DVC rental: David's vs rental store. Tell me all your pros and cons

[Lupeix]

We have decided we are going to try renting DVC for the first time for our 2018 trip.
We really want BLT 1 bedroom standard view. No way we can pay for it if going directly through Disney.
I was told I will need to request at the 11 month mark to make it happen
Renting from an owner seems too risky for the first time.

These are the pros for each I came up from researching the two rental companies them so far:

- David's: Charges less per point, has bigger inventory, can use PayPal credit for 6 months no interest
- Rental store: higher per point, offers cancel for any reason insurance, pay some upfront and some 45 days before trip

I want to hear your experiences with either the two main rental stores.
Thanks!

 

[patty57]

I have only rented from private owners, so can't help you with a comparison. Just want to caution you that it's possible that neither will have blt points when you need them at 11 months.

 

[Elmo888]

And make sure that you note the possible foreign transaction fee for David's if you use a cc. David's is based in Canada, and some cc will charge 3%. Check with your cc rates. My Disney Visa charges a 3% foreign transaction fee.

Also, read the fine print of the insurance with the Rental Store. It isn't as forgiving as I first thought. You might consider buying travel insurance somewhere else. There is a website somewhere that helps find trip insurance with comparisons.

I tried with David's knowing that it was a long shot for my dates, and I kind of felt like I hand my hand slapped with the reply that I received. I went with David's because of the lower rates. Both have great endorsements from reputable Disney travel websites.

 

[Marionnette]

We have decided we are going to try renting DVC for the first time for our 2018 trip.
We really want BLT 1 bedroom standard view. No way we can pay for it if going directly through Disney.
I was told I will need to request at the 11 month mark to make it happen
Renting from an owner seems too risky for the first time.

These are the pros for each I came up from researching the two rental companies them so far:

- David's: Charges less per point, has bigger inventory, can use PayPal credit for 6 months no interest
- Rental store: higher per point, offers cancel for any reason insurance, pay some upfront and some 45 days before trip

I want to hear your experiences with either the two main rental stores.
Thanks!

Don't count on David's having a bigger inventory. It's going to be more of a matter of the agency you choose having a BLT owner with the right number of points available at the time that you start looking for a reservation. Both companies have good reputations. I believe that one of them requires a pretty good size deposit when you make your request. The agency that charges more also pays owners more, so they may attract more owners in the long run unless David's follows suit.

 

[georgina]

And make sure that you note the possible foreign transaction fee for David's if you use a cc. David's is based in Canada, and some cc will charge 3%. Check with your cc rates. My Disney Visa charges a 3% foreign transaction fee.

When did you rent from David's? I just rechecked my credit card statement and the charges are listed as California, with no foreign transaction fee. Trying to decide if it was Canada or California (just says CA), but I used my Citi Costco, which has good trip insurance, and I am pretty sure it does have a foreign fee, which I was definitely not charged last November.

I was looking for a BW studio in October (popular time with Food & Wine going on) and contacted them ahead of the 11 month window, was pleased with the results.

 

[Rory_Chapman]

I actually just used dvcreservations.com for a 3 night stay at a Poly Studio Villa in May. We got lucky and found availability 4 months out. They were amazing to work with. If you're willing to give them your cell number, they will text you with what is available. They require only a $10 deposit to do the search, unlike David's which requires $100. And they refund the $10 if there's no availability. Plus they're US based, so no transaction fees with a CC.

I couldn't recommend them highly enough. They were amazing to work with, never got annoyed at my many questions, and definitely saved me hundreds on just a 3 night stay. Give them a try! And like everyone else has said, BLT is a popular stay, so maybe consider clicking the option for a split stay at somewhere with more availability (AKL is probably the best that tends to be more available).

 

[Lupeix]

I actually just used dvcreservations.com for a 3 night stay at a Poly Studio Villa in May. We got lucky and found availability 4 months out. They were amazing to work with. If you're willing to give them your cell number, they will text you with what is available. They require only a $10 deposit to do the search, unlike David's which requires $100. And they refund the $10 if there's no availability. Plus they're US based, so no transaction fees with a CC.

I couldn't recommend them highly enough. They were amazing to work with, never got annoyed at my many questions, and definitely saved me hundreds on just a 3 night stay. Give them a try! And like everyone else has said, BLT is a popular stay, so maybe consider clicking the option for a split stay at somewhere with more availability (AKL is probably the best that tends to be more available).

I just went to their website, they don't have any info on payment. How do they work? 10$ to check and then bulk payment with CC? do you have to pay it all at once?
thanks

 

[Megara5115]

I have tried both and in my experience, the communication through DVC Rental Store was much much better (again, just my experience).

