AKV Direct

[poohbear158]

Someone talk me off the ledge... I know... wrong group to ask that in...lol! I've been wanting to add on more AKV points and I'm considering buying direct with the current promotion. At 300 points, it would essentially come out to $140pp using magical beginnings. I would need to pull the trigger by tomorrow to get the 2023 points as I currently have an October use year. I have not been following direct sales lately so is this a decent price? I know nobody has a crystal ball so don't know what is to come next as far as promotions/flash sales. I'm intend to pay cash, so I'm also looking at what credit cards I could possibly open to take advantage of new account promotions to help ease the blow a bit. I could go resale and save money, but it's the wait of finding the right contracts, passing ROFR, time to load points etc.

***Forgot to mention that I'm already a DVC member with direct points***

 

[Hubalorian]

I would recommend if you do pull the trigger to split the 300 points into three 100 contracts or two 150 contracts. If you ever do need to sale them, it won’t be as low as a 300 point contract.

$140 direct is a solid price. You have to decide if it’s worth it or not

 

[Sandisw]

For direct, yes, that is a good price. They do not always have specials on the sold out resorts and with PVB tower going on sale next week, my guess is we won’t see anything for a cycle or so.

 

[Ruttangel]

If you want a negative response then you’re basically valuing convenience at about $10k+, up to you if that is worth it…..you wouldn’t be the first to prefer direct

 

[poohbear158]

I would recommend if you do pull the trigger to split the 300 points into three 100 contracts or two 150 contracts. If you ever do need to sale them, it won’t be as low as a 300 point contract.

$140 direct is a solid price. You have to decide if it’s worth it or not

Yes, that was my plan as that's what I did with the original points we purchased direct.

 

[Sandisw]

If you want a negative response then you’re basically valuing convenience at about $10k+, up to you if that is worth it…..you wouldn’t be the first to prefer direct

To be fair, it does include the ability to use the points at RIV, VDH, and CFW…and potentially other néw projects.

Not to mention membership extras if they don’t have them.

 

[BlueGreen5]

Someone talk me off the ledge... I know... wrong group to ask that in...lol! I've been wanting to add on more AKV points and I'm considering buying direct with the current promotion. At 300 points, it would essentially come out to $140pp using magical beginnings. I would need to pull the trigger by tomorrow to get the 2023 points as I currently have an October use year. I have not been following direct sales lately so is this a decent price? I know nobody has a crystal ball so don't know what is to come next as far as promotions/flash sales. I'm intend to pay cash, so I'm also looking at what credit cards I could possibly open to take advantage of new account promotions to help ease the blow a bit. I could go resale and save money, but it's the wait of finding the right contracts, passing ROFR, time to load points etc.

This is just my opinion; it's not the Gospel.

I don't see much value in buying direct unless you are financing or you are able to take advantage of an annual pass. YMMV though - it's what makes the world go round.

• Member savings - okay, but to get anywhere near break-even financially you're going to have to spend A LOT more money. So, it's the whole Costco/Sam's Club question: are you really saving or are you just getting a volume discount for things you wouldn't otherwise buy in such a quantity?
  
  
• RIV/VDH/CFW - you can rent your resale points and then rent someone else's direct points to stay at these spots when you want to. You're not foreclosed from ever staying there, which I think a lot of people forget. There's just going to be an additional cost to doing so (maybe $6-8/pt, max), but, in the aggregate, it should be less than the difference between direct/resale prices unless you're doing this often. And, as more of these contracts hit the resale market in the coming years, there are going to be more people looking to get rid of points that can only be used at RIV, VDH or CFW -- this should present some value to anyone looking to rent points there for a given trip.
  
  
• Member lounges - ehhh, free coke, seating, and A/C at one specific location when I'm in the parks...okay, not worth much, though, IMO. We tend to be on the go when we're there, so seeking out and sitting in a lounge would be a waste of time for us. The Villains' Lair is cool, but so is $10,000.
  
  
• Special events - we don't live close enough to be able to regularly take advantage of these; we tend to plan our stays 7-11 months in advance.
  
  
• SWAG - most of this gets thrown away or given to my kids to ruin. Zero value.
  
  
• Everything else - such minimal value that I can't think of anything more. Access to point swap programs, I guess (?), but those tend to be a bad use of points. Status, I guess (?), but we frankly don't even tell anyone other than our closest relatives that we are DVC members (no, cousin Debbie, I'm not willing to let you and your family use my points for your trip next year! lol).

The two big benefits to buying direct could be access to the Sorcer's Pass and the difference in interest rates, if you are financing.

• If the Sorcerer's Pass is something you would use, that's a huge financial benefit that's only available to direct members.
  
  
• On the rates, direct rates tend to be a few points lower than resale rates. The difference between a 120-month, $35,000 loan at 9% versus 12-14% is going to be considerable if you take the entire term to pay off the loan. If this applies to you, I would do the math when you know the rates you will qualify for. In reality, just because of the interest rate difference, you might only be paying a couple thousand dollars more to go direct, and then the calculus changes completely.

 

[poohbear158]

This is just my opinion; it's not the Gospel.

I don't see much value in buying direct unless you are financing or you are able to take advantage of an annual pass. YMMV though - it's what makes the world go round.

• Member savings - okay, but to get anywhere near break-even financially you're going to have to spend A LOT more money. So, it's the whole Costco/Sam's Club question: are you really saving or are you just getting a volume discount for things you wouldn't otherwise buy in such a quantity?
  
