Need help with question please. TIA!

[Bertie131]

I arrived home from WDW three days ago. While I was there, we did the DVC talk and looked at the sample rooms. I told the guide that I needed to talk to a family member at home prior to signing up. He said he could hold the current offer with incentives for three days after my arrival home. Called last night and today and just goes to voice mail. I know when I was there, he was off Friday and Saturday. I have a few questions for him before making the final decision. I am hoping since I called at three days, he will honor that. Does anyone know if there is a number I can call and just ask questions about DVC and save time once he does call me back? The answers to the questions will tip the scales one way or another and I would love to speak to someone today. Thanks!

 

[jplusm]

You could always ask them here. There are many very knowledgeable people that I am sure could help you out.

 

[Bertie131]

Here are a couple of them: Do you pay annual dues on amount of signed up points or banked points?

DVC guide says only AKL and BLT are available but I have heard you still can buy other DVC sold out properties direct from Disney--is that true?

I can't remember what the 5 areas are that if you buy direct you can use DVC points for vs. if you buy resale.....

Does the DVC that I met with in WDW deal with resales?

Can you pay your AM monthly vs annually?

Do they always have incentives running?

When you buy add on points in the future--example 25 or 50 --can you add a new home resort to a low number like that or do you need to do a minimum of 100?

I don't understand the use year and booking window. PPL are saying have your use year close to when you want to travel? Not sure when I will travel, so not sure about this.....


Thanks for any help that you can give me!

 

[tomandrobin]

Here are a couple of them: Do you pay annual dues on amount of signed up points or banked points?

Annual fee is based on the number of points in your contract. It does not matter how many points are banked or borrowed. If your contract is 200 points, you owe dues on 200 points every year.

DVC guide says only AKL and BLT are available but I have heard you still can buy other DVC sold out properties direct from Disney--is that true?

AKV and Aulani are the only resorts in active sales. BLT was declared sold-out earlier this year. Yes you can buy new at some of the other DVC resorts, but you will have to push hard to get it.

I can't remember what the 5 areas are that if you buy direct you can use DVC points for vs. if you buy resale.....

Recently Disney changed their policy on the sale of DVC contracts on the secondary market. Under the new policy, members who purchase from anyone other than Disney, on or after March 21, 2011, will not be eligible to use their DVC points to make reservations in the Concierge Collection, the Disney Collection or the Adventurer Collection. Those Vacation Points will instead be valid only for reservations at Disney Vacation Club resorts, as well as for RCI® exchanges, Club Cordial and Club Intrawest.

Does the DVC that I met with in WDW deal with resales?

No.

Can you pay your AM monthly vs annually?

Yes

Do they always have incentives running?

Yes, but it changes every few months.

When you buy add on points in the future--example 25 or 50 --can you add a new home resort to a low number like that or do you need to do a minimum of 100?

Yes, you can add another home resort. Your Use Year will remain the same.

I don't understand the use year and booking window. PPL are saying have your use year close to when you want to travel? Not sure when I will travel, so not sure about this.....

Personally, I think this is an over stated concern. We travel to WDW all year long. If you manage your points correctly, you will never have an issue.

Thanks for any help that you can give me!

Any time.....Just ask!

 

[Missyrose]

Here are a couple of them: Do you pay annual dues on amount of signed up points or banked points?

You pay the maintenance fees on the number of points on your contract each year. So if you are getting the 100+10 deal, you'll pay MFs on 110 points per year.

DVC guide says only AKL and BLT are available but I have heard you still can buy other DVC sold out properties direct from Disney--is that true?

You can buy any DVC property from Disney, though you might be put on a wait list for a few months while they acquire the points for that resort.

I can't remember what the 5 areas are that if you buy direct you can use DVC points for vs. if you buy resale.....

Points from resale contracts bought after March 20, 2011 cannot be used for the Disney Collection (non-DVC Disney resorts), Disney Cruise Line or the Concierge Collection. Just remember, even if you buy direct now, when you go to sell you're contract, they will become restricted points.

Does the DVC that I met with in WDW deal with resales?

The new sales trick seems to be the DVC salespeople saying they sell "resale" contracts. It's basically them parroting back the terminology their customer is using. Disney does NOT sell resale contracts. They do sell contracts for the "sold out" resorts at about twice the price as the resale market.

Can you pay your AM monthly vs annually?

Yes, you can pay MFs monthly (though it has to be paid from a bank account, not a credit card).

Do they always have incentives running?

Yes, on the resorts they're actively selling (right now that's AKV and Aulani).

When you buy add on points in the future--example 25 or 50 --can you add a new home resort to a low number like that or do you need to do a minimum of 100?

