BLT? Points? Rental? ???'s

[ilovepe]

Ok, I have been reading the boards, studying the points, looking at rentals to try things out and so forth. But Things are still very CONFUSING!
So, here goes...

Looking at renting the BLT Grand villa for the week after Thanksgiving of this year. DAVE is saying 544 points @ $13 a point. $7,072 for the week...
Then looked at purchasing and the price point differences are HUGE for different places...

If BLT is our HOME BASE how does that play out in the whole switching locations for another vacation? ALSO, if we wanted to do the BLT GRAND VILLA EVERY YEAR, how do we decide how many points we should buy? I see anything from 100 - 360 but it does not look like that would cover the 544 points needed...How do we decided how many we need for stays at this location?

AND, if we buy more for another home base that is half the price, how do the points get us into other locations?

OH yeah, one more thing...benefits of purchasing from disney vs private sell?
I THINK I read somewhere that if we purchase from a private sell we cannot go elsewhere, we can only go to our home base...but I may have misunderstood that. The price difference is HUGE Disney = 145 Private sale = 96 but if we cannot take advantage of other locations they kind of have us HOOKED with the DISNEY buy? So, Compare and contrast Disney vs Private for me.

Those are the tip of the iceberg ?'s to start.
Thanks so very much,
NEWBIE

 

[Deb & Bill]

Ok, I have been reading the boards, studying the points, looking at rentals to try things out and so forth. But Things are still very CONFUSING!
So, here goes...

Looking at renting the BLT Grand villa for the week after Thanksgiving of this year. DAVE is saying 544 points @ $13 a point. $7,072 for the week...
Then looked at purchasing and the price point differences are HUGE for different places...

If BLT is our HOME BASE how does that play out in the whole switching locations for another vacation? ALSO, if we wanted to do the BLT GRAND VILLA EVERY YEAR, how do we decide how many points we should buy? I see anything from 100 - 360 but it does not look like that would cover the 544 points needed...How do we decided how many we need for stays at this location?

AND, if we buy more for another home base that is half the price, how do the points get us into other locations?

OH yeah, one more thing...benefits of purchasing from disney vs private sell?
I THINK I read somewhere that if we purchase from a private sell we cannot go elsewhere, we can only go to our home base...but I may have misunderstood that. The price difference is HUGE Disney = 145 Private sale = 96 but if we cannot take advantage of other locations they kind of have us HOOKED with the DISNEY buy? So, Compare and contrast Disney vs Private for me.

Those are the tip of the iceberg ?'s to start.
Thanks so very much,
NEWBIE

If you want a BLT GV every year at Thanksgiving and it currently requires 544 points, then you need at least 544 points.

Resale gives you what Disney direct guarantees you. Stays at DVC resorts. Everything else is just extra and can be taken away at any time.

If you have BLT points you can book BLT at 11 months out and every other resort at 7 months out. If you buy OKW points, same deal. OKW 11 months out, every other seven months out.

 

[Missyrose]

Also, if you want Grand Villas, plan to buy where you want to stay. GVs can be tricky to get at 7 months.

 

[ELMC]

Looking at renting the BLT Grand villa for the week after Thanksgiving of this year. DAVE is saying 544 points @ $13 a point. $7,072 for the week...
Then looked at purchasing and the price point differences are HUGE for different places...

BLT is a relatively new resort with a longer expiration date. Those, plus other factors, combine to make it one of the more expensive DVC resorts. Just like any other form of real estate, DVC is all about three things...location, location, location. Being on the monorail line and within walking distance to MK comes with a price.

If BLT is our HOME BASE how does that play out in the whole switching locations for another vacation? ALSO, if we wanted to do the BLT GRAND VILLA EVERY YEAR, how do we decide how many points we should buy? I see anything from 100 - 360 but it does not look like that would cover the 544 points needed...How do we decided how many we need for stays at this location?

