Disney Hotel Booking FEE!!!!!

[odddog]

Holy Crow did I miss the memo??? I just called Member services to stay at the Contemporay on points and was told since Feb. there is now a $95.00 booking fee PER HOTEL plus points!! WOW how GREEDY is Disney now??
I use points for multiple hotel stays that means $95.00 per hotel even if it is Coronado Springs (Moderate) so I will now pay more than the average person NOT paying with points, nice to be in the "Family" wow anyone want to buy my Beach Club deeds??LOL I emailed and called Disney just to find out who to yell at - I know DVC will blame Disney Resorts and vice a versa. This move - along with some other cost cutting questionable moves (Dis Dining Plan changes) have me reevaluating "Disney" as a place to drop my money.
Anyone else upset about this, or am I the only one that uses points for the hotels??

 

[Lynne M]

Staying at the non-DVC resorts with points is already such a bad value to begin with, that the fee is the least of your worries.

I think the great majority of members use their points at the DVC resorts, only occasionally trading out of the system to the Disney Collection or other non-DVC options. As far as I'm concerned, the ability to use points at the non-DVC Disney resorts is a perk, OK to use once in awhile but not the primary purpose of membership. In most cases, you can get the non-DVC Disney resorts much cheaper by paying cash and watching for discounts.

 

[odddog]

not mine, I book concierge on points and really do not find "Discounts" at "realistic vacation times" like when kids are out of school. This affords us "included" breakfast, snacks and drinks and MAID service. Yes I could stay at my "villa" for a week or two with no maid service and no extra food, on the same points BUT I do not want to stay at Disney for two weeks at a time and incur all the costs that are associated with that! I guess what may be good for you is bad for me! LOL

 

[Disney_Daddy]

I understand how you feel. When we only had two kids we would often stay in the hotels. If I were using points the same way these days, I would be upset too.

We added another child and five of us inside of one hotel room is not my idea of a vacation! So we are destined to villas for the next 18 years!

You may want to express your opinion to the Member Satisfaction Team. Their email is the longest email address in the entire world!
It is dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com.

 

[DebbieB]

This actually came out 3 or 4 months ago. It upset me because sometimes I go to Orlando on business and try to sneak in a night or two at WDW. When I went last October, I called about 3 weeks before, no DVC rooms at any resort, any size. So I used 18 points to stay at POFQ. Not the best use of points, but there's no way I'd pay $95 on top of it now! The AP rate was $125 plus tax. Plus you can no longer book outside of DVC 4 months or less before the end of your use year (used to be 2 months). I have an April use year, so 12/1 to 3/31 I can't do a last minute trip at a non-DVC.

 

[Lynne M]

Hey, we all have our own ways of determining the value of our points. If you feel it works out well for you, that's great!

Can I ask how many years you've owned DVC?

I'm asking that because I'm curious as to whether you find the annual increases in point costs for the non-DVC resorts to be a problem. That's the major issue I'd have in buying DVC to stay at the other resorts. Point costs for the DVC resorts are essentially fixed for the life of the contract. The cost for the non-DVC resorts goes up every year, and that decreases the value you're getting out of your membership. Eventually, you're going to either have to shorten your vacations, or start paying cash for the additional nights.

The uncertainty would make me crazy. There's nothing in the contract that would stop them from increasing the point costs for the deluxes by 20 points a night, or 50, or whatever. As far as I know, the right to use points at the non-DVC resorts isn't even in the contract, so they could take that away at any time.

I'm not trying to get on your case, really I'm not. I'm just genuinely curious as to how you handle the ever-increasing point costs.

 

[dianeschlicht]

not mine, I book concierge on points and really do not find "Discounts" at "realistic vacation times" like when kids are out of school. This affords us "included" breakfast, snacks and drinks and MAID service. Yes I could stay at my "villa" for a week or two with no maid service and no extra food, on the same points BUT I do not want to stay at Disney for two weeks at a time and incur all the costs that are associated with that! I guess what may be good for you is bad for me! LOL

I guess I don't understand why you would have purchased DVC if that is the way you feel. DVC is a timeshare, and as such, it is best to purchase a timeshare specifically to stay at your timeshare. If you "trade" out all the time, it wont have the same value. We pay for other "trades" out of system too, so why not for the Disney Collection?

 

[senecabeach]

Staying at the non-DVC resorts with points is already such a bad value to begin with, that the fee is the least of your worries.

I think the great majority of members use their points at the DVC resorts, only occasionally trading out of the system to the Disney Collection or other non-DVC options. As far as I'm concerned, the ability to use points at the non-DVC Disney resorts is a perk, OK to use once in awhile but not the primary purpose of membership. In most cases, you can get the non-DVC Disney resorts much cheaper by paying cash and watching for discounts.

ITA.
Remember your pts. are from a "timeshare" and any transfer is a normal and customary fee with "any" timeshare company. Disney just decided to start charging...nothing new in the world of timeshares.

 

[Alexander]

We never have and probably never would use our points at one of the "other" resorts. But I do think it is kind of greedy to charge $95 for using the points at a WDW resort. It's the same fee when you trade somewhere else outside of WDW. I understand the timeshare philosophy, but maybe they could charge less, or in the OP's case, only charge it once a UY.

 

[keys2kingdom]

ITA.
Remember your pts. are from a "timeshare" and any transfer is a normal and customary fee with "any" timeshare company. Disney just decided to start charging...nothing new in the world of timeshares.