You can add whichever resorts you want. Just remember that points retain their home resorts. So if you buy 100 AKV now and 25 BLT later, you'll only have 100 points to use 11 months out at AKV and 25 points to use at 11 months out at BLT. You can combine points once the seven-month window opens.

I don't understand the use year and booking window. PPL are saying have your use year close to when you want to travel? Not sure when I will travel, so not sure about this.....


Thanks for any help that you can give me!

You want to have a use year that is just before your typical travel period so if you need to cancel, you'll have the opportunity to bank those unused points.

 

[tjkraz]

Personally, I think this is an over stated concern. We travel to WDW all year long. If you manage your points correctly, you will never have an issue.

Regarding Use Year, I totally agree. DVC is a very long term commitment and few owners stick to the same travel patterns for any extended period of time. Favored vacation dates are likely to change as folks start a family, kids start school, kids get older and can no longer miss school like they once could, kids graduate and move out, owners change jobs, owners retire, grandkids arrive, etc.

You could expend a significant amount of energy into determining and buying the "correct" Use Year, and then experience a change in your travel patterns a year or two later which leaves you with a less-than-ideal Use Year.

Proper planning eliminates most risk, regardless of the UY.

 

[chalee94]

Here are a couple of them: Do you pay annual dues on amount of signed up points or banked points?

in addition to the above pts, i'll add that you pay annual dues based on calendar year, not use year, so banked pts (and so forth) are a non-issue.

DVC guide says only AKL and BLT are available but I have heard you still can buy other DVC sold out properties direct from Disney--is that true?

here is the pricing info:

http://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/financial/pricing-a-promotions

your "guide" (a better word is "salesperson" - don't trust them any more than you would any other salespeople or don't complain later if you feel like you were suckered) may get paid differently if you buy BCV rather than AKV, but the choice should really be up to you.

Does the DVC that I met with in WDW deal with resales?

the Mouse only deals in direct sales, no matter what your salesperson might have said.

When you buy add on points in the future--example 25 or 50 --can you add a new home resort to a low number like that or do you need to do a minimum of 100?

read this for more info:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2998742

I don't understand the use year and booking window. PPL are saying have your use year close to when you want to travel? Not sure when I will travel, so not sure about this.....

the easy part is this: use year has nothing at all to do with booking window. you can book 11 months out with home resort points or at 7 months out for other DVC resorts.

you never want to travel in the last few months of your UY BUT it only becomes an issue if you need to cancel.

my UY is october, so if i booked a reservation for august 2013 and needed to cancel 45 days out, i would already be past my may 31 banking window and that would mean i would be more likely to lose pts if i couldn't figure out how to use them before they expire on sept 30, 2013. but if you never cancel, UY will likely never be an issue.

read (and bookmark) this for more info:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1942668

 

[kristenrice]

Regarding Use Year, I totally agree. DVC is a very long term commitment and few owners stick to the same travel patterns for any extended period of time. Favored vacation dates are likely to change as folks start a family, kids start school, kids get older and can no longer miss school like they once could, kids graduate and move out, owners change jobs, owners retire, grandkids arrive, etc.

You could expend a significant amount of energy into determining and buying the "correct" Use Year, and then experience a change in your travel patterns a year or two later which leaves you with a less-than-ideal Use Year.

Proper planning eliminates most risk, regardless of the UY.

I agree...the only reason I would consider UY is if there are three consecutive months of the year that you would not consider for vacation. For us, we have no intention of traveling in Nov/Dec/Jan so we opted for a Feb UY.

The only time UY is of concern is if you need to cancel a vacation. For example, if I plan a vacation for the second week of January and use current and borrowed points, then cancel that vacation in November, ALL of those points will expire on January 31 and cannot be banked. There is almost no chance of securing a reservation in Nov/Dec/Jan on 6 weeks notice so those points would likely be lost. Now, say I book that same vacation for February. If I cancel it in November, I still have until the following January to try and rebook it without losing the points.

UY is probably one of the most confusing aspects of DVC ownership (with the AKV booking categories/points chart coming in at a close second) but for most, it is generally not a big deal. Vacation patterns definitely change. Right now, we plan to travel mostly during school breaks (April and summer) but once the kids are on their own, we'll be looking to travel more in Feb/Mar and October.

PLEASE be sure to investigate your resale options and ask a LOT of questions here. I love my DVC, but I hate reading stories about people who are disappointed or upset with their membership simply because they failed to do proper research before making their purchase. You will find a lot of different opinions here, but you will also find a lot of cold, hard facts...not pixie-dusted sales pitches.

 

[tjkraz]

Regarding pricing the Stories from the Savanna webcast incentives are scheduled to end tomorrow (9/29.) If the Guide was including those bonuses in the price, it's entirely possible that the incentives will be gone for good by Saturday.

There are always specials but hard telling if the next one will be better or worse.