  
• RIV/VDH/CFW - you can rent your resale points and then rent someone else's direct points to stay at these spots when you want to. You're not foreclosed from ever staying there, which I think a lot of people forget. There's just going to be an additional cost to doing so (maybe $6-8/pt, max), but, in the aggregate, it should be less than the difference between direct/resale prices unless you're doing this often. And, as more of these contracts hit the resale market in the coming years, there are going to be more people looking to get rid of points that can only be used at RIV, VDH or CFW -- this should present some value to anyone looking to rent points there for a given trip.
  
  
• Member lounges - ehhh, free coke, seating, and A/C at one specific location when I'm in the parks...okay, not worth much, though, IMO. We tend to be on the go when we're there, so seeking out and sitting in a lounge would be a waste of time for us. The Villains' Lair is cool, but so is $10,000.
  
  
• Special events - we don't live close enough to be able to regularly take advantage of these; we tend to plan our stays 7-11 months in advance.
  
  
• SWAG - most of this gets thrown away or given to my kids to ruin. Zero value.
  
  
• Everything else - such minimal value that I can't think of anything more. Access to point swap programs, I guess (?), but those tend to be a bad use of points. Status, I guess (?), but we frankly don't even tell anyone other than our closest relatives that we are DVC members (no, cousin Debbie, I'm not willing to let you and your family use my points for your trip next year! lol).

The two big benefits to buying direct could be access to the Sorcer's Pass and the difference in interest rates, if you are financing.

• If the Sorcerer's Pass is something you would use, that's a huge financial benefit that's only available to direct members.
  
  
• On the rates, direct rates tend to be a few points lower than resale rates. The difference between a 120-month, $35,000 loan at 9% versus 12-14% is going to be considerable if you take the entire term to pay off the loan. If this applies to you, I would do the math when you know the rates you will qualify for. In reality, just because of the interest rate difference, you might only be paying a couple thousand dollars more to go direct, and then the calculus changes completely.

Thanks for your thoughts. I forgot to put in my original post that I'm already a direct member so I currently have all of the "benefits" associated with being a direct DVC member. Disney just makes things too darn easy. Resale would take time trying to find the right contracts and hopefully passing ROFR. We figured out that we like to stay 10 days twice a year so that's why I'm in need of additional points. We already own at AKV, normally stay at BWV or BCV (can't justify the spend on resale for those contracts due to the length of time left), but would never be disappointed if I had to stay at AKV.

 

[BlueGreen5]

Thanks for your thoughts. I forgot to put in my original post that I'm already a direct member so I currently have all of the "benefits" associated with being a direct DVC member. Disney just makes things too darn easy. Resale would take time trying to find the right contracts and hopefully passing ROFR. We figured out that we like to stay 10 days twice a year so that's why I'm in need of additional points. We already own at AKV, normally stay at BWV or BCV (can't justify the spend on resale for those contracts due to the length of time left), but would never be disappointed if I had to stay at AKV.

Yup! Except I've never actually stayed at AKV so I have no idea if I'd be disappointed, lol.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

Not going to talk you out of it but will share that when I started my DVC journey, I never envisioned going direct. But after 4 resale contracts, I did. And I won’t lie - it has been challenging for me that some of my resale contracts can’t be combined with my RIV direct contract for the occasional larger room at RIV…so much so that I’m in the process of selling one of my resale to buy the equivalent in direct. Yes, it will cost me a little more upfront but over the long run I think I’ll be happier having the flexibility to use all my contracts the way I need to.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Chili327]

Someone talk me off the ledge... I know... wrong group to ask that in...lol! I've been wanting to add on more AKV points and I'm considering buying direct with the current promotion. At 300 points, it would essentially come out to $140pp using magical beginnings. I would need to pull the trigger by tomorrow to get the 2023 points as I currently have an October use year. I have not been following direct sales lately so is this a decent price? I know nobody has a crystal ball so don't know what is to come next as far as promotions/flash sales. I'm intend to pay cash, so I'm also looking at what credit cards I could possibly open to take advantage of new account promotions to help ease the blow a bit. I could go resale and save money, but it's the wait of finding the right contracts, passing ROFR, time to load points etc.

***Forgot to mention that I'm already a DVC member with direct points***

I would recommend if you do pull the trigger to split the 300 points into three 100 contracts or two 150 contracts. If you ever do need to sale them, it won’t be as low as a 300 point contract.

$140 direct is a solid price. You have to decide if it’s worth it or not

To be fair, it does include the ability to use the points at RIV, VDH, and CFW…and potentially other néw projects.

Not to mention membership extras if they don’t have them.

Great points in BOLD, but id say your only real benefit for direct is ability to use at future resorts. You already have member benefits, so if that ability is important at all, I'd say $140 is a great price for direct.!! (but definitely split it up)

 

[cruisehopeful]

If it's where you want to stay and you aren't financing, I don't see any reason not to do it. You mentioned checking out new credit cards. You may want to call your current credit cards and explain that you have a large purchase and you want to know if they can give you a special interest rate. When I did that, Citibank gave me 9 months zero interest and Discover gave me 12 months zero interest. That let me pay "cash" for my contract and I had quite a long time to pay it off.

If you are set on getting a new credit card, check out the travel ones by Chase. Usually, you can compare on NerdWallet the current offerings for signing up for new cards.