Did DVC tour today-considering purchase-have questions....

[madelyn]

My husband, sister and I did the tour at Saratoga today and while I think purchasing does not make financial sense for us right now (want to put more priority on college funds for our 3 kidswho are 10, 6 and 1) my sister has made an appointment to follow up on Friday. She is interesting in purchasing Animal Kingdom, 160 points and the price is $104 per point with the $8 incentive (if purchasing on this trip) as well as 160 points one time use points at Saratoga within the year. We are currently staying at Saratoga on an Interval Exchange (which our guide said was very rare). I also mentioned that my first preference would be to purchase Beach Club but she said that was impossible since Disney buys back 99% of resales and they have a waiting list of existing members who want to buy those points. My sister does not plan to finance and is trying to maximize credit card rewards and is trying to pay for all or most of it (but will pay off the credit card immediately). She has a Disney Visa and our guide said that they are offering a $500 bonus (she thinks a credit to her balance) for cardholders. Our guide said she can finance through Disney but within a certain timeframe she can later transfer to a credit card and pay off w/out penalty. Her intentions are to use the points every 3 years or so, inviting extended family/friends along, probably travelling in Spring or Nov/early Dec or possibly early June. Is it easy enough to bank and borrow and possibly get a large unit (Grand Villa?) and if she runs short on points, rent some from the Disboards rent/trade board and transfer them in her account? The guide mentioned short weeks through Interval that were bookable on-line (what are these?) but any other exchanges would have to be done through Member Svcs. I told my sister that her best use of points would be to use them at DVC properties. The guide kept stressing that after the initial purchase price, the only other fees would be the yearly maintenance fees and a fee if exchanged $95 Interval fee but no other fees....none for banking or borrowing or for guest certificates. Also you can book and cancel outside of 30 days but if you cancel within 30 days then you have penalties and the points have to be used and cannot be banked.Did we understand everything correctly and did the guide mislead us in anyway? Other than her telling me that exchanges for DVC were next to impossible (which I know isn't true since I've done it 4 times) and there were no resales since Disney buys them all back (well 99% of them). She also said ALL the OKW owners extended their contract which I also know is not true!

 

[madelyn]

Also forgot to ask if it might be a better option to purchase a resale or if the incentives direct from Disney make it a decent deal.

 

[Eveningsong]

I bought OKW resale and I did not extend my contract, and I have no intention of extending my OKW. I presently own 60 points at OKW. It takes longer buying resale.

I am looking at purchasing 100 AKV points with the current incentives, effective yesterday. Referrals or add on, $8.00 per point off, 100 developer points at SSR and a $500.00 prepaid Visa card. I don't believe you have to purchase 160 points at AKV, and if you want BCV you can waitlist at Disney, or buy resale. I believe you would have to buy 160 BCV points from Disney.

You can add on directly with Disney once you are in the system, minumum of 25 points cash, 50 points financed.

If you want my guide's name and number pm me.

 

[Cmbar]

I bought OKW resale and I did not extend my contract, and I have no intention of extending my OKW. I presently own 60 points at OKW. It takes longer buying resale.

I am looking at purchasing 100 AKV points with the current incentives, effective yesterday. Referrals or add on, $8.00 per point off, 100 developer points at SSR and a $500.00 prepaid Visa card. I don't believe you have to purchase 160 points at AKV, and if you want BCV you can waitlist at Disney, or buy resale. I believe you would have to buy 160 BCV points from Disney.

You can add on directly with Disney once you are in the system, minumum of 25 points cash, 50 points financed.

If you want my guide's name and number pm me.

Is Disney giving you a 500.00 visa card or is this the 500 reward points for using the Disney Visa (which I thought you had to buy a minimum of 160 points). Did you just go on the tour and get this offer or can someone call and purchase this?


Also does anyone know if my guide will still sell us the AKV with the incentives since we let our "time" pass last week. When they say you have until the weekend are the tough on that or do I have to go back down and do another tour to get Disney incentives?

 

[madelyn]

Our guide Theresa mentioned using the Disney Visa for the downpayment or purchase the extra incentive was $500 which she thought was a credit to the account (my sister has not called Disney Visa to verify). Anyone know if this incentive be coming from Disney or from Disney Visa? And what are the regular "rewards" for a Disney Visa purchase (DIsney Visa reward points per dollar spent) but for a DVC purchase is the points per dollar increased? Our guide made it sound like if we went home and then decided to purchase all incentives were taken away and the points would have to be purchased at $108 per point. Not sure if they call you back later to try to entice you back. She said that Beach Club points were not available for purchase through Disney for non-members. So we would have to purchase the minimum Animal Kingdom of 160 then get on a waiting list for Beach Club.

 

[Eveningsong]

Is Disney giving you a 500.00 visa card or is this the 500 reward points for using the Disney Visa (which I thought you had to buy a minimum of 160 points). Did you just go on the tour and get this offer or can someone call and purchase this?


