Every third year?

[Panbuck97]

New to this whole thing...If I understand this correctly I can bank year one, borrow year three, and travel in year two with triple points, bank year four, borrow year six, travel year five with triple points, etc. This is of interest to me because of limited vacation time and not wanting to lose any "specialness" by going too frequently. If this is right I can get a smaller/cheaper contract but still have plenty of points for a week or two of Disney time. Is this doable or can you not bank and borrow into the same year? Thanks everyone!

 

[k3chantal]

New to this whole thing...If I understand this correctly I can bank year one, borrow year three, and travel in year two with triple points, bank year four, borrow year six, travel year five with triple points, etc. This is of interest to me because of limited vacation time and not wanting to lose any "specialness" by going too frequently. If this is right I can get a smaller/cheaper contract but still have plenty of points for a week or two of Disney time. Is this doable or can you not bank and borrow into the same year? Thanks everyone!

Completely do-able. You understand the system well.

 

[Dean]

New to this whole thing...If I understand this correctly I can bank year one, borrow year three, and travel in year two with triple points, bank year four, borrow year six, travel year five with triple points, etc. This is of interest to me because of limited vacation time and not wanting to lose any "specialness" by going too frequently. If this is right I can get a smaller/cheaper contract but still have plenty of points for a week or two of Disney time. Is this doable or can you not bank and borrow into the same year? Thanks everyone!

Technically this will work but it gives you little flexibility and creates a risk of losing points. For one truly expecting to go very 3 years, I would not buy into DVC but only rent. If you get closer to every 2 years, it becomes more reasonable, IMO.

 

[auralia]

I have 50 points and this is what I do we can do 10 days in december with 2 years worth of points at OKW.

 

[Missyrose]

Just to echo the caution that Dean expressed. If something were to prevent you from going in your designated year, then you run the risk of losing multiple years' worth of points that you've paid maintenance fees on.

I would look into renting DVC points for your trip, less financial risk for you in the long run.

 

[k3chantal]

I suppose that I should not tempt fate and say this......but we have never had to cancel a reservation.

So up to this point, the risk is really extremely minimal depending on someone's history but of course I am only able to use my own.

How often do you think members lose points by not being able to reschedule? I mean if they schedule early in their current use year and then cancel, the borrowed points are still available in that use year so as long as they reschedule some time in the current use year they would only lose one year (the banked points ).

I really am curious and certainly not trying to debate the point because there is definitely some risk. People do get sick, etc.. But I suppose the OP could also get the travel insurance (which yes would be $79 x's 3 ) but wouldn't the 'lost' points be 'paid' for?

I guess for my family the risk has never controlled my vacation decisions. I used three year's of points for a Wonder 7 night cruise and had a great time. (And yes, I recognized I could have rented my points and paid cash but all the same it worked out well the way I did it).

 

[ELMC]

One way for the OP to mitigate the risk that comes with this strategy is renting out their points. If they are comfortable doing so, it helps reduce the possibility of losing points if they had to cancel a ressie. Odds are they would be able to get at least their maintenance fees back, and quite possibly more.

 

[k3chantal]

One way for the OP to mitigate the risk that comes with this strategy is renting out their points. If they are comfortable doing so, it helps reduce the possibility of losing points if they had to cancel a ressie. Odds are they would be able to get at least their maintenance fees back, and quite possibly more.

I agree! Then, they own but have a way to recoup just in case.

If they foresee going to WDW every three years for years to come owning a membership should make more sense because then they have their own points to use and are not dependent upon rental costs potentially going up or costs to book a hotel room onsite going up. Isn't that one of the main reasons to own? That potentially we are saving money staying at a deluxe resort if we were to stay at a deluxe resort regardless?

 

[BestDadEver]

The insurance only pays the dues for the points, you dont get the points back . Imo thr insurance isn't worth it . You should get the points back

 

[Deb & Bill]

The insurance only pays the dues for the points, you dont get the points back . Imo thr insurance isn't worth it . You should get the points back

If you cancel at least the day before, you get your points back. But they are holding points. If you cancel at least 31 days before, you get your points back and can use them. But depending on your banking deadline and if any were borrowed or banked, you may have to use them before the end of the UY.

I read a thread somewhere where a member had to cancel a cruise and were wondering what they could do with their 1100+ reservation points that would expire at the end of their UY. That's a whole lot of points to have to waste if you can't find someplace to use them. And with them being reservation points, that made it even harder.

 

[crisi]

Every two used to work a lot better than every three because you need exactly the right amount of points for every three, or be willing to loose some. It isn't necessarily the risk of cancellation, but the risk that your original plan is to go in October so you buy just enough points for an every other year trip in September when points are cheap. Then you move that vacation into Summer or Spring Break when the points are more expensive, and don't have enough points. Or you plan on Summer trips, but end up going in October, letting points go to waste.

