How do you decide when to stop buying points?

[A1A1]

I have been considering buying more points. It would be a financial stretch. I wonder how other people have decided that they have enough points and won't purchase anymore.

I have never before taken such nice multiple vacations in one year. I wonder when I have enough. Will I tire of the whole experience?

Do you have enough points? How many is enough?

[Regina]

We just look at the 3 tuition bills from our kids, and realize that we've gotta stop buying points.:( :( :(

[ncligs]

A1A1,

Adding points isn't really the problem, they will actually be paid off. Ours are paid for now. The "dues" are the pymt that will always be there.
For our 410 pts the dues are $1,380 per yr (or $115 month). We pay yearly to get frequent flyer miles on our credit card.
So whatever pymt you can afford for dues for the next 40 years is the question.

Also I don't think you can get tired of DVC because of the flexabilty.:D

[Laurabearz]

For us it is the dues.... when they get to $2400 a year we are done! LOL We are almost there.... paying 2025 now. :-( I figure a add-on at HH and we are done. :D

[Nala62]

I surely thought 200 points would be plenty, but after looking at the point charts--I NEED MORE! I don't want to borrow from the upcoming year and vacation only once every 2 years. We've only been members for less than a week and were already discussing add-ons vs. resales and those other unique DVC words. Maybe just 50 more or so will be enough...

Geri
(Happy BCV Owner)

[mickey7861]

dvcreg....LOL us too

we're in the same boat, no more until they're out of school. However, when the kids tuition bills arrive we're glad we have DVC. We wouldn't be going to WDW without it!

[RayJay]

Nala

That's too funny, we are in the same boat. Already trying to talk spouse into 150 more. But I must agreed with everyone else, for me it's the dues, I can't see going more than 1500 to 2000 a year. For now we'll wait then in 3 to 4 years add on.

Have a great weekend.
I too a new "happy" BCV owner.

RayJay

[dbond]

We started at 230, after 2 add-ons, we're on hold at 340. Could we use more, of course, we're already borrowed into 2003. Can we afford the dues and the added expense of more trips if we have more points, we're probably at our limit of what we should be spending on vacation travel. But, because we have DVC, we are taking 2 or 3 trips a year to various destinations on those 340 points. This year we did Keystone in January, we have a 4 night stay at the Plaza in NYC in July and another 4 nights at OKW in December. So, I guess it's a total package, you have to be able to afford the initial cost, the dues and then the additional expenses involved in the actual vacation. That's where we draw the line.

[LDPKELLY]

dbond...
My DH and I skiied Keystone 2 years ago and loved it. We are really looking forward to going on our DVC points. Where did you stay and did you consider it a good use of points. We thought we would be able to go for 6 nights, 1 bedroom for less than 200 points...are we close. Please post about overall trip....thanks.

[Shadeaux]

We bought 250 points in '94 and added another 50 about six months later. For us, this is all we need; we've stayed in a 1BR at OKW for 12 nights every year.

LDPKELLY - What part of Louisiana? We're near Lake Charles.

[dbond]

We have actually been to Keystone twice using points. Our first trip, we stayed in Silver Mill in the River Run section. If remember correctly, it was 164 points for a 2 br for 5 nights. This past year we splurged a bit, a new Premier/Concierge condo opened up in River Run, The Timbers. It was 312 points for a 5 night stay. It was first class luxury, just a few steps from the lift. The Silver Mill condo was nice enough, we need to stick with it from now on or we'll be needing to buy more points to keep up with our expensive tastes!

[madaboutMickey]

We too think that the dues will be the deciding factor in the number of points that we will own. We have 150 at OKW and just did a 100 add-on at HH. That will probably give us a couple trips a year. We also have a vacation home in Gatlinburg so I think this will be it for a while.

[Gary K. D.]

