 in 3 months. This will be what we use for tickets.

Step 3

Player 2 will refer player one to the venture card. When you refer someone you get 25,000 points. They will meet the same minimum spending.

Step 4

Player 1 will refer player 2 to the sapphire card. They will get 15,000 chase points for referring.

POINTS TOTAL IN OUR EXAMPLE

Player 1’s Chase Sapphire 60,000 points + 10,000 referral

Player 2- Venture + referral- 75,000 points + 25,000 referral

Player 1 Venture– 75,000 points

Player 2 Sapphire– 60,000 points

Total Points not including spending on the cards:

Chase points- 130,000

Venture Miles- 175,000

WHAT DOES THIS GET YOU?

Here is what I would do:

1. You will combined all of your points onto your base credit card you picked. This is easy to do inside of your chase bank account. Click ultimate rewards, the three dots, and you will see combined points.
2. You will then transfer them from your Chase Ultimate Rewards Program to a free world of Hyatt account. This hotel is right next to Disneyland (you can walk easily.. You can actually see the parks) . Cost is around 15,000  a night in points. You have enough for 9 free nights here.
3. You would buy your tickets from undercover tourist. This is how you make sure your purchase can be redeemed with venture miles as a travel expense. Disney tickets actually codes as live entertainment on credit cards if bought directly through them. We have the step by step of how to do that here. You would have 1,750 worth of tickets to use.

TOTAL SAVED

9 nights at a Hyatt $3,105

$1750 in Disney Parks tickets

Total saved- 4,855 total

TOTAL ANNUAL FEES

Annual fees $380 for the year. All of these cards can be downgraded after a year. I would downgrade 1 of each the venture and sapphire to 0 annual fee cards. I like to keep 2 open so I can use them for future trips! You only need 1 per household.

Chase travel partners and how to transfer points