First Contract: Debating how many points

[AstroBlasters]

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.

Does the buy resale first and then buy direct at a discounted price trick still work?

I don’t think those incentives look like a “can’t miss opportunity”.

 

[airjay75]

Does the buy resale first and then buy direct at a discounted price trick still work?

I don’t think those incentives look like a “can’t miss opportunity”.

I imagine so, but then you need to find what you want on resale which could take time, and then you’ll be dealing with a future round of incentives where the difference between new member and add-on pricing might not be as significant. I suppose if you’re patient and interested in resale anyways, could be a good way to go. But, once you get that itch for the points and the willingness to pay direct prices, patience sort of goes out the window - at least it did for me! Haha.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I imagine so, but then you need to find what you want on resale which could take time, and then you’ll be dealing with a future round of incentives where the difference between new member and add-on pricing might not be as significant. I suppose if you’re patient and interested in resale anyways, could be a good way to go. But, once you get that itch for the points and the willingness to pay direct prices, patience sort of goes out the window - at least it did for me! Haha.

There has always been a material delta between a new member and an existing member.

You also purchased at RIV, where the incentives were much better as you purchased more points.

At these levels, I’d consider getting resale to start and then adding on 200 points direct at the discounted member rate since that’s where the only material incentive increase occurs.

That is how I purchase my direct Aulani points and I got them for around $180pp with full previous years points and WITHOUT selling anything back for magical beginning.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

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.

I know timeshares have a whole bunch of laws and regulations wrapped around them. I also know that different countries have different rules on things. So for example, international guests at one time couldn't book lightning lanes early because of some consumer protection regulations. There may be something similar with DVC.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

Does the buy resale first and then buy direct at a discounted price trick still work?

I don’t think those incentives look like a “can’t miss opportunity”.

They worked for me. Bought BLT resale in July. Finalized membership with points in my account in early September. Bought direct as an existing member with the member discounts just last week.

I feel like Poly was pretty solid. Those points sell resale for $155-175, with some listings as high as $190. After MB, an amazing credit card sign up bonus, and the incentives, my net price per point was $184 (of course, I ended up declining MB because I wanted the points, but the point remains). That's well worth it to have direct benefits and with our large family, we're saving $3K+ every time we buy annual passes.

Will there be better opportunities? Maybe. But I didn't wait on them because this was so solid.

 

[Chili327]

They worked for me. Bought BLT resale in July. Finalized membership with points in my account in early September. Bought direct as an existing member with the member discounts just last week.

I feel like Poly was pretty solid. Those points sell resale for $155-175, with some listings as high as $190. After MB, an amazing credit card sign up bonus, and the incentives, my net price per point was $184 (of course, I ended up declining MB because I wanted the points, but the point remains). That's well worth it to have direct benefits and with our large family, we're saving $3K+ every time we buy annual passes.

Will there be better opportunities? Maybe. But I didn't wait on them because this was so solid.

This is the way.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

This is the way.

My bigger problem is keeping myself from making a third DVC purchase in as many months. Boardwalk is calling to me... The spreadsheet says to go with Copper Creek, but my heart is enraptured by the Boardwalk.