anyone ever rent points?

[Kcags]

Hi. I am considering renting points for our next trip and staying at A.K.L standard villas. I am not a dvc member but it seems I could save a few hundred dollars by renting points and buying park tickets separately vs a vacation package for a similar room. Are there any catches or hidden costs here? Can anyone tell me the positives and negatives? I understand there is no housekeeping. Are there any other drawbacks to renting? It just makes me wary because I have never done it before. Also, Where do you rent from? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Disney Dreams]

Hi. I am considering renting points for our next trip and staying at A.K.L standard villas. I am not a dvc member but it seems I could save a few hundred dollars by renting points and buying park tickets separately vs a vacation package for a similar room. Are there any catches or hidden costs here? Can anyone tell me the positives and negatives? I understand there is no housekeeping. Are there any other drawbacks to renting? It just makes me wary because I have never done it before. Also, Where do you rent from? Thanks in advance!!

You are completely trusting the other party. Your transaction has NOTHING to do with Disney.

So... The other person has to make your reservation, only they can make changes to it, and if they decide to cancel it the day before you arrive, the only recourse you have is legal action based on whatever contract you and they signed. If you get there and there is no reservation, Disney has NOTHING to do with it. The issue is between you and whomever you rented from as it is technically THEIR reservation in Disney's view.

That is the most important thing to be aware of when renting points, imo.

- Dreams

 

[DeeCee735]

Hi. I am considering renting points for our next trip and staying at A.K.L standard villas. I am not a dvc member but it seems I could save a few hundred dollars by renting points and buying park tickets separately vs a vacation package for a similar room. Are there any catches or hidden costs here? Can anyone tell me the positives and negatives? I understand there is no housekeeping. Are there any other drawbacks to renting? It just makes me wary because I have never done it before. Also, Where do you rent from? Thanks in advance!!

I am a member, and I have rented points out before. It is trust between the two parties, and yes the member retains control over the reservation, but you as the Renter will have the reservation in your name and you can call to confirm that the reservation is valid right up until you check in. You can also ask the member for references if you want to contact others who have rented from them in the past.

Members who rent take a chance that the people they are renting to are responsible and will follow all the rules of DVC, i.e., not damage the room or act unruly, etc. If they do not comply or cause trouble or damage, it's on the member and their membership. Therefore, trust on both sides.

No, you do not have daily housekeeping. On day four you would get towel and trash service (a replenishment of towels and removal of trash), on day 8 you would get full housekeeping, day 12 towel and trash and so on. You can request full housekeeping daily, but you will have to pay a fee, which depends on the size room you rent; studio, one bedroom, 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom grand villa.

The only "hidden" costs I can think of will be that some members who rent will ask the renter to pay the paypal fees associated with paying through paypal, which is based on the amount of the transaction....3 or 4% for domestic transaction and more if international.

The benefits are that in a studio, you have a couch (pull out sofa), a table with a couple of chairs and a small frig, small sink(besides the vanity), coffeemaker, microwave and glasses, and mugs with paper dishes and plastic flatware, large closet and balcony or patio. In one bedroom's and larger, you have a full kitchen with pots, pans, bakeware, dishes, glasses, etc., a jacquzzi tub, stacked washer/dryer and a larger balcony than the studio's. Some one bedrooms have 2 full bathrooms. All have living rooms with pull out sleeper sofas and some have sleeper chairs. It's like an apartment. Some people prefer this to daily housekeeping (especially us members )

Hope that helps with info on renting. Have fun planning your trip!

 

[chalee94]

Are there any catches or hidden costs here? Can anyone tell me the positives and negatives? I understand there is no housekeeping. Are there any other drawbacks to renting? It just makes me wary because I have never done it before.

i rented once but preferred to buy in as i hated the lack of control. renting worked out great but the little uncertainty bothered me.

the other big thing (with the loss of control of the reservation and limited housekeeping) is that the DVC owner typically offers NO cancellation policy. if you cancel, you will generally not get a refund and depending on the situation, the owner might not be able to work with you on another reservation even if they wanted (the points might be close to expiring).

so make sure your plans are firm.

Also, Where do you rent from? Thanks in advance!!

there is a rent/trade board on the DIS.

there is also david (who acts as a broker between you and DVC owners):

http://www.dvcrequest.com/

 

[DeeCee735]

Hi. I am considering renting points for our next trip and staying at A.K.L standard villas. I am not a dvc member but it seems I could save a few hundred dollars by renting points and buying park tickets separately vs a vacation package for a similar room. Are there any catches or hidden costs here? Can anyone tell me the positives and negatives? I understand there is no housekeeping. Are there any other drawbacks to renting? It just makes me wary because I have never done it before. Also, Where do you rent from? Thanks in advance!!

