How this muggle used bank card perks and different hacks to make a Common theme park journey extra inexpensive

I’ve by no means taken my household on a theme park trip as a result of they’re simply too dang costly.

Different households are going into debt to go to Disney World, however I do not just like the Mouse sufficient to jeopardize my monetary safety. And whereas I am privileged to have a trip finances, lots of our holidays contain driving to an Airbnb on a seashore or within the mountains and doing low cost actions like mountaineering, swimming and cooking dinners on the trip rental.

Then my daughter fell in love with Harry Potter. And I knew it will rock her world if we might go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Common Orlando Resort.

Now, if I am budget-conscious, my husband is downright frugal. We weren’t happening a theme park trip in Florida until I might considerably minimize prices.

I may be a muggle, however I pulled out all of the money-saving magic I do know and leaned on my data of bank card perks and factors and miles to provide you with a extra inexpensive Common theme park plan.

Here is what I did to economize — and get my husband on board — for 3 nights of Florida enjoyable with our favourite Hogwarts wannabes.

I booked our airfare with miles

Keep in mind the well-known Southwest Airways meltdown of Christmas 2022? We received caught in it and our flights to Savannah received canceled on the final minute. We managed to avoid wasting our trip with an extended highway journey to Georgia, however Southwest nonetheless apologized with 25,000 Speedy Rewards miles for every of us.

One canceled flight deserves to be redeemed for an additional, so I used 82,000 miles to fly my household of 4 from Washington, D.C., to Orlando. The one catch was that Southwest let me put the youngsters’ miles into my account, however my husband’s had to enter his. So we needed to guide our flights after which test in individually for the journey, which wasn’t an issue till by some means he ended up within the B boarding group and we have been within the C group on the flight residence.

I get that most individuals don’t get windfalls of apology miles from airways, however you may have loads of methods to earn factors and miles for a free flight. Past saving the miles you earn from different flights, you possibly can apply for an airline-affiliated bank card when it has a major sign-up bonus that may fast-track your mileage incomes.

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Equally, a card that earns transferable factors will allow you to switch factors to plenty of completely different airways. Be sure to’re incomes additional miles in your purchases by utilizing buying portals or signing up for packages that earn you miles for consuming out.

When you can, guide your flights early to get the most effective availability for award seats or search for switch bonuses and award flight reductions to stretch your factors and miles additional.

I used bank card perks to chop lodge prices

I in all probability might have transferred Chase Final Rewards factors to a lodge accomplice like Marriott or Hyatt to get lodge nights without spending a dime. However after researching space motels, I used to be satisfied that we might have a a lot better expertise if we might keep on-site at a Common lodge and get early admission to the park. A keep on the Loews Royal Pacific Resort would additionally give us a free Specific Limitless Move and free transportation to the park, saving us cash on the dear passes and a automobile rental or Ubers.

Since I wasn’t going to earn miles on a Loews lodge, I booked the keep via the Chase Journey℠ portal, which meant that I might use my Chase Sapphire Most well-liked® Card‘s $50 lodge credit score to avoid wasting a bit on the keep and earn 5 factors per greenback on the remaining quantity (for a complete of over 6,000 factors) that I can use towards free journey on our subsequent journey.

We booked two nights on the Royal Pacific, however to economize on our ultimate evening (once we would not be going to the park the next day), I used the $300 journey credit score out there on my Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card to guide an evening on the Homewood Suites by Hilton Orlando-Nearest to Univ Studios via the Capital One Journey portal. We received a two-room suite that included breakfast and did not even max out my journey credit score.

I saved with a army park cross

My husband is a civilian worker of the U.S. Navy, and his Division of Protection ID provides us entry to a wide range of journey reductions. It additionally makes him eligible for Common’s Navy Freedom Move.

Lively-duty members of the army, veterans and different DOD workers should purchase a particular cross that offers them limitless entry to the parks from January via mid-December — for roughly the price of in the future on the parks. The extra you employ this cross, the extra you save. We’ll solely go to Common as soon as this yr, however we went to the park on three days throughout our journey, saving a whole lot.

Associated: The perfect army journey reductions and perks for service members

Common usually releases particular gives which are out there to all company, together with lodge and ticket reductions and packages that embrace eating playing cards that you need to use to cowl meals prices throughout your keep.

I had groceries delivered to avoid wasting on meals prices

Everybody is aware of that theme park meals is overpriced, and lodge breakfasts do not come low cost, both. I wasn’t going to disclaim my youngsters Butterbeer and pub meals on the Leaky Cauldron or ice cream at Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley, however we could not eat out for each meal and snack.

I all the time journey with snacks from residence, however this example required next-level grocery buying.

That is when my theme park skilled colleague Tarah Chieffi pointed me towards a Shipt provide out there to Visa cardholders. If I signed up with an eligible card, I might get a free three-month membership and free supply on orders over $35.

My Chase Sapphire Most well-liked Card was certainly eligible, so I signed up (making a calendar reminder instantly to cancel earlier than Shipt began to cost). I downloaded the app, and whereas we awaited our flight on the airport, I positioned an order at Publix grocery store for breakfast staples like Cheerios, pastries and milk and lunch fixings like bread, jam and apples. I set the supply time for after I knew we might be on the lodge and left a word for my shopper that we have been flying.

The app was simple to make use of; when it occurred to me that I would want some utensils, I used to be capable of simply replace the order. My shopper was communicative over textual content; when she could not discover the scones I had ordered, I used to be capable of swap for muffins. When she completed at Publix, I met her on the entrance drive of the lodge, and the handoff was seamless.

In the long run, we ate out thrice (dinner on the lodge, lunch on the Leaky Cauldron and dinner at Finnegan’s Bar & Grill at Common Studios) and acquired just a few snacks and a few additional Butterbeer. However we managed to get two breakfasts and three further meals out of our $60 grocery haul. We might simply have spent the identical amount of cash on one breakfast for the 4 of us contained in the park.

I borrowed wands from one other mother

Once we journey someplace particular with our children, we frequently give them a memento finances (typically round $20 or $25) for them to spend nevertheless they need. This works surprisingly properly, and my youngsters accepted that they’d not be shopping for the $60 animatronic owls we noticed on so many youngsters’ shoulders.

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Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade each have designated «wand spots» the place, if you happen to wave the appropriate wand in the appropriate method, you can also make one thing magical occur. I knew my youngsters would love this, however the interactive wands value $65. That is lots for a toy we would not use after this park go to. (When you simply desire a costume accent, you should purchase noninteractive wands for lots much less cash.)

So I put out a name on my native Purchase Nothing group, and a mother I do know from our college responded. We borrowed a Harry Potter and a Hermione wand from her so every child might have their very own to make use of. The magic was a bit finicky in one of many wands, so we took it to Ollivanders Wand Store (there’s one in every park), the place they’ll «re-magick» wands without spending a dime.