 

[Leelo]

We used rental store for our trip this past May. It was great! We booked at 8 months out and paid the rest at 3 months out. We liked being able to split up the payment since we do not use credit cards. Our rep was super easy to reach by email also. Quick response time. I will note that the price between the 2 sites was the same at the time I booked though.

 

[mslhb]

We have only used the 2nd company you mentioned and have been very happy. Like a pp said their communication is fantastic. I felt very comfortable about the whole process.

 

[bumbershoot]

Also, read the fine print of the insurance with the Rental Store. It isn't as forgiving as I first thought.

Funny how "for any reason" never really is for ANY reason...

When did you rent from David's? I just rechecked my credit card statement and the charges are listed as California, with no foreign transaction fee. Trying to decide if it was Canada or California (just says CA), but I used my Citi Costco, which has good trip insurance, and I am pretty sure it does have a foreign fee, which I was definitely not charged last November.

Fwiw on their faqs it states:

"Also note, our operations are from Canada. Recently, some U.S. credit card issuers have been charging their customers a cross border transaction fee."

In this case CA refers to Canada.

 

[rwdavis2]

"Also, read the fine print of the insurance with the Rental Store. It isn't as forgiving as I first thought."

Funny how "for any reason" never really is for ANY reason...

One is better off buying their own travel insurance not connected to the entity to which you are doing business. It's probably less expensive and more comprehensive.

 

[manicstreet]

I have used both. Did not realize DVC rental store is more expensive. In that case I would use Davids. I like the idea of paying half now and half later, but cheaper wins out in the end.

 

[FindingTheMouse]

We rented through DVC Rental Store, but haven't actually made the trip yet. We leave in just over a week. The correspondence with them has been fantastic. I went with the Rental Store for 2 reasons. One, the ability to have a down payment and not pay in full until 45 days out. This gave us some breathing room to not have to come up with a large payment at that time. Second, we found out that the Rental Store doesn't pay the DVC member anything until after we successfully check in. I don't know if Dave's does this but thought this was a great way to guarantee all things are done right until our time of check in.

 

[BK2014]

Second, we found out that the Rental Store doesn't pay the DVC member anything until after we successfully check in.

This appears to be entirely incorrect. The company's website says that they pay the DVC owner 75% once the renter makes their deposit.

 

[shellyj]

We've used David's many times and it's always been a great experience. When you submit your form you almost immediately receive and email saying they will try to find what you're looking for, but no promises. We actually fill out the form online as soon like 11.5 months out and they hold it and start looking on the 11 month mark. I think they longest we've waited was close to 4 weeks. They are really great at answering emails and questions.

This next trip is actually the first time we are going through a private owner and we only did that because we were connected with someone who had enough for 2 2-bedrooms for our entire trip. Two of my sisters are now hoping to join us for the same trip, and I recommended they go through David's.

 

[FindingTheMouse]

This appears to be entirely incorrect. The company's website says that they pay the DVC owner 75% once the renter makes their deposit.

That was not what I what I found when doing the research. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Lupeix]

We rented through DVC Rental Store, but haven't actually made the trip yet. We leave in just over a week. The correspondence with them has been fantastic. I went with the Rental Store for 2 reasons. One, the ability to have a down payment and not pay in full until 45 days out. This gave us some breathing room to not have to come up with a large payment at that time. Second, we found out that the Rental Store doesn't pay the DVC member anything until after we successfully check in. I don't know if Dave's does this but thought this was a great way to guarantee all things are done right until our time of check in.

I have PayPal credit, so according to David's website I can get 6 months no-interest no payment right? I think between the fact that they are cheaper and the 6 months to pay I am leaning towards David's

 

[Wakey]

As an owner, for numerous reasons, I am more likely to place my points with David's. David's gets more business than DVC Rental Store I reckon (most owners threads talk about using David's) but he probably has a lot more customers too, so not sure if that would balance out availibility.

 

[Marionnette]

As an owner, for numerous reasons, I am more likely to place my points with David's. David's gets more business than DVC Rental Store I reckon (most owners threads talk about using David's) but he probably has a lot more customers too, so not sure if that would balance out availibility.

I think that has more to do with them being a board sponsor and the other big rental company being banned from mention on the disboards than it has to do with David's being larger. As an owner, if I have points available for renting a reservation and want to go thru an agent, I'm going to go with the one that pays me more, pays me quickly and in a manner of my choosing. DVC rentals are in such great demand, they're going to go regardless of where I list them. Why not get more for my points?