DVC points for DCL cost effective?

[Greysword]

I have read on the boards that using DVC points for a Disney Cruise may not be as cost effective as just paying cash. The primary argument seems to be that a DVC point costs about $75 and the point cost for a family of 4 is about 300 points, thus the cost would be very high compared to simply paying cash (especially if I needed to buy points over the amount I woudl have in my bank, which for most seems to be about 250 points).

I was thinking about this over the weekend, and I was wondering if the cost is actually worth it IF the money is ammortized over a period of time. For instance, I made an assumption that an average family would take vacations over 20 years (while the kids were growing). 300 points at $89 per point for the new DVC resort would come to about $26,700. If I divided that over 20 years, that would be $1,335 per year. Of course, that would probably be paid faster, but the cost benefit would be abotu $1,335/year. This seems significantly less expensive than $2,300 if the same family bought a Cat 12 room in the low season ($1,600 for two adults and $700 for two kids).

Of course, this is making the assumption that DCL rates, and DVC point cost does not rise.

Do you have any thoughts on this? It seems to be worth getting DVC points for this, n'est pas?.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I was looking at purchasing and know that it is suggested that it is not cost effective for Fla residents as we can get sales...I don't know what perks you can get for booking early for non-residents.

Simple math--if you own only 150 points--using 3 years worth of points to get your family on 1 4 day cruise, makes absolutely no sense--

if those 150 points get you into a $300/night room for 6 days (depending on where you stay and looking at what us non-dvc have to pay)...that's $1800--a family of 4 can sale for cash for less than that. And you won't waste multiple-year points.

If you are blessed with a ton more points, then it is probably not as big a deal to use them on a cruise.

Instead of calculating what it currently cost you for vacations--dvc cost divided by your expected use years....

Look at what you points get you in today's dollars to determine if it is cost effective...at least that is my interpretation from reading the boards.

Good Luck!

 

[IrishCowboy]

Don't forget the DVC annual fees too! Those can add up if you have 250-300 points.

 

[all4fun]

While we love our DVC, it isn't the best deal when it comes to taking a Disney cruise.

Each year, DVC has to negotiate the point costs with the non-DVC resorts and Disney Cruise Line. Each year, the DVC point cost of a cruise has gone up.

To me, it gives the appearance that DVC is having their Junior Varsity squad doing the negotiations.

Many have found that they receive a better return by renting out some DVC points and using the proceeds to pay the lower cash cost for a cruise. If you want to get more information on renting out your points, the DVC Rent/Trade board on this site is an excellent resource.

 

[Hygiene99]

AND each year the price of Disney on points has risen ....

Not a good deal... Rent points and then cruise....

Is the way I see it... or like we do use points for what they were intended Stay at the Boardwalk... Before cruise and after...

Peter

We cruised on points once it was 109 each that was fine with us it was a cat 8 room many moons ago

 

[Rock'n Robin]

It worked for us last summer. We have to cruise in high season due to my being a teacher and we have a family of 5. Cash wise, we could rent all our points out and not have enough cash for 2 cat 10 rooms or one cat 5 in the summertime, I checked. If you have a family of 4 or can cruise some other time perhaps it would work.
Robin M.

 

[crisi]

Here is the argument.

Lets say your cruise costs 125 points per person - so 250 points for the two. Plus there will be a $75 booking fee

You could rent those points for $10 per - maybe even $11 or $12 - but at $10 per, you'll get $2500 for those points.

If you figure "cost" for your points (I figure mine currently at $6 per), it costs $1575 to cruise.

You may be able to book that cruise for $1900 cash and you won't be subject to the DVC booking window.

Now, how do you value your points - dues cost (around $4 a point - making the point cost for the cruise a bargain at $1075) or rental cost at $11 a point (making the point cost not such a bargain at $2825).

To complicate matters, the points for each stateroom category and date have to be evaluated against the cruise cost for that category and date. Some dates are a much better deal on points - some are a much better deal on cash.

Add in that you are spending points to cruise - points you could be using to go to Disney. If you payed cash for that cruise and just rented out the 190 points to cover the cost, you'd be 60 points ahead to your next WDW trip.


Finally, the number of points it takes to cruise can go up from year to year. So you may save and bank points intending to cruise, only to have the cruise points go up.