Direct purchasing

[lovin'fl]

thanks for the info

after looking at the resale prices vs direct, its hard to justify getting 100 pts at VGF when you can get 200 resale somewhere else for the same price

is the cruise line only available via direct buy?

Yes, but it takes a lot of points and many folks find it a better deal to rent out their points and use that $$$ to pay for the cruise.

 

[Dean]

For us, it's worth paying hundreds of dollars more per transaction to buy direct, but not thousands. Convenience and speed are worth money, it's just a matter of how much money they're worth to any particular family. If we can save $40 per point, resale is a no-brainer. If we can save less than $20, we'd probably go direct.

Exactly. I'd venture that even a couple of thousand can be worth retail at least some of the time. That's why when I'm addressing the subject I try to stay in the obvious situations of which SSR is the most obvious for most situations. It's essentially half resale vs retail depending on certain variables of course. As you get to items that aren't as much different (small contracts, resorts with much less availability or far less price difference) it starts to become less obvious. It's really the principle I want to convey.

thanks for the info

after looking at the resale prices vs direct, its hard to justify getting 100 pts at VGF when you can get 200 resale somewhere else for the same price

is the cruise line only available via direct buy?

It depends. Variables include mostly how you'd use it. For those that only want to stay at VGF it MIGHT be worth it, for those that just want in the system and try many things over time, it clearly isn't but neither is any other retail option for almost all situations. The higher you go up the ladder in price and limited reasonable usage, the less likely buying at all makes sense. Still it does for some. Each has to weigh the options and make their own decision.