Considering DVC - Am I missing something? Concierge Collection seems like a good deal

[carriep1657]

We are considering becoming DVC'ers. I'm trying to convince DH.

We want HH as our home resort. That is where we believe we would stay most frequently. We live in CA but we visit GA at least once a year and could drive easily to HH. DH is an avid golfer. HH just seems perfect for us.

The problem, DH doesn't want to feel like we have to stay at a DVC resort in order to get our money's worth.

I've been doing some research and while I see that the DVC resorts are the most economical use of our points, it seems like using them for Concierge Collection is also a good deal.

Specifically, we are interested in staying at the Mauna Lani in Hawaii. From reading several posts, it appears that you can get a mountain view room for approximately 43 pts/night. Rack rate for the room is currently $375. This sounds like a good deal to me. Am I missing something? Is it extremely difficult to get a room using points at a CC resort?

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[mooses41]

43 points is worth 430 on the rental market, so its not a good deal

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

To the rack rate, one should also calculate the taxes you would pay for a room. WDW rooms have 11% tax on top of the rack rate. In your example (assuming HI has a similar tax rate), $375 X 11% = $416. That brings the cost of the room a little closer to the $430 point value.

We have not used any of the concierge collection yet, but plan to sometime in the future. If you use the CC for adding vacationing variety it should an OK use of points. If buying DVC to only use the CC or the cruise line (on points) it is probably not worth purchasing. DVC resort stays are the best use of points. Personnally, I would love to see another offsite DVC, but many on this board suggest that DVD is out of the off-site business I hope they are wrong.
Good luck with your decision.....Johnnie

 

[jmhillrph]

I'm a novice so I should probably leave the advising to others but... in your scenario it, likewise, seems reasonably economical to me. Chances seem very good at picking up a HHI resale for around $62/pt (or maybe even lower)-- HHI dues are relatively low (~$3.50)-- so unless I'm miscalculating, you're effective cost for 43 pts is about $225. Doesn't seem like a bad deal to me. Plus I wonder if it might be a little harder to get $10/pt with an offsite rental. The thing you might have to worry about a little though with CC options is the potential for "inflation" of pt costs from one year to the next. Good luck.

 

[Tinkrbell]

You also have to remember there is a $75 reservation charge for every outside or Non-Disney reservation.

 

[carriep1657]

jmhillrph, I am thinking like you.

Here's my logic. I can pay for the room with cash or with points. It will either cost me 43 points per night or $416 per night using Johnnie Fedora's estimation.

If I assume that my dues are $3.50 and I pay with points, it will cost $150.50 per night plus a one time reservation fee of $75. If we stay 5 nights and divide the $75 by 5, I get $15 per night. A total cost of $165.50 per night using points.

If I rent my points, I can use the profit to pay for the room. Assuming I am able to get $10/point, I will still have to pay dues on those points which effectively means I make $6.50 ($10-$3.50) per point. The 43 points I rent would give me $279.50($6.50 x 43). That means I would need to come up with an extra $136.50 ($416-$279.50) a night for the room.

To me, it looks like I spend $165 per night for a $416 room using points. Or, if I am willing to put in the extra effort to rent my points and I can get $10/point, I would spend $136/night for a $416 room. For a 5 night stay, renting my points at $10 a piece would save approximately $150 more than using my points. Either way it seems like a great deal.

By the way, jmhillrph, I see you are from Anniston. My DH's family is from Gordo, near Tuscaloosa. Are you familiar with the Big Chair in Anniston? Is that something everybody there knows about? Anyway, I had read about it some where and I made my DH take a detour on our way from Atlanta to Gordo once just so I could see the big chair. I loved it. DH wasn't impressed though.

 

[jmhillrph]

carriep1657, That's too funny-- not being from here originally, I didn't realize the chair was an "attraction," I just thought it was an amusing/embarrassing eyesore (the kind that I figured might foster stereotypes of hick Alabamians)-- well, at least it wasn't a long detour!

Gotta run and get the family packed-- on our way to WDW! Again, best of luck.

Mike

 

[SleepyatDVC]

carriep1657,

Seems like you put a lot of thought into this!

It's certianly a good selling point in convincing dh!

Your numbers make sense to me. The concierge collection may not be the best use of our points but its not unreasonable based on actual costs. I think it's definitely great to have as an option and will probably make use of it in the future.

