First Contract: Debating how many points

[nanoburd]

Main question: Currently considering 300 pts direct at PVB. Is this enough or should I consider more?

Travel needs that this contract should satisfy:

• 6-7 night trips in Jan/Feb (not sure if this will change after we own DVC…)
• minimum 1-bedroom with occasional 2-bdrm
• avoid bank/borrowing more than 20% of the annual contract, I prefer having some flexibility
• prefer newer resorts but understand likely 2-bdrm at 300 pts will only limit us to a few resorts with lower pts charts.

Context:

• We take 2-3 Disney vacations a year including WDW, DL, DCL or some of the international parks. So this contract is only meant to cover the “mandatory” winter escape as the other trips we often book pretty last minute which won’t work well with DVC 11/7-month booking windows
• For the years we want to bring more friends and family, we can augment with cash rooms if we want to stay at PVB for 2-bdrm. There’s a 25% off for DVC members right? Any opinions about this strategy?
• Family of 4, so eventually may be limited to 1-bdrms that accomedate 5 when the kids are older.

Thanks for any experienced guidance!

 

[ShaneDJ]

We thought 500 points were enough.

We seem to never have enough points!

 

[muppets3d]

300 points definitely gets you that annual 1 bedroom (as long as you aren't looking at theme park view at least), and you can always add more points in the future if your needs change.

 

[MattB2G]

Take a look at the point chart for PVB and then see how many you need. Since PVB has one of the highest point charts, even 300 points might not be enough!!!!! We stay at VGF in 2 bedrooms every other year and combine 2 years of points because of how high the point charts are.

But since you will have so many points, you could trade out pretty easily to one of the lower point chart resorts at the 7 month mark.

 

[RuntheMouse]

You’re cutting it close with the 300….but if you purchase with a UY of October or December (which both would work for your situation) you’ll get 2024 pints as well that you can use to “kick the can” down the road with banking the points you don’t use.

So if you need 306 points next year, dip into those extra points and keep pushing your add on date down the road. It’ll buy you some time to get used to using your contract.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Main question: Currently considering 300 pts direct at PVB. Is this enough or should I consider more?

Travel needs that this contract should satisfy:

• 6-7 night trips in Jan/Feb (not sure if this will change after we own DVC…)
• minimum 1-bedroom with occasional 2-bdrm
• avoid bank/borrowing more than 20% of the annual contract, I prefer having some flexibility
• prefer newer resorts but understand likely 2-bdrm at 300 pts will only limit us to a few resorts with lower pts charts.

Context:

• We take 2-3 Disney vacations a year including WDW, DL, DCL or some of the international parks. So this contract is only meant to cover the “mandatory” winter escape as the other trips we often book pretty last minute which won’t work well with DVC 11/7-month booking windows
• For the years we want to bring more friends and family, we can augment with cash rooms if we want to stay at PVB for 2-bdrm. There’s a 25% off for DVC members right? Any opinions about this strategy?
• Family of 4, so eventually may be limited to 1-bdrms that accomedate 5 when the kids are older.

Thanks for any experienced guidance!

Where are the break points on the incentives?

 

[sndral]

300 points could cover a 6/7 night stay during Jan/Feb.. Jan costs fewer points than Feb. & 6 nights are cheaper than 7 nights & exactly how many points you need also depends on which view category you want.
I’d split those points into 2 150 point contracts, that way if you decide DVC isn’t a good fit down the road you’ll have an easier time selling or if you decide to downsize you’ll retain membership benefits by keeping one of the contracts.
I agree w/ @RuntheMouse an Oct. or Dec. use year works well w/ your Jan/Feb trips & you’d get 2025 points. To get 2025 points w/ an Oct. use year you’d need to buy this month & to get 2025 points w/ a Dec. use year you’d need to buy before 12/1/2025. DVC guides sometimes try to push certain use years, I don’t know if they are ATM, but if you insist you want Oct. or Dec. they’ll usually give you the use year you want.

 

[CarolynFH]

For the years we want to bring more friends and family, we can augment with cash rooms if we want to stay at PVB for 2-bdrm. There’s a 25% off for DVC members right? Any opinions about this strategy?

I agree with advice above, especially the advice to check the points charts to be sure you’re buying enough points for your planned travel. I just want to point out that the 25% discount on cash DVC rooms is “if available,” and it isn’t always, so I wouldn’t depend on it routinely. But I wouldn’t buy extra points if that’s not going to be a frequent happening - if you plan ahead, you can bank and borrow, and public discounts might be available too.