Now that you can rent points directly from Disney, you could make it work with less risk, but would be stuck with the seven month window.

 

[joeyrose]

I read a thread somewhere where a member had to cancel a cruise and were wondering what they could do with their 1100+ reservation points that would expire at the end of their UY. That's a whole lot of points to have to waste if you can't find someplace to use them. And with them being reservation points, that made it even harder.

i saw this owner's plight...she has worked hard renting, and i think whittled down her points to about 200 left that she is still working on renting.

i agree that there's lots of risk in the banking/borrowing option.

 

[BestDadEver]

If you cancel at least the day before, you get your points back. But they are holding points. If you cancel at least 31 days before, you get your points back and can use them. But depending on your banking deadline and if any were borrowed or banked, you may have to use them before the end of the UY.

I read a thread somewhere where a member had to cancel a cruise and were wondering what they could do with their 1100+ reservation points that would expire at the end of their UY. That's a whole lot of points to have to waste if you can't find someplace to use them. And with them being reservation points, that made it even harder.

Yeah but you can do that without the insurance .

So you are saying you can cancel within 30 days , get the points back and they will still give you the money for the dues . I doubt outside 30 days they will do anything .

I spoke to MS and they made it sound like in the event of a points loss was the only time they would refund the dues only . If you get the points back ,I interpreted that as they wouldn't refund the dues .

 

[Deb & Bill]

Yeah but you can do that without the insurance .

So you are saying you can cancel within 30 days , get the points back and they will still give you the money for the dues . I doubt outside 30 days they will do anything .

I spoke to MS and they made it sound like in the event of a points loss was the only time they would refund the dues only . If you get the points back ,I interpreted that as they wouldn't refund the dues .

Why would you expect your points back? If you cancel the day of your trip, you lose them. Cancel at least the day before and you still have them.

 

[Dean]

I read a thread somewhere where a member had to cancel a cruise and were wondering what they could do with their 1100+ reservation points that would expire at the end of their UY. That's a whole lot of points to have to waste if you can't find someplace to use them. And with them being reservation points, that made it even harder.

We've seen the same with RCI as well. Loss or significantly reduced return on 1100 points may produce a situation where DVC provides no long term savings for many situations.

 

[Brian Noble]

Every two used to work a lot better than every three because you need exactly the right amount of points for every three, or be willing to loose some.

This is my first concern. My second is what Dean alluded to: the time-horizon to payoff of owning vs. renting is really very long if you are only going every three years. Unless you know that you'll be in this pattern for at least a couple decades, I'd just rent.

 

[Dean]

This is my first concern. My second is what Dean alluded to: the time-horizon to payoff of owning vs. renting is really very long if you are only going every three years. Unless you know that you'll be in this pattern for at least a couple decades, I'd just rent.

You don't necessarily need the exact number of points but you can't be over too much and eventually you have to do something else with any extra points like rent, upgrade or go extra. Also, you can't be under at all and if they reallocate, this could throw a big monkey wrench into the plans.

 

[Panbuck97]

Thanks everyone. We are looking at 70-100 points to go every three years in July. My wife is a teacher, so summer is really our only option until we retire, at which point we would be happy to stay longer in cheaper seasons ;-). I ran the math on an excel sheet and if I'm not mistaken the dues would end up costing essentially the same as staying at a moderate every three years and I would have the option of renting points to family on off years. I'm liking the idea more and more. I may need to start making "home resort" decisions and looking for an attractive contract on the resale market.

 

[Dean]

Thanks everyone. We are looking at 70-100 points to go every three years in July. My wife is a teacher, so summer is really our only option until we retire, at which point we would be happy to stay longer in cheaper seasons ;-). I ran the math on an excel sheet and if I'm not mistaken the dues would end up costing essentially the same as staying at a moderate every three years and I would have the option of renting points to family on off years. I'm liking the idea more and more. I may need to start making "home resort" decisions and looking for an attractive contract on the resale market.

With that scenario you're looking at essentially break even. You'll have better than a moderate comparing studios to the moderate hotel rooms but really little savings over the years. With a $5-6 initial investment, you can't reasonably just look at dues alone as your cost. I probably wouldn't do it just for every 3 years unless you can get real benefit from the current discounts.

 

[Panbuck97]

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I would much rather stay at the deluxe resorts -I LOVE the Beach Club- and I view it as this way I get deluxe resorts at moderate prices and then get to really take advantage once we retire with cheaper seasons and take eventual grand kids. I figure we would be saving the money/getting value from the nicer accommodations and locations.