Can't seem to ever find accomodations, then rent points

[Roveer]

I've been considering renting DVC points for a year or so but it seems that unless you are willing to do this way in advance it basically doesn't work out. We'd like to stay 2 bedroom BCV or BWV but I've never seen availability so posting to rent points seems pointless (pun intended).

Do these properties sell out a year in advance? I was able to book rack rate for 2 nights a few years back to just try it out and we loved the accomodations. Now I'm frustrated that I can never seem to set something up with point rental.

Please let me know how I can better play this game. We are a family of 6 and our youngest turned 3 in April. That locked us out of most WDW properties for a single room. I'm now left with Villas and we always want to be close to the monorail. Would appreciate any suggestions members may have.

Roveer

 

[Sandisw]

The way it works, typically, is that renters contact an owner who is willing to book and rent a reservation for someone.

If you see a posting that says "Points for rent", that owner has points they can use to make you a reservation at the resort you want, pending availability.

You will very rarely see a post saying "BCV or BWV" reservation for rent (as those are not allowed until 30 days prior).

If you know when you want to go and where, then you want to try to find an owner who has enough points to make the reservation for you. Planning for DVC is key so ideally, you would want to find someone who owns at either of those resorts so they can book it for you at the 11 month mark.

HTH!

 

[Chuck S]

To basically answer your question, yes, you need to plan early. The two resorts you listed are often booked up pretty early, depending upon your travel dates. Owners tend to book them very early for Food and Wine and major holiday travel times. Between 11 an d7 months, only owners at each resort can book them, at 7 months, they open up to the general DVC membership. DVC works best for those that can plan early if they want a specific resort, especially one of the smaller properties.

 

[dairyqueenmom]

We are a family of 6 also and we finally agreed that to stay at the resorts we wanted to stay at we need to buy into DVC. Yes, it was a chunk of change but now we have the accommodations that fit our family, in the style we want. I would seriously look into a resale that had enough points to accommodate how many time you travel to the world.

 

[Dean]

I've been considering renting DVC points for a year or so but it seems that unless you are willing to do this way in advance it basically doesn't work out. We'd like to stay 2 bedroom BCV or BWV but I've never seen availability so posting to rent points seems pointless (pun intended).

Do these properties sell out a year in advance? I was able to book rack rate for 2 nights a few years back to just try it out and we loved the accomodations. Now I'm frustrated that I can never seem to set something up with point rental.

Please let me know how I can better play this game. We are a family of 6 and our youngest turned 3 in April. That locked us out of most WDW properties for a single room. I'm now left with Villas and we always want to be close to the monorail. Would appreciate any suggestions members may have.

Roveer

You could also look for an owner who has what you want already booked. If you want BWV or BCV in a 2 BR, I'd plan a full year out, find someone who you can agree on specifics with and then they can make the reservation for you when the reservation window opens. You'll be committing a full year out (usually non refundable) but you'll be able to get what you want and may be able to get into less expensive rooms like standard or value view rooms or other specialty rooms such as BW view or OR MK view at certain resorts.

 

[LisaS]

We'd like to stay 2 bedroom BCV or BWV but I've never seen availability so posting to rent points seems pointless (pun intended).

When you "rent points" you are really renting a reservation from a DVC member. Since members usually quote their rental rates as $x/point, the term "renting points" is used even though as a non-member you have no way to use DVC points to pay for a reservation and no way to have those points transferred to you. You also have no way to check availability since DVC Member Services won't talk to non-members.

Also, as others have posted, you won't see threads on the Rent/Trade board offering existing reservations for rent unless it is within 30 days of check in. We don't allow existing reservations to be offered by any means (posting, PMing, etc.) until that time.

As a renter, you need to post a "Reservation Wanted" thread on the Rent/Trade board listing the dates, resort and room type you want. Members will then contact you to offer to book that reservation for you. It's only at that point that you will know whether or not there is availability for your dates, which can change hourly by the way! But you won't find much availability on short notice since DVC operates at occupancy rates close to 100%. The earlier you post your "Reservation Wanted" request, the better. As Dean said, if you want BCV or BWV, posting a year in advance will pretty much guarantee you will get in there. But be aware that many members who rent do not offer refunds.

 

[JimMIA]

In addition to planning early, successful renting also requires that you be able to stick to plans once made. There is no such thing as simply rescheduling -- any changes include cancelling the existing ressie and making a new one, subject to availability.

Because of the way DVC works, an owner you rent from may, or may NOT, have flexibility in accommodating changes in plans. Many times, no matter how helpful an owner wants to be, there simply is no flexibility. Cancellations can cause an owner to end up with "distressed" points of some kind, or even lose the points entirely.

So ideally, you should not only be able to book pretty far in advance, but your plans should be rock solid. If that is not your family, you'd really do better just getting a room in the traditional fashion through CRO.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Also remember that what you see via CRO (or DON'T see, as the case may be) has absolutely no relevance whatsoever to what the membership may or may not have available. CRO rooms are not available to us and vice-versa.

It sounds like you may be calling in advance to check availability (and not finding any CRO) and then wanting to rent it on points if it were available. That scenario won't work. You MUST check with a member to find out what's available for points accomodations.