Oh, check the "RENT/TRADE" boards to find a member who is renting their points. Good luck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

...No, you do not have daily housekeeping. On day four you would get towel and trash service (a replenishment of towels and removal of trash), on day 8 you would get full housekeeping, day 12 towel and trash and so on. You can request full housekeeping daily, but you will have to pay a fee, which depends on the size room you rent; studio, one bedroom, 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom grand villa...

Not quite. If you stay seven nights or less, on the fourth day, you will get your towels replaced and trash removed. If you stay eight nights or more, you will get a full cleaning on the fourth day and trash and towel service on day eight. If you stay at least 12 nights, the cycle repeats.

...The benefits are that in a studio, you have a couch (pull out sofa), a table with a couple of chairs and a small frig, small sink(besides the vanity), coffeemaker, microwave and glasses, and mugs with paper dishes and plastic flatware, large closet and balcony or patio. In one bedroom's and larger, you have a full kitchen with pots, pans, bakeware, dishes, glasses, etc., a jacquzzi tub, stacked washer/dryer and a larger balcony than the studio's. Some one bedrooms have 2 full bathrooms. All have living rooms with pull out sleeper sofas and some have sleeper chairs. It's like an apartment. ...

OKW studios have two queen beds, no double sleeper sofa like the other studios. And the GFV have a twin size murphy bed in the studio as well as the queen bed and double sleeper sofa. All the villas (except for studios) have a washer and dryer. All are stackables except for OKW which has full sized washer and dryer.

One thing to be aware of. Do not respond to private messages or emails you might get in response to this thread. The DIS doesn't allow that because that is how some people have been cheated. Go through the Rent/Trade Board (read the sticky threads at the top of the page first) or through a broker like David.

 

[BrerNashville]

Keep in mind that most people who rent you points will ask for a sizable nonrefundable deposit, if not payment in full, when you make your reservation months in advance. Thus, if your schedule is the type that changes frequently or you feel you may need to change dates, you will find finding an accomodating lessor difficult. These strict nonrefundables are necessary due to the structure of the DVC program, and Lessors may or may not work with you in if your plans change (e.g. work to find a replacement lessee and only make you pay the difference if they still are able to rent out the points).

In contrast, a room only reservation at an onsite hotel (or cash only DVC ressie) can be cancelled without penalty any time more than 3 days ahead of arrival; vacation packages have a 45 day cancellation policy. Of course, you'll pay a lot more for either of those.

 

[Kcags]

If you rent from David's site or the Timeshare Store, are you still as vulnerable?

 

[chalee94]

If you rent from David's site or the Timeshare Store, are you still as vulnerable?

pretty sure they won't refund you either if you cancel.

BUT if the owner cancels the reservation out from under you, they do hold back at least part of the rental proceeds so there is a degree of protection.

 

[DeeCee735]

Not quite. If you stay seven nights or less, on the fourth day, you will get your towels replaced and trash removed. If you stay eight nights or more, you will get a full cleaning on the fourth day and trash and towel service on day eight. If you stay at least 12 nights, the cycle repeats.


OKW studios have two queen beds, no double sleeper sofa like the other studios. And the GFV have a twin size murphy bed in the studio as well as the queen bed and double sleeper sofa. All the villas (except for studios) have a washer and dryer. All are stackables except for OKW which has full sized washer and dryer.

One thing to be aware of. Do not respond to private messages or emails you might get in response to this thread. The DIS doesn't allow that because that is how some people have been cheated. Go through the Rent/Trade Board (read the sticky threads at the top of the page first) or through a broker like David.

Thanks for all the corrections. I was generalizing.

 

[dmunsil]

If you rent from David's site or the Timeshare Store, are you still as vulnerable?

I think you lower the risk considerably dealing with David's or The Timeshare Store, for the following reasons:

• Scammers are less likely to work with them because of the risk of getting caught, sued, etc. A business has deeper pockets than an individual. Also, a business is less likely to leave themselves open for scamming. They're not going to agree to unusual payment terms and they're going to insist on people following their rules.
• The business has an incentive to make it right if a seller flakes out or does something dumb. I get the impression that David's, at least, has done things to fix a mistake that was made by a seller. They have a brand to protect and they don't want someone posting here or elsewhere that they were scammed.
• The seller has a big incentive to do everything by the book, because the broker is holding half the rental fee until the buyer checks in. Moreover, anyone who wants to continue renting through that broker needs to follow their rules. Someone might get away with scamming a rental broker - once. But after that point that broker is not going to work with them.

