3rd contract resale again or direct.

[RickNJane]

I think I am an anomaly. We have 1008 points all direct. The first contract was back in 1996 at BWV was the only one financed. Adding on direct was convenience thing. More instant gratification.

We have a great Guide and he even got us VGC points direct! Price difference is not that much for VGC. The other contracts were when they had pretty good incentives. Direct was very easy and no hassle. I like easy! No haggling, no ROFR, Points show up almost immediately. No muss, no fuss. We used our airlines card and DVD divided the payment into 3 or 4 chunks. Racked up a lot of Airline miles! Now we are racking up the miles actually flying!


Our number of points at AKV is pretty tight and may add on there, but would try resale this time, maybe.

 

[intamin]

I'm a hybrid owner, and I'm pretty sure the perks are not worth the price on purely dollars-and-cents terms for most people. You might have an argument based on access to the Sorceror pass, but it depends A LOT on what tickets you are buying now. If I were going twice a year, I'd be buying two 5-day hoppers, give or take, each year. That's about $1,670 per year (assuming I was not buying from a 3rd party broker, etc.) If my trips did not include a blackout period, the Sorceror would save me about $500 per year per person.

So, maybe, but even then maybe not.

But the admission deal can change anytime. It has in the past. If it does, that will change the math. The more years you need to recover your purchase price, the more risk there is that the math changes---and if it changes, it's not going to change in your favor, because that's not how The Mouse does things. Plus, your kids have to live at your address to be eligible. If they move out before payoff, it that extends the window of risk.

For me, the Direct purchase was not a dollars-and-cents decision. It was an emotional one. I get to feel like I am "part of the club." I never have to worry about not being able to use my (direct) points at any particular resort. I get a little dopamine hit each time I get a discount, even though I can probably get similar discounts other ways.

This is the reason we bought direct originally. This is hopefully a 30 to 40+ year thing for us. We don't want to be asking ourselves the whole time, am I able to enjoy this? Am I able to use this lounge? Can I use TOTW lounge? It's stupid but during our wedding one of the best things we did was take a group of our friends into McKim's mile house because it was blisteringly hot that day and we also had MMB so we didn't have to wait. It was cool to be like we can get you in here and get free snacks and etc. It definitely does not make financial sense because alternatively I could've been like lets all take a break in hall of presidents or some other sit down indoor location but IDK, it's nice to know you're truly part of the club.

 

[RMDVC24]

For me, the Direct purchase was not a dollars-and-cents decision. It was an emotional one. I get to feel like I am "part of the club." I never have to worry about not being able to use my (direct) points at any particular resort. I get a little dopamine hit each time I get a discount, even though I can probably get similar discounts other ways.

I didn't mention this in my previous response, but 100% the sense of feeling that we weren't 'full' members was a factor. Plus I got tired of my wife saying we were 'fake' DVC . Now she's happy with her DVC-Y and gold member water bottle! As they say: Happy Wife = Happy Life!