I must say I'm inclined to agree with seneca. This change is a bummer but not really a surprise.

 

[Cruelladeville]

I wasn't pleased about the $95 fee, either! In February I stayed for TWO nights at POR in a lovely waterview room, but when I checked out, there was the $95 fee on my bill, too! I guess I missed that memo, because, at that price I don't think I saved any points, and had to pay actual money, too! Once I arrived at SSR in a one bedroom villa, we had a nice time, but having to pay points and $95 over at POR really left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[BOBPUT]

yes--the exchanges at WDW hotels was nice perk--though expensive on pts.--but my wife LOved it and used it EVERY year (avoiding W/ENDS !) for 1-2 nite stays (Tampa is only 1:15 away)-- I guess after 15 yrs you expect it to continue--but $95 for even 1 nite adds insult to injury. I would INSIST the every member who has used this should complain that this substantially and directly reduces the variety and flexibility of the DVC experience. It sure does for us! BOBPUT in Tampa

 

[SharonS]

While I have never used my points to stay at a WDW resort, I do not like the fact that they added this fee. When I purchased back in 1999, I was not sure if I would like to stay at only DVC since there was only OKW and BWV. One of the 'sales' pitches used was that you didn't need to, and could simply use your points at any WDW resort.

Of course, it was always more expensive points wise to do this, but at least it was known going in.

I have used my points for Grand Californian, and would not like having to pay $95 in addition to the extremely high points.

 

[Caskbill]

Just to answer the OP's question, yes, unfortunately you did miss it. This was first announced last year and has been mentioned in Disney's Emails. I don't recall if it was mentioned anywhere in DisneyFiles magazine.

It is shown in the footnotes for the Disney collection resorts as published in your 2008-2009 Vacation Planner book.

It was a fairly hot topic of discussion on the boards here when first announced.

FWIW, the fee does not apply if booking any of the three DL resorts.

 

[DVC Mary]

Please complain loudly and maybe they will hear us. We are their best advertisement not only for DVC but for Disney in general. If we try out a new hotel, we come back home & people usually ask us about it.

I don't mind paying $95 for the admin type fees for going elsewhere, but this is Disney property. DVC members spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at Disney every year--if not more. This fee is pure greed.

When we stay at other hotels, we also try out their restaurants, whereas we might cook a meal if we are at a DVC resort. We often try out other services at those other hotels that we might not otherwise do--such as spas , shopping, etc. They don't lose money by letting us stay at other resorts. They make monery & they don't need to make more.

Please complain & keep complaining:

dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com

 

[gppnj]

FWIW, the fee does not apply if booking any of the three DL resorts.

But I bet it will as soon as the Grand Californian Villas open.

 

[Chuck S]

But I bet it will as soon as the Grand Californian Villas open.

Probably

I don't mind paying $95 for the admin type fees for going elsewhere, but this is Disney property. DVC members spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at Disney every year--if not more. This fee is pure greed.

Remember that Disney and DVC are two separate operating entities, and the room prices/ponts per year for non-DVC resorts are renegotiated annually. DVC "pays" the non-DVC location by sellinga DVC room for cash to offset the price of the traded room.

If those cash DVC Rooms sit empty, then DVC still has to pay for the non-DVC room, just like if it were a non-Disney trade. There is the same amount of "administration/accounting" involvement for Disney trades as for non-Disney trades. And it is possible the DVC hasn't been recoupoing enough through cash room sales to offset these costs. The alternative is to discontinue the trade options, raise everyone dues, or charge a fee to those that use the options.

 

[crisi]

The alternative is to discontinue the trade options, raise everyone dues, or charge a fee to those that use the options.

Another option is to charge even more points to stay at a non-DVC resort.

There was a lot of speculation that, with the size of DVC and the number of trades happening, CRO wasn't able to fill DVC rooms with guests, meaning that they weren't willing to do "even trades" with DVC. The $95 fee further discourages these trades, decreasing the number of DVC rooms in CRO's system - where increasing the number of points it takes to stay actually makes the problem worse - it increases the number of DVC rooms in CRO's system.

 

[Coach Rick]

Perhaps Disney just wants to get away from those of us that are looking for a 1 or 2 night stay. By imposing the $95 charge, it's becomes a poor financial choice for DVC'ers for a shorter stay, but if you prefer a longer stay, then it's only the points you are getting ripped off with. This said, I have never used points for a stay outside of the DVC resorts, nor would I, but IF I wanted to come at a certain time, and there were NO DVC units available, I can see me doing that, but with this additional fee, it would be far more costly than to just pay cash on an AP discount, and then rent the points I would have used to offset the expense.

I have sent an email praising for what we have, but also condemning what they have taken away. I also noted that I understood they don't have to give us anything, but one of the reasons we bought in was an expectation that we have come to love about Disney. They always seem to attempt to "exceed" expectations, not just meet. I am sure that and 4 bucks will buy me a snack somewhere in the World.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I bought into DVC with the primary intention of sticking to the Disney Resorts but it was nice every once in a while for a couple of days to be able to stay at the Poly or Contemporary. With the add on of the $95 fee I just won't do it anymore. I really never bought with the intention of doing worldwide travel etc. With my 210 points its' more beneficial to keep to the Resorts but I'm disapointed that they can take away what was an option when I bought without notice or discussion. It might be Disney but it's still big business!