Best Strategy for DVC

[jelliott04]

Is there a "best strategy" for buying and using DVC? (We are owners at AKV and are thinking of adding on)

I was trying to figure out if we'd be better off buying the cheapest points we could find and then using them at the 7 month window or if we need to buy in AKV again? We really like AKV but we don't go at peak times. We might go for Mardi Gras, or the last week of May or Halloween since we sort of try to work around school schedules at this point in our lives.

Is there a strategy to using DVC for the Adventures By Disney or DCL? I think I'd need too many points to use DVC for that and the maintenance fees would put a snag in that idea.

Jen

 

[JWG]

I've hear try to get the same use month. If your AK points are Feb., try to get another Feb. contract.

Otherwise you're trying to remember to bank/borrow/use multiple times a year.

 

[ToddyLu]

IMO, I would add on at AKV in the same UY, so you would have extra points to stay in a larger villa there when the kids are older. I know people are concerned about cost....but how do cheap points at SSR really help secure anything at 7 months, unless that is where you want to be? I had rather have the most points where I liked then some where I didn't. Good luck with your decision, I am sure it will be the right one for your family.

Staying outside of DVC resorts is not an economical way to use points...based on everyone's opinion. THere are a few out there that use the points to "pay for a cruise", and are happy with that approach. Why buy a timeshare to cruise?? I very rarely hear of anyone using it for ABD.

 

[dunbarfamily]

I've read about this a lot, and agree with pp that most people use their points to stay at the DVC resorts. There are some who use them for other things, such as the cruises or ABD, but by and large, most use for DVC stays. That being said, if it makes sense to you, in your situation, to use your points a certain way, go for it. Maybe others think its a waste or mis-use, but ultimatly, you paid for them, use them how you want!

Good luck in your decision!

 

[bwvBound]

We might go for Mardi Gras, or the last week of May or Halloween since we sort of try to work around school schedules at this point in our lives.

I'm sorry ... Mardi Gras : School Schedule?? I don't see the connection .... ooooooh, you are from Louisiana. Got it! Nevermind

I echo previous posts: stick with the same Use Year and be sure your add-on is titled exactly as your first contract. This will allow you to use the combined pool of points as if they were one contract when you book reservations. The points remain subject to home resort restrictions if booking beyond 7 months from travel -- but once inside that window the points are essentially one pool of generic points. If the title or UY do NOT match you might end up having to transfer points between accounts under the "1 transfer per year" limit or having to book your stay in multiple reservations.

One home or multiple? I thought we'd buy into different "home resorts" (matching UY and title) in order to take advantage of the 11-mos reservation window at each "home." Instead, we opted for simplicity with all three contracts at the same home resort (SSR). The "tipping point" for us was trying to maintain a sufficient quantity of "home #2" points to book a complete stay at the 11 month window. We couldn't justify owning that many points at each resort we might want to call "home" -- so fell back to "Plan B" with all our points at one home. We simply hope for the best when booking at 7-months.

 

[DenLo]

Agree with the above posts. I just want to stress that if you buy an add on at a different resort, you can only combine points from both resorts at the 7 month mark. You do have the yearly transfer to move the points to one contract but everybody likes to save their transfers for do or die situations.

 

[disneynutz]

Buy where you love to stay to insure 11 month priority.

Transfered points retain their home resort status so transfers don't help as much as some people think.

Bill

 

[Sandisw]

If you do decide to add on at another resort, take some time to think about the numbers of points you would need to make reservations in connection with your AKV points.

As long as you have enough to book an entire trip (even as a split stay at first), then it might be okay if you are fine staying at the other resort if you can't trade in to AKV at 7 months.

We owned 50 VWL, that we bought resale to get into the system, and than added on another 130 at BLT (where we really wanted to stay). When I started planning, I realized that I could not really book my entire stay at 11 month at either resort without borrowing, something that I didn't really want to do. So I sold VWL and re-bought at BLT. Now, I have all 180 at the same place, booked the whole trip at 11 months, and at 7 months, traded 3 nights out to BCV. But, no worries as I had what I wanted from the start.

Good luck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you buy a contract with cheap points, make sure you would like to stay there. Otherwise, you might wind up at 7 months out and not able to use them except at your home resort.

If you want Halloween at WDW, you'll want points that you can use at WDW at that time. SSR and OKW are great resorts and you can stay there for Halloween. HHI and VB, also great resorts, but not at WDW and you can't stay there for Halloween at WDW.

 

[oct2014]

I know you asked about ABD and DCL, but just to throw this in ... for the first two years we used most of our points outside of DVC. There were Concierge Collection and Disney Collection places we wanted to stay and we knew those charts would increase over time due to inflation. We figured that we could get the most bang for our points by using them at the beginning of our contract. We are really glad we did because some of those places are no longer available through DVC! Anyway, I wouldn't buy points based on non-DVC programs, but if you are interested in any of them you might want to do them in the first few years.
Caroline

 

[GraveDanger]

My plan is to buy a small add-on contract (50 or less) through resale at one of two resorts that I want as my home resort. The plan is to then rent points that are required for any other resort we might want to stay at. So if I buy at BLT I can bank, borrow or rent more BLT points to cover my ressie. If I want to stay at VWL I will try to rent and have points transfered for that stay. This should give me the control to book my own vacations and deal directly with DVC reservations, give fellow DVC owners higher confidence when renting their points and allow us to stay at almost any resort we want. We also don't plan on going to Disney every year since we don't live in the US and travel adds significant costs so I'm not convinced a larger contract will make sense. This also reduces our risk if DVC is not for us.

