"Double" Points (Not Really) When Buying Direct - How Did You Use Them?

[brazzledazzler]

Hello DVC friends!

My husband and I bought direct points in July and received 2020 points for our Sept UY and immediately banked them. While these are not "double" points, I am hit with 2 years of points at once.

Part of me wants to save/bank 100 or so points because I see them as nice to use for the next 2 years to go above our annual allotment. I also feel like a point dragon, hoarding my golden DVC points.

The other part of me wants to just take more vacations this year (We live within driving distance of WDW and Vero Beach). Also, some wise DVCers advise not to continuously bank points.

So, how did you all use the "double" points? Is there any "right way"? Basically --talk me out of adding an additional last-minute trip! Thanks all!

 

[Nabas]

No, there is no "right way."

One option is to do 2 trips in one year.

Another is to book a 1-bedroom villa (assuming you normally book a Studio) since a 1BR typically is double the points.

We like to milk the extra points across a few years. Let's assume you have 100 points per year, but 200 this year because of the extra points. We'll use (for example) 120 points this year, and then bank the 80. 120 points next year, and then bank the 60. Etc. The idea is to give yourself a few extra years of special vacations before you settle into your normal cadence.

 

[CarolynFH]

The idea is to give yourself a few extra years of special vacations before you settle into your normal cadence.

And by then, you'll be so accustomed to those "special vacations" that you'll be ready to add on points and make them your "normal cadence"!

 

[brazzledazzler]

And by then, you'll be so accustomed to those "special vacations" that you'll be ready to add on points and make them your "normal cadence"!

That’s what I’m afraid of!!

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

We initially used ours to book a 2BR for a week at CCV for spring break 2020, the week the park shut down. Ultimately we used all those points (plus maybe a few more, I can't remember) to stay for 12 nights at OKW. It was an amazing trip given our usual stays had been 5 nights max.

 

[oufpat]

We used ours to bring our 3 kids and 5 grandkids to Disney. Now, 10 years later, they all love Disney as much as us!

 

[kanerf]

Book a larger unit or one with a better view. You can also see what you can pull at 7 months and perhaps find your dream unit.

 

[brazzledazzler]

Book a larger unit or one with a better view. You can also see what you can pull at 7 months and perhaps find your dream unit.

I'm purposely avoiding booking a larger unit to prevent "addonitis." (We stay in studios.) But, I like the idea of a better view!

 

[brazzledazzler]

We initially used ours to book a 2BR for a week at CCV for spring break 2020, the week the park shut down. Ultimately we used all those points (plus maybe a few more, I can't remember) to stay for 12 nights at OKW. It was an amazing trip given our usual stays had been 5 nights max.

That's spectacular!!

 

[brazzledazzler]

Thanks, everyone! I guess, "most" DVCers spend them, rather than hold on to them for years.

 

[masupo]

I also spent mine

I bought Riviera in Sept 2020. I booked a standard 2 bedroom at RIV during Easter week 2021 with my extra points and brought some extended family. There wasn't full availability that week, so I played the "Welcome Home Visit" card. They were able to pull from cash inventory.

Then I took a 4 night trip Memorial Day weekend and had to borrow a few points from 2021(Oct UY)

Now I'm going next week, first week in Nov, and Jan 2022. Next week's trip is last minute and involved borrowing some points from 2022 and buying a few OTU points.

Count me in as a textbook "spend all their points and then suffer from addonitis". I'm closing on a small OKW resale contract on Monday!

 

[brazzledazzler]

I also spent mine

I bought Riviera in Sept 2020. I booked a standard 2 bedroom at RIV during Easter week 2021 with my extra points and brought some extended family. There wasn't full availability that week, so I played the "Welcome Home Visit" card. They were able to pull from cash inventory.

Then I took a 4 night trip Memorial Day weekend and had to borrow a few points from 2021(Oct UY)

Now I'm going next week, first week in Nov, and Jan 2022. Next week's trip is last minute and involved borrowing some points from 2022 and buying a few OTU points.

Count me in as a textbook "spend all their points and then suffer from addonitis". I'm closing on a small OKW resale contract on Monday!

I love this! What a wonderful way to share the Disney magic with your extended family! We also booked a trip for my parents on these "bonus" points.


We're planning lots of short trips (2-4 nights) since that's how we travel and we only live 1 hr 30 min away. I was hoping to hold onto 100 points and bank them, but I don't see that happening. I know there isn't a "right" way to use these points, but it's nice to hear how others did.

Addonitis will probably happen to us too (shh, don't tell my DH!)...but it can't for another year or so as we are doing home renovations.

Thanks for sharing, @masupo! Congrats on the OKW contract!!

 

[Imkarlawithak2005]

We used our first set in 2012 to book rooms at Paradise Pier for a Christmas visit with 2 rooms. The points we received with purchase this year we are using to extend our cabin stay at Copper Creek.

 

[Disney102015]

We just purchased and are planning to bring family along for our first trip as owners to use some of the extra points. I don’t dare stay in a larger room now for fear we’ll get spoiled studios are fine for us for now. So so so excited to be able to bring extended family. It’s a big part of the reason we bought in the first place.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Got 200 "double" points on our last direct purchase and set 25 aside to do a stacation at VGC, and immediately banked the rest to 2022. Because our preferred travel is late winter to early spring (So Cal here, and we'll take our own weather the rest of the year), and our UY is February, we will use the banked points to take a short second trip, probably in August or September specifically to hit F&W. Can't bear to be in Central Florida any longer than that in summer, but point charts are cheap and we do love F&W. Will keep rolling over those "bonus" points for a couple of years and do the same thing as an annual event.

 

[kda]

Bought 160 points 20 years ago, with plans to stay in a studio. Used those "extra" points on our first trip to splurge in a 1 BR .................... who knew what that would lead to. Added on another 60 points a year later, and I think we've only spent 6 nights in a studio in the last 20 years. We discovered that, for us, space is the real luxury. DH and I have different wake/sleep cycles, and it's fantastic to have our own separate space, plus the washer/dryer and full refrigerator and ice maker. We spend very little time at the parks now, but thoroughly enjoy the resorts.

 

[Lorana]

I'm purposely avoiding booking a larger unit to prevent "addonitis." (We stay in studios.) But, I like the idea of a better view!

I was definitely going to say that once you move to a larger unit, you’ll never go back. Part of the reason we bought DVC is because we stayed in a 1BR and especially as our boys became teens, it became more important to have the space. We can do studios, but we love 1BRs. And then we made the mistake of staying in a 2BR. Which admittedly in some reasons is not that much more than a 1BR, and a better “per point” value, but doesn’t help addonitis.