Like the PP said, if you need 544 a year you need to buy 544 points. You will probably have to find two separate contracts that have the same Use Year and have them listed under the same membership number, allowing you to combine points for one reservation. There are other ways as well (you could transfer the points from one contract to another) but that is more complicated.

AND, if we buy more for another home base that is half the price, how do the points get us into other locations?

The "home base" allows you to book at that resort at the 11 month mark. You can book stays at other resorts at the 7 month mark. The same is true if you had points from a less expensive resort. If you wanted to use them to stay at BLT, you would have to wait until the 7 month mark to make your reservation. As an aside, the chances of the GV being available at the 7 month mark are slim to none.

OH yeah, one more thing...benefits of purchasing from disney vs private sell?
I THINK I read somewhere that if we purchase from a private sell we cannot go elsewhere, we can only go to our home base...but I may have misunderstood that. The price difference is HUGE Disney = 145 Private sale = 96 but if we cannot take advantage of other locations they kind of have us HOOKED with the DISNEY buy? So, Compare and contrast Disney vs Private for me.

Those are the tip of the iceberg ?'s to start.
Thanks so very much,
NEWBIE

You did misunderstand what you were told about resale. People will object to my oversimplification and tongue in cheek attitude towards this question, but here's my answer anyway. Buying direct from Disney will allow you to use your points in ways that are not very cost effective (such as cruises and Adventures by Disney). Buying resale restricts you to using your points at DVC resorts only. This includes the 7 on property resorts and the 4 off property resorts. (Not just the home base like you thought).

However, buying direct from Disney does allow you to experience the joy of seeing your "investment" depreciate by 50% within minutes of your signing the contract. Seriously, though, from what I have seen on here, about 80% of the posters recommend buying resale. In your case, purchasing direct has two big advantages. First, you get your points almost immediately (whereas resale usually takes 8-10 weeks). Second, you can get the exact amount you want without having to hunt (and you will hunt) for the contracts you need. If cost is your main motivator, buy resale. If convenience is your main motivator, buy direct. Just know that if you do, you are paying a premium for convenience.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[ilovepe]

ELMC, YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

Your answers were PERFECT!!!! Exactly what I was thinking about EVERY POINT!!!

So, one more thing...you mentioned booking at the 11 month and 7 month mark...can there ever be any spontaneity? Does DVC ever help in such a situation? Or do we have to vacation basically at the same time every year? I may have some of that confused again...I know I can use them at any time during that year before they expire, BUT lets say I use them in june this year and want march the next...renewing May 13...must wait until june or later of next year? Whew I think I am over thinking this! LOL Just want to make sure I make the right decisions here.

All of this leads to this question...I buy 350 points...can I ever just choose a larger (more points required) vacation? If so, how does that work? LOL

I do kind of like the idea of buying half of the points at 2 different resorts...I can see many pros to that...Do you think this needs to be done at the same time?!?!?!

 

[taaren]

So, one more thing...you mentioned booking at the 11 month and 7 month mark...can there ever be any spontaneity? Does DVC ever help in such a situation? Or do we have to vacation basically at the same time every year? I may have some of that confused again...I know I can use them at any time during that year before they expire, BUT lets say I use them in june this year and want march the next...renewing May 13...must wait until june or later of next year? Whew I think I am over thinking this! LOL Just want to make sure I make the right decisions here.

You can vacation anytime in the year you want, its just most advantageous to decide when you want to vacation 11 months out since that will have the most availability. I usually vacation in Disneyland in Sept-Oct, make my reservations at the 11 month mark and try to add or delete days and have my plans firm by 9 months out because I own at a very small resort, so chances of being able to modify after 7 months are low. However, this year we decided we wanted to do a quick getaway in a studio in June in addition to adjusting our regular DL fall trip to a big WDW trip in December. No problem as long as one plans.

Its much harder to get a last minute reservation, but there are times when, particularly at the larger resorts like SSR and OKW (sometimes AKV) that you could get a room at the last minute (within 30 days), but most of the time DVC operates as close to capacity as it can get since all the points are sold and everyone wants to use their points, KWIM?

