Comparing the Disney Premier Visa and Capital One Venture cards

If you’re planning a vacation in Disneyland or Disney World Resort, you might want a credit card that offers flexible points you can use to book the trip. Alternatively, you might want one that offers great in-park rewards.

You’ll also want to consider perks such as travel insurance and concierge service. Rewards credit cards such as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees) often provide better travel protections than more specific cards like the Disney Premier Visa Card.

Let’s compare the two cards and see who comes out on top.

Capital One Venture: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. This is worth $750 if used for a fixed value toward travel, but if you redeem through one of Capital One’s 10+ airline and hotel transfer partners, you can ramp up those rewards to about 1.85 cents per mile, giving you an up-to-$1,387 bonus (based on TPG’s valuations and not provided by the issuer).

Disney Premier Visa: Earn a straightforward bonus of $300 after spending $1,000 in the first three months of account opening. Keep in mind that Chase has the strict 5/24 rule that covers who may be eligible for credit cards. Based on this, you may not qualify for a new Chase card with a sign-up bonus if you’ve opened five or more credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months.

Winner: Clearly, Capital One Venture’s deal of up to $1,387 in miles (based on TPG valuations) beats out a meager $300 statement credit, even if the cost of entry for the Disney Premier Visa – a $49 annual fee and a much smaller minimum spend on your first purchase to qualify for the bonus – is much lower.

Earning on the Capital One Venture vs. Disney Premier Visa

Capital One Venture: Capital One Venture offers 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles on all other purchases. These earnings may not be as high as other travel rewards credit cards, but it’s not bad for a card with a $95 annual fee.

Disney Premier: It doesn’t get much simpler than this. You’ll earn 5% back on card purchases made directly at DisneyPlus.com, Hulu.com or ESPNPlus.com. You’ll get 2% back at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and for purchases at most Disney locations. You’ll then earn 1% back on every other qualifying purchase, every day. These earnings take the form of a Disney Rewards Redemption Card that you can spend at Disney resorts, on Disney merchandise and for movie tickets from AMC Theaters.

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Winner: The Capital One Venture offers a greater return than the Disney Premier and more flexibility in how you can redeem points. The card’s simple, straightforward structure makes it a great travel credit card for those new to travel cards, with no complicated bonus categories.

Related: Capital One Venture Card review

The Disney Visa is extremely limited in redemption options, while Venture Rewards offers all the flexibility of other top-tier travel rewards cards.

Capital One Venture: Redeem your Venture miles by booking travel through Capital One’s portal at a value of 1 cent per mile, or you can go through the portal to use your miles for gift cards or cash back. You can also use your miles to “erase” past purchases. When booking travel through Capital One, there are no blackout dates and you can redeem miles for any flight at any time.

Keep in mind, you’ll only get 0.5 cents per mile if you request cash back, making this the poorest choice. If you want to get more from your rewards, however, consider transferring your points to one of Capital One’s airline or hotel transfer partners. This redemption option can get you significantly more value from your Capital One miles.

Disney Premier Visa: You’ll receive your rewards in the form of a Disney Rewards Redemption card, which you can use on purchases at Disney stores, Disney resorts and cruise lines, and on AMC Theaters movie tickets. This makes redeeming your rewards easy and straightforward, since rewards values don’t change, but you’ll never get a value higher than 1 cent per point.

Winner: Capital One Venture Rewards wins out here, too, with more flexibility and a better return when you book a flight through one of Capital One’s airline transfer partners.

If you’re simply looking to defray the cost of your Disney vacation through purchases you make year-round, you may consider the Disney Premier Visa as an alternative, especially if you typically spend a lot in the card’s aforementioned bonus categories.

Related: Ultimate Guide to Walt Disney World Resort

Capital One Venture: As a Visa Signature credit card, the Capital One Venture offers travel accident insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, secondary auto rental coverage, and concierge service, plus access to exclusive shows and events. Like many top-tier rewards cards, it also offers extended warranty protection and purchase security. You’ll also enjoy no foreign transaction fees, so if you’re going to Disneyland Paris, this could be the card to carry.

Another worthwhile benefit is the Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit (up to $100) every four years.

Disney Premier Visa: All the perks and benefits offered with the Chase Disney Visa are Disney-centric, including access to special events at Disney resorts, retail stores, and other locations, and special Broadway perks when you purchase premium tickets to Disney musicals “The Lion King,” “Aladdin” and “Frozen” on Broadway.

Winner: The Disney Premier Visa wins out if you’re looking to make the most of your Disney vacation. Whether Disney is a once-in-a-lifetime vacation for you or an annual excursion, access to members-only events and all the other in-park perks and discounts make it virtually a must-have for the Disney traveler. But it probably shouldn’t be the only travel rewards card in your wallet.

The perks and benefits offered on the Capital One card apply to all travelers for any trip, making it an overall better value.

Hands down, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is an all-around better travel credit card than the Disney Premier Visa. You’ll earn more with your rewards if you book travel through Capital One’s airline partners, and you also have more flexibility in how you can cash in your rewards – including using them for Amazon purchases. The $95 annual fee on the Venture Rewards card offers tremendous value, and it is one of the best travel rewards cards available today.

However, if you’re planning a Disney vacation and want access to special events as well as discounts on purchases, it might pay to get the Disney Chase Visa, especially if you can utilize the bonus categories and 10% off Disney merchandise purchases.

Apply here: Capital One Venture Rewards

Apply here: Disney Premier Visa

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Additional reporting by Ryan Wilcox.