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I have a Chase Disney Rewards credit card and some of my accumulated points are beginning to expire. Our family will likely not visit Disney for another 3 or 4 years. Are there any reward purchases that I can make with the points that would still be useful that far in advance?

The No Expire option on park tickets seems to be the only viable option for buying years in advance, but the price premium is (understandably) high compared to regular tickets and, since I have to redeem reward points, I don't believe I have the option of going through discount brokers like Undercover Tourist.

The Disney Rewards cards seem like the most reasonable way of extracting value, but they have an expiration date and I'm unclear on whether redeeming points for a Dream card starts a new 60-month expiration clock or if it is still tied to the original date that the point were earned. Regardless, the site stated that only two Dream cards could be active at once, which would make it difficult to convert all of the reward points into a spendable form.

Perhaps converting the Disney points to hotel points and applying them to an on-site hotel is the way to go? Any strategies are welcome.

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    I gather you specifically want to use the points for a vacation (and not, say, Disney merchandise)?
    – BrenBarn
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 6:38
  • @BrenBarn Yes, I'd like to apply them toward the vacation
    – Lucas
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 15:18

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Note that ticket prices tend to increase over time and that Magic Your Way tickets that haven't been used don't expire, according to the link in your post.

Walt Disney World Resort continues to honor all unexpired theme park tickets with remaining admission days.

However, please be aware that unless you purchased the No Expiration Option, Magic Your Way tickets expire 14 days after their first use. Most theme park tickets purchased in 2005 and later are Magic Your Way tickets.

The key here is that any tickets that have never been used are not under the 14 day time limit. Call the number at the link to confirm, but as long as you remember where you put them, you might wish to consider buying tickets now and storing them in a secure location.

Make sure you make a copy of the numbers on the tickets/snap them with your phone/email to yourself. If the tickets are lost or stolen, this is the only proof of their existence, but with this proof, you will have better luck with recovering your purchase.

Note that you don't have to buy all your tickets, nor all your days on one ticket at once. The stop gap measure is to eat up the expiring rewards. You can still (later, and without penalty) buy the rest of the days on the same (unexpired!) ticket, up to 10 total days on a ticket.

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  • I had to read this a couple of times before I realized the distinction you were pointing out. Looks like buying the Magic Your Way tickets in advance is the most straightforward way to go. Thanks!
    – Lucas
    Commented Feb 18, 2015 at 5:35

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