Expiring points: What to do?

[arrrroooooo]

I'm looking for some advice on what to do with our expiring points. We have points from 2019 Feb UY that we acquired with our resale contract that we purchased in December. We were using these (plus more) on a trip scheduled for November 2020, but given the situation in Florida, my family simply isn't comfortable traveling this year. We are going to have to cancel and Disney has not offered any provision for banking expiring banked 2019 points (MS confirmed).

So what would you recommend? My inclination is to offer these points up for rent through David's (or other) but I don't have a sense for whether there is even demand for points resale right now. I'm also curious whether it would be better to hold onto the current reservation itself ) with the park reservations as that might be in more demand? Points transfer seems a riskier alternative that also depends on an uncertain demand.

I've toyed with the idea of booking at VGC. We live on the West Coast so a road trip is realistic and provides an alternative to air travel. But... the Disneyland reopening is still delayed indefinitely (I believe?)

Banking into RCI seems like an option, too, but really only one of last resort.

Other thoughts? Thanks for the advice.

ETA. Mod has removed details.

 

[Sandisw]

I edited to remove specifics in terms of points and actual reservation details. Park reservations are not tied to the reservation, but to the guests tickets so those do not transfer,

At this point, based on David’s new contract, I would be very cautious to deal with him. I won’t again. I also think that while a rental market is still there, owners are going to have to consider price and what they can offer given the discounts that Disney is most likely going to continue to have.

Since the points are banked, you can not transfer them so using, renting reservstions using them, or depositing in RCI are your only options.

It Is always easier to rent the points vs a confirmed reservation unless you are really close and are at risk of holding points. It gives you flexibility.

Just be sure you check out all the ins and outs of using a broker and what it is that you will be responsible for if the resorts close again.

 

[GAN]

Is the DVCstore still accepting points? Last I remember they were offering $15/point(pre-Covid). Otherwise use the Rent/Trade Board here ..I’ve rented my points many times that way without issues. Usually they go extremely quick -within hours in my experienc. Not sure how the current situation is affecting things though. Good luck...

 

[bobbiwoz]

I wouldn’t hesitate to put the points into an RCI trade since it would extend the life of the points, and does give you a vacation option.

 

[MMSM]

I am a renter and have booked through numerous brokers and directly through an owner. If you want to unload points you will have to do it at a deep discount. There are many dedicated reservations to buy and for my family we spent the extra $1000 we would of saved booking through DVC for fear they would close or more CoVid breakouts would occur. We needed the ability to cancel. But I have seen people selling points for $12-14 pp and they have gone super fast.

 

[spinchy]

I'm in a similar boat, and considering RCI for my points expiring in March. Having no experience with RCI, can anybody comment on the quality of resorts they offer? Is there a minimum standard to be part of RCI, or could it be all over the place in terms of what their properties are like?

 

[BWoody]

I am in literally the exact same situation as you. New resale, banked points, February use year, cancelled November trip. We must be twins. Did you buy AKL too? Anyway, I just plopped my points into RCI today actually. I'll just spend 5 or 6 nights on an island next year or the year after with those points and now I have a fully loaded contract going into next year banking my current use year points. I browsed RCI and there are a couple decent places in Aruba I had my eye on that I would be ok with and I even saw the Wyndham Margaritaville in St. Thomas that I just happen to have stayed at the year it opened. Gorgeous resort and had a blast both at the resort and on the island. All those resorts had availability well into the future so actually booking them doesn't look like some sort of pipe dream. With some of the potential problems with renting right now, possibly lower return on points and hassle of dealing with it, I'll just go enjoy whatever I book and not worry about it. See you next year Disney and now apparently, see an island next year too!

 

[arrrroooooo]

I am in literally the exact same situation as you. New resale, banked points, February use year, cancelled November trip. We must be twins. Did you buy AKL too? Anyway, I just plopped my points into RCI today actually...

We bought at BCV, but AKL is a close second so it was an easy call for a split-stay on days BCV wasn't available. If things ever settle down, I'm planning to buy direct at AKL to get the blue card....

Based on the options you found in RCI, do you feel like you're getting a reasonable value? If the cost benefit is renting pts at $12 times the number of points to put cash in pocket vs. converting to RCI - which one produces a better replacement trip?

Thanks to everyone else for the advice.

 

[BWoody]

We bought at BCV, but AKL is a close second so it was an easy call for a split-stay on days BCV wasn't available. If things ever settle down, I'm planning to buy direct at AKL to get the blue card....

Based on the options you found in RCI, do you feel like you're getting a reasonable value? If the cost benefit is renting pts at $12 times the number of points to put cash in pocket vs. converting to RCI - which one produces a better replacement trip?

Thanks to everyone else for the advice.

