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A trip to a Disney park is a bucket list item for many families, but can also be magically expensive.
There are ways to cut the cost of a Disney vacation, but eating cheaply and visiting at off-peak times will only go so far. However, with the right mix of rewards credit cards and cash-back credit cards, you can save on airfare, hotels and park tickets.
The best credit card for a Disney vacation may not be the most obvious choice. There are Disney credit cards that earn Disney Rewards Dollars, but — as you'll see — you'll often be better off earning more flexible rewards.
Here, CNBC Select reviews which credit cards offer the best value for a Disney vacation. The cards we selected earn either cash back or flexible rewards, have an annual fee under $100 and come with additional perks (see our methodology for more information on how we choose the best cards).
Best credit cards for Disney vacations
- Best for travel insurance: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (See rates and fees)
- Best for travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Best for cash-back: Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Best for no-annual-fee: Citi Double Cash® Card
- Best for Bank of America customers: Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Credit Card
Best for travel insurance
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card packs a punch for a $95 annual fee card, offering annual travel credits, comprehensive travel protections and more.
- You can transfer rewards to all of Chase's travel partners including World of Hyatt, Southwest Rapid Rewards and many more
- Long list of travel and shopping protections
- $50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit
- Has an annual fee
- Requires a high credit score
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase TravelSM
- 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Member FDIC
Balance transfer fee
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Who's this for? The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the most versatile rewards credit cards, which makes it the perfect option for a trip to Disney World or Disneyland. You can redeem the rewards you earn with the Sapphire Preferred for flights, hotels, car rentals or cash back so you can cover any expenses associated with your vacation.
Standout benefits for your Disney trip: The Sapphire Preferred card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which can help you book a Disney trip in a number of ways. You can redeem Chase points for cash back, use them to pay for travel or transfer them to 14 airline and hotel partners. The Sapphire Preferred also has a variety of travel insurance and purchase protection benefits, which can save you money when things don't go as planned.
Best for travel rewards
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has a reasonable annual fee and earns flexible travel rewards, which makes it a great travel card for beginners or heavy travelers.
Highlights
- Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Enjoy access to 1,300+ lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
$0 at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fee
None
Who's this for? The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is ideal for those who value simplicity and flexibility. This card has a straightforward, yet generous points-earning structure and easy-to-use rewards that can be transferred to valuable airline and hotel partners.
Standout benefits for your Disney trip: The Capital One Venture Reward Card earns at least 2X miles per dollar on every purchase so you don't need to keep track of confusing bonus categories to maximize your spending. Capital One miles transfer to 15+ airline and hotel loyalty programs.
Best for cash-back
The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the most rewarding options for earning cash back in categories such as entertainment and dining without paying an annual fee.
- One of the most rewarding cash back cards for entertainment and streaming services
- No annual fee
- Easy-to-earn welcome bonus
- High APR
- Requires a good to excellent credit score
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
- $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
- Earn unlimited 3% cash back at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®), on dining, entertainment and popular streaming services, plus 1% on all other purchases
- Earn 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
- Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus cash back won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how much you can earn
- 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months; 18.74% - 28.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
Introductory fee of 3% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account during the first 12 months that your account is open. After that, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that we may offer you at any other time.
Who's this for? The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card earns bonus cash back in categories that are likely to take up a good portion of your Disney vacation's budget: Dining and entertainment. This makes it a great choice for anyone who wants to maximize the rewards they earn while at Disney World or Disneyland.
Standout benefits for your Disney trip: The Capital One Savor card stands out because it earns 3% back on dining and entertainment (which includes theme park tickets). If you prefer to pack your lunch, this card also earns 3% back at grocery stores.
Best for no-annual-fee
The Citi Double Cash® Card is one of the best no-annual-fee cash-back cards thanks to its straightforward rewards structure.
- Balance transfers get a long intro APR
- Generous flat-rate cash-back rewards structure
- No annual fee
- Travelers face a foreign transaction fee
- Intro APR only applies to balance tranfer
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
- Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time. Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
- Balance Transfer Only Offer: 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 17.49% - 27.49%, based on your creditworthiness.
- Balance Transfers do not earn cash back. Intro APR does not apply to purchases.
- If you transfer a balance, interest will be charged on your purchases unless you pay your entire balance (including balance transfers) by the due date each month.
- There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).
Balance transfer fee
There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. A balance transfer fee of 5% of each transfer ($5 minimum) applies if completed after 4 months of account opening.