When you reach 2000 at any one resort or 5000 total, the current limits according to the DVC guidlines.....almost there

[msdis]

ummmmmmmmmm................... We were done BEFORE our last 4 add-ons. Now we're done.:D

[MdmMim]

We have owned points at the BWV since Oct/00 and have had some wonderful trips. DH, who at one time actually disliked WDW, has started to see how DVC can work for him. He is interested in staying at WDW, then making a trip to the Daytona 500. But--now we'll need more points!! :D
I could see us adding on once more to accommodate his trips, but then that'll just about do it. The dues will keep me from accumulating anymore. I'm comfortable with my current dues payments--and when we do this next add-on, I'll still be in my comfort range, but any more points after that would start to drain the finances.

[chris1gill]

Originally posted by A1A1
How do you decide when to stop buying points?

When you run out of money???? :D

[Muushka]

When to stop?? For us, it was when their AP went up to $369 :(
and their renewal policy changed. :mad:

[TIdoublegaER]

When you say to your spouse (totally innocently ... totally non-dvc oriented), "do you know what we need" ... and the abrupt reply is, "NO WE ARE NOT BUYING ANYMORE POINTS!"

[Beth]

tidoublegaER - LOL!! :)

That's <i>EXACTLY</i> how it is in MY house!!

I've got enough money in savings just BURNING a hole in my pocket for another add-on at Vero - but I'm not ABOUT to ask!! Maybe in a few months...

[LDPKELLY]

SHADEAUX WE LIVE NORTH OF BATON ROUGE....HAVE YOU FOUND ANY NICE PLACES TO USE POINTS THAT ARE RELATIVELY CLOSE TO US HERE IN LOUISIANA??

[Shadeaux]

LDPKELLY - We haven't looked into using points anywhere other than at WDW. I'm not ready to give up my yearly trip to OKW. :)

[BWVDenise]

LOL, chris1gill!

You took the words right out of my mouth!;)

[Merilyn]

We started with 225 and we are up to 600. We had to have enough for 2 trips a year by retirement. Also, we wanted to have enough to give each child their own when we are too old to travel. Now, I know that will be a long time!!! Mom was going with us till she was 81.

[SleepyatDVC]

How do you decide when to stop buying points?

When you run out of vacation time to use up those points!! :eek:

Dh has limited vacation time so our 300 points seem more than enough.

However, I've seem to be circumventing that problem. I just took dd (3) without dh on a last minute trip to WDW and met up with fellow DVCer Aunt and some of her young dd's. Fortunately, my job has more flexible vacation time.

Do you have enough points? How many is enough?

Never seem to have enough! :D Even though we're not looking to buy more points - I'm sure still tempted to add-on at BCV!! :o With last minute trips without dh, 300 points just don't seem as much as before!!

:bounce: :bounce:

[Mic]

The obvious answer...when you run out of money! And we're there. Just did a small add-on at HHI (enough for a night or 2 on our drive down or back from WDW). And the price increase on the AP was a factor, but not as much as the renewal policy change:( Now I am reduced to purchasing 7-day hoppers with plusses I may never use, and stretching them out for 2 trips.

[AnnaS]

For us it's the dues. We bought 200 two years ago and are waiting to add-on in NY. Tuition for three children comes first though. College is 1 1/2 yrs. away for one. In about 2-3 years, we will see where we are at again - mtg. should be paid, yippee! If we stay in our home, we will either look for a condo or more points (some for each child) or another timeshare. The park tickets are a killer too for a family of five as many of you know.

[chip1]

We just purchased 225 points at BCV. What is the minimum amount of points we could purchase at VB to be able to take advantage of the 11-month home resort priviledge? Thanks.

[WDWguru]

The minimum point add-on is 25 if you're paying cash, 50 if you're financing. However, that does not entitle you to the 11 month booking window for ALL your points. You get the 11 month window for the points at that resort only. For instance, you have 150 points at OKW and 100 points at VB. You want to book a stay requiring 200 points at VB. You could book as many nights as 100 points would get you at 11 months out. You could use banking/borrowing with your VB points to book the entire stay; you could book the remaining nights at OKW and attempt to switch them at 7 months out, or you could take your chances and wait for the 7 month window to book the rest of your stay with the OKW points. Make sense?