The Disney Visa credit card from Chase is a hugely popular credit card. We really can’t understand why.
It probably helps that Chase is the biggest card issuer in the US, and that the Disney card is one of their few 0% intro APR cards. It also probably helps that Disney is a marketing juggernaut. However, below we’ll point you in the direction of over 100 cards that rank better in terms of both rewards and low APRs, based on our calculators.
Crappiest Card on Earth
Well not quite, but close. There’s quite a few problems with the Disney Rewards from Chase. If you’re looking for rewards, you’re better off elsewhere. And don’t be fooled by the 0% intro APR because if you’re looking for a low ongoing APR, you won’t find it here.
Rewards: I’m a Mickey Mouse fanatic, isn’t this a good deal?
Probably not.
You do get some discounts at Disney World and the Disney Store, detailed here, generally along the lines of “10% off on select purchases when buying $50 or more of Disney merchandise”. You also get a stroller rental discount, and a complimentary 5″x7″ photo at some random corner of Disney World (woohoo!). And of course Chase and Disney are more than happy to finance your next expensive Disney vacation at a 0% APR, but only for six months.
However, you only earn a 1% rewards rate towards Disney and other purchases. You can do better than that with a Citi Forward card, which has a fatty sign up bonus of 8,500 points, and also earns you a generous 5 points per $1 spent at restaurants, bookstores, and movies. It’s also just as easy to qualify for, so go for the card that will give you a much higher reward rate.
Think about it, unless you’re spending more money on Disney DVDs and theme park trips than you are on gas, groceries, and restaurants, you can probably find a better rewards card out there. Plus if you get the Citi Forward card, you can use it to buy Disney books and DVDs at your local book store and get a 5% rewards rate out of it, instead of the 1% that the Disney credit card offers.
APRs: It says 0% intro APR for 6 months, isn’t that a good deal?
Not really. Our low interest credit card page takes this type of introductory period into account, so you can see how much interest hundreds of different credit cards will cost you in the long run. By this “effective interest rate” metric, there are nearly two hundred credit cards that are a better deal, and many have 0% balance transfer APRs on top of the 0% purchase APR offered by Disney Rewards.
To give you one example of a better option, the Citi Platinum Select card has a 0% intro purchase APR for 12 months, and a 0% intro balance transfer APR for 18 months. And even the Citi Forward has a 0% intro APR for 7 months, and a 0% balance transfer APR for 12 months. Not only that, but with the Citi Forward, your APR actually goes down when you pay your bills on time.
As a side note, we’d also highly recommend that you check out your local credit union for a lower ongoing APR rate. At the time of this writing, the Disney Rewards card APR is in the mid teens depending on your creditworthiness. However, chances are you’ll find a rate of 10% or below, even with average credit, if you check 3-4 local credit unions. Many of them allow you to qualify just based on where you live, work, or worship. You probably qualify for dozens of credit unions in your state, all of which are non-profit institutions with great rates.
| Chase Disney Rewards | Citi Forward | Citi Platinum Select |
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