Also does anyone know if my guide will still sell us the AKV with the incentives since we let our "time" pass last week. When they say you have until the weekend are the tough on that or do I have to go back down and do another tour to get Disney incentives?

I have left a phone message for guide to call back for clarification. I do not have a Disney Visa because I live in Canada. My guide left a voice mail at my house stating "prepaid $500.00 Visa Card". She knows I do not qualify for the Disney Visa card.

 

[disneynutz]

Buy from where you get the best deal for you, direct or resale. When sales slow Disney will offer more incentives, when they pick up, the prices increase and less extras are offered. Disney is in the business of selling. Your Guide will extend your cut off deal date. Don't let them pressure you into making a decision that you might regret later.

 

[chalee94]

Her intentions are to use the points every 3 years or so, inviting extended family/friends along, probably travelling in Spring or Nov/early Dec or possibly early June. Is it easy enough to bank and borrow and possibly get a large unit (Grand Villa?) and if she runs short on points, rent some from the Disboards rent/trade board and transfer them in her account?

as long as she is looking for a GV at her home resort at 11 months out, it should be easy enough. transferring may be slightly more complicated - you only get one per year (either in or out, not both) and the transferred pts will need to be from the same home resort to get the 11 month window... but it can be done.

The guide mentioned short weeks through Interval that were bookable on-line (what are these?) but any other exchanges would have to be done through Member Svcs.

partial-week stays through interval are now available for booking online - there's not a lot of availability, but it's new and will hopefully improve. not sure what exactly you want to know...

I told my sister that her best use of points would be to use them at DVC properties. The guide kept stressing that after the initial purchase price, the only other fees would be the yearly maintenance fees and a fee if exchanged $95 Interval fee but no other fees....none for banking or borrowing or for guest certificates. Also you can book and cancel outside of 30 days but if you cancel within 30 days then you have penalties and the points have to be used and cannot be banked. Did we understand everything correctly and did the guide mislead us in anyway?

i believe that all of this is entirely correct from start to finish!

Other than her telling me that exchanges for DVC were next to impossible (which I know isn't true since I've done it 4 times) and there were no resales since Disney buys them all back (well 99% of them). She also said ALL the OKW owners extended their contract which I also know is not true!

yeah, none of this is correct...

you should be able to buy BCV directly but if you get resistance, it's probably just as easy - and probably slightly cheaper, if somewhat slower - to buy a resale contract.

 

[madelyn]

Thanks for the input/advice. Didn't really have any questions about the Interval Short week stays. Just had never heard of them and my complaint was that DVC stays have to be booked through Member Svcs so she mentioned that those short stay weeks through Interval can be booked on-line. But not full week stays/echanges through Interval? Although I would think that an exchange through Interval is not a good use of the points and you are better off banking or trying to rent.

 

[Chuck S]

The only other thing about cancelling a reservation...even at more than 30 days, would be your banking window.

For instance, I have a June use year. My banking window closes January 31. If I have a reservation starting March 15, and cancel the reservation Feb 1, the points do not go into holding status, but I can not bank those points. If I canceled the reservation prior to January 31, I could bank the points.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

You can definitely buy at the sold-out resorts, but it might require some time on a waiting list if you are looking for a specific use year. Also, none of the current incentives apply to sold-out resorts.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

BTW -- I did not extend my OKW contract as there's the chance that I'll be pushing up daisies with the original expiration date! So that blows that statement out of the water. Seriously, I know the guides mean well, but they are in sales so be sure and double-check anything you can't find in writing.

 

[Cmbar]

I have left a phone message for guide to call back for clarification. I do not have a Disney Visa because I live in Canada. My guide left a voice mail at my house stating "prepaid $500.00 Visa Card". She knows I do not qualify for the Disney Visa card.

Interestingly enough, my guide just called and left a message that the new incentive kicked off yesterday for an additional 500.00 with some kind of referral plan. He told us we qualify because of our friends who referred us. What is even more intersting is that I guess that "you gotta buy by the weekend" thing isn't so strict since he said we would still get the incentives.

OH how I wish I loved AKV!! I dont' suppose the SSR is still available with incentives!

 

[backyardponder]

I wouldn't want to accuse a guide of not telling the truth. Perhaps you mis-understood! Disney does not buy back 99% of the resales. Maybe they buy back 99% below a certain price point. Take a look at the last page on http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1710667&page=108 which lists a lot of data on ROFR. Also call a re-sale company, like TSS, and ask them about the percent from their experience. There are BCV and other resort points available. I purchased at BWV in May for $80 per point. I never reported it, so it isn't on the list.

 

[Cherta]

I wouldn't want to accuse a guide of not telling the truth. Perhaps you mis-understood! Disney does not buy back 99% of the resales... .

I think this may be the "company line", so to speak...

I was told the exact same thing about BCV (btw, the ROFR percentage for BWV was 95%, according to my guide ), so I believe they use this line to try to scare people out of buying resale. JMHO based on my experience....

 

[Deb & Bill]

I think your guide also gave you a story about II exchanges. I think that SSR and OKW show up fairly regularly on II.