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Travelers can use Chase Ultimate Rewards for Disney trips in multiple different ways — including transferring to Ultimate Rewards transfer partners, booking through theChase TravelSM portal, Pay Yourself Back to reimburse your expenses, and cashing out points to offset other purchases.
This post looks at the best ways to cover flights and lodging with Ultimate Rewards, as well as how to use points and miles for harder-to-cover expenses like rental cars, Disney park admission, and park purchases.
Page Contents
- Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards at Disney Parks
- Using Chase Ultimate Rewards To Book Lodging for Disney Trips
- Transfer Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt to book hotels near Disney parks
- Comparing costs: Transferring to Hyatt vs. booking Hyatt hotels in the Chase Travel℠ portal
- Booking a Deluxe Disney Resort in the Chase Travel portal
- Redeeming Ultimate Rewards for flights: Transferring points vs. booking in the portal
- Using Ultimate Rewards for Hard-To-Cover Disney Costs
- Bottom Line
Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards at Disney Parks
U.S. parks or at Hong Kong Disneyland
Not only is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) the best travel rewards card for beginners, it also stands out as our favorite Chase Disney card in the U.S. (and at Hong Kong Disneyland) for a few reasons:
- Earns 3x points purchasing food in the U.S. parks or at Hong Kong Disneyland (at these parks — and these parks only — food purchases code as “dining”).
- Earns 2x points on Disney travel packages, which include lodging and tickets (when combined, these code as “travel”).
- Purchase airfare on the card and protect your trip with quality trip protection.
- Low $95 annual fee.
- No foreign transaction fees.
In addition, if you've never had the card, it's a good time to apply. As a new applicant for the Sapphire Preferred, you can score 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Even better, you can use those welcome bonus points for your next Disney trip, as outlined below.
- 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 Travel℠, 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 Travel℠
- 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
- Rates & Fees
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Tokyo Disneyland
While lots of cards earn Chase Ultimate rewards, we recommend either the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card at Tokyo Disneyland for the following reasons:
Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
- 4x points on flights and hotels.
- Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership.
- Best-in-class travel protections.
- Up to $120 credit to cover your application fee to Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS once every four years.
- Annual travel credit is helpful for hard-to-cover Disney travel charges like rental cars and admission (depending on how the purchase codes on your credit card).
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
- All park purchases code “travel” in the Tokyo Parks (the Ink Preferred earns 3x points per on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases across bonus categories annually, one of which is travel).
- No foreign transaction fees.
- 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on dining worldwide
- 1x points on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
Using Chase Ultimate Rewards To Book Lodging for Disney Trips
Transfer Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt to book hotels near Disney parks
One of the best ways to obtain top value from your Ultimate Rewards is transferring them to World of Hyatt. Luckily, multiple Disney locations around the world have Hyatt properties nearby.
- At Disneyland California, choose the Hyatt House, Hyatt Place, or Hyatt Regency Orange County.
- At Walt Disney World, stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress or Hyatt Place Lake Buena Vista.
- On a Disneyland Paris day trip, take the RER from the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoilé in the city.
- At Tokyo Disneyland, try the Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay — which offers a shuttle bus to the resort
- For Hong Kong Disneyland, book the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui.
Related: A Step-by-Step Guide to Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards
Comparing costs: Transferring to Hyatt vs. booking Hyatt hotels in the Chase Travel℠ portal
It's also possible to use your points in the Chase Travel Portal. It's always worth comparing how many points you'll need this way against how many points you'll need when transferring to Hyatt.
Let's check the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, near Walt Disney World, for an example.
Booking through Hyatt, you'll pay 12,000, 15,000, or 18,000 points for a standard room, based on Hyatt's peak and off-peak pricing. At this property, the daily resort fee is $49 plus tax. But Hyatt waives resort fees on award stays, so you won't pay one if you book through Hyatt directly with points.
Booking the same room on the same night in the Chase Travel Portal costs $419, including the resort fee.
Let's assume you have a stash of Ultimate Rewards. How many would you need to use to book this hotel through the travel portal? It depends on which Chase credit card you have—and whether the property is eligible for Points Boost.
- With the Sapphire Reserve, points are worth up to 2 cents each in the portal.
- With the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred, points are worth up to 1.5 cents apiece.
- With other, no-annual-fee Chase cards, points are worth 1 cent each in the portal.
Clearly, transferring Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt and booking this stay directly wins. We recommend always comparing prices before booking. You won't always save more by transferring points, but often you will. Use whichever option costs fewer points.
Booking a Deluxe Disney Resort in the Chase Travel portal
You can also use your points to stay on property at Walt Disney World if you book the Swan, Dolphin, or Swan Reserve Deluxe Resorts. You can use Ultimate Rewards in the Chase Travel Portal or Marriott points through Marriott Bonvoy. Let's compare points costs of booking a standard room both ways.