From a owner's POV, I don't think I'm ever going to do my own renting unless I have to because Disney finds a way to make brokering no longer work. And that seems pretty unlikely. The $3/point that David's charges is totally worth it just to avoid having to deal with random questions, looky-loos, etc. I rented out a bunch of points a few months ago with them, and it was super easy.

 

[DeeCee735]

As an owner using David's would be great, but they won't take less than 95 points. The three times I rented I had less.

 

[dmunsil]

As an owner using David's would be great, but they won't take less than 95 points. The three times I rented I had less.

Did you ask them? I know their web site says they want 95, but I think they could really use the points right now, and all of the bookings they did with my points were for way less than 95. If you have points at a popular resort with a good amount of time left on them, I bet they'd be interested. Worth a shot.

 

[DeeCee735]

Good to know. Thank you! I will keep this in mind for the future v

 

[DVCcurious]

I just rented points through David's yesterday so I just saw the contract.

What it says is that if the owner hoses the renter by cancelling the reservation or whatever then David's will try their best to find equal accommodations. So I'm guessing they'd pay out of pocket for you to stay at the same deluxe in a non-DVC room. As a renter going through a broker I would feel confident that the worst case scenario is you are still going to be in a Deluxe hotel.

Now, also know that the reservations have a confirmation number that can be verified at any time. I'd imagine that brokers are checking up on the confirmations regularly, and probably obsessively in the last week, to make sure the reservation still exists.

I rented points before buying into DVC to try it out and it was a very smooth and easy process.

Pros of renting: try out DVC before you buy into it (that's what we did); stay in larger rooms (1 BR) that aren't available at the non-DVC wings of the hotels; cheaper than rack rates

Negatives of renting: mousekeeping is not daily, can only stay at DVC hotels (so no Poly)

 

[luckyman_apd]

If you rent from David's site or the Timeshare Store, are you still as vulnerable?

You use the term vulnerable but remember, there are risks for the member who is renting. There are rules about points, when to bank, and cancellations. You typically won't get a refund if you cancel because your cancellation can have serious repercussions on a members points. If a member cancels within 30 days, those points become difficult to use, and if your reservation falls outside their banking window (ability to apply this years points to next year) then they could lose all those points.

Renting is a great way to save money and get nicer accommodations, but you must be firm in you plans, trust who you are renting from and they must trust you. My brother always rents when he goes. We rented once, and then we bought in.

 

[AKVFamily]

I think you lower the risk considerably dealing with David's or The Timeshare Store, for the following reasons:

• Scammers are less likely to work with them because of the risk of getting caught, sued, etc. A business has deeper pockets than an individual. Also, a business is less likely to leave themselves open for scamming. They're not going to agree to unusual payment terms and they're going to insist on people following their rules.
• The business has an incentive to make it right if a seller flakes out or does something dumb. I get the impression that David's, at least, has done things to fix a mistake that was made by a seller. They have a brand to protect and they don't want someone posting here or elsewhere that they were scammed.
• The seller has a big incentive to do everything by the book, because the broker is holding half the rental fee until the buyer checks in. Moreover, anyone who wants to continue renting through that broker needs to follow their rules. Someone might get away with scamming a rental broker - once. But after that point that broker is not going to work with them.

From a owner's POV, I don't think I'm ever going to do my own renting unless I have to because Disney finds a way to make brokering no longer work. And that seems pretty unlikely. The $3/point that David's charges is totally worth it just to avoid having to deal with random questions, looky-loos, etc. I rented out a bunch of points a few months ago with them, and it was super easy.

I agree with the advice. We rented from the Timeshare Store for all of these reasons. I did choose to add a few more clauses to their standard contract protecting my interests in the event ANYTHING went wrong (which added some time to the process), but it worked out just fine and was the more economical way to go. I would only rent using the well-known services and give yourself plenty of lead time.

 

[DizBub]

You've gotten some very good insight and advice here.

The only thing I can add is that you pretty much need to book with David or find a AKV owner to rent to you 11 months before your vacation to get a value studio.

Don't wait.

 

[DVC Dude]

I just rented points through David's yesterday so I just saw the contract.

Now, also know that the reservations have a confirmation number that can be verified at any time. I'd imagine that brokers are checking up on the confirmations regularly, and probably obsessively in the last week, to make sure the reservation still exists.

I am not a broker so I do not know if they check on reservations or not. I am pretty sure they check at lease once, but for sure, they will NOT be checking obsessively.

 

[WallyBear]

There seems to be more and more DVC brokers popping up. I have heard good things about David's, but are there others who have been around for a while that have equally good reputations?