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 2024 points. To get 2024 points w/ an Oct. use year you’d need to buy this month & to get 2024 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.

 

[Mouseforward]

I would go 350-400 direct and give a cushion , I know you can add 50 or 100 resale at PIT for $170 a point later but you can get another 50-100 direct now for close to that with MB. If you want VDH or RIV or the next resorts the direct points are worth it.

 

[nanoburd]

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.

This is such great advice, I will def do that! I’m trying to thread the needle here to not buy so few points that I feel I need to add-on immediately.

Also thanks @sndral for your followup

Where are the break points on the incentives?

I think 200, 300 then 500.

I would go 350-400 direct and give a cushion , I know you can add 50 or 100 resale at PIT for $170 a point later but you can get another 50-100 direct now for close to that with MB. If you want VDH or RIV or the next resorts the direct points are worth it.

What is MB? If it MMB, then I’m ineligible since I’m international.

 

[airjay75]

I bought 300 RIV points back in April with some similar thinking - seemed like enough to get a 1 bedroom most of the time, and, particularly while my 2 kids are young, we can probably travel in Jan/Feb when points charts are low so should get us a good solid week per year. But, I quickly realized I wanted more points and more stays and increasingly began to think about how the future will look as my kids get older. So, I decided to purchase another 300 in July to give me enough points to secure a 2 BR villa during the highest point week of the year - in the meantime, I'm happy to have the extra points to make extra trips. A few thoughts for you.

If, like me, your kids are young, remember that as they get older, it will become increasingly difficult to pull them out of school for a week. I see you're international, so your breaks may be different than here in the US. For us, our spring break is always the week before Easter which, along with Christmas, are the most expensive weeks of the year.

I took a good look at Poly before settling on Riviera. I won't try to sell you on RIV, but I would note a few things about Poly. Aside from September, 300 points is going to limit you to a "resort view" 1 BR at the island tower. I don't know what the ratio of these rooms to other rooms is going to be once the tower is fully declared, but I sense that it is going to be similar to BLT where, you basically need to own at Poly to get the "resort view" rooms. That means they may well book up well in advance of the 7-month mark. And, I'd also note that I've heard a fair amount of complaints about some of the resort view rooms - plenty of people don't care about that, but it is something to think about. If you decide you're going to want the flexibility for preferred or theme park views, you'll need more points.

When buying direct, you can break your purchase up into as many as 4 smaller contracts. I started with 2 150-point contracts and that is what I would recommend. If you buy more, I'd also break them up into smaller contracts for ease of resale should you decide to do that. Also, once you become a DVC owner, you're eligible for member pricing which can be significantly less than new member pricing. This particular incentive period is really good for existing members. There is also some time before Poly sells out, so if you go with 300 now, you will have time to watch future incentive periods and decide when/if you want to add on more points. I think 300 points is a good place to start, particularly since the incentives don't get any better until you go up to 500 points. My second purchase of 300 points ended up being cheaper than my first purchase and, even taking account of two rounds of closing costs, I actually saved money by waiting (that is probably somewhat unusual). And, with Poly, you have the option of looking at resale points to increase your points as well. Unless you were certain you wanted more points right now, I could see going with 300 points to start and giving all of this some time to marinate.

UY - right now, you're thinking Jan/Feb trips, so just about any UY other than Feb/Mar/April are going to be fine. But, as you get into this and decide you might want more trips, think about which months you are LEAST likely to travel to Disney. Ideally, you want those months to come just before the start of your UY. Also, if you think you're ever going to travel in December, I'd avoid a December UY. And, if you tell your guide why you want the UY you want, you'll get it even if they try to steer you toward a different one.

MB is magical beginnings. It is where Disney will pay you $20/point for your current UY worth of points. So, right now, if you were going to get an October UY, you would get 300 points for the UY that began in October of 2024. You can bank them and have double points for the October 2025 UY or you can get a check for $6,000. It is a really nice savings IMO. I took advantage on both of my direct purchases. I don't think there is any limitation on this benefit for international purchasers, but I can't say for certain.

Go to the referral thread and get a referral for $500 off your first direct purchase too.

Hope this is all helpful. Happy to try and answer more questions too.

 

[Mouseforward]

What is MB? If it MMB, then I’m ineligible since I’m international.

Yeah, I sometimes wonder why International owners continue to join DVC when they do not get the same benefits. This is unfair treatment and I wish those options ( or equivalent discounts) were available to you.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

I'd do 150x2 and 50x2. You didn't say how old your kids are and if they're okay sharing a room when they get older. We had 300 up until a few months ago and got up to 400, and now I think we're in good shape for a rotation of 1B for peak week vacations and then 2B every other year, but we borrow all the time.

Also, the family you plan to bring, what's the expected makeup? We are a family of four with b/g and often bring my sister, BIL, and niece. If you are bringing grandparents, you may want a 2B lockoff so they can have a little privacy.

If you're tied to school breaks, 300 peak weeks for a 1B works for us at Riviera, but Poly tower chart is higher that Riviera in many cases, so in order to avoid borrowing more than 20%, I think I'd take advantage of incentives now and get enough than have to top off points in a couple years when your kids are older and are on different sleep schedules and you want that 2B just so the common areas aren't tied up with luggage and gear strewn all over.

150x2 gets each kid their own contract, if that's something you want for them, and the 50x2 will be easy to sell off at a premium price later on if you decide to downsize your holdings.

I would not get a December use year, only because your vacations may change, and if you want to go over Thanksgiving (like this year) where it falls really late and runs into December, straddling two use years can be tricky. Also, the first two weeks of December are great weeks for DVC, and then that could be tough if you had to cancel last minute.

 

[sndral]

… Also, if you think you're ever going to travel in December, I'd avoid a December UY. And, if you tell your guide why you want the UY you want, you'll get it even if they try to steer you toward a different one.
…

A December use year is fine for Dec. travel - we’ve owned well over a decade & have a Dec. use year & most of our trips are in Dec. - if we have to cancel we have 11-12 months to reschedule & until 7/31 to bank. A Dec. use year is, however, a little dicey for fall travel.

 

[AstroBlasters]

This is such great advice, I will def do that! I’m trying to thread the needle here to not buy so few points that I feel I need to add-on immediately.

Also thanks @sndral for your followup

I think 200, 300 then 500.

What is MB? If it MMB, then I’m ineligible since I’m international.

What is the ppp break point at those levels?

 

[airjay75]

A December use year is fine for Dec. travel - we’ve owned well over a decade & have a Dec. use year & most of our trips are in Dec. - if we have to cancel we have 11-12 months to reschedule & until 7/31 to bank. A Dec. use year is, however, a little dicey for fall travel.

That is good to know. Folks steered me away from December, in part, because of it being more difficult to "walk" reservations in December. I have yet to go for a December booking, but I imagine if you have home resort priority and are willing to waitlist any days you can't get right at 11 months, you are probably just fine the vast majority of the time. As you note, the more important consideration is probably whether you want to travel in September, October, or November.

 

[airjay75]

What is the ppp break point at those levels?

For new members, incentives look to be as follows:
150 points - $5/point
200 points - $10/point
250 points - $11/point
300 points - $12/point
500+ points - $13/point
https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-men...centives-improve-as-welcome-home-weeks-begins

Really not a lot of savings to go from one point level to the next aside from 150 to 200.