That said, resale is still MUCH cheaper obviously.

 

[Bertie131]

Thanks guys for all of this info--really helps! I have looked at The Timeshare Store and the prices are definitely better than direct. Considering this since I don't plan to use the points outside of WDW or DL. Is there a way to tell on the contracts up for sale how long is left on the contract? DVC direct is saying $102/pt for WL and the resale is $68/PT. Now that is a huge difference. If I bought direct I would get 110 points for this year (April UY) and then another 110 in April 2013. I need to figure if the "extra" points this year along with the 10 extra points each UY is worth buying direct vs. resale. Head Spinning.

Thoughts? TIA!

 

[chalee94]

Is there a way to tell on the contracts up for sale how long is left on the contract?

the expiration date typically varies by resort. so all BCV, VWL and BWV contracts expire in 2042 - doesn't matter whether you buy direct or resale. all AKV contracts expire in 2057 and all SSR contracts expire in 2054.

OKW is the only exception - most resales will expire in 2042 but when you look at the description, it will clarify if it is one that has been extended to 2057.

DVC direct is saying $102/pt for WL and the resale is $68/PT. Now that is a huge difference. If I bought direct I would get 110 points for this year (April UY) and then another 110 in April 2013. I need to figure if the "extra" points this year along with the 10 extra points each UY is worth buying direct vs. resale.

i'm pretty sure they won't offer the extra 10 pts for VWL since they are not "actively" selling VWL at this point. so you'd only need to adjust for whether the resale includes current pts (as the direct contract would) or whether the resale contract has been "stripped" of current UY pts.

 

[ELMC]

Thanks guys for all of this info--really helps! I have looked at The Timeshare Store and the prices are definitely better than direct. Considering this since I don't plan to use the points outside of WDW or DL. Is there a way to tell on the contracts up for sale how long is left on the contract? DVC direct is saying $102/pt for WL and the resale is $68/PT. Now that is a huge difference. If I bought direct I would get 110 points for this year (April UY) and then another 110 in April 2013. I need to figure if the "extra" points this year along with the 10 extra points each UY is worth buying direct vs. resale. Head Spinning.

Thoughts? TIA!

I have a little different thought from some of the previous posters. I don't think you should buy resale or direct, not yet at least. You have asked a bunch of great questions, but it is important for you to know that understanding the answers to these questions does not come overnight. Your DVC salesperson got you in an excited state with the impending end of a deal, and that is his job...to get you excited about buying. But typically I find that the best decisions are made when I am calm and collected. DVC isn't going anywhere and with all due respect, there is still a lot for you to learn. Let this deal go...there will be another. And resale is always an option, and that deal is FANTASTIC! Take your time, read as much as you can on the boards, and when you have learned what you need to learn then you will be comfortable and confident with whatever decision you decide to make. Good luck!

 

[DizBub]

DVC direct is saying $102/pt for WL and the resale is $68/PT. Now that is a huge difference. If I bought direct I would get 110 points for this year (April UY) and then another 110 in April 2013. I need to figure if the "extra" points this year along with the 10 extra points each UY is worth buying direct vs. resale. Head Spinning.

Thoughts? TIA!

If you buy VWL direct from Disney you will not get the extra 10 points with purchase of 100 points. That incentive is only for AKV and Aulani. If you take that deal you will only pay for the 100 points but you will pay dues for 110 points every year. As incentives have been kind of slim the last couple of years this one is not too bad. The one before this one actually offered 20 extra points for every 100 purchased. Another incentive will be along when this one ends.

Take a deep breath. I agree with others that you should take your time to find out what DVC is all about and how it works. It all seems so complex but once you figure it out the flexibility is amazing.

I confess that we learned as we went and it's worked out really well for us. But we did not know about resale and when we learned about it were really nervous about it. That has worked out well too. If you decide that buying direct from Disney suits you, you still owe it to yourself to understand what you are actually getting into.

Keep reading!! Good luck!!

 

[Dean]

I have a little different thought from some of the previous posters. I don't think you should buy resale or direct, not yet at least. You have asked a bunch of great questions, but it is important for you to know that understanding the answers to these questions does not come overnight. Your DVC salesperson got you in an excited state with the impending end of a deal, and that is his job...to get you excited about buying. But typically I find that the best decisions are made when I am calm and collected. DVC isn't going anywhere and with all due respect, there is still a lot for you to learn. Let this deal go...there will be another. And resale is always an option, and that deal is FANTASTIC! Take your time, read as much as you can on the boards, and when you have learned what you need to learn then you will be comfortable and confident with whatever decision you decide to make. Good luck!

I totally agree, the OP needs to spend time assimilating info to decide if DVC is worthwhile. I'd say it takes 4-6 months of active investigation to arrive at a process.