About to Purchase a resale....MF are high! eeek

[hygienejean]

Can you all give me your input on the cost of MF? I will be buying BW (if I can convince my DH the MF fees are reasonable that is...) I have the contact ready to mail to the Timeshare store but now my DH is worried that the MF are unreasonable.

How do they compare to other timeshares? Marriott?

Thanks!

~Jean

 

[Disney Doll]

I don't know how they compare with other timeshares. I would assume that if your DH is stating that the MF fees are high, then he must have reserached other timeshares and their fees, so perhaps he could share that info with you.

We own 430 points and it costs us about $160/month at OKW...so about $1600/year...again, a "round" figure, not an excat amount. I don't think it's too bad.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I was reading the thread about Bonnet Creek and Fairfield. It seems that they have all sorts of fees when they make their reservations and when they check in. We only have the monthly fees.

 

[Park City]

I currently do own a Marriott Timeshare in Utah and the MF for the year is now about $950. Marriott's fees seem to go up by about $50-100 bucks a year. I don't know if the fees at Disney go up that fast, but since I should be closing on the BCV in a couple of weeks, I guess I will find out soon

 

[Splash Mountain Fan]

I believe BWV maint. fees for 2006 were 4.69 per point. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[LisaS]

The dues per point at each resort are available here, along with annual increases: http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/DVC/DVCDuesHistory.htm

Splash, you are correct the 2006 dues at BWV were $4.69/point.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Consider purchasing a small contract if you can find one. With BWV standard studios only being 9 points for some weeknight points, you can have as few as 50 points and stay in a studio for 5 nights every year. That is only $234.50 per year at the 2006 MF rate.

Think about it this way...The rack rate is $300+ per night for a studio and after you've paid off your DVC you would only pay $234.50 per year in MF and stay 5 nights.

Its really the annual passes, disney dining, transportation from home, etc. that you don't anticipate that adds up IMO.

 

[Lucky82061]

Its really the annual passes, disney dining, transportation from home, etc. that you don't anticipate that adds up IMO.

Not to mention pins.. mugs.. shirts.. and other assorted Souvenears

But As far as the question, I purchased into Fairfield Resorts (and cancelled 3 days after reading different reviews on the internet about how horrible it was) and they have all sorts of fee's and other stuff that they don't tell you when purchasing. Here is one of the additional fee's they don't tell you about:

As a Fairshare Plus member, you will receive one reservation transaction for every 77,000 points that you own. The following features require a Reservation Transaction:
Confirming a Reservation
Depositing a week with your worldwide exchange company
Transferring Points
These Reservation Transactions will be allocated to you on January 1 of each year, regardless of your use year start and end date. These reservation Transactions will expire on December 31 of the same year if they are not used. If you use all of your Reservation transactions, a $25$ fee will be required to complete additional transactions.

So if you make more reservations than you have "allotted" transactions, you have to pay $25.00 to use your own points...

Here's another:

Points Credit Pool
The Points Credit Pool is a limited feature that allows FairShare Plus members to receive credits for their points. If a member knows they will not be able to use their points prior to the start of their Use Year, they can place all or part of their points in the Points Credit Pool and receive pool credits for them.
The following guidelines apply:
Points must be placed in the pool at least one day prior to the Use Year Start Date.
Pool credits are good for three years from the date they were placed in the pool.
A $25 service fee is required for pooling points.
Pool Credits may be used to book a Standard or Express Reservation within the FairShare Plus system only.

This is basically banking points... you have to pay $25.00 for that... and you can't use the banked points to take advantage of the extended period you have at your home resort. Also with Fairfield you cannot "borrow" points for a reservation unless you are making a reservation 90 days or less from the day you want to go.

Some more fee's...

Guest Confirmations
FairShare Plus members may use their points to book vacations for family and friends.
If the member is not planning on checking-in with the guest, the reservation must be placed in the guest’s name - by requesting a guest confirmation to be added to the reservation. A written confirmation will then be sent to the FairShare Plus member and the guest.
There is a $25 fee for each Guest Confirmation requested. In addition, the member is responsible for the condition of the unit upon the guest’s check-out at the resort.

