Even though Disney’s hotels at Disney World have been missing from the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal for years, you can still use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book stays at Disney World and get a few—including the most important—perks of staying at a Disney hotels. In this post, we explain the best ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for your Disney World trip.
Important Notes
Nothing in this post should be taken as financial advice. The best way to pay for your vacation will vary by circumstance—I’m just setting out to show one way of doing this. Moreover, offers from credit card companies and perks offered by hotels are always subject to change. Be sure to confirm things like this before making any final bookings.
About Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards is the rewards program of a select set of Chase credit cards. You can read more about the entire program here. In this post, we’re focused mostly on using points (not earning them) for stays near Disney World (not for other purposes like international first class flights, which are typically going to be better value).
If you don’t know how to earn these points, you’ll probably want to learn a bit about that before diving into this post. But basically, you can earn points either by signup bonuses (where you get, for example, 50,000 points for spending $3,000 within three months of opening a card) or just with your everyday spending on the cards.
Briefly, the following cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points:
The Chase Sapphire, Sapphire Preferred, and Sapphire Reserve
The Chase Freedom Flex, Freedom Rise and Freedom Unlimited
The Chase Ink Business Cash, Ink Business Unlimited, and Ink Business Preferred
If you only have the Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Ink Cash or Unlimited, or Sapphire (not Preferred or Reserve) card, you’re going to be redeeming your points at 1 cent per point, usually in the form of a statement credit.
You actually can always just use your points for 1 cent per point as a statement credit to offset the costs of any purchase, including a hotel booking, and including a Disney hotel. But this is literally the least value you can get from the points, so I’m not going to discuss it further.
The real power comes if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred. With those cards, you can either:
use those points for more than 1 cent per points (either 1.25 or 1.5 cents) by logging onto the Chase Ultimate Rewards website and accessing the Chase Travel portal or
transfer those points to hotel chains and use them to book hotels through their loyalty programs
We’ll cover both of these options below, but first you need to know what hotels we’re targeting with these strategies.
Which Disney World Hotels to Book with chase Points
The tips we’re going to detail in this post can be used to book a ton of hotels near Walt Disney World. Lots of area hotels are available for booking through the travel portal. And several major hotel chains are transfer partners of Chase, allowing you to transfer points to them and book area hotels through their loyalty programs (this is usually not a great option, as we’ll see).
As we noted above, hotels owned and operated by Disney have disappeared from the Chase travel portal. That’s all around bad news, but there are some silver linings. First, Disney hotels are relatively expensive anyways, so many travelers aren’t at a loss without them. But more important—other hotels that get many Disney perks remain available for booking.
So, the hotels near Disney World that you’ll want to book with Chase Ultimate Rewards points are:
Walt Disney World Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve
Four Seasons Resort Orlando
Waldorf Astoria Orlando
Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
Why these hotels? Traditionally guests at these hotels have gotten access to Early Entry, an important perk for getting the most out of your days at the park. The Walt Disney World Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve are particularly good, as guests at those hotels also get access to purchase Lightning Lane passes 7 days in advance of their check-in.
You can read more about both these perks in our guide to the perks of Disney hotels, but they’re helpful to have in visiting Disney World. This list is always subject to revision. You should confirm the perks any hotel has by visiting its website or by contacting the hotel.
Now that we’ve covered what hotels we’ll be targeting, we’ll talk about the two strategies for booking them. But first, a quick, important reminder.
Important: Always Compare Options
I can’t stress this enough—if you care about maximizing value and saving money, you should always compare the costs of different booking options. Altogether there are at least three ways to book, for example, the Swan Reserve using Ultimate Rewards points:
Book in the Chase Travel Portal using Ultimate Rewards Points
Transfer Ultimate Rewards Points to Marriott Bonvoy, use Bonvoy to book
Book via Marriott or any 3rd party portal, using Ultimate Rewards for cash back to offset that charge
You feasibly could find that any of these three options is the one that requires the fewest points (if it’s option 3 you probably just shouldn’t use the points). Be sure to compare options.
Booking Disney World Hotels Through The Chase Travel Portal
The Chase Travel Portal is the most direct way to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book travel. Think of it like Hotels.com or Expedia (in fact, it used to be operated by Expedia), but you’ll be paying with the Chase Ultimate Rewards points you’ve earned on your credit card.
We’ll give a quick step-by-step about using the portal. Keep in mind they update the user interface every so often, so these screenshots may be out of date, but the basic process remains the same.