BUT keep in mind that the points needed to trade out to the concierge collection can change year to year. What might require 43 points a night now may require 70 points in the future. Of course, that may be because the rack rate may have gone up to $600/night. But not neccessarily so. Just look at the DCL option.

I think that the importance of the concierge collection (even if you never use it) is that you are never locked into just a Disney vacation. For example, I think a good number of people who buy timeshares, find that they don't have the time to use it a few years later. Maybe because of lack of vacation time, maybe because they want to go elsewhere. What happens then? Selling it is painful, (not DVC, of course) they will never get back near what they paid. So they keep paying the annual maintenance, trying to rent it out (for profit, then at cost, usually at a loss), winding up giving a week away to family or friends, banking as much as possible, and still seeing some weeks lapse back to the developer! So, not only do some people wind up not using their timeshare, they have to keep paying for it. I'm sure many of us know someone like this!

So,... my point is that even though the concierge collection may be an expensive use of our points, it ensures that our points will never go to waste! If I want a non-Disney vacation for a few years, I can use my points without having to lose them or rent them. If I have points expiring before I can get to Disney, I can "blow" them for a romantic long weekend away with dh at the Plaza!

Normally, I would never spend $300 - $500 on a hotel room in NYC. Heck, I live here!!! But my points are paid for already and I lose them if I don't use them. I'm sure that some years, it will be hard to get away to Disney.

Good luck with your decision! The well thought out ones are the best kind!

 

[carriep1657]

Thank you all for your help. I need all that I can get.

The more I think about it the better feel I am getting for everything. While It looks like I would reach the break even point much earlier if I stay at only DVC resorts, it seems as though CC isn't a bad choice either. My plan is to primarily stay at DVC but occassionally try out CC.

Grace, I have to really think things through on this. DH loves numbers and I feel like I'll have more luck convincing him of DVC if I'm totally prepared for his questions.

Grace and Mike, I hadn't thought about the inflation for points at CC. Thanks for that reminder.

Mike, I was afraid you would write and tell me that they had torn the big chair down. Something like that won't stay around forever. Although, I doubt the chair gets many visitors, I definitely think there are more people like me out there who love to find strange roadside attractions. I took a picture of it but it doesn't do it justice. Have a great time at WDW.

 

[dbond]

We've been DVC members since 1997. Here is a rundown of how we've used our points since our purchase:

3/98 - WDW OKW
10/98 - WDW OKW/4 day cruise-Disney Collection
12/99 - WDW OKW
01/01 - Keystone Resort/Concierge Collection
03/01 - WDW BWV/7 day cruise-Disney Collection
05/01 - DL Grand Californian/Disney Collection
01/02 - Keystone Resort/Concierge Collection
07/02 - NYC Plaza Hotel/Concierge Collection

DVC has allowed us to go places and do things that we would never have been able to do. Are we always getting the best value for our points, maybe not, but we made this DVC investment and we are going to use it to its fullest extent. We do the math, and if there's an outrageous difference, we consider paying cash, however, if it's close, we use the points and invest the cash and we've come out ahead in the long run. We think DVC is one of the best investments we've ever made.

 

[ralphd]

We have just booked a week at the Royal Garden in London.

ralphd

 

[carriep1657]

Dbond and ralphd, thanks for the additional info. Dbond, I loved seeing how you've spent your points. I want to stay at the Plaza some day. Ralphd, DH would like to go to London. It's great to see all of these options. I think I stayed at the Royal Garden about 20 years ago. I may be mistaken though. Do you know if it's right by Kensington Palace? If that's the place, it was great.

Is there a site with a list of resorts in the Concierge Collection? I found a partial one but would like to see more.

 

[ralphd]

Carrie,
Both of the London concierge hotels are next to Hyde Park. The Royal Garden was remodeled about 6 years ago, so should be nice. And yes, it is next to Kensington. We have stayed at two of the Marriott's in London several times and decided to take advantage of our DVC membership this time. . My DW can spend weeks in the museums and etc.

ralphd

 

[Dean]

If you waould pay $400 per night to stay in HI AND can't get a deal for a discount, it's a fair deal. Why stay there when you can get a deal in Kaanapali for less than $200 a night and likely rent a 2 BR condo or timeshare for $1000-1200 for a week. Remember you're only gettin a regular room though I think it includes breakfast. Do what you want but make sure you compare to other alternatives besides just the same resort on the CC.

In HI right now but haven't looked at any of the CC resorts. I have checked out some of the others though on Maui. On Kauai now and will check out part of them.