Another point question! What do you do with the 'leftovers'?

[mauionabreakaway]

Researching DVC for my family, we are considering buying DVC resale with the intention of going and staying in 1BR villa around mid-August every three years. This should cost us 331 points, so I was looking at contracts ideally with ~120 points on them. The plan was to bank all ~120 in the next year, then that year borrow the remaining points from the year after, and repeat. However, I'm not really sure what to do with the 10-odd points I'd end up with leftover in the years I borrow from. I can't bank them (I mean, I can) because I won't be going for two more years after.

Generally speaking, given that people tend to have contract sizes that are multiples of 5 and 10, and charts end up with weird values like 331, 127, 241, etc, what happens to those loose end points? The 9 points, or 11 or whatever. You can only bank them forward one year right? I guess if you're going every year you can snowball them by banking slightly more points each year until it becomes meaningfully useful.

 

[intamin]

Correct, you can only bank them forward one year. It's better as a DVC member if you're going once every other year instead for the reason you just said because you will not use up EXACTLY 3 years worth of points every 3 years. Also keep in mind point charts can and will change over time. Just because you will need 331 points this year, Disney can change the point charts so that next year you end up needing 350 and they will reduce the cost by 19 points from somewhere else. The total amount of points at a resort will not change but they still can shift points around as long as for every increase there's a reciprocal decrease and vice versa. It's not a good idea to buy EXACTLY the amount you need. We typically recommend buying 10% more points than you think you'll need to accommodate for point chart variation.

Your options if you insist on only going once every 3 years are to potentially buy up to 24 one time use points to fill out an additional night and use up everything (you can't use this option until 7 months out), pay another member to be transfer points to you to pay for another night or try and rent out the excess points.

 

[sndral]

It’s hard to do w/ a 3 year rotation. We essentially do a 2 year rotation & that works.
We own at 2 resorts & alternate our annual visits between them, so it works like we are going every other year point wise. Basically on a 2 year rotation you bank any extra points & once your points have accumulated you stay an extra night, stay in a bigger villa, or stay in a more expensive view category, or maybe switch at 7 months to a resort that costs more points.

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Leftover points? Never heard of them

 

[CarolMN]

@sndral posted, it is very difficult (virtually impossible IMO) to make an every third year plan work without losing some points. You have already seen the difficulty, and probably have not even considered that DVC may (and has) reallocated the point charts to make them more closely reflect actual demand. When this happens, your preferred time to visit may end up costing more (or less) points than planned.

Assuming that losing points will cause you stress (it does for many) and you cannot or do not want to travel at least every other year, you will probably be much better off renting a stay.

Every third years can work if you will be OK with losing a few points or having to purchase a few extra (and booking your stay at 7 months).

Good luck with your research and decision.

 

[tidefan]

Just a note from one who has owned since 2007... Give it a few years and you will not be using your membership as originally planned. Your stay patterns will change over time (due to many reasons). I think that you will find that you will eventually think you don't have enough points and get the dreaded (or exciting, depending on how you look at it) add-on-itis!

 

[mauionabreakaway]

I am aware of point reallocations, and I intend to have some buffer points, which is exactly why I'm worried about leftover points. The reality is we really don't want to go more often, we could, we just prefer to space it out and do something really nice and big when we do go.

Another concern, we have one kid now and plan on another and we don't want them to grow up only vacationing at Disney World, but between their school schedules and our jobs, one vacation a year is gonna be it. Ergo, we can't go to Disney every year even if we wanted to.

I'm sure there will be changes in our vacation style over the years, which is another reason I don't want the bare minimum point amounts, but I don't want so many points that I'm constantly stressing about losing/wasting some.

 

[BuzzLightyr]

Every third year is hard. It's also hard to buy 120 points. Minimum contracts for a time were 150, and DVD usually adds incentives at round numbers to encourage the original owners to buy more.

I'd suggest buying more than you think you'd need. I'd go between 150-200 to start. You can't always find the right mix of points.

You can always rent out the extra points if you don't stick to your plan. It's easier to rent out a vacation worth of points vs 10-20 stragglers.

You may want the extra space of a 2 bed later on.

Smaller contracts also trade at a premium, so your buy in per point should be better.

 

[Sandisw]

The other thing to add is that DVC can change the borrowing rules and limit it if they feel there is a need.

So, while right ow you can borrow up to 100% it was at 50% after COVID. Things can happen and you need to think about how that migh change things for you if they do.

Every three years is not as easy as every other year, and I agree with others that maybe DVC doesn’t make the best sense for you at this point, unless having the extra points lost is not a huge deal.

 

[peabody58]

Add-On-Itis at year 2 will solve this!

 

[intamin]

I am aware of point reallocations, and I intend to have some buffer points, which is exactly why I'm worried about leftover points. The reality is we really don't want to go more often, we could, we just prefer to space it out and do something really nice and big when we do go.

Another concern, we have one kid now and plan on another and we don't want them to grow up only vacationing at Disney World, but between their school schedules and our jobs, one vacation a year is gonna be it. Ergo, we can't go to Disney every year even if we wanted to.

