December 2028 Trip

[Add-On-Itis]

If I had to cancel, couldn’t I rent out the points?

You can if you can find a renter that want the amount of points you have, and the room type they want is available. This would most likely be last minute, so all the cheap studios are all gone by then.

Not to mention paying tax on the rental income.

 

[Brian Noble]

Can I ask why?

There are two reasons.

The first is maybe less obvious, but probably more important. The day you buy DVC, you are in the red. The only way to get back into the black is to take trips, because each time you use a point you earn back some of that purchase price in lower cost for the room. If you are taking one trip every three years, it is going to take a LONG time to earn back your purchase price. What happens if you get tired of Disney before then? Maybe you can sell the points for a good price, but maybe you can't. That's a big risk to take to maybe save a few dollars over renting the same stays from some other owner.

The second: if you go every third year, every point you own can be used on exactly one trip. It is nearly impossible to make sure that trip always hits the right number of points, because (a) your needs change and (b) the point charts can change. So you will inevitably have points that spoil, and that makes the time before you pay yourself back on DVC stays even longer.

The bottom line: nothing is more flexible than cash. The only reason to own is to save a significant chunk vs. paying cash for the same stays. For my money, you are taking too long to do that to make the risk worthwhile. If you have to have a particular price when you go to sell or net a particular amount of renting to make the purchase make sense, that's a good sign that the purchase is risky---the more risk you have, the more likely you are to come out behind.

It's pretty clear you want a particular answer to your question of ":should I buy." In my opinion, it is the wrong answer. However, there will be plenty of people here who disagree with me. It is your money, you can spend it however you like.

 

[RMDVC24]

There are never too many points! You can always add a day. Upgrade to 1 bedroom / 2 bedroom / 3 bedroom. Upgrade the view. Point heavy resort like GF or Poly.

We started with 160 points. The plan was to stay in the studio once a year. DVC will ruin you once you try a one bedroom.

This

 

[bakerworld]

What's the normal room type you normally book?

I find 1 bedroom very easy to book at 7 months. Studio and 2 Bedrooms are hard to get even with 11 months.

We usually book studios. I have no problem getting a BLSV studio at 11-month but AK is another animal )). I have a lot of luck with AK value 1B even at 9 or 10 months, except in December. We usually go in March, early May and late October but the last few years we went in December, staying in a BLSV studio. This year we're going late April and mid November. The best I could do in April was SSR 2B and BC studio in November.

 

[bakerworld]

How hard is it to get a standard studio at AKV at 11 months?

Standard studio's at AKV are easy to get at 11 months but I want the lower cost value studio.

 

[IsDVCForMe?]

There are two reasons.

The first is maybe less obvious, but probably more important. The day you buy DVC, you are in the red. The only way to get back into the black is to take trips, because each time you use a point you earn back some of that purchase price in lower cost for the room. If you are taking one trip every three years, it is going to take a LONG time to earn back your purchase price. What happens if you get tired of Disney before then? Maybe you can sell the points for a good price, but maybe you can't. That's a big risk to take to maybe save a few dollars over renting the same stays from some other owner.

The second: if you go every third year, every point you own can be used on exactly one trip. It is nearly impossible to make sure that trip always hits the right number of points, because (a) your needs change and (b) the point charts can change. So you will inevitably have points that spoil, and that makes the time before you pay yourself back on DVC stays even longer.

The bottom line: nothing is more flexible than cash. The only reason to own is to save a significant chunk vs. paying cash for the same stays. For my money, you are taking too long to do that to make the risk worthwhile. If you have to have a particular price when you go to sell or net a particular amount of renting to make the purchase make sense, that's a good sign that the purchase is risky---the more risk you have, the more likely you are to come out behind.

It's pretty clear you want a particular answer to your question of ":should I buy." In my opinion, it is the wrong answer. However, there will be plenty of people here who disagree with me. It is your money, you can spend it however you like.

What’s your definition of too long? How many years do you like to be in the “black” by?

 

[bakerworld]

After reading responses and absorbing the goal of 30 point purchase, I have two suggestions.

Back when we would go to WDW annually, I would purchase one AP and use it to book the 35% discounted room. I could 'bake' the AP so it lasted for 2 annual trips. We went in October so one year it would be late October and the next early October.

In 2012 whoever owns the Dolphin finally got themselves together and renovated the resort into a decent venue. We've found rooms at the Dolphin for under $350/N (inclusive of $60 in various fees). The rooms are spacious (small bathrooms) and the CS is very accommodating. The Dolphin can be imported into the MDE app. They have their own bus service but transportation is non issue and the AP discounts work in some of their venues. With some 'thinking outside the box' their higher priced food options can be avoided.

Would 30 points get the 'perks' of the Sorcerer Pass or the More Magic program? I think the standard was 7 years to enter the 'black' part of membership and 10 years if financed.

 

[Brian Noble]

What’s your definition of too long?

I am not going to tell you this is a good idea. So, if that is where you are hoping to get, you'll have to get that opinion from someone else.

But to answer your question I don't think there is A Number. There is Too Long, and Not Too Long. And even if your personal window is Not Too Long, that doesn't solve the each-point-has-only-one-trip problem.

