DVC points toward a Disney cruise

[Brancaneve]

You can actually pick a specific cabin, if it is available. I asked for a specific category and the agent told me what came up and I asked if one of several specific rooms was available and she picked one of the rooms I preferred.

It use to be, you couldn't pick because they were always putting you on hold to call Disney Cruise Line. Now they do all the work online and pick rooms while talking to you.

Oh, that´s good to know! I´m glad they changed that.

 

[zavandor]

David's also exchanges points for cruises. It's roughly equivalent to renting the points and booking the cruise yourself, but since you never see money, I THINK it's not considered a taxable income, so it's more convenient at the end of the day.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

David's also exchanges points for cruises. It's roughly equivalent to renting the points and booking the cruise yourself, but since you never see money, I THINK it's not considered a taxable income, so it's more convenient at the end of the day.

INCOME? So this is a taxable transition?

 

[zavandor]

INCOME? So this is a taxable transition?

If you rent your points then yes, it's taxable income. If you rent them for $14pp and you pay $6pp in MF, then you have a $8pp gain upon which you should pay taxes.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

But a point trade for a cruise is NOT considered taxable income.

 

[Dean]

But a point trade for a cruise is NOT considered taxable income.

That might be a gray area as it’s a barter situation.

 

[apple9117]

to echo what some others said, i've heard the best use of points is to rent them out...and use cash to book the cruise.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Has anyone received a Form 1099 MISC for rent received $600 and above?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Has anyone received a Form 1099 MISC for rent received $600 and above?

Even if you don't, it's still reportable income.

 

[cmwade77]

That $95 fee is nothing compared to what it cost you to use points for a cruise.
Take DVCs $7.50 a point value to cruise or rent to David's at $14-16, and pay cash.

This isn't always true, a couple years ago we were looking at this for the re-positioning cruise from San Diego to Vancouver and we actually found that Disney was offering at about $13 per point on that cruise vs. David's at the time was offering $11. So always check the points charts just in case, some cruises are strange one-offs on the points like that.

In general though exchanging for a cruise is usually a bad value, but as I said, there are some exceptions and I only know that based on personal experience.

Also, if there is no way that you would use the points before they expire and don't want to rent them out for whatever reasons, then this can be a good option as well.

 

[cmwade77]

For me the issue with renting is you don't get your money until the people renting have taken their vacation, so it usually doesn't work well when you want to book a cruise or something like that before they are going to take their vacation.

 

[Dean]

This isn't always true, a couple years ago we were looking at this for the re-positioning cruise from San Diego to Vancouver and we actually found that Disney was offering at about $13 per point on that cruise vs. David's at the time was offering $11. So always check the points charts just in case, some cruises are strange one-offs on the points like that.

In general though exchanging for a cruise is usually a bad value, but as I said, there are some exceptions and I only know that based on personal experience.

Also, if there is no way that you would use the points before they expire and don't want to rent them out for whatever reasons, then this can be a good option as well.

That can happen when you miss the discounts and it's possible there's a rare exception where it does work out so it's always a good idea to check. But the issue is you're still spending cash in this situation even if it's points given the liquidity.

 

[cmwade77]

That can happen when you miss the discounts and it's possible there's a rare exception where it does work out so it's always a good idea to check. But the issue is you're still spending cash in this situation even if it's points given the liquidity.

Actually, the cruise was cheap, the points were cheaper. We could have rented the points we spent our for around $1,000 and the cruise was something like $2,000 as it was discounted at that point and we went with an Ocean view room. We had looked a couple weeks earlier and the cruise was closer to $3,000 for the cabin we got. Yes, this was a strange case, but it happens.

 

[Dean]

Actually, the cruise was cheap, the points were cheaper. We could have rented the points we spent our for around $1,000 and the cruise was something like $2,000 as it was discounted at that point and we went with an Ocean view room. We had looked a couple weeks earlier and the cruise was closer to $3,000 for the cabin we got. Yes, this was a strange case, but it happens.

This is only the third case I've heard of or seen where it made sense. One was when AK first started it was around $10 per point, yours and another person reported $18 for a repositioning transatlantic but I'm pretty sure the latter was comparing to where they missed the early booking discounts. So it was under 100 points and would have been $2000 for the portion you used points for? Don't forget to include any additional fees when using the points.

 

[Minniesgal]

For me the issue with renting is you don't get your money until the people renting have taken their vacation, so it usually doesn't work well when you want to book a cruise or something like that before they are going to take their vacation.

In this situation i would borrow the funds from my savings and pay back my savings when the renal income came in. The interest lost would not be that much.