You Can Book Disney World Tickets with Chase Ultimate Rewards! Here’s How…

Note: The method discussed in this post is currently in flux as Chase overhauls its reward system. See this post of what we know so far about these changes and how they might affect your Disney plans. — For years, we’ve been telling readers how to use travel rewards to book Disney tickets through Undercover Tourist. That’s still a great method that makes good use of Capital One cards, but there is also a new and exciting way to do this. You can book Walt Disney World tickets with Chase Ultimate Rewards. Yes, you read that correctly!

You can book base tickets or park hopper tickets with this method. The only catch is that you must buy tickets for 2 days or more. You DO NOT have to book a hotel room or anything extra. You can get just the tickets!

And it gets even better. Not only does this method allow you to use points, but it also gets you an additional discount on the tickets! Let’s dive in and take a closer look. Be sure to see the recap at the bottom of the post, where I hope to address questions and add data points to the article over time.

You Have to Talk to Chase’s Cruise Department!

First, understand that this is a bit of a “secret” method. You can’t do it online, and you can’t just talk to any Chase travel rep. You have to specifically speak with the Chase Ultimate Rewards “Cruise and Vacation Packages Department” via phone.

It should be fairly simple to transfer to one of these agents, no matter what number you use to call in. But the best number is 1-855-234-2542. After entering my card info, I was prompted to press #2 for the Cruise line. That may change over time, but you get the idea.

One important thing to keep in mind is that the cruise department has limited hours, as opposed to the general travel redemption department, which is open 24/7. The cruise line, as of now, is open Monday to Friday from 9AM – 9 PM ET and 9AM to 5PM ET on Saturdays; closed on Sundays.

Remember: You Can’t Do It Online

It’s worth drilling the point home one more time. You can’t do it online; you must talk to a cruise rep. If you look for activities under Orlando in the main Ultimate Rewards redemption portal, you won’t see WDW as an option.

I’m reiterating this point, because when I first saw this wasn’t available online I figured it wasn’t possible. Not the case!

Prices

Chase offers very fair prices on the tickets. At cash value, they are just slightly more expensive than you’d find elsewhere, but because you can redeem points you’ll end up getting a better deal this way with a 1.25 or 1.5 cents per point redemption.

I’ll try to get a fuller pricing table soon, but here is what I know for now.

Below is the “Cash Price” from Chase. I included 1c/pt redemptions here, but keep reading because it gets better:
3-day Park Hopper: Adult: $395 (39,500 points at 1c/pt); Child ticket: $376 (37,600 points at 1c/pt)
2-day Park Hopper: Adult ticket: $302 (30,200 points at 1c/pt); Child ticket: $289 (28,900 points at 1c/pt)
2-day Base Ticket: Adult ticket: $233 (23,300 points at 1c/pt); Child ticket: $220 (22,000 points at 1c/pt)

You can ignore the cash value, because this comes down to points redemptions. I’ll explain more below, but just an example: if you and a spouse each got a CSP signup bonus, you could cover 2 adult and 1 child 3-day Park Hopper tickets. There are lots of possibilities here based on which cards you get and how many tickets you need. If you’re using base tickets then, wow, you can stretch this pretty far.

Recap, Plus Other Caveats and Tips

Ok, here’s a recap and some other tips:

• Because UR are so valuable, this is a great method for getting more tickets after you’ve exhausted the Capital One redemption options. See the main guide for Cap One ticket tips. In other words, you might want to hang on to UR for other purposes and use Cap One for the tickets.
• But don’t forget the 5/24 rule. If you don’t have some of these Chase cards, you’ll want to plan accordingly.
• This also works for Disneyland in Anaheim, CA.
• Remember, you must talk to a CRUISE AGENT via PHONE.
• Don’t forget: just because you have points on a Freedom card does not mean you have to redeem that at 1 cent per point. You can transfer them to a card with a higher redemption rate. Do not forget this step!
• I don’t think we have to worry about Chase running out of inventory. I’ve heard this concern mentioned with tickets for other events/attractions booked through the UR portal, but the agent I spoke to indicated that shouldn’t be a concern. It sounds like Chase isn’t given a quota.