1. Access the Chase Travel Portal
Visit https://ultimaterewardspoints.chase.com/travel. You will be asked to login to your Chase account.
2. Searching for Disney Hotels Through the Chase Travel Portal
Once you’re on the portal page, you’ll click “Hotels” and search from there. For Disney World hotels, you can use the location “Walt Disney World Resort” or even the city, Lake Buena Vista, FL.
3. Pick your Hotel and Room
As discussed above, you should know ahead of time which hotels you’re targeting. You won’t see every hotel in the area.
4. Confirmation and Payment
You’ll be able to choose how many points you want to use vs. what share you want billed to your credit card. Remember, when shopping in the portal, you’ll get between 1 and 1.5 cents per point, depending on which cards you have.
5. Link Your Disney Reservation
I’ve never personally linked one of these reservations to my My Disney Experience account, but it’s an important step that you’ll need to accomplish. This will ensure you're able to take advantage of Early Entry and, if applicable, your advance purchase window for Lightning Lanes.
This tip applies when you book one of these hotels or any Disney hotel through any third party, not just Chase.
Booking Through Ultimate Rewards Partners
The alternative option is to book your hotel using points you transfer from Chase Ultimate Rewards to a hotel partner. Currently, Chase’s transfer partners in the hotel industry are: IHG, Hyatt, and Marriott.
Marriott operates the Walt Disney World Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve. These two hotels have access to Early Entry and advance (7-day) booking of Lightning Lane passes. They also have an exceptional location, just between Epcot and Hollywood Studios, near the Boardwalk area. We’ve covered how to book the Swan and Dolphin with Marriott points in a separate post.
As we discuss in that post, these hotels are a better use of Marriott points earned directly (like through signup bonuses on Marriott cards) than they are of using Marriott points transferred from Chase.
IHG operates the Holiday Inn Orlando — Disney Springs Area. That hotel is one of the seven Disney Springs hotels that (as of publication) get access to Early Entry. Don’t confuse this hotel with the Holiday Inn Resort Orlando Lake Buena Vista.
Marriott operates the Renaissance Orlando Resort & Spa – Disney Springs Resort Area. That hotel is another one of the seven Disney Springs hotels that (as of publication) get access to Early Entry.
As far as I can tell, Hyatt does not operate any hotel with these perks. The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress and Hyatt Place Orlando Lake Buena Vista are okay options without any good perks, but their redemption rates are usually worse than booking directly through the Chase travel portal.
If you’re considering making one of these bookings, you’ll want to remember to check if it makes sense to transfer points to the partner rather than using the Chase Travel Portal. It’s not uncommon that a hotel that would cost 50,000 transferred points only costs 20,000 ($250-$300) through the Chase Travel Portal.
Because guides are often quickly out of date, for each of these chains (IHG and Marriott), I recommend Googling “how to book CHAIN hotels with points” for the latest.
Things to Keep In Mind
We’ll close out with a few questions you should think through before jumping into one of these bookings.
Is This Better Than Cash Back or Statement Credits?
Let’s say you want to book Hotel A and you find the following prices:
50,000 points booking using Hotel A’s loyalty program
$450 or 30,000 points booking through Chase Travel Portal
$200 SALE! booking through Priceline
The best deal here is the $200 through Priceline. You really shouldn’t use 20,000 points for a $200 statement credit, but if you had to use points for this stay, 20,000 is less than 30,000 or 50,000. The point is that your Chase points are worth at least 1 cent each, so don’t spend them unless you’re getting at least 1 cent of value.
Is This A Good Use of Ultimate Rewards Points?
Even though its the best rate you can get through the travel portal, 1.5 cents is not an optimal redemption for Ultimate Reward points (we’ve gotten over 7 cents before), but that doesn't mean this isn’t a good redemption for you.
Because of their transfer partners, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are quite valuable for booking premium travel experiences. If you're not planning to use the Ultimate Rewards points to redeem premium class flights or hotel stays, using them through the portal for travel is a next-best option.
Is This The Best Way To Book My Disney World Hotel?
It depends. There are lots of ways to get a good deal on a Disney World hotel. Don’t dump 40,000 points just because you have the points. Those points have value, and sometimes it’s going to be better to pay for a room without points.
Have you ever booked a Disney stay with Chase points?
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.
Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World Lightning Lane Guide and Strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, Epcot Lightning Lane Strategy, Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, and Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Strategy.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.