Do you charge family and friends?

[modavi]

Hey, when you bring family and or friends on your DVC, do you charge them for their room? Or do you just ‘pay’ for the hotel? Do you charge them the cost of your dues only? Going rate for rentals? Dues + amortized buy in cost? Or do you just not bring anyone else on your points?

I’m just a bit curious how others handle it.

 

[Marionnette]

Hey, when you bring family and or friends on your DVC, do you charge them for their room? Or do you just ‘pay’ for the hotel? Do you charge them the cost of your dues only? Going rate for rentals? Dues + amortized buy in cost? Or do you just not bring anyone else on your points?

I’m just a bit curious how others handle it.

We don't charge anyone. Sometimes they buy us dinner. Sometimes they don't do anything but say thank you.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I don’t charge for the room - people have often bought dinner at nice restaurant or given a nice gift or done something to show appreciation but it’s never crossed my mind to charge for the room
I could see and understand doing such a thing and I would consider it fair - they are getting a very nice room for free so yes I could see charging but in my case I’ve invited you to go
If it was a case where we are planning a trip together and decided to go to WDW then discussion would be about room and cost - I would more than likely take the lowest price I could get room for then say you owe me half of that or work out some kind of deal
I do the same with my Southwest Points as I often end up purchasing airfare for peeps with them - young adults are poor so you work deals with them - DD often owes me money or labor or both Haa Haa

 

[AliceIn]

We don't usually bring extra people. We are a family of 5 and stay in 1or 2 bedrooms, or two Poly studios. We wouldn't bring an entire group with us, just a friend of one of our kids. We don't charge them for the room.

 

[Marypoppins14]

I have never charged anyone for the room. Most times, my guests have offered to pay for groceries, or a nice dinner. i purchased DVC so that I could be generous with friends and family. I gifted one stay to my parents after I needed to cancel during the early part of the pandemic. My mom loves when I neede to cancel! Lol.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Agree with Marypoppins14 - we bought DVC so we could enjoy time and make memories with our immediate family, and also with our extended family and friends. Never thought about charging anyone. We've done a number of family reunions that were very special, and probably wouldn't have happened if we started adding in fees for the room.

 

[Cabius]

If we invite folks with us, we cover the room. That kind of trip would be a big stretch for most of our friends and family, but "we already have the points" is a way for us to bless them while letting them save face. It's part of why we bought more points than we 'need'.

 

[ciaoaloha31]

I have someone who is a running acquaintance ask to "rent'' the second sleep surface for runDisney weekends next year as I already had 2 of the weekends booked in studios. I am charging them 50% of the dues value of the points for the nights they will need for their race(s.) If it weren't for race weekends, I would probably just tell them to book a cool dining reservation or two and we will call it even. This just allows us to go with however our bodies are feeling post race(s) and not worrying about dining reservations or handling groceries on top of all race logistics.

Unless I am approached about using points, I don't foresee myself charging friends and family in most scenarios. Like others, one of the reasons I purchased DVC was so I would have the opportunity to create memories with them.

 

[wdwcindy]

I have charged family/friends and will continue to do so. I usually calculate an amount based on dues per point. I usually travel with the same group of folks and this is expected by all.

 

[howardlee2]

for a one off stay I would never charge! we feel fortunate to be able to 'host' family/dear friends

 

[karen4546]

When we go on family (all 17) of us, we book/pay for the rooms with DVC points. When it is DH and I and middle daughter and her fiancé, we book the rooms for one trip and they book for the next trip (cash stays, usually with AP discount).

I wish I had enough points to gift stays to more people.

 

[sndral]

No, I wouldn’t think of charging. Likewise when I stay w/ my son’s SO’s family in their timeshare or my brother’s Lake Tahoe timeshare I pay for a nice dinner for the group, but not for my ‘share’ of the accommodation.

 

[mistysue]

I have booked people their own rooms, and for that we've charged basically our cost to own (which is like $3/point + dues)
I feel like I would still charge people if we shared a suite, but haven't figured out what feels right, I guess if we moved from a 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom, maybe I would charge for the point difference. I would talk to them too. We did it this way because it covered my costs while also saving them a ton off booking the room themselves so everyone got a good deal and nobody has to feel like they own anyone.

 

[Shellyred8]

As long as I don't have to bump up to the next level of accommodation for them (like going from a 1br to a 2 br), I don't charge them. As others have said, they will usually pay for a couple of meals or snacks for me.

 

[cvjw]

We never charge. We are happy with a dinner as a thank you. Just treated my mom, sister and niece to a long weekend in a BLT 1 bedroom. It is great to be able to share such nice villas with friends and family.

 

[Chuck S]

No, I do not charge. They are responsible for their own transport to/from and park tickets. But they always reciprocate with a nice meal, or a Dinner Show, or Cirque. Once my dentist, after hosting his daughter's family, gave me free regular dental care for a year.

 

[Sandisw]

I never charge anyone if I am traveling with them. I don’t even charge most of my family if they are going without me.

The only time I have charged friends is when they were going without me, and most often it was $5 or $6.point.

 

[BeachClub2014]

This is a rough economy. We started charging my family for everything. In fact, we had family over for Easter dinner yesterday and charged them $12.99 a person, and it was a bargain at that price! Kidding!

We have not charged or split costs for our family staying with us at WDW.

 

[RoseGold]

I booked a work colleague for a couple nights once, and they paid me. They were staying three nights at Art of Animation, and I was able to get them two nights at standard Boardwalk. They paid me Art of Animation rate, which I thought was fair. It was win-win.

 

[J-Dog]

We never charge anyone. Part of the reason we bought DVC is so we can have our extended family go on vacation with us and we have already "covered the cost" of lodging for the trip. It's good motivation to get people to go with us, other wise they probably wouldn't go. Maybe we're boring.