How To Save 5% On Your ENTIRE Disney Vacation
I don’t know about you, but I like making my money stretch as far as possible whether I’m on vacation or not. If there’s a way that I could be saving money, I’m usually doing whatever it is I need to do in order to make it happen. This is ultimately what had me applying for a RedCard earlier this year.
Now, I know that a lot of people who are looking into saving money on their Walt Disney World vacation have heard about this before, but for those of you who are joining us on this journey for the first time, allow me to lower the safety bar for you and let’s get this doombuggy movin’!
The RedCard, also called the Target RedCard, is a Target credit card [though, they do have debit also] that promises lots of savings and perks; the biggest of which is 5% off on everyday purchases in store and online. The card also has the benefit of free shipping, longer return windows and other “exclusives”. Not too shabby if you ask me! As someone who finds myself at Target often enough, this in and of itself made having a RedCard seem worthwhile for me. After all, saving 5% for doing nothing is pretty good if you ask me. . . and that’s not taking into consideration the money you’re saving on shipping. The everyday savings isn’t what had me sitting down to apply for a RedCard though; it was the giftcards.
Aside from saving 5% on everyday purchase at Target, the RedCard also offers a 5% discount on “specialty gift cards” available for purchase both at Target stores and online. This, as some hardcore penny pinching Disney fans will know, includes Disney gift cards. Since these gift cards can be used to pay for nearly everything at Walt Disney World, including your Resort hotel, that means a 5% savings without even breakin’ a sweat!
It doesn’t stop there though!
There’s a long list of gift cards that are eligible for the 5% discount when using your RedCard making it possible to extend the savings beyond just Walt Disney World purchases. For example, you could be saving on transportation costs to Orlando with Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines or even Amtrak gift cards. [If you’re curious about my thoughts on taking the Amtrak to Walt Disney World, you can read them HERE.] If you’re not planning on staying in one of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels you might want to consider an AirBNB or Hotels.com gift card. Are you a fan of using Uber or Lift? BOOM! There’s a gift card for that too!
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Now, these are all really great ways to save money while you’re on vacation, but what about saving up for your trip? Honestly, taking advantage of these gift cards can be a great way to do that too! In fact, on our last trip to Target we got some Lowes gift cards in addition to the Disney gift cards I purchased for my upcoming trip. The way we like to go about doing this is to buy a gift card and then set aside the 5% we saved into [what we call] our “Disney Savings Account”. So for example, if I buy a $200.00 gift card, I’ll put the $10.00 I saved into my Disney Savings.
👻 Attention Ghouls: We’ll talk more about money saving tips, tricks and techniques in the future. Be sure to keep checking back or you can keep an eye on the 2 Foolish Mortals Jamboree on Facebook. If you would like to join the Jamboree, click HERE.
Hmm. . . . I can sense the skeptical vibrations from some of you out there who aren’t convinced that 5% is worth the trouble. Fair enough. At first glance, a 5% savings might not seem like much. However, if you’re intending to use gift cards to pay for your entire vacation [like many people do] then those savings can add up quite a bit. For example, a $10,000 vacation [which is what a family of 4 might pay for 7 nights at Art of Animation with 5 days of park tickets, memory maker, food, souvenirs and flights] could mean $500 in savings. That’s not bad for a measly 5% discount, is it? Not to mention, that’s before any deals or packages.
This all might sound great on the surface, but what’s the catch? Is there anything that’s going to bite you in the booooty? 👻 Well, that depends. As is the case with any credit card, being a responsible cardholder plays a huge role in how beneficial the card ends up being for you. If you’re paying the card off each month and avoiding interest, the RedCard is going to be well worth having. However, the RedCard’s 22.9% variable APR is high enough to slap you in the face if you’re not regularly paying the card off in full. RedCard limits also tend to be lower than other credit cards, which is something to take into consideration too.
At the end of the day, would I recommend that everyone who is planning a Walt Disney World vacation get a RedCard? No. Credit cards aren’t for everyone and if you’re not someone who is comfortable with using credit cards or able to pay them off right away then this might not be the right decision for you. However, if neither of these things are an issue for you, considering a red card might be a good idea.