Well, from now on, I’ll just ask you. 
Am I the only one who laments the loss of the gift card over the statement credit? I know, with the right strategy, it can be utilized the same, but I liked having a physical gift card.
I received a physical gift card (two of them, actually). What shows up on the statement is only until you request the credit.
Wait, that didn’t make sense.
You received 2 gift cards and a credit?
This was the promotion they had running a few years ago. Which was awesome. But I thought everything goes directly to a statement credit now though?
That aside, I’m wondering if it’d be smart to cancel my non-premiere card as I haven’t used it in months now. Kinda just hanging onto it in case someone ends up using my referral link which gives me $100 disney bucks.
First gift card I received was for $200. This is because I spent $500 within the first month.
Second gift card I received was for $50. This is because I had my wife added to the account.
Now, the 1% on everything I buy shows up on the statement. When the time comes that I want to claim them, they will send me a card with the balance transferred to it.
I only signed up a few months ago. 
Ah gotcha, right, that’s how it works for the promotion that they used to offer. Not sure how you got it only a few months ago on the free card because it’s been changed since March, I believe. But to compensate they upped the referral bonus to a $100, which was cool. Either way, if you got the full $250 on the free card, I guess you got lucky.
However, this latest one shouldn’t involve a gift card at all. Everything should just be a statement credit unless they are purposely using the wrong terminology.
I haven’t done it since last year when both came as GCs, but I think(?) now the referral still comes as a GC and the sign-on bonus is now the statement credit.
I agree it is nicer to have a GC in hand, but if you are good at visualizing moving $ from one virtual pocket to another it comes out the same.
This year after I get a few other rewards cards first, I’m going to do another Disney Visa cancel and reapply my for my card using DW’s referral, so will see how it goes in reality.
I didn’t mind buying $500 in GCs and only paying $300 to pay off the CC so used for them. Also, my referral rewards are always added to my Disney rewards, rather than an actual GC.
!
This is the page from the booklet that came when I got the card. As it says, you apply to get your redemption card. Physical card. Then you can request points to be transferred to it
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Right, but that’s not a gift card, that’s a rewards card. While they act the same at transactions, they are considered different.
That’s definitely a way to go. I just liked being able to put bills and the like on the card and then getting Disney Gift Cards.
When do rewards become available? I’d like to use them all up when we go to Disney, so I assume I’ll need to stop using the card a bit before the trip.
Thanks!
actually, you don’t have to stop using the card. The nice thing about the rewards card is it’s tied specifically to your account, so you only get one ever and you keep transferring your rewards balance to the card to up the value. You can keep doing it up until the minute you use it, I believe. But it is a manual process to transfer your balance over. So, for example, you have 2000 points, you request your Rewards Card and keep using your credit card. By the time it gets to you, you now have 4500 points from your new spending. So you transfer that 4500 to the card and now you have $65 cards on your rewards card to spend.
As for when they become available, they post within 2-3 days I think? And after that, once you have enough points, you request your rewards card and that takes bout 2-3 weeks to get to you.
Yes and no. There is a minimum balance you are allowed to transfer. So if you transferred everything, but then earned another $6, you wouldn’t be allowed to transfer that. Once you hit 10, you can transfer them.
It if looks like a spade and acts like a spade, I’ll call it a spade! Okay. So, it is a “rewards card” that is no different from a gift card except in name. And doesn’t a gift card by any other name smell as sweet?
Well, we may not be back to Disney for a very long while, and the only thing I could otherwise use the rewards for is air travel, but the points are worth more for that through Chase Sapphire. So my plan was to cancel the credit card to avoid the annual fee.
There’s probably not a Disney store within 500 miles of here, so can’t spend them that way! 
By that logic, we should call all Credit Cards “gift cards”. Whatever you want to call it is up to you, just don’t be surprised if you confuse people. Especially should you need to trouble shoot an issue with customer service as there are differences between the two on the back end.
The important part though is that account holders do not get multiple cards and so when you want to further use your reward dollars, you manually withdraw the reward dollars and they go to the same card. It’s not automatic and a new card will not be sent every time you “cash out.”
There’s a disney store at the end of your keyboard 
But i get ya. Yeah if you have no real use for it beyond the initial bonus, you can get it and cancel once you you’ve paid off your balance. I would caution against that though as that might impact your credit score by signing up and canceling that fast.
Hah! Well, we’re just not big shoppers, at least not of Disney stuff, and my credit score is pretty stellar. I do want to use the other perks, like the discount on DiveQuest (for four people, that’s a chunk of change) & some dining venues. I just don’t want to leave any points on the table.
Not at all. Credit cards are borrowing of money. Rewards cards, or gift cards, is spending money that is already available on the cards. No paying back required. The only difference, really? A gift card is something that technically is “gifted” to you, whereas a rewards card is the same thing, but something you earned in some fashion.
This is fine. Just like how you can keep adding money to an existing Starbucks gift card.
Point is, how it was being discussed here, the discussion was that it was just a “statement credit”. That just isn’t true. It is a credit on your statement that ultimately ends up on a card that you can use just like any other gift card. Take it with you and make purchases with it at Disney locations, etc. If it were JUST a statement credit, then you’d have to make a purchase and request that Chase “pays you back” for the purchase on your card. (I have another credit card that essentially works that way.)
You can wait until the last minute. But if you’ve never received your rewards card, you have to give enough time for the card to actually arrive.
Anyone have experience? Once you make your FIRST request, how long does it take for the card to arrive in the mail?
Anyhow, once you make the request, you should stop using the card…although, if you earn anything after that it would probably be minimal unless you make some huge purchase!
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So my understanding is I need to get that rewards card ahead of time, and then load it up further as we get closer? Then just stay on top of transferring the points electronically. That’s easier than I thought, should work out fine.
If you have at least 20 pts already, you can get your rewards card now. Then, when you are ready to “cash out”, request the remaining to be transferred.
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