Also the other thing that I never understood was that with Fairfield you actually have 2 different sets of points. You have your Reservation points and your housekeeping points. If you run out of housekeeping points you then have to purchase the amount you don't have with cash in order to make your reservation.

The last thing I want to say about Fairfield is that when I was negotiating my contract, the annual fee's kept changing everytime I said no to an offer. Thinking back, I'm not sure how I would be paying less of an annual fee than other's buying into the same resort...

With that being said.. (sorry about the fairfield rant ) DVC due's don't seem to be more or less than any other points based timeshare system but the other stuff you don't have to deal with makes a huge difference. DVC is simple and straightforward and for the most part you know what you are getting.

 

[simpilotswife]

Unfortunately it is pretty commonly recognized in the TS owner's community that DVC has some of the highest MFs in the industry. Typically DVC's MFs surpass Marriott's.

That is one of the reasons why most knowledgeable TS owners suggest that if you want to trade out to other locations (in II) regularly you should find yourself a good trader at another location since the MFs are likely to be far less.

 

[skr8pn]

As a son of a fairfield owner I'll say I really like them. We've been every where with it. Stayed right outside the gates when I was 12 and got engaged last year staying at a fairfield resort. However you point is well taken, to each his own. I'm not a big fan of an expiring contract.

But, to get back on topic. Dad has 300,000 points with fairfield and I think his fee's were around $1200 last year if I remember right. That also gets him in the neighborhood of 3 full weeks of vacation depends on where he wants to go with those points.

I'm just going by what other people have said the fees are but I can rationalize real quick it's cheaper for a hotel. But DVC/timeshare is so much nicer and bigger.

One day I hope to own both and have both problems.

 

[salmoneous]

Unfortunately it is pretty commonly recognized in the TS owner's community that DVC has some of the highest MFs in the industry. Typically DVC's MFs surpass Marriott's.

Yeah, but other timeshares don't get snazzy Giclee's, do they

 

[pbharris4]

Yeah, but other timeshares don't get snazzy Giclee's, do they

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

My other unit is a fixed week unit and a 2 bedroom loft lockoff at that so its really apples and oranges. I'd say looking at the Fairfield breakdown what they are doing is making the people who use the system pay for it whereas Disney divvies it up over everybody. Great for people who work it. Not great for people who use all their points every year around the same time each year. By the time I'm done with trading fees for the other unit it probably works out the same as the VWL for each part of it.

 

[Lynne M]

The OP did ask about DVC MF's in comparison to those of other timeshares, but I'm not sure that's the right question to be asking.

If you see yourselves trading out more often than staying at DVC resorts, then DVC probably isn't the right choice for you. In that case, looking at other timeshares is exactly what you should be doing.

But, I bought DVC because I wanted to stay on property. If that's what you want, too, then I think you need to look at the fees as part of the total picture. I took the total cost of my purchase, and divided it by 40 (or however many years are left on the contract). Then, I added in a year's worth of maintenance fees. That gave me a yearly cost.

Then, for me, it was just a matter of figuring how many nights per year I could get at my preferred DVC resort (and room size), and deciding whether or not it was a reasonable cost for that. In my case, it was a no-brainer. I was getting deluxe accomodations for less than the price of a moderate.

Yes, it's true that maintenance fees will most likely go up over the length of the contract. So will hotel room rates. Personally, I think that hotel rates will go up more, because they include a profit margin, where MFs do not.

My logic may be faulty, and many folks here on the DVC boards have done far more detailed cost comparisons, but that's the way I justified the MFs for my own purchase.

Hope it helps a bit!

 

[dvc-NE]

Its really the annual passes, disney dining, transportation from home, etc. that you don't anticipate that adds up IMO.

YUP!

 

[kimberh]

We just stayed in our first 2 bedroom ,where in the past we would have had 2 rooms. We had a blast and saved money. I know all the owners know that we had a full kitchen, 2 great bathrooms and no one on top of each other and great family time. I bought Disney to stay at Disney. If you are planing on trading, there are probably much cheaper places. If you decide not to go one year, it is so easy to rent.