They call Disney World the most magical place on earth. But one part of any trip to Disney is far from magical: the cost.
Sure, there are ways to save on a Disney vacation. But there’s virtually no way to make it “cheap” – especially if you’re bringing the whole family. The price is high, and there’s no Disney loyalty program to offset the cost.
Yet there is this: If you’ve got a card that earns Capital One miles like the *venture x* or a trusty old *capital one venture card*, there’s a workaround you can use to cover part (or even all) of the cost of pricey Disney Park admission tickets.
Here’s what you need to know about using credit card points to purchase Disney park tickets.
How Much Do Disney Park Tickets Cost?
The cost of Disney park passes varies based on a variety of factors like the number of days you want to visit and the time of year. But you can safely assume that prices will be high.
First and foremost, the more days you plan to spend at a Disney park, the less your per-day ticket cost will be. That’s true whether you’re booking directly through Disney or a third party. Buying single-day tickets directly through Disney will run you at least $125 per person ages three and over. Kids under the age of three don’t need their own park ticket.
Generally speaking, the more days you buy, the cheaper your per-day cost ends up being.
Really, there’s no way around it: these tickets are expensive. Looking for two days of tickets for a family of four? That will run you at least $1,000 before tax just to get in the gate when you buy them directly through Disney. Add in souvenirs, food, and drinks, and the sticker shock for a Disney vacation can be alarming.
But thanks to a little-known workaround, there is a way to purchase Disney park tickets using credit card points: specifically, Capital One miles.
Here’s how it’s done.
How to Redeem Capital One Miles for Disney Park Passes
While there are a lot of amazing ways to use Capital One Miles – including transferring them to one of the bank’s many hotel and airline transfer partners – one method stands out for its ease. It’s the ability to redeem miles to cover the cost of almost any travel purchase.
As long as you pay for a travel purchase with a card that earns Capital One Miles (and the purchase codes as travel – an important distinction) you can cover that charge with Capital One miles. Every mile counts as 1 cent toward travel, so you could wipe away a travel purchase of $500 using 50,000 Capital One miles.
There are ways to use Capital One miles for more value, but this method stands out for its simplicity. Make a charge, wait for that charge to post to your account, and then use your miles to cover the charge.
There’s just one small problem when it comes to buying Disney park passes. If you purchase them directly through Disney, the charge won’t code as travel – thus you won’t be able to use Capital One Miles to cover that charge. That’s where the website Undercover Tourist comes in…
Read more: A Step-By-Step Guide to Covering Travel Purchases with Capital One Miles
Purchase Disney Tickets Through Undercover Tourist
If you’re not familiar with Undercover Tourist, they’re the largest authorized seller of theme park tickets – including Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Universal Studios, and many others.
But here is why you need to use Undercover Tourist if you plan to use Capital One miles to pay for your Disney (or other theme park) tickets. When you make a purchase on Undercover Tourist with your * Venture * or your * Venture X * that purchase will code as travel.
So once your purchase through Undercover Tourist hits your account, you can cover it using your Capital One miles. Remember: Every Capital One Mile is worth 1 cent toward these tickets.
So, a three-day Walt Disney World pass for a family of four that would run you more than $2,000 before tax if you buy them directly through Disney? You could purchase those same tickets through Undercover Tourist for $462.75 apiece or about $1,851 for a family of four (before tax). That means you can cover the cost of one ticket for just over 46,000 Capital One miles – or four tickets for about 186,000 Capital One miles.
The beauty of this method for redeeming Capital One miles is that you can use any amount of miles you have. Don’t have the full 186,000 miles needed? You can still use whatever amount of miles you have against the purchase. So, if you only have 50,000 Capital One miles, you could apply those to your purchase and get a $500 statement credit to help lower your out-of-pocket cost.
Related reading: 9 Unique Ways to Use Miles for Travel Purchases
How to Cover Travel Purchases with Capital One Miles
To redeem your miles to cover your Disney tickets or any other travel purchase, Start by logging in to your Capital One account and click the Redeem button on your homepage.
Next, select how you’d like to redeem your miles: You can book flights or hotels directly through Capital One, get gift cards, redeem for cash, or transfer Capital One miles to one of their partner airline or hotel programs. But for this option, you’ll want to select the “Cover Travel Purchases” option.
Once you’ve selected to cover your travel purchases, you’ll be taken to a page where you can select which of the travel purchases you’ve made on your Capital One Venture card you’d like to cover. This includes all travel transactions from the last 90 days.
Assuming you bought your Disney park tickets through Undercover Tourist, that option should show up once the charge has posted to your account.
Select which travel-related purchase you want to cover, and voila! Your points will be deducted, and your purchase will be erased from your account. Or click each field and type in how many points you’d like to use to cover part of that purchase.
Once you hit that green “Confirm” button, you’re done! You’ll have just completed one of the easiest travel rewards redemptions known to man. Keep in mind that you only have 90 days to “cover” a travel purchase before it’s no longer available.
How to Earn Capital One Miles
To use miles to cover the cost of Disney theme park tickets, you’ve first got to earn them. You’re in luck: There are a handful of cards that can help you bolster your balance of Capital One miles.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
The * Venture X * is the bank’s very first premium travel card, which launched in the fall of 2021. Think of it as a souped-up version of the ever-popular * Venture * that’s chock full of extra benefits: Access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass lounges, a $300 annual Capital One Travel credit, a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, great travel and rental car protections, and more. The annual fee clocks in at $395 a year, but the benefits can easily outweigh that.
Here’s the best part: You can currently bonus_miles_full. Considering you earn at least 2x for every dollar you spend on the Venture X Card, you’ll earn a total of at least 83,000 miles once you meet the minimum spending requirement to earn the bonus.
Learn more about the *venture x*.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The *capital one venture card* has been a fan favorite among travelers for years – and for good reason. It’s truly one of the best travel credit cards for beginners.
You earn 2x points on every purchase and even get a credit that covers the cost of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck – all for a card with a $95 annual fee.
Capital One currently offers the same welcome bonus as the Venture X. bonus_miles_full. Considering you earn at least 2x for every dollar you spend on the Venture Card, you’ll earn at least 83,000 miles once you meet the minimum spending requirement to earn the bonus.
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
Think of the * VentureOne * as the littlest sibling to the Venture X and Venture Card.
It’s a no-annual-fee card that will earn you 1.25x miles per dollar you spend. The welcome bonus is smaller, too – though still quite nice. You can currently earn bonus_miles_full.
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
Bottom Line
A Disney vacation can be prohibitively expensive – especially if you’ve got the whole family in tow. But by using Capital One miles to buy Disney park tickets through Undercover Tourist, you can take the sting out of some of that cost by covering the charge with miles.
It’s one of the easiest points and miles redemptions out there and one of the only ways to cover Disney tickets with credit card points.
