How Capital One just made it much easier to earn and use miles on Disney trips
It's no secret I love Disney. Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruises, it doesn't really matter – I love it all.
My wallet, however, isn't always as thrilled with my vacation choices. Disney is a lot of things, but inexpensive isn't usually one of the words to categorize the experience. While there are ways to use points for a Disney vacation, the options are a bit more limited than other types of travel.
However, Capital One may have just changed the game a bit.
Official Disney World and Disneyland hotels are available in the relaunched Capital One travel portal. This means two things: You can either book directly and use your Capital One miles for the charges or you can now earn up to 10 miles per dollar on your Disney hotel bookings with the right Capital One card.
Here's what you need to know.
For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. And if you want to stay up to date on all things Disney, make sure to bookmark our Disney hub page.
Redeem Capital One miles for Disney hotels
With Disney hotels available in the Capital One travel portal, you can now easily use your Capital One miles at 1 cent per mile towards these bookings.
For example, a $1,160 (including tax) two-night stay at the Disney World Yacht Club (with its insane pool complex and waterslide) will cost you 116,000 Capital One miles.
In comparing pricing and availability directly with Disney's website I found that while this was often similar, it wasn't always identical – so make sure to compare pricing and room types.
The good news is that while it's really cool you can use your Capital One miles in this way, this really isn't the biggest news. That's because you can always use them at the same redemption rate to simply wipe away whatever travel charge from your statement you want. That means you can still book your Disney hotels with a Disney vacation planner, directly with Disney or however else you want, and then use your Capital One miles at 1 cent per mile to erase the charge.
What I think is the bigger news is actually on the earning side.
Earn up to 10 miles per dollar on Disney hotel bookings
With the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, you can earn up to 10 miles per dollar on hotels booked through the Capital One travel site.
Say you want to book that same two-night stay at the Yacht Club. It may cost you a painful $1,160, but at 10 miles per dollar with the Venture X card you are also picking up 11,600 Capital One miles in the process.
Related: Review of the all-new Capital One Venture X card
Official application link: Capital One Venture X with 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
If those miles are maximized with Capital One's transfer partners, TPG values them at 1.85 cents each, which means you just picked up a nice $214 in rewards on that booking. That's 18.5% back in rewards if you value these rewards similar to TPG.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card also pays out a bonus in the Capital One travel site to the tune of 5 miles per dollar, which is still a 9.25% back in rewards – not bad at all for Disney bookings.
Related: These are the best hotels at Disney World
But wait, there's more
Last but not least, the new Venture X comes with up to $300 in annual travel statement credits – though that comes with a catch.
The catch is that it can only be used via the Capital One travel portal. If you are booking a Hyatt or Marriott sort of hotel, that stipulation can be a bummer, since booking via a third party (i.e. the portal) will negate the guarantee of earning points or getting status perks since you didn't book direct.
However, if you are a Disney fan, there's really no downside to using that $300 in credit to offset a Disney hotel booking (such as one in the just-redone mid-century modern Incredibles rooms at the Contemporary) since there were no points or status nights to be earned with Disney anyway.
Bottom line
It's an extra challenge to get a great deal with points or miles for a Disney vacation, but Capital One is making it pretty easy to not only redeem miles for a Disney stay, but also now earn up to 10 miles per dollar on your Disney resort hotel booking. That's an unmatched return that can turn one Disney vacation into a running head start on the next.
Feature photo by Summer Hull/The Points Guy.