Does it make me look cheap if I ask my relatives to pay something towards the second bedroom?

[JFox]

...but if someone asks about the possibility of coming along on a trip...

Is this really a thing?! Friends and/or family inviting themselves on your trip?! I find that very bold.

 

[crisi]

Is this really a thing?! Friends and/or family inviting themselves on your trip?! I find that very bold.

It sounds like that is exactly what happened to the OP. We've just gotten the "we'd be interested in going with you" or "if you ever have room" sort of statement.

 

[quandrea]

Is this really a thing?! Friends and/or family inviting themselves on your trip?! I find that very bold.

It’s happened to me. Dh and I were having a vow renewal. It was supposed to be just him, me and the kids. Next thing I know my mother said she and my dad were coming, as were my sisters.

 

[galaxygirl76]

It sounds like that is exactly what happened to the OP. We've just gotten the "we'd be interested in going with you" or "if you ever have room" sort of statement.

My SIL basically told us she wanted to use our points. For free.

 

[JFox]

I just can't wrap my head around people inviting themselves on your trips. It baffles me that someone could be so brazen to insert themselves into a family vacation. If that ever happened to me I would say NO so fast it would make your head spin.

 

[karen4546]

here are my 2 cents... My husband and I bought DVC in May-well bought in April closed in May. We got 2018 points also. So, we decided on a trip for Food & Wine i September. Our daughter who has in the past stayed with us in our rooms - we used to rent 1 bedrooms before we bought-decided that she and her partner would like to go at the same time and would i get them a room also. As my welcome home booking, I got 2 BCV studios. total of 150 points. I am charging her $225 per night and she is fine with that. She knows what the value of that room is and if she was not going then we could bank the points for later use. I did throw in a couple of Animal Kingdom after hours tickets for them. I am using the money she gives me for the dining plan for my husband and I.

So, if they have their own bedroom/bathroom then asking them to pay $125 a night would be very reasonable. I am not a fan of ANYONE sleeping in the living room space (well when our daughter joined us that was okay because she is an early riser and straightens up before we get up) but if someone is then asking them for $50-$75 a night is probably about right.

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

We've had my brother and SIL join us a couple times.

First time, we covered the difference to get a 2BR in exchange for helping us with our very small kids (1 & 3 at the time). The offer was clear upfront.

Second time, we had already booked our 1BR standard view when they decided to come. We converted the same number of points to a 2 BR lake (for fewer nights) and they made up the other nights with a 2 BR rental from David's (we did a split stay). It worked really well. We actually just didn't have enough points to cover a 2 BR for the entire time anyway, so it worked out better than a transfer. We did talk about them paying the going rental rate for points above what my family would have spent anyway if we went another route.

When conversation with someone gets into DVC and it starts getting specific, I always work into the chat that the points cost money, and there are fees, and we get a limited number of them and if we get a bigger unit it takes up more points. Running out of points (we're always in borrow mode these days) helps reinforce the idea that the points aren't unlimited. Tons of people just don't get the points to money conversion, and educating them about rental services helps with that a bit too.

 

[Deb & Bill]

My husband's brother told my husband that their second daughter really wanted to go to WDW for her HS graduation present. They are a family of five with all of them over 10 (and their youngest son is a HS football player, so good sized). Then he hinted around about using our points and if we might go at that time. Bill told him that we already had our points booked for other trips, but they might consider renting points for the trip. They didn't go. Bill's other sister also talked about going with us on one of our trips to WDW, but we never invited her because it would not be a fun trip. We took his mother and father, plus his youngest sister on our trips a long time ago. We also took his brother's family with us on one of our older trips (we got a two bedroom and the kids were all under 10 so they could share beds). On those three trips, we did the inviting and didn't charge any one to come along even though it meant we needed a larger villa.