I think if you are planing a trip 11 months out you can plan an extra month in advance and work out a transfer.

Please let me know if I am toatlly out to lunch and my understanding of the 'program' is flawed.

Thanks,

David

 

[dmoore22]

Is there a "best strategy" for buying and using DVC? (We are owners at AKV and are thinking of adding on)

I was trying to figure out if we'd be better off buying the cheapest points we could find and then using them at the 7 month window or if we need to buy in AKV again? We really like AKV but we don't go at peak times. We might go for Mardi Gras, or the last week of May or Halloween since we sort of try to work around school schedules at this point in our lives.

Is there a strategy to using DVC for the Adventures By Disney or DCL? I think I'd need too many points to use DVC for that and the maintenance fees would put a snag in that idea.

Jen

It's all relative. What is best for one DVC owner may not work for another. Consider your travel habits, the times you'll be visiting, the accommodations you'll need and how often you'll go, eg., multiple times a year? once every couple years? We bought where we wanted to stay and then an add-on. Our home resort is OKW which probably makes a difference. There have been a couple of times when we decided to make reservations at the very last minute, eg. less than 7 months before Christmas. We were put on the waiting list and the wait list came through. I'm ashamed to admit that we did this 3 times and the wait list still came through. We found an add-on at a very reasonable price for our home resort. Unfortunately it was not the same use year as our original points purchase. We do have to do a little more thinking when we plan our reservations but it's not all that difficult to do.

As far as Adventures by Disney and DCL can't really answer that one. We've considered AbD but felt we could get a package elsewhere. We've considered DCL but realize we would have to bank/borrow points which we've been trying to avoid. Some of the Member Getaways may be worthwhile depending on the kind of deal you can get for your flights. Most of the time it appears your better off with a package outside of the DVC exchanges.

 

[Deb & Bill]

My plan is to buy a small add-on contract (50 or less) through resale at one of two resorts that I want as my home resort. The plan is to then rent points that are required for any other resort we might want to stay at. So if I buy at BLT I can bank, borrow or rent more BLT points to cover my ressie. If I want to stay at VWL I will try to rent and have points transfered for that stay. This should give me the control to book my own vacations and deal directly with DVC reservations, give fellow DVC owners higher confidence when renting their points and allow us to stay at almost any resort we want. We also don't plan on going to Disney every year since we don't live in the US and travel adds significant costs so I'm not convinced a larger contract will make sense. This also reduces our risk if DVC is not for us.

I think if you are planing a trip 11 months out you can plan an extra month in advance and work out a transfer.

Please let me know if I am toatlly out to lunch and my understanding of the 'program' is flawed.

Thanks,

David

Just know that you can only transfer in or out once a year. You cannot transfer banked or borrowed points. Only current year points, but you can bank transferred points.

If you rent from another member, you won't control the reservation. They still control the reservation. Only a transfer will give you control over the reservation.

 

[jelliott04]

Some of the Member Getaways may be worthwhile depending on the kind of deal you can get for your flights. Most of the time it appears your better off with a package outside of the DVC exchanges.

Are there any other member get-a-ways besides the one on the cruise line?

Jen

 

[dmoore22]

Are there any other member get-a-ways besides the one on the cruise line?

Jen

Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Tokyo, Disney Hong Kong, RCI (The World Passport Collection), Disney Vacation Club Concierge Collection, and The Adventurer Collection from Disney Vacation Club.

 

[GraveDanger]

Just know that you can only transfer in or out once a year. You cannot transfer banked or borrowed points. Only current year points, but you can bank transferred points.

If you rent from another member, you won't control the reservation. They still control the reservation. Only a transfer will give you control over the reservation.

When I said rent I meant transfer. Thank you for catching that.

However the fact that you can only transfer in (or out) once a year could be a problem. That would mean I couldn't collect/transfer points from two members to make one large reservation or two short reservations at different resorts. That is very good information. I thought that the point brokers got points transferred from members with extra points and then would rent them to the 'public' at a mark up. This would assume multiple transfers a year.

Thanks,

David

 

[Deb & Bill]

When I said rent I meant transfer. Thank you for catching that.

However the fact that you can only transfer in (or out) once a year could be a problem. That would mean I couldn't collect/transfer points from two members to make one large reservation or two short reservations at different resorts. That is very good information. I thought that the point brokers got points transferred from members with extra points and then would rent them to the 'public' at a mark up. This would assume multiple transfers a year.

Thanks,

David

They were doing that a few years ago and DVC caught on to it. So they reinforced the one transfer in or out a year.

 

[HannaBelle]

Does anyone have a link to the points charts for the Disney Vacation Club Concierge Collection?

 

[chalee94]

Does anyone have a link to the points charts for the Disney Vacation Club Concierge Collection?

from the member site:

Concierge Collection link for 2010.

nothing is up yet for 2011.

 

[HannaBelle]

Awesome, thanks!!!