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My daughter and I recently went to Disney World, and I wanted to stay in Disney’s Boardwalk area. It is a great place to stay for the easy access to Epcot and the new Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios.
Previously, we've used Starwood points to stay at the Dolphin, however, this time I wanted to stay on site for Disney's Magical Express (complimentary airport shuttle) and the Disney Dining Plan, so I turned to my Ultimate Rewards thanks to a tip from my friends at As the Joe Flies.
Redemption Process
The most obvious way to use Ultimate Rewards for a hotel or resort would be to book directly through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. However, the rates published through the portal, do not include special offers and promotions (an annual pass discount in my case, although Disney runs frequent promotions open to anyone).
It takes a little work. I spent about 30 minutes, instead of the 5 you might expect, but I highly recommend booking over the phone through Chase's travel agents (1-866-951-6592). Additionally, you cannot book Disney’s dining plan offerings through the travel portal. So I picked up the phone and called Travel Services.
The wait was a couple of minutes, and by speaking to an agent, we were able to secure a stay the Boardwalk Inn, a deluxe Disney resort, and the deluxe dining plan for my reservation. She gave me my Disney confirmation number over the phone, and I was able to link it to my Disney Account immediately.
Chase provides a separate confirmation number for their internal systems, so be sure you have both. Also of note is that the confirmation I received from Chase did not detail my resort or dining plan.
Bonus Tip
If you don't want to drain your Ultimate Rewards balance for your Disney trip, you can split your booking between Ultimate Rewards, cash (paid via a Chase credit card), and Disney gift cards. Disney gift cards can be purchased at a discount through Sam's Club and BJ's, and Target RedCard’s 5 percent discount also applies to Disney gift cards.
Disney is an anomaly when it comes to hotel bookings with Ultimate Rewards, a very customer-friendly anomaly.
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What a great usage of points at a place with no loyalty incentive program.
Great info on purchasing Disney GCs
This is the best news to have in my pocket. I was looking at a good way to save on a Disney trip for my kids. This will help make it a much easier trip. I assume using the points would still give trip protection? But if we split it, like with giftcards, then anything obviously on them wouldn’t be covered. Still to get giftcards and let my kids use them to get things on their own without draining my bank account on souvenirs would be a good idea. Now I know where to get them discounted :O)
I’ve never understood why people want to visit Disney, but I guess this is good for the many who do.
I love Chase’s UR program, and here’s just another reason why.
There is a lot of great information in this article. The idea of booking through Ultimate Rewards would have never occurred to me. Learning that over the phone is a better way for this situation is extremely useful and an extra reminder of buying gift cards at a discount is something that I often forget to do, for any specific purchase — it’s a double loss when you can buy the cards at a discount and then get extra points if you buy them at the correct store. It might almost make a DIsney vacation seem reasonable!
Wow! Chase’s flexibility on Disney stays with Ultimate Rewards points is awesome.
great idea!
I didn’t think about this, but this is super!
I really appreciate this post. We’ve been looking into a Disney vacation and didn’t know which rewards are best to use.
Thanks for the info. Using points for Disney is da bomb, if you have young kids.
Can be pretty expensive otherwise
So am I reading this right to say that you WERE able to apply your annual pass discount (or other published discounts) over the phone?
That’s certainly how I read it.
Great advise, didn’t know about Disney GC’s.
I would rather just get cash back for the ultimate rewards points. It is better than going for gift cards which limits on how you use the points.
You’ve missed the point. She didn’t purchase gift cards or take cash back with Ultimate Rewards.
I never found the Chase travel website to have competitive prices for hotels and airlines, so I would just get the gift cards. Even with the 25% given for using points, the prices are still higher than booking directly with the different websites.
I don’t see what this has to do with what Rachel has done here. What is your point?
Never would have thought to use points like this – great idea
This is a great way to use ultimate reward points.
Too bad this doesnt work for park tickets. Still wish I would have seen this before memorial day when we went for a last minute trip. Although we had less in our flight/rental car/hotel (<$500) than we had in park tickets. If I ever end up staying at a Disney park I think I would opt for the one at animal kingdom.
This might work for park tickets alone. I just booked a whole package of dining, park tickets and hotel using ONLY ur points. Just make sure you ask for cruise dept.
I used UR to buy tickets to Disneyland in August, but couldn’t use UR to add the maxpass. We just added that when we entered the park. Worked well for us.
very nice tip! thanks!