Book Room Only or Rent DVC Points?

[Patsfan7]

I put my question here b/c I may get a more broad spectrum of perspectives than in a DVC thread....

My question is, which do you do, rent rooms at the resorts, or rent Vacation Club points from members when you go to WDW, and WHY?

I have always booked rooms at the resorts without even thinking of renting points as an alternative. I would like to know, for those of you who have considered both forms of accomodation, which way did you go, and why? Thank you for any advice you may be able to share!

 

[wildernesslodgelover]

Hello!

You can see in my siggy where I have stayed. I rented points for the first time on my last trip to OKW. At $10 a point, it was a real value, as the room rents for 10 points a night during the week. That is $100 a night ...no tax or surcharge...for a great room! I would never do it if I was staying a Fri or Sat night, though, as the points double (or more!)

Some people do not like the fact that when you rent points, you do not get daily maid service, but we are a small family (only one DD, she is 6) so we don't make too much of a mess!

I think for our next "BIG" trip, we will do a split stay and rent points during the week, and then get a good rate and stay elsewhere for the weekend. We are thinking of doing BWV during the week, and then our beloved WL for the weekend.

hope this helps!

 

[vettechick99]

This is the reason I rent DVC points. In a past life, I was married to someone who could afford deluxe. We stayed at nearly every deluxe and often concierge. Well now I can't exactly afford $350/night rooms but my tastes haven't changed so I rent points from a DVC'r and get the best of both worlds! It works for us b/c we can vacation in the off-season and during the week and I'm willing to take a chance booking my vacation from a person instead of Disney.

It's a great alternative to vacationing at the world!

 

[Kim&Chris]

For our upcoming trip, we will be renting points for the 4th time. We love renting points because it gets you into a Deluxe resort at a very deeply discounted price. You can normally rent points for anywhere between $9 and $11 per point.

There's only two of us, so a studio always does the trick. They're larger than standard rooms PLUS they have a kitchenette with a refrigerator and microwave. The studio units have nice big closets for your clothes and suitcases. The balconies are GREAT!

The lack of daily maid service does not bother me. I just bring some extra washcloths from home and we're all set. The bath towels can be hung & dried & used over again. If you need to rent a one bedroom, you can just wash & dry your towels.

We've had excellent luck so far by renting points, and have never had one regret.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

For our last trip I rented points for a 5 night (Sun-Thurs) stay at VWL then used annual pass rates to book our last two nights (Fri,Sat) at AKL. Renting DVC points is a great value in itself but an even better savings when booking Sun-Thurs night stays.

For our upcoming trip, I rented points for a Sun-Thurs night stay at Old Key West. If I add days, again I'll try for a good annual pass rate for Fri and Sat nights probably at AKL since it's my favorite resort.

Renting DVC is the best value for deluxe accommodations. Once you get use to having a kitchen and washer/dryer (especially with young children) it really spoils you. The only down side to renting DVC, and it's not REALLY a down side, is DVC has no resorts on the monorail line. If you are going to pay for a non-DVC resort, IMO it's definitely an advantage to be on the monorail line especially if you spend the most time at Magic Kingdom or Epcot.

 

[ElizabethB]

We love the one-bedroom at BWV but always book through CRO. Why? Well, we always stay two full weekends. Points are expensive on weekends and we don't have the energy to start out somewhere else for the first weekend, move to BWV for Mon. - Thurs. and then move again for the following weekend. With CRO, it's the same rate every night.

For us, daily maid service is a necessity on vacation, so we'd have to factor that expense in if we were to rent points.

We like knowing that we can cancel anytime up to five days prior to our reservation date without penalty and can cancel even closer if we forfeit one night's deposit. With DVC points we wouldn't have that flexibility.

If we get an AP rate at BWV, we think we probably come out somewhere near the same as renting points. If we pay rack rate, we probably don't, but in any event by booking through CRO, we don't have to take the risk of dealing with another party whom we hope is trustworthy. And we have the cancellation flexibility that we like.

 

[Deb & Bill]

When you rent points, you are actually having a DVC member make a reservation for you using their points. So it is an agreement between you and the member. Not Disney. The same cancelation policies do not exist in a DVC reservation as with CRO.

You need a good head start on getting a DVC reservation at busy times. Plus DVC busy times are not always the same as CRO busy times. For example, early Dec is very popular with DVC members because the points required for a stay are low. In fact, VWL is already booked solid for the first week of Dec.

A member may require a portion of the cost up front with the remainder due 30-60 days before your stay starts. They might require cash instead of a credit card. It all depends on the member.

If you want to find out more, check the FAQs at the top of Rent/Trade board.