Can you answer this DVC question for me?

[Corar]

Hi all,

I have been in the process of trying to rent from a DVC member at various resorts and have been running into information (from more than one member) which confuses me. I will pick a few dates for a three night stay and the person will check availability with DVC to find that there is none. However, when i go to disneyworld.com and look at the same villa availability through the website, there are multiple options. Does Disney keep some villas to rent to the public only which are not available to DVC members? If this is the case, this would influence my decision on whether to buy or not. Sorry if this is an old questions, but i asked the members who were trying to get the ressie and none of them were able to answer my question. Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[RobDoc]

Villas are not saved per se, but when DVC members use their points for the non-DVC options (like Disney cruise, staying at other WDW resorts and a nmber of other choices) those points are then used to make cash reservations available only thru CRO. DVC also "owns" 2-4% at each resort which is used when villas are taken out of service for maintenance, but could also be used for cash reservations.

Thus, there are times when DVC villas may not be available to members using points but are available for cash reservations.

Good luck with your trip!

 

[Mtnman44]

All the points that are owned by members are available to the members for use. Occassionally a member trades his/her points back to DVC in order to get out of the system trades such as through Interval International, etc. DVC then uses these traded points and rents them for cash in order to cover the cost of whatever the member traded out for.

In addition, DVC owns a certain amount of points that is has aquired thru ROFR. While these are generally re-sold, I'd imagine that any points owned by DVC nearing the end of the use year and also used for cash rentals.

Finally, DVC maintains ownership of a certain perctentage of points in order to manage maintanence schedules, etc.

Any of the above reasons may contribute to there being cash inventory available but no points inventory available for a given date.

 

[JimMIA]

Does Disney keep some villas to rent to the public only which are not available to DVC members?

Yes. There are two different inventories -- DVC points availability, and CRO availability.

The overwhelming majority of the inventory is DVC points -- something like 96% at most resorts. However, that inventory is gobbled up quickly...especially during peak DVC times (and DVC peaks are not necessarily the same as general WDW peaks). DVC owners have an 11-month booking window at our home resort, and 7 months everywhere else. So depending on when and where you want to go, and how far out you are booking, you may have no problem at all ...or you may find zero availability on points.

Disney gets its points in several ways. First of all, they retain +/- 4% of the points to make units available for refurbishing, repair, etc. Secondly, we have the option of using our points for vacations outside DVC. When we do that, we are trading X# of points for a week in Hawaii or whatever. The points used for that trade go into Disney's inventory and they can use those accommodations for rentals through CRO. Finally, any points inventory unbooked 60 days out goes to CRO. Revenue from those rentals goes into the DVC resort financial statements as "breakage revenue" and it is used to offset some of our annual dues.

For those reasons, you will almost always find that CRO has availability when there are no DVC points ressies available.

 

[Corar]

Wow, thanks for your quick responses. I figured it had something to do with money... Doesnt it always? It's too bad though, and I imagine it must be frustrating for some DVC members to know that things are available to the public and not to them! Makes me think about my purchase...

 

[JimMIA]

It's too bad though, and I imagine it must be frustrating for some DVC members to know that things are available to the public and not to them!

Not really. I think most of us understand that MOST of the CRO inventory comes from us choosing to use our points for non-DVC options like DCL or trading out through II. That's a benefit of the program, not a drawback.

 

[RobDoc]

... It's too bad though, and I imagine it must be frustrating for some DVC members to know that things are available to the public and not to them! Makes me think about my purchase...

The point here is that the vast majority of the villas available for cash thru CRO were already "reserved" using member points and thus have been removed from the member inventory. The villas were already available to the members, but those members chose to do something else at those times, theu freeing up the rooms for cash reservations. (The cash generated from those same reservations is then used to "pay" for the non-DVC options chosen by the members.)

Without this relationship, there would not be availability most of the year for cash reservations since the villas would be reserved by members already. It all speaks volumes about the flexibility of DVC.

 

[Corar]

No offense was intended. I understand why it happens now. But for the DVC member who was trying to sell me points but couldn't get the ressie even though there is cash availability, I think it was frustrating for her. That's all I was saying. Thank you again for your help.

 

[crisi]

Or, as someone said "it isn't that a DVC member isn't using that room, they just happen to be using it while they are cruising on Disney Cruise Lines."

I think renting is frustrating to a lot of members because they themselves don't really understand the system, and then the renters say things like "well, I can see that the room is available on the web site" for which they don't have an answer. It can be very frustrating to make multiple calls for renters trying to rent your points, a lot of owners will ask you to have several resorts or dates prioritized before they make the first call for that reason, and won't even bother to check for someone looking for "Epcot Area, early December" at this point in the game.

 

[Corar]

In order to make that process easier, has there been any talk of DVC creating an online database of availability or a way to use points online? I can tell that all of you DVC members really love the program- would you find that helpful given that many people do much of their travel planning online now?

All of these answers are really helping me figure out what choices to make for purchase for my family, so I really appreciate the comments.

 

[Snookies]

In order to make that process easier, has there been any talk of DVC creating an online database of availability or a way to use points online? I can tell that all of you DVC members really love the program- would you find that helpful given that many people do much of their travel planning online now?

All of these answers are really helping me figure out what choices to make for purchase for my family, so I really appreciate the comments.

To paraphrase William Shatner: well, there's been talk, that's a little joke. Some, myself included. would probably like to see these online enhancements. On the other hand, I'm not sure how much of an increase in maintenance expense I'd be willing to pay to see these enhancements. Since imho DVC's current online capability is just 1/2 notch above an abacus and sundial, I don't expect to see it anytime soon.

 

[btrim]

We own another TS in Orlando besides our DVC and they do the same thing. I tried to reserve a room and they told me there was no availability. When I checked their website, they offered cash rentals. When I called they said those were units owners had turned back in for cash rentals, or had traded through II. The problem with my other TS is it is one of those you have to use for one week at a time. No flexibility in only staying a few days, etc. If I could sell it, I would buy more DVC because of the flexibility of their program. We love our DVC!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We own another TS in Orlando besides our DVC and they do the same thing. I tried to reserve a room and they told me there was no availability. When I checked their website, they offered cash rentals. When I called they said those were units owners had turned back in for cash rentals, or had traded through II. The problem with my other TS is it is one of those you have to use for one week at a time. No flexibility in only staying a few days, etc. If I could sell it, I would buy more DVC because of the flexibility of their program. We love our DVC!

This is one reason why on line information would be difficult. Most timeshares are for a week at a time and you could see weeks at a time on their website. However, DVC is for days at a time and it could be very difficult since it changes all the time.