Booking through Marriott would cost 66,000 Marriott points plus a $56 resort fee and taxes. Unfortunately, Marriott does not waive resort fees on award bookings like Hyatt and Hilton do.
Booking the Swan in the Chase travel portal costs $295 plus the same $56 resort fee and taxes.
Let's look at how many points you'll need based the redemption rate offered in the Chase Travel portal.
- At 1.5 cents, you'll need 17,900 points per night to cover the hotel room (you'll pay the resort fee at the property).
- At 1.25 cents, you'll need 21,520 points per night.
- At 1 cent each, you'll need 26,900 points each night.
That's significantly fewer points than what you'd use sending them to Marriott — which makes sense since Chase Ultimate Rewards are generally worth more than Marriott points. Just note that you won't receive stay credit or your Marriott elite status perks if you don't book directly with Marriott.
Consider carefully before transferring points to Marriott to book at the Swan, Swan Reserve, or Dolphin.
Finally, note that occasionally, you'll be able to find some official Walt Disney World resorts within the Chase Travel Portal. This won't always be an option — and not every resort is available, but it can be worth the splurge if you find availability.
Booking Deluxe Disney Resorts with cash costs hundreds to thousands of dollars per night. So, the option to use Ultimate Rewards in the portal to stay on property at Disney World could be a great use of Ultimate Rewards for Disney fans.
Related: How To Use the Chase Travel Portal
Redeeming Ultimate Rewards for flights: Transferring points vs. booking in the portal
Much like hotels, you'll often get better value out of your Ultimate Rewards by transferring them to partner airlines than using the portal. As we said before, though, you should always compare prices in and out of the portal to make sure you're getting the best deal.
Let's compare the cost of booking a Southwest Airlines flight in the Chase Travel Portal with the cost of transferring the points to Southwest Airlines and booking directly.
Consider this Spring Break flight from Portland to Los Angeles costing $242 round-trip. At a redemption value of 1.25 cents per point, this flight would cost 19,360 Ultimate Rewards points when booking in the portal. With a rate of 1.5 cents per point, it would cost 16,133 points.
In this case, the same flight booked directly through Southwest Airlines costs 16,000 points + $11.20 — which is nearly as many points as booking through Chase.
In summary: Always check to ensure you're getting the best deal. Compare prices in the portal and those available when transferring points to book directly.
Tip: When booking your ticket through Southwest Airlines, pay the taxes on your Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred. Your entire trip will be covered with excellent trip insurance in this way.
Related: You Can Book Southwest Airlines Flights in the Chase Travel Portal, but You Might Not Want To
Using Ultimate Rewards for Hard-To-Cover Disney Costs
The hardest parts of a Disney vacation to cover with points and miles are admission tickets, Official Disney Resorts, rental cars, and purchases inside the parks. This next section will discuss using the Chase Travel Portal, Pay Yourself Back, and cashing out Ultimate Rewards to cover costs like these.
Redeeming points in the Chase Travel portal for admission tickets
From time to time, the Chase Travel Portal sells both Walt Disney World and Disneyland admission. However, the portal typically charges higher fees for admission than Disney and other third-party retailers charge. In most cases, the only time purchasing Disney tickets in the portal makes sense is if you are offered a redemption rate of at least 1.5 cents per point.
Booking rental cars with points in the Chase portal
There are pros and cons to booking rental cars in the Chase travel portal, and it's worth comparing prices when you're shopping around for Disney vacation car rentals. The best thing about booking in the portal is that your credit card's rental car insurance will apply, even if you pay for the entire rental with Ultimate Rewards points.
The downside is that many rental car programs offer a “skip the line, go straight to your car” benefit to anyone who signs up for their rewards program. To get this benefit — and thus avoid the long lines at airports near Disney parks — you generally need to book directly with the rental agency.
Cashing out Ultimate Rewards to offset Disney trip costs
One nice perk about Ultimate Rewards is that, as a last resort, you can always cash them out for 1 cent per point. While it's not the most valuable redemption, sometimes the value of your points boils down to reducing travel costs as much as possible.
If you find yourself with a combination of vacation costs to pay for with a balance of Ultimate Rewards available, it might make sense to cash some of them out to offset costs. Again, weigh your options, compare costs, and make the best decision for your current travel needs.
Related: 20+ Different Ways To Redeem Ultimate Rewards
Bottom Line
Ultimate Rewards are truly some of the easiest, most flexible points to earn and redeem. Whether transferring to Southwest Airlines to book flights or booking a Deluxe Disney Resort in the Chase portal, you'll save big when earning and redeeming your Ultimates Rewards. Even hard-to-cover costs like Disney admission can be covered with points under the right circumstances.
While the cost of a Disney vacation continues to increase over time, keeping a balance of Ultimate Rewards will ensure you can continue visiting the Mouse year after year.
- 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 Travel℠, 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 Travel℠
- 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
- Rates & Fees
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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