But, I think your window is Too Short in order to have perfect plans (which you need for every-three-years), and by a lot. Here's how I think about it: When I first bought (non-DVC) timeshares, my kids were in early grade school. They attended Ann Arbor Public Schools, which is the school district in which my employer (U. Michigan) is located. At the time, they had a mid-winter break that lined up with Michigan's spring break. We had taken a couple of Disney trips, and expected we would go to Florida every year for that week until they left home.

That lasted all of two more years before AAPS changed the week they took off to be the week before Michigan's. I had an excahnge into a 2BR at BCV for that year that I had to cancel, and I am still a little resentful about that. For the next several years, my wife took the kids down to Florida for a theme park and/or DCL vacation for AAPS' break. I would fly down about a week later, we'd spend the weekend together, they would fly home, and I would stay for my week.

Needless to say, that completely changed the vacations we all took.

That was far from the only change that impacted our plans. In years I was in administration or on sabbatical rather than in the classroom, my travel schedule was more flexible---but that meant traveling at higher-cost times. The kids' schedules changed unpredictably as they got older and started to have interests of their own: sports, the arts, etc. which reduced the trips dramatically. My then-wife and I separated for three years, we tried to reconcile for another three, and finally got divorced.

I would be hard pressed to find a time when plans I made for three years in the future were reliably what I did, and that is true even after the kids left the house.

 

[IsDVCForMe?]

I am not going to tell you this is a good idea. So, if that is where you are hoping to get, you'll have to get that opinion from someone else.

But to answer your question I don't think there is A Number. There is Too Long, and Not Too Long. And even if your personal window is Not Too Long, that doesn't solve the each-point-has-only-one-trip problem.

But, I think your window is Too Short in order to have perfect plans (which you need for every-three-years), and by a lot. Here's how I think about it: When I first bought (non-DVC) timeshares, my kids were in early grade school. They attended Ann Arbor Public Schools, which is the school district in which my employer (U. Michigan) is located. At the time, they had a mid-winter break that lined up with Michigan's spring break. We had taken a couple of Disney trips, and expected we would go to Florida every year for that week until they left home.

That lasted all of two more years before AAPS changed the week they took off to be the week before Michigan's. I had an excahnge into a 2BR at BCV for that year that I had to cancel, and I am still a little resentful about that. For the next several years, my wife took the kids down to Florida for a theme park and/or DCL vacation for AAPS' break. I would fly down about a week later, we'd spend the weekend together, they would fly home, and I would stay for my week.

Needless to say, that completely changed the vacations we all took.

That was far from the only change that impacted our plans. In years I was in administration or on sabbatical rather than in the classroom, my travel schedule was more flexible---but that meant traveling at higher-cost times. The kids' schedules changed unpredictably as they got older and started to have interests of their own: sports, the arts, etc. which reduced the trips dramatically. My then-wife and I separated for three years, we tried to reconcile for another three, and finally got divorced.

I would be hard pressed to find a time when plans I made for three years in the future were reliably what I did, and that is true even after the kids left the house.

I’m not asking you to tell me that it’s a good idea. You’re reading too much into my username lol. That being said, you make valid points. Glad you’re in recovery!

 

[CarolynFH]

Can I ask why? Let’s use 2026/2027/2028. If I bank 30 points from 2026 into 2027 and borrow 30 points from 2028 into 2027, I’ll have 90 points.

If I stay in a standard studio at SSR for 6 nights between 10/1 and 11/24, which is the time period we like, that would be exactly 90 points.

Others have mentioned this, but DVC can and has changed the points charts. They are required to do so, to balance demand. October and November are some of the highest demand times for DVC, and points required for October through December were increased during the most recent reallocation. It’s likely that another reallocation will occur in the future. So what happens if your 6 nights now cost 95 or 100 points? If you go only every three years, you can’t change that amount via banking or borrowing; you’d have to buy One-Time Use Points (usable only 7 months out) or get a transfer from another owner. Or reduce the number of nights you stay - which might cost less than 90 points, and then since you can’t bank the extras more than one year ahead and are unlikely to be able to rent out or transfer a small number of points, they’d expire before you could use them. That’s why a plan to visit every three years is difficult to manage, to say the least.

And I also want to emphasize that your travel patterns are very likely to change over the years, as family members grow older (especially children).

So I’m not saying that DVC isn’t for you, I’m saying that if you really don’t think you’ll visit more than every three years, renting is probably better than owning for you. You can find an owner on the Rent/Transfer forum here who has the points you want and check out their other posts here. That can give you confidence to proceed with a private rental.

 

[Brian Noble]

I’m saying that if you really don’t think you’ll visit more than every three years, renting is probably better than owning for you.

This is a better way of saying what I have been trying to say.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I'm curious which resort you are planning on staying in and which weeks/months?

Planning into the future is very difficult. Things can change drastically in very short periods of time. I bought a contract in 2021 for a very specific type of vacation. I was going to bank/borrow and go every 2-3 years. I also needed to be an owner to be first in line to buy VDH when it opened. It did allow me to buy VDH when it was only on sale for current DVC members, but I never took the type of vacation that I thought I was going to use those original points for. And, when I did finally use those OG points at the home resort (I had been using them for a different resort), I realized that I didn't want to stay there regularly. That contract is currently being sold as sure I could keep using the points for other resorts, but I would rather take that money and use it towards resorts that I actually want to stay at.