Nice, I would have loved BCV too! With value, I think it depends how you look at it. I think most people would say if you wanted to use RCI regularly then you are better off buying some timeshare off ebay for a dollar where they have cheap member fees and use that to trade around since DVC MF are higher compared to other timeshares. So in that sense it probably isn't a good value. For me, since this won't be a regular thing, I'm looking at it more like would a cash reservation at whatever resort be more expensive than what I paid in MF for those points I put into RCI. In that regard, yes, I think I am getting suitable value. Poking around with prices, I think I am close to break even doing RCI versus renting. If I rented out at $12 then it looks like a better deal just doing RCI, but if I got like $15 or more then renting and paying cash would be the better deal, but we are only talking about by like a couple hundred dollars. Since it is so close I'm opting to go the more stress free route where I don't need to worry about the points actually renting and repercussions if they want to cancel.

ETA: I just checked another resort and it is a much better deal to just go through RCI instead of renting and paying cash. In this case I would need to rent the points at closer to $21 / point to get the same value of just trading.

 

[FinnFogg]

We just put our expiring Oct 2018 UY points (that had been banked into 2019) into RCI. I waited until just before the 45 day mark, but I really couldn’t see any other use for them. It sounds like you may have some time, so you might as well wait it out to see if something more interesting comes up. If not, RCI isn’t horrible. Our expiring 2018 points are now good until Dec 31 2022. We’ve done RCI before with expiring points that we received on resale contracts, and the Hilton Grand Vacation Club properties are a solid bet. Not as good as Disney, but our kids had a great time during our week at HGVC’s King’s Land on the Big Island.

 

[RoseGold]

I would rent them out yourself. I've been surprised at the demand on these boards, actually. $12-$14 makes a little money and gets this off your plate.

 

[Travel60]

In addition to RCI, check out Disney Collection and Concierge. We traded DVC points for several days at Del Coronado in San Diego a couple years ago. That may be too far south for you but there are other west coast options.

 

[jar]

Can you get anything decent with RCI? I recently learned -- to my very unhappy surprise -- that my reservation last March used current UY points instead of banked points so I have a bunch of Dec UY left that I can't bank. I thought I'd try to rent them even for a modest amount because RCI was not worthwhile, but haven't decided for sure.

 

[Dean Marino]

All I can comment on is what WE did.
DVC owners, homed at BRV. We will be robbed of 147 points, as of 3-31-2021.

We have donated these points to a wonderful family, withing driving distance of WDW.

WHAT! Why not rent? Well we tried that. But the current legal situation around cancelled rentals is not something we wish to deal with. So? Rather than get robbed by DVC or sued by a 3rd party? We did our best to make another wonderful family happy . Yup, we loose. But our dear friends win . I can sleep with that... .

Edit: That wonderful family is now BOOKED, early Dec 2020. WDW will now only rob us of 7 points. And a lovely family of 4 is hopping up and down .

This, to us, was exactly the right thing to do .

 

[starry_solo]

In addition to RCI, check out Disney Collection and Concierge. We traded DVC points for several days at Del Coronado in San Diego a couple years ago. That may be too far south for you but there are other west coast options.

I don’t think that’s available via resale?

 

[Sandisw]

I don’t think that’s available via resale?

Only points bought before 2012 can be used for those collections.

 

[Travel60]

All I can comment on is what WE did.
DVC owners, homed at BRV. We will be robbed of 147 points, as of 3-31-2021.

We have donated these points to a wonderful family, withing driving distance of WDW.

WHAT! Why not rent? Well we tried that. But the current legal situation around cancelled rentals is not something we wish to deal with. So? Rather than get robbed by DVC or sued by a 3rd party? We did our best to make another wonderful family happy . Yup, we loose. But our dear friends win . I can sleep with that... .

Robbed is a misleading term. I own a seasonal home in another state that I can't visit because I would have to quarantine 2 weeks there then quarantine another 2 weeks when I got back. I'm still paying maintenance, internet, cable TV and taxes. But, nobody robbed me. That's what you have, a real estate interest that you can't use. No one robbed you. DVC has bent rules as best they can but you got what you bought.

 

[Travel60]

Can you get anything decent with RCI? I recently learned -- to my very unhappy surprise -- that my reservation last March used current UY points instead of banked points so I have a bunch of Dec UY left that I can't bank. I thought I'd try to rent them even for a modest amount because RCI was not worthwhile, but haven't decided for sure.

We've stayed in a few RCI...usually when we were going to be in an area for the football team we follow or some other reason anyway. Accomodations were not "Disney" but I've never stayed anywhere I wouldn't stay again. Web site is a little klunky but you can still drill down on an area. If you've got the time you could probably put together a fun road trip.

 

[jar]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

We just got back from 9 days at AKK and I'm trying to figure out how to come up with more points for the fall while the crowds are so down and you guys are worried about them expiring. #Irony