Foreign transaction fee
3%
Who's this for? The Citi Double Cash® Card is a solid card for anyone who doesn't want to deal with an annual fee or complicated rewards program.
Standout benefits for your Disney trip: The Citi Double Cash Card focuses on one thing, and it does it well — it earns cash back. With this card, you'll earn 2% back on every purchase with no annual cap on the cash back you can earn. You'll get 1% back when you buy and 1% back when you pay.
Best for Bank of America customers
- Up to $100 annual airline incidental credit
- 25% to 75% more points for Preferred Rewards members
- No fee charged on purchases made outside the U.S.
- No special financing offers on new purchases
- You cannot transfer points
Information about Bank of America cards has been collected independently by CNBC Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer prior to publication.
Who's this for? On the surface, Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Credit Card is a good cash-back credit card. But if you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member, this card transforms into an absolute cash-back earning machine.
Standout benefits: If you're a member of the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program, you can boost your credit card rewards earnings by up to 75% based on the combined total of your deposit account and investment account balances with Bank of America and Merrill. If you qualify for the maximum 75% bonus, you'll earn at least 2.6% back on every purchase and 3.5% back on travel and dining purchases.
More on our top credit cards for Disney vacations
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
It's hard to go wrong with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card because the points you earn can be redeemed in many different ways. Not only that, but it also comes with an excellent welcome bonus, lucrative bonus categories and some other useful perks.
Rewards
- 5X points per dollar spent on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM
- 5X points per dollar spent on Lyft rides through Sept. 30, 2027
- 3X points per dollar spent on dining
- 3X points per dollar spent on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs).
- 3X points per dollar spent on select streaming services.
- 2X points per dollar spent on all other travel purchases
- 1X points per dollar spent on all other purchases
- 10% anniversary points boost
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit
Bonus
Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual fee
$95
Notable perks
You can transfer Chase points to over a dozen airline and hotel partners. This includes World of Hyatt, which has several hotels near Disney World or Disneyland that only cost 8,000 to 15,000 points per night.
Chase points are also useful for booking domestic flights and Chase partners with several airline programs that allow you to book certain routes for 10,000 points or less each way. For a family of four, it may only take 80,000 points to fly roundtrip to Orlando or Anaheim.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is also great for the many travel protections it offers, including primary rental car insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance and baggage and trip delay insurance. Just remember that you must pay for your travel with your card to be eligible for the insurance protections.
Check out CNBC Select's best welcome bonuses currently available.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a popular travel credit card that can help you earn rewards to use for just about any travel expense. Plus, its straightforward points-earning structure means that you'll be able to maximize the return for spending with minimal effort.
Rewards
- 5X miles per dollar on hotel and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on every other purchase
Bonus
Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.
Annual fee
$95
Notable perks
What makes the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card shine is how you can redeem its rewards. The simplest way to use Capital One miles is to offset recent travel purchases at a rate of one cent per mile. This allows you to shop around to find the best deal, rather than be limited to the bank's travel portal. Plus, although tickets Disney park ticket purchases are typically classified as entertainment spending, there's a way to redeem miles for them. The trick is to purchase your tickets through an online travel agency like Undercover Tourist or Expedia as they code these transactions as travel purchases, which means you can offset them with miles.
To potentially receive an even greater value for your miles, you can take advantage of Capital One's transfer partners. For example, you can transfer Capital One miles to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles at a 1:1 rate and book round-trip domestic award flights on United for only 15,000 miles.
Other perks include a credit of up to $120 to cover Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® membership.
Check out CNBC Select's best travel credit cards.
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Card
The Capital One Savor card earns bonus cash back in the categories where you're likely to spend the most. The card offers bonus rewards for spending on Uber rides, dining, groceries, streaming services and entertainment.
Rewards
- 8% back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
- 3% cash back on dining and entertainment
- 3% on eligible streaming services
- 3% at grocery stores
- 1% on all other purchases
Bonus
Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual fee
$0
Notable perks
While there are many cards that offer bonus rewards for dining and grocery store spending, the Capital One Savor card is among the few to offer 3% cash back on entertainment purchases. This makes it a go-to option for sporting events, concerts, movies and, of course, Disney tickets.
The Capital One Savor card charges $0 in foreign transaction fees, so it's a great option if you're visiting a Disney theme park in Europe or Asia. Cardholders can also benefit from access to exclusive entertainment events, such as the iHeartRadio Music Festival and the Capital One JamFest.
Check out CNBC Select's best cash-back credit cards.
Citi Double Cash Card
The Citi Double Cash Card has no annual fee and earns a flat 2% back everywhere. If you like to keep things simple, you can't beat that.
Rewards
- Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time.
- Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
Bonus
Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
Annual fee
$0
Notable perks
Let's put the Citi Double Cash Card's 2% back on all purchases (1% when you buy and 1% as you pay) in perspective. The Disney® Premier Visa® Card — which has a $49 annual fee — only earns 2% back in Disney Rewards Dollars at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and most Disney locations. And the Citi Double Cash's unlimited 2% back is double what the no-annual-fee Disney® Visa® Card earns in rewards for everyday spending.
To put it simply, if you want to earn rewards from purchases that you can put toward a Disney vacation, the Citi Double Cash is more lucrative than the branded Disney cards.
While the Citi Double Cash is technically a cash-back card, it earns Citi ThankYou® Points, which you can redeem in a variety of ways for one cent each. You can also transfer rewards to three of Citi's travel partners: Wyndham, JetBlue and Choice Privileges. However, if you pair this card with the Citi Strata Premier® Card (see rates and fees), you'll be able to transfer your ThankYou® Points to all of Citi's transfer partners and potentially get more value from your points.
Before using the card when traveling outside of the U.S., beware that it charges a 3% foreign transaction fee.
Check out CNBC Select's best no-annual-fee credit cards.
Bank of America Premium Rewards® credit card
For anyone with a sizeable amount of money deposited with Bank of America or Merrill (including retirement savings), the Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card is a stellar cash-back card.
Rewards
- 2X points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases
- 1.5X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Up to 75% bonus on rewards for eligible Bank of America Preferred Rewards members
Bonus
Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending at least $3,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening
Annual fee
$95
Notable perks
The Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card comes with emergency travel benefits like trip cancellation/interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, lost luggage and baggage delay insurance and transportation assistance. It also comes with purchase protections like extended warranty and return protection coverage. Although there's a $95 annual fee, it can be offset by the annual airline incidentals credit of up to $100 and Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit.
Find the best credit card for you by reviewing offers in our credit card marketplace or get personalized offers via CardMatch™.
FAQs
How to choose a credit card for Disney?
To choose the right credit card for your Disney vacation, you'll need to know where you'll be spending the most money. If you live within driving distance of a Disney theme park, earning airline miles may not be the best strategy. And if you prefer camping or packing your food, then hotel points or bonus cash back on dining purchases won't do you much good.
Once you know what you'll spend the most on, you'll have an easier time choosing the right credit card, or credit cards, to help offset your biggest expenses and reward you for your most common purchases.
Which is the easiest Disney credit card to get?
As with most rewards cards, the best credit cards for a Disney vacation will typically require a good to excellent score (670+ according to Experian). Secured credit cards are easier to get but often don't earn rewards. However, a secured card could be a stepping stone to becoming eligible for lucrative card offers because it helps you rebuild and strengthen your credit.
Which credit card is best for Disney?
The best credit card for Disney depends on your personal situation. That said, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is so versatile that it's likely to be the best choice for most people. If you need to book flights or hotel rooms, you have multiple ways of doing that with Chase points, so you can cherry-pick the best deals. And if you want to pay for Disney tickets or just put gas in the car, it's easy to convert Chase points into cash back.
On top of all that, the Chase Sapphire Preferred has one of the best welcome offers and is generously rewarding for all sorts of purchases.
What are other kinds of credit cards to consider?
Unless you have one of the Disney Visa cards and prefer earning Disney Rewards Dollars, a cash-back credit card is a good type of card to consider for a Disney trip. Cash-back rewards are generally the only option for offsetting park tickets, food and other incidentals. If you know where you want to stay or what hotel chain you want to stay with, opening a hotel credit card can help you earn the points you need to book an award stay. And the same is true for airline miles, earning miles with an airline that serves your home airport may make sense. In that case, the right airline credit card can help save on airfare.
You can also easily search CNBC Select's credit card marketplace for even more options. It allows you to filter the results by the credit score you need for approval, card type and card issuer.
Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best Disney credit cards.
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Our methodology
To determine which cards offer the best value for Disney vacations, CNBC Select analyzed over 230 of the most popular credit cards available in the U.S. We compared each card on a range of features, including: rewards, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR, balance transfer fee and foreign transaction fees, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available. We also considered additional perks, the application process and how easy it is for the consumer to redeem points.
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