Renting DVC Help

[WanderlustNZ]

Originally Posted by pamkat1820

Silly question- we are planning on renting points soon. After we have secured a reservation with a member will we be able to see it on the Disney website like a regular reservation threw Disney. It would make me feel better being able to login and see it in black &white

Yes, you can. Although be aware that some things might not appear of the Disney website even though they have been booked e.g. Magical express (At least that's what the broker told me).

I am travelling to WDW for 11 nights next year during the start of the F&W festival. I decided to rent points at 9.5 months out. I contacted Davids first and they told me that they didn't have the points immediately available to book any of my choices. So I contacted DVC Rental Store as well who said they had points and availability for BWV preferred view available. I couldn't afford all 11 nights there, so I booked just the first 5 nights. The very next day Davids got hold of me to say that AKV points had come through (standard view at Jambo), so I snatched these up for the remaining 6 nights. I am so excited about my split stay - particularly since finding out that I was able to get a BoardWalk view studio at BWV. Upon payment and confirmation, I was immediately able to see both bookings on the Disney website.

The service I have recieved so far from both companies had been excellent. Contact with Davids company has been completely professional and comes with the reassurance that he has a good reputation and has been around for years. Meanwhile the woman I've been dealing with at DVC Rental Store has given me the friendliest and promptest service I've ever received from a travel company, and as someone who's travelled quite a bit, that's saying a lot. Obviously, I haven't seen the bookings through to completion yet, but so far I'm impressed.

I could of gone the private route and saved an extra few hundred dollars, but I'm far too much of a worrier to deal with that level of trust.

[pamkat1820]

This will be our first trip renting points my problem is in a control freak. So letting it go and depending on someone else to do the work is a big challenge for me. I feel better going with a broker but a cheaper price per point is nice too. We r leaning more towards David's though. We tried to book with them on our last vac but they didn't have any points for where we wanted to stay. This time we have a longer booking window = better chance lol

[lync]

We rented through Dave also. We rented at 11 months for a 2 br value at AKL. They didn't have a member with enough points on the first day but they emailed me the second day and let me know they were able to secure the reservation. Everything has gone smoothly so far....our trip is in 23 days!!

[meredith1]

My window opened up yesterday to rent from David's for the first week of December. We were trying for 250 points to stay in a two bedroom suite at BLT w/ MK view. It was a no go. He didn't have any members willing to give up that many points.

We ended up getting the room through Disney yesterday. We are going from Dec. 30 to Nov 6. I've only been able to secure Nov. 30 through Dec. 4 because all that has been released to disney at this point.

Oh, and I did notice they don't want to talk to you on the phone...they much prefer the email thing.

[stargazertechie]

I have rented from DVC owners now for 4 vacations. 3 were through private parties, once through a broker for a last minute trip. We did have the unfortunate need to cancel one trip (due to a death in the family).

BUY TRIP INSURANCE! Make sure you get a rental agreement in writing. Find out what the trip insurance company needs for a cancellation, and make sure you get that information FROM THE BROKER or MEMBER prior to signing any paperwork. We are out the $150 in cost for the trip insurance, but we got our check in the mail for the full cost of our rental ($1600).

We're spoiled now, and it's the only way we go to Disney. I don't trust housekeeping staff in hotels to begin with (I've had personal property stolen before) so knowing that over the course of an 8 day trip I'm saving $1,000-$3,000+ off of the rack rate of a similar room in exchange for giving up daily housekeeping and the flexibility to cancel is a NO BRAINER to me IF and ONLY IF I am 99%+ certain that the trip will not change.

[Sammie]

Originally Posted by WanderlustNZ

Yes, you can. Although be aware that some things might not appear of the Disney website even though they have been booked e.g. Magical express (At least that's what the broker told me).

I am travelling to WDW for 11 nights next year during the start of the F&W festival. I decided to rent points at 9.5 months out. I contacted Davids first and they told me that they didn't have the points immediately available to book any of my choices. So I contacted DVC Rental Store as well who said they had points and availability for BWV preferred view available. I couldn't afford all 11 nights there, so I booked just the first 5 nights. The very next day Davids got hold of me to say that AKV points had come through (standard view at Jambo), so I snatched these up for the remaining 6 nights. I am so excited about my split stay - particularly since finding out that I was able to get a BoardWalk view studio at BWV. Upon payment and confirmation, I was immediately able to see both bookings on the Disney website.

The service I have recieved so far from both companies had been excellent. Contact with Davids company has been completely professional and comes with the reassurance that he has a good reputation and has been around for years. Meanwhile the woman I've been dealing with at DVC Rental Store has given me the friendliest and promptest service I've ever received from a travel company, and as someone who's travelled quite a bit, that's saying a lot. Obviously, I haven't seen the bookings through to completion yet, but so far I'm impressed.

I could of gone the private route and saved an extra few hundred dollars, but I'm far too much of a worrier to deal with that level of trust.

I have heard nothing but good about both services and you have used both and were pleased.

After using both, what level of security do you actually achieve by using a broker versus dealing direct with a member. I mean both brokers are contacting members to get the points for your reservation that you have no contact with, that member still controls the reservation until check in and must make all requests etc. The brokers are not able to do this.

What am I missing, it seems to me with a private transaction at least you know the member and have contact with them.

I understand the convenience of using a broker but have not understand how it increases security of the transaction.

[Dean1972]

The advantage of using a broker such as David's is that he holds back 50% of your payment which is not paid to the DVC member, until the renter checks in to the DVC resort( he holds in escrow ) which ensures a valid booking is made & held until guests actually check in. Ie if DVC rental owner cancels they do not get the remainder of ther rental payment .

[WanderlustNZ]

Originally Posted by Sammie

I have heard nothing but good about both services and you have used both and were pleased.

After using both, what level of security do you actually achieve by using a broker versus dealing direct with a member. I mean both brokers are contacting members to get the points for your reservation that you have no contact with, that member still controls the reservation until check in and must make all requests etc. The brokers are not able to do this.

What am I missing, it seems to me with a private transaction at least you know the member and have contact with them.

I understand the convenience of using a broker but have not understand how it increases security of the transaction.

Like Dean said, they hold back part of the payment.

Also, they have contracts written up for both parties. I know you can write up contracts doing it privately, but I wouldn't be knowledgable enough to do this properly.

Because I was going through a broker, it was much easier to use a credit card. Credit card companies usually provide some back-up in cases of fraud.

Lastly, these businesses have a reputation to uphold. They don't want people coming on here saying that the points holder cancelled their reservation and the broker did nothing about it. Call me naive, but if something went wrong, I like to think that the broker would try to do something to sort it out.

I realise that even using a broker comes with risks. But IMO those risks are less than sending a whole heap of money directly to the points owner (aka stranger).

[Sammie]

Originally Posted by WanderlustNZ

Like Dean said, they hold back part of the payment.

Also, they have contracts written up for both parties. I know you can write up contracts doing it privately, but I wouldn't be knowledgable enough to do this properly.

Because I was going through a broker, it was much easier to use a credit card. Credit card companies usually provide some back-up in cases of fraud.

Lastly, these businesses have a reputation to uphold. They don't want people coming on here saying that the points holder cancelled their reservation and the broker did nothing about it. Call me naive, but if something went wrong, I like to think that the broker would try to do something to sort it out.

I realise that even using a broker comes with risks. But IMO those risks are less than sending a whole heap of money directly to the points owner (aka stranger).

Thanks that makes it clearer.

[Dean1972]

Well said Wanderlust NZ

It is for the reasons you outlined that I will be using a broker. Points may cost slightly more but peace of mind is worth it IMHO.