Its not unheard of for a DVC guide, aka salesperson, to help a buyer get a first reservation that would otherwise be difficult to get (particularly at newer resorts where they can pull from developer points) but after that one is on their own.

All of this leads to this question...I buy 350 points...can I ever just choose a larger (more points required) vacation? If so, how does that work? LOL

You'd have to either A) Bank your points, ie not use them this year and put them into next year, B) Borrow your points, ie not use them next year but pull them into this year, a combination of A & B, or C) Transfer some extra points in from another member. I favor C and sometimes A, personally.

I do kind of like the idea of buying half of the points at 2 different resorts...I can see many pros to that...Do you think this needs to be done at the same time?!?!?!

It would not need to be done at the same time necessarily, but there might be advantages to doing so, particularly if you were buying direct it might get one a larger discount.

 

[Deb & Bill]

ELMC, YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

Your answers were PERFECT!!!! Exactly what I was thinking about EVERY POINT!!!

So, one more thing...you mentioned booking at the 11 month and 7 month mark...can there ever be any spontaneity? Does DVC ever help in such a situation? Or do we have to vacation basically at the same time every year? I may have some of that confused again...I know I can use them at any time during that year before they expire, BUT lets say I use them in june this year and want march the next...renewing May 13...must wait until june or later of next year? Whew I think I am over thinking this! LOL Just want to make sure I make the right decisions here.

All of this leads to this question...I buy 350 points...can I ever just choose a larger (more points required) vacation? If so, how does that work? LOL

I do kind of like the idea of buying half of the points at 2 different resorts...I can see many pros to that...Do you think this needs to be done at the same time?!?!?!

If you don't have enough points, you cannot book your stay using points. You'd have to book part of it with cash. And some lodging is not available for cash, points only.

And I doubt you would be able to get the GV at BLT for the week after Thanksgiving this year. It was probably booked at the end of Dec/first of January (11 months out).

When it comes to booking, all members are equal. DVC doesn't help them out in any way. If you wait too late to book that category you want, you won't get any help from DVC because they can't just pull another villa of that category out of the air. The buying from Disney direct does sometimes get you a little pull on that first reservation, but like taaren said, the first one only. After that you are on your own. And they might not be able to pull the lodging you want, but something vaguely similar. Maybe even a different resort.

Booking with a DVC timeshare is all a matter of when you book and the number of points you have. You can't book what you don't have. And you can't book what isn't available. But if what you want is available and you have the points, you can book anytime you want.

Owning at two resorts give you home advantage for booking at two resorts. But you can only use the home resort points at 11 months out. You can combine them at 7 months out.

 

[BrerNashville]

I do kind of like the idea of buying half of the points at 2 different resorts...I can see many pros to that...Do you think this needs to be done at the same time?!?!?!

If your primary usage is a GV, this may not be the best idea. As the PP mentioned, if you own 300 pts at AKV and 300 pts at BLT, you could not book a 544 point GV at BLT at 11 months out using your combined points; nor could you book a GV at AKV at 11 months out using combined points.

However, you could achieve that same result by banking/borrowing. Say, year one you use 300 current year points and 244 borrowed points from next year to stay at BLT; you bank your AKV points. Then, next year, you can use your banked AKV points and the then current year points to book at AKV. Keeping up with this would be more difficult than just having 600 points at one resort, but if there are two you just can't choose between, and you know you will want to alternate between the two, perhaps it would be worth it.

 

[Brownieone]

Looking at renting the BLT Grand villa for the week after Thanksgiving of this year. DAVE is saying 544 points @ $13 a point.
NEWBIE

The 544 points is for 6 nights the week after Thanksgiving, check in on a Sunday and depart the following Saturday morning. If you wanted a week there (7 nights), in 2012 and 2013 it is 648 points for a 3-bedroom Grand Villa. I only mention this so you have "no surprises." Cheers.