I'm sure there will be changes in our vacation style over the years, which is another reason I don't want the bare minimum point amounts, but I don't want so many points that I'm constantly stressing about losing/wasting some.

Exactly why again, doing this every 3 years is not ideal like we've said in here. Every other year is a lot more forgiving. If you don't want to do every other year, you may be better off trying to rent points instead because trying to deal with the excess or shortage of points every 3 years will be a pain. Disney does one point chart readjustment and your perfect every 3 year plan is pretty much worthless. I don't say this often but you should reconsider becoming an owner and figure out if this really makes sense for you. Between you only going every 3 years and the unpredictability of future school schedules it seems like flexibility is more valuable in your situation.

 

[castle1]

I would definitely rent points, if I was only going every 3 years. I don't know what the math would be on purchasing DVC vs. renting for you, but remember you will be paying dues every year.

 

[mauionabreakaway]

The other thing to add is that DVC can change the borrowing rules and limit it if they feel there is a need.

So, while right ow you can borrow up to 100% it was at 50% after COVID. Things can happen and you need to think about how that migh change things for you if they do.

Every three years is not as easy as every other year, and I agree with others that maybe DVC doesn’t make the best sense for you at this point, unless having the extra points lost is not a huge deal.

I had heard about the borrowing limit from some colleagues with DVC. I get that, I'm not looking for an ironclad 100% future proof plan here, I'm just wondering what sort of strategies other people have employed to deal with these kind of situations. I am sure it comes up, and it doesn't seem to really deter anyone so I'm just trying to learn from experienced minds.

I do hear what you and others are saying about every 3 years being tougher, that's certainly something we're considering. Even going every other year is going to require borrowing, but not often more than half a 150 point contract (for example) so that seems more tenable. I have so many spreadsheets to test these things out! They definitely bore out that tri-yearly trips would quickly get me in to a bind though.

Exactly why again, doing this every 3 years is not ideal like we've said in here. Every other year is a lot more forgiving. If you don't want to do every other year, you may be better off trying to rent points instead because trying to deal with the excess or shortage of points every 3 years will be a pain. Disney does one point chart readjustment and your perfect every 3 year plan is pretty much worthless. I don't say this often but you should reconsider becoming an owner and figure out if this really makes sense for you. Between you only going every 3 years and the unpredictability of future school schedules it seems like flexibility is more valuable in your situation.

I totally get it, every 3 years is going to be tough, that makes sense. I just wanted to know if a) I was missing something and b) how other people handle this, it seems like the answers are no, and they just avoid it by going more often Like I mentioned above, I'm not trying to pin some 100% ironclad point-perfect plan for the next 36 years, I know that would be foolish. I'm just trying to get a feeling for how other people deal with these kind of situations.

As far as reconsidering being an owner, I'm not even done considering being an owner! This is all part of my preliminary research to see if this is a good fit for our family and plans. I appreciate yours and everyone else's insight in to the potential problems.

Renting points isn't something we're wild about, we tried it three times in the past and ran in to problems with availability each time. Either they didn't have a DVC member looking to rent out the points we needed or the resort wasn't available. We found the process too uncertain, we prefer to be in direct control of our reservations.

 

[mauionabreakaway]

I would definitely rent points, if I was only going every 3 years. I don't know what the math would be on purchasing DVC vs. renting for you, but remember you will be paying dues every year.

As I just mentioned above, we're really not open to renting points, and also for the stays we'd like, compared to dues and other fees involved, renting points ends up being much more expensive over the long term.

 

[Sandisw]

I had heard about the borrowing limit from some colleagues with DVC. I get that, I'm not looking for an ironclad 100% future proof plan here, I'm just wondering what sort of strategies other people have employed to deal with these kind of situations. I am sure it comes up, and it doesn't seem to really deter anyone so I'm just trying to learn from experienced minds.

I do hear what you and others are saying about every 3 years being tougher, that's certainly something we're considering. Even going every other year is going to require borrowing, but not often more than half a 150 point contract (for example) so that seems more tenable. I have so many spreadsheets to test these things out! They definitely bore out that tri-yearly trips would quickly get me in to a bind though.



I totally get it, every 3 years is going to be tough, that makes sense. I just wanted to know if a) I was missing something and b) how other people handle this, it seems like the answers are no, and they just avoid it by going more often Like I mentioned above, I'm not trying to pin some 100% ironclad point-perfect plan for the next 36 years, I know that would be foolish. I'm just trying to get a feeling for how other people deal with these kind of situations.

As far as reconsidering being an owner, I'm not even done considering being an owner! This is all part of my preliminary research to see if this is a good fit for our family and plans. I appreciate yours and everyone else's insight in to the potential problems.

Renting points isn't something we're wild about, we tried it three times in the past and ran in to problems with availability each time. Either they didn't have a DVC member looking to rent out the points we needed or the resort wasn't available. We found the process too uncertain, we prefer to be in direct control of our reservations.

At least you now have some confirmation that the every three years is going to be tough to do without a loss of points.

The other piece is trying to rent out those unused points..even if what you have left is only for a night or two. If you decide that this fits your needs, just go in using the loss of points as part of the calculation from the start....then, it might be less stressful if you decide to become an owner.

Good luck!

 

[mauionabreakaway]

The other piece is trying to rent out those unused points..even if what you have left is only for a night or two. If you decide that this fits your needs, just go in using the loss of points as part of the calculation from the start....then, it might be less stressful if you decide to become an owner.

I considered this, but I'm a little wary of making a plan that relies on renting since I have no idea what the rental market might look like more than a year out, or if it'll even exist. I'd rather have a decent chance of not needing it then explicitly plan on using it. I'm open to it when the time comes though!

 

[Sandisw]

I considered this, but I'm a little wary of making a plan that relies on renting since I have no idea what the rental market might look like more than a year out, or if it'll even exist. I'd rather have a decent chance of not needing it then explicitly plan on using it. I'm open to it when the time comes though!

Then the best you can do is buy as close to what it currently is for your time of travel, realize things can change, and adjust if they do.

But, I think you have a good sense that the every three year plan is gojng to result in lost points.

The one thing that might be doable is that you can add at 7 months the OtU points DVc sells so that you borrow all the points and add in up to the 24 extra to get another full night.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

We typically go every other year (though occasionally will skip 2 years). Like you, we like to do other trips on our off years. When covid hit, we ended up with a bunch of points we thought we would lose (we had a vacation planned and had to cancel due to covid). We ended up using them by going on 2 trips in 2021 and 2 in 2022 to use them all (of course at that point my family said they were Disney'd out ). When there are straggler points, we sometimes will stay a couple nights at WDW as part of a bigger vacation that includes other places or use them at Hilton Head or Vero (vero seems to have more availability than HH). My parents were able to use a few one year on a CA trip (stayed 1 or 2 nights at DL). I know you can't plan on that as it can be hard to book there. We will also sometimes book larger rooms to eat extra points. Last time we went, we booked a 2BR for 4 of us because we had some points that would have expired. Just gave us extra space.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I had heard about the borrowing limit from some colleagues with DVC. I get that, I'm not looking for an ironclad 100% future proof plan here, I'm just wondering what sort of strategies other people have employed to deal with these kind of situations. I am sure it comes up, and it doesn't seem to really deter anyone so I'm just trying to learn from experienced minds.

...
I totally get it, every 3 years is going to be tough, that makes sense. I just wanted to know if a) I was missing something and b) how other people handle this, it seems like the answers are no, and they just avoid it by going more often Like I mentioned above, I'm not trying to pin some 100% ironclad point-perfect plan for the next 36 years, I know that would be foolish. I'm just trying to get a feeling for how other people deal with these kind of situations.

You've gotten some great advice so far but I'll just add that the reason the advice is skewed in the direction of "this won't work for you" or "this will work if you're okay with losing some points" is that DVC is really not geared toward the "casual" visitor to Disney. Most of those on the forums who have bought into DVC have done so because they go often enough to make it worthwhile and are either going every year or every other year (or multiple times a year, I suppose). You probably won't find a lot of people considering a buy-in to DVC who have this problem in the first place.

One thing to consider is that if you do go every 3 years, there is also a big risk in that if you have to cancel your trip, you'll be left with banked and borrowed points that cannot be used in any other year, so you'll have to rent them before that UY ends. And if you cancel within 31 days then it's even worse as you would have all of those points in holding, severely restricting your ability to rent them out. Those banked and borrowed points cannot be transferred either. Just a consideration to bear in mind.

 

[mauionabreakaway]

You've gotten some great advice so far but I'll just add that the reason the advice is skewed in the direction of "this won't work for you" or "this will work if you're okay with losing some points" is that DVC is really not geared toward the "casual" visitor to Disney. Most of those on the forums who have bought into DVC have done so because they go often enough to make it worthwhile and are either going every year or every other year (or multiple times a year, I suppose). You probably won't find a lot of people considering a buy-in to DVC who have this problem in the first place.

One thing to consider is that if you do go every 3 years, there is also a big risk in that if you have to cancel your trip, you'll be left with banked and borrowed points that cannot be used in any other year, so you'll have to rent them before that UY ends. And if you cancel within 31 days then it's even worse as you would have all of those points in holding, severely restricting your ability to rent them out. Those banked and borrowed points cannot be transferred either. Just a consideration to bear in mind.

This makes sense, I'm not sure anyone in my life would classify my wife and I as casual visitors, for pretty much the entire time we've been together we've visited at least once a year, until COVID, and then since then we've had our son, so we've only been back twice and one visit to Disneyland. I'd love to go every year, we just don't want to be one of those families that only vacations at Disney and I don't know that more than vacation a year is going to be feasible with kids. We had always wanted DVC, so we're really trying to find a way to make it work for our family.

At this point I'm convinced that every 3 years is just a minefield, unfortunately that probably closes the door for us, but we're exploring what it might mean to be a two-year cycle family. It's a lot of money to spend on flights and park tickets and everything, we were also counting on the less frequent visits diffusing that. We can swing it with our current financial situation and we have no reason to expect that to change (both have stable careers in good companies that treat us well, and are unlikely to fail), but of course there are no guarantees so we don't want to run near our absolute capacity constantly.