Points vs Perks

[dsnydiva2]

I am interested in purchasing DVC, but at this point, price is an issue as we are also about to embark on building a house. I have seen resales for as few as 25 points. If I were to purchase in this point range for affordability, I realize we would have to rent or borrow points for vacations, but would we still receive DVC owner benefits (discounted AP, TIW,etc.)?

 

[DVCMomBLT]

I am interested in purchasing DVC, but at this point, price is an issue as we are also about to embark on building a house. I have seen resales for as few as 25 points. If I were to purchase in this point range for affordability, I realize we would have to rent or borrow points for vacations, but would we still receive DVC owner benefits (discounted AP, TIW,etc.)?

Yes

 

[dsnydiva2]

Thanks!

 

[Lynne M]

As it says in the documents when you buy, the perks 'are not part of your vacation ownership'. The AP, TIW, and all the other little benefits are given at the whim of other divisions of Disney and third parties and are not part of your membership. They come and go.

Would you be upset if you bought the 25 points and the AP discount and ability to get TiW went away a couple of months later? If you would be, don't buy for the perks.

 

[DizBub]

I am interested in purchasing DVC, but at this point, price is an issue as we are also about to embark on building a house. I have seen resales for as few as 25 points. If I were to purchase in this point range for affordability, I realize we would have to rent or borrow points for vacations, but would we still receive DVC owner benefits (discounted AP, TIW,etc.)?

As mentioned before perks can come and go but actual member benefits have remained fairly steady in my experience.

You could purchase a very small resale contract and use your membership to transfer points into your account from other members. This way you would have control over your reservations versus renting. If you buy points from another member I would make sure they are your Use Year and bankable.

 

[DVCMomBLT]

As it says in the documents when you buy, the perks 'are not part of your vacation ownership'. The AP, TIW, and all the other little benefits are given at the whim of other divisions of Disney and third parties and are not part of your membership. They come and go.

Would you be upset if you bought the 25 points and the AP discount and ability to get TiW went away a couple of months later? If you would be, don't buy for the perks.

Yes, but whether you own 25 or 250 points, you get the same perks. I believe that was was the OP was getting at.

 

[ziravan]

There are probably hundreds of DVC owners looking for small contracts at their resort and use year. 25-50 point contracts sell at a premium and fast. So much so that many die-hard resale fans concede that retail is a legitimate strategy for small contracts. (You can't buy such a small contract as a new owner retail.)

I tried to make an offer on 1, the day it was advertised. I was told it sold in five minutes and I was the 14th person to inquire (about 3 hours later).

Buying in with a small contract seems like a sound idea, but you'll have to be both aggressive and lucky to make it happen.

 

[Pirate Granny]

Small contracts are hard to purchase...but...I was too late on one and asked to be put on a waiting list in case the first buyer had issues and three weeks later got a call from the broker as the buyers financing didn't go through..so I snagged a small BCV contract that way.

 

[Lynne M]

Yes, but whether you own 25 or 250 points, you get the same perks. I believe that was was the OP was getting at.

That's true. It just seemed as if the OP was wanting to buy for the perks, since they said they wouldn't have enough points to use for vacations.

IMO, there's not much reason to buy in that situation. To me, it would make more sense for the OP to wait to buy until they're done with building the house and can buy enough points to actually use their membership, and rent points in the meantime.

 

[ncurley]

What exactly are the current perks offered for DVC?

 

[vicki_c]

What exactly are the current perks offered for DVC?

Not that much really. Some dining and merchandise discounts. Limited pool hopping ability. top of the World Lounge access. Reduced price Annual Pass. Ability to purchase Tables in Wonderland card. Ability to add DDP without buying tickets from Disney. Most come and go. Members get a list when checking in of whatever is current.

 

[HokieGCC]

Our family has been going to DW for 18 years as much as 2 weeks a year including Vero Beach. The entire time we debated DVC and decided we didn't want to tie up tons of money as the kids grew into College etc. Anyway, with both kids in College we now make two trips a year (Jan and May). So ... we bought 50 points at BWV and use the Season Pass discount. In our Jan trip we use points. In our May trip we buy the old fashioned way.

Time will tell if we add more but this is turning out to be a pretty good plan and those 50 points are very quickly paying for themselves. For a family of 4 the DVC discount for Annual Passes is $596.

Generically speaking the DVC breakeven point is in the 8-10 year range (if you buy resale). However, the smaller your contract the more impactful the season pass discount is relative to your outlay and makes your breakeven point only a couple of years. For example, if you paid $2500 for 25 points your total annual pass discount would be $2400 after 4 years. Plus you would get about 16 total nights stay in that same time period making your break even point maybe only 2 years.

With 25 points you could bank and borrow to set up a 75 point stay every 3 years. In the two off years just do what we do and pay cash but make use of the season pass discount.

The other discounts for meals etc. are kind of nominal but you also get some season pass discounts as well. It is a bit of a pain keeping track of which places offer 10% or 20% on this or that but it is another discount none the less.

So, in my mind a 25 point purchase is perfectly safe and if worse comes to worse you could sell it in a day because the demand for small contracts is so high.

 

[ToddyLu]

There is a PDF file on Allears that has a chart of restaurants using dinning discounts-DVC, AP, TIW. You can find it in the main list at the bottom on the left side of the page.