First experience trying to rent DVC points and so far not so great...

Bowen Family

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 4, 2017
After a lot of research, calculations, comparisons etc., we finally decided to go the route of renting DVC points for a 7-night stay at AKL in early May 2020.

I am surprised that despite enquiring with two separate rental agencies, AND trying to book 11 months out (to the day), we are still only able to get a spot on a waitlist.

The issue is that while there is available inventory for our preferred room type (Standard Studio at Jambo or Kidani) there are not currently any AKL owners offering the points we'd need for this stay.

For the record, both companies have been terrific to deal with so far, so this isn't any sort of complaint with either of them. I guess I had just hoped that booking so far out, and in early May during a somewhat less in demand season, this rental process would be relatively painless. But now I'm back to pricing rack rate rooms just in case this doesn't pan out.

Any other DVC renters ever find themselves in this spot? How did it go for you? How long did you wait before pulling the plug on renting points and just going the more conventional route?
 
@Hopefully has it exactly right. Demand far exceeds supply.

The vast majority of DVC owners use their points for their own vacations. If a circumstance comes up that prevents them from using their points in a given year, some will decide to rent them out through an agency like the ones you're using. Others will rent them out directly, using boards like our DVC Rent/Trade board. Some will gift their unused points to a friend or family member. Some will just let them expire.

So you're looking at a small minority of owners that are renting points at any given time, and then an even smaller subset of those are using an agency.
 
We are renting points from David’s for our trip this December. I put in the request at exactly 11 months out, but David’s contacted me that day to let us know there was availability but no owners with points at the time. I was very surprised, however they got back with me just 2 days later with a confirmed reservation. This was at Old Key West, which is generally one of the properties with less demand.
 


We are renting points from David’s for our trip this December. I put in the request at exactly 11 months out, but David’s contacted me that day to let us know there was availability but no owners with points at the time. I was very surprised, however they got back with me just 2 days later with a confirmed reservation. This was at Old Key West, which is generally one of the properties with less demand.

So there’s hope! Thank you, this is reassuring.
 
@Hopefully has it exactly right. Demand far exceeds supply.

The vast majority of DVC owners use their points for their own vacations. If a circumstance comes up that prevents them from using their points in a given year, some will decide to rent them out through an agency like the ones you're using. Others will rent them out directly, using boards like our DVC Rent/Trade board. Some will gift their unused points to a friend or family member. Some will just let them expire.

So you're looking at a small minority of owners that are renting points at any given time, and then an even smaller subset of those are using an agency.

I guess I’m experiencing this now for myself. I had assumed from all the rental services available and all the discussion on this topic, that rental points were fairly easy to come by.
 
I've been searching for people's more recent experiences with renting DVC points, glad I found your post! I found out when I called David's that they will take your request 12 months + 10 days out. I put my request in on June 6th for a June 14th - 20th, 2020 stay. I'm still worried about availability. I had thought it would be easy too but I'm reading otherwise so far. I have a request in for 6 nights at Boardwalk (both views but not sure I should keep the preferred view. $400 more!!). I'm thinking about adding SSR as an alternate. With the prices that were just released and the uncertainty of discounts, rentals seem to be the way to go if you can swing it! Good luck to you!
 


We had the same problem when we rented at Aulani two years ago. There weