Okay, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to NOT create another image. Thanks to my wife for the pic. She also said, "Literally the second best box I've ever opened in my life!!!" Awww, shucks.
Instead of writing an article, I figured I would just list the actual cost of this trip. Don't get too excited. Definitely not free. I will also discuss what I learned, and what I would do differently next time we go. By next time, I mean maybe later this year. Jury is still out on this one. We did Disneyland last fall, and we're a little nervous about Disney World not having Cars Land. We should have a true favorite by this summer.
Airfare
- Non-stop Roundtrip Airfare for 4 STL - MCO - 80,000 Delta SkyMiles
How we got those miles
My Platinum Delta had a reward of 70k SkyMiles. Upfront annual fee of $195.
My wife's Gold Delta had a reward of 50k points. Annual fee waived the first year. NOTE: She already went to Orlando once with these miles.
Airfare Out-of-pocket cost
- $44 ($11 tax per ticket)+$195=$239
- Cost without SkyMiles would've been $858
- Also worth noting first bag checked free for Delta Amex holders. 4 bags each way free.
Disney Tickets
- 3 2-day (1 Park per day) Walt Disney World tickets
- 2 Adult 2-day passes +1 Child 2-day pass $594.00 + Tax 38.61 = $632.61
Kicking myself for this one. I'll discuss later in Lessons Learned.
Minivan Rental for 7 days
- 16,790 Ultimate Rewards points from my Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Out-of-pocket would have been $251
3 Nights at Disney All-Star resort
- 25,760 Ultimate Rewards points from my Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Out-of-pocket would have been $386
4 nights at Gulf Beach resort
- 51,856 Ultimate Rewards points from my Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Out-of-pocket would have been $777
Breakdown (by Tom Petty)
| Expense | Father Doesn't Know Points | Father Knows Points |
|---|---|---|
| Airfare | $858 | $239 |
| Disney tickets | $632.61 | $632.61 |
| Rental car | $251 | $0 |
| Disney on-resort hotel | $386 | $0 |
| Beach hotel | $777 | $0 |
| Total | $2909 | $872 |
Lessons Learned
Well okay, first that's over a $2000 savings. I'm giving us a huge pat on the back for that right there. However, it could have been $400-$500 cheaper or even free.
Please note that these are current as of 3/31/17. This may have changed.
The Barclay Arrival+ card gives you a travel credit of $500 after meeting the $3k minimum spend in 3 months.
The Capital One Venture card gives you a travel credit of $400 after meeting the $3k minimum spend in 3 months.
If you order your Disney tickets through Undercover Tourist (http://undercovertourist.com), the purchase should get coded as Travel. You may want to read about people that have actually done this. The information is out there.
Voila! If you have both credits and could put some tickets on one card and some on the other, free Disney tix is not outside of the realm of possibility.
We just hit the minimum spend for the Barclay Arrival+, but I have other plans for that :)
Thanks for reading!