Booking DVC

[brinkley07]

Just another question as we are working on buying our DVC. My husband is military and we tend to book fairly close to when we are going (about 2 months ahead since we don't get much advance approval from his job). If we are buying at AKV or BLT, and we like to travel in the spring or fall will we be able to use our points to get our room or will we have trouble getting into these resorts.

 

[princessaloha]

Just another question as we are working on buying our DVC. My husband is military and we tend to book fairly close to when we are going (about 2 months ahead since we don't get much advance approval from his job). If we are buying at AKV or BLT, and we like to travel in the spring or fall will we be able to use our points to get our room or will we have trouble getting into these resorts.

Sorry to jump in as I'm a brand new member but as of this morning, according to membership almost everything is booked up for end of Sept, Oct, and most of Nov and it's only the middle of July. Not sure if that helps or not...

 

[brinkley07]

Anything helps! That's what I was afraid of, but at the presentation they were hesitant to say how busy the bookings become. It's great to hear from other DVC members who can truly give us insight to how long we need to book ahead of time.

 

[Sandisw]

DVC works well for those that can book in advance and once you get about 4 to 5 months out, it can be very difficult getting anything except at the larger resorts.

Fall especially will be difficult on a 2 months notice. IMO, you would become very frustrated with DVC given the current situation and your ability to travel without much notice.

 

[bwvBound]

IMO, you would become very frustrated with DVC given the current situation and your ability to travel without much notice.

Agreed!

 

[CarolMN]

DVC works well for those that can book in advance and once you get about 4 to 5 months out, it can be very difficult getting anything except at the larger resorts.

Fall especially will be difficult on a 2 months notice. IMO, you would become very frustrated with DVC given the current situation and your ability to travel without much notice.

Agreed!

Me, too.

If you can only book 2 or 3 months out, DVC is probably not a good choice for you.

Why not try to rent points for a few trips? You will get an idea of what is available on short notice (2-3 months is definitely short notice for DVC) and you won't have to make a long-term commitment.

And thanks for your family's sacrifices.

 

[brinkley07]

@CarolMN Thanks I'll relay the thanks to my husband as he is the one who truly deserves it. I have stayed at Disney on DVC through a friend, but we did book last minute for BCV. We were worried it may be a problem, but I think buying may be better and then we can rent out points we can't use. At least that pays for our DVC instead of us paying for someone else's??? Any thoughts??

 

[rosermama]

We own at BLT and I have to say that it is one of the smaller resorts so if that is where your intrest lies in being able to book it, don't count on it hardly ever after the 7 month window opens. That resort like California books up so fast for the non BLT owners.

They have a great cancelation policy, you can book when you think you will need it and cancel if you have to up to 30 days before arrival.

I have never had a problem at DVC getting a reservation on short notice except for the high high weeks. With that being said I have had to take what I can get which is normally SSR but having stayed there a couple of times I can't complain about it and if I can't get into BLT, VWL or AKV I always go straight for SSR as I don't care for the other places.

Best of luck we like DVC better than the Wyndham one we had because we could book short stays and the customer service is way better.

Thanks for your service

 

[rosermama]

@CarolMN Thanks I'll relay the thanks to my husband as he is the one who truly deserves it. I have stayed at Disney on DVC through a friend, but we did book last minute for BCV. We were worried it may be a problem, but I think buying may be better and then we can rent out points we can't use. At least that pays for our DVC instead of us paying for someone else's??? Any thoughts??

We do this when I have to although lately it has become harder since we seem addicted to using our points. But it is a great alternative if you need to do it, it is not that hard read the FAQs on the board about it. I am always for buying when you can you are making an investment for your future fun.

YOu can use DVC many places through RCI as well, although I have never done it.

 

[ELMC]

@CarolMN Thanks I'll relay the thanks to my husband as he is the one who truly deserves it. I have stayed at Disney on DVC through a friend, but we did book last minute for BCV. We were worried it may be a problem, but I think buying may be better and then we can rent out points we can't use. At least that pays for our DVC instead of us paying for someone else's??? Any thoughts??

I understand what you are saying here, but keep in mind that renting is a tremendous cost savings over booking direct (even with a discount) and it comes without the huge up front cash outlay. So while you are technically "paying for someone else's" DVC, you're still getting a great deal and the flexibility that comes from renting vs. owning.

If you do decide to buy, I would recommend purchasing AKV, SSR or OKW. These are three of the largest resorts and also the three most likely to have availability on short notice. Available through resale, all three of these resorts are much more cost effective alternatives to BLT and the first two have longer contract lengths. If you're not going to be able to book far in advance, it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend the extra money on BLT points if you're not going to be able to stay there.

Anything helps! That's what I was afraid of, but at the presentation they were hesitant to say how busy the bookings become. It's great to hear from other DVC members who can truly give us insight to how long we need to book ahead of time.

Keep in mind, I don't see a single scenario where a salesperson is going to give you reasons not to buy DVC. They'll sell you on the features that work for you and glance over those that do not.

 

[crisi]

@CarolMN Thanks I'll relay the thanks to my husband as he is the one who truly deserves it. I have stayed at Disney on DVC through a friend, but we did book last minute for BCV. We were worried it may be a problem, but I think buying may be better and then we can rent out points we can't use. At least that pays for our DVC instead of us paying for someone else's??? Any thoughts??

Yea, points are use 'em or loose 'em. You need to know six month in advance if you are going to use those points this year or bank them. If you decide you might use them in the last six months, then there isn't availability when you want to travel, you'll have a very short window to find both a renter and availability for those points. Not that it can't be done, but be really ready to enter into the world of point management to make sure points don't expire and become worthless, or not have points for your own trip when you need them - cause managing like that won't be easy.

I'd really recommend sitting down and running some "lets pretend" scenarios to figure out how this will work once you have real points.

 

[joeyrose]

i seldom recommend not buying dvc, but for your situation it just doesn't seem a good fit. none of us expects much, if anything, within two months. if you were to buy, buy as cheaply as you can on (resale and on-site) and expect to stay at ssr most of the time.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We tried to book a non-home resort for mid-October exactly seven months out. It was booked up already. Last minute booking doesn't work well with DVC. For every member who tells you they got a last minute reservation at XX resort, there will be ten more telling you they couldn't get anything four months out.

If you can't book at least five to six months out, DVC is not a good fit for you. And you don't want to rely on renting out your points. There are a lot of points out there on the market for renting and sometimes they don't get rented unless you drop the price way down. And with the price of member fees these days, you are not going to make much. Might not even make the price you paid for the points.

The only slower times for DVC is January after MLK holiday up until the middle of February, early May, late August to early Sept (not including Labor Day week). The rest of the year can be harder to get. Especially Oct to early January. That's very hard to get at seven or fewer months out.

 

[Lynne M]

@CarolMN Thanks I'll relay the thanks to my husband as he is the one who truly deserves it. I have stayed at Disney on DVC through a friend, but we did book last minute for BCV. We were worried it may be a problem, but I think buying may be better and then we can rent out points we can't use. At least that pays for our DVC instead of us paying for someone else's??? Any thoughts??

Your friend was lucky to get BCV on short notice. Sure, people are sometimes able to get short notice reservations. It it something you can count on, every time you want to travel? No way, particularly if you want to travel between Oct 1 and the end of the year. I'd just find it too stressful, paying all that money for a timeshare and never knowing if I'd be able to book anything with it. And remember, you're paying maintenance fees whether or not you can actually book a room.

You're actually a much better candidate for renting. If you can get a rental, great, if you can't, you just make a reservation thru Disney.

 

[brinkley07]

Thanks for all of your input! Many of the times everyone listed as slow are times we tend to travel now, so that was very helpful. We are running scenarios and will hopefully finalize a decision soon.

 

[gatorgirl02]

Thanks for all of your input! Many of the times everyone listed as slow are times we tend to travel now, so that was very helpful. We are running scenarios and will hopefully finalize a decision soon.

I will throw in that Oct/Nov is high time at WDW due to the Food and Wine Fest and other events during that time. I have booked in the end of Feb for an early May trip and not had a problem, so I think if you are flexible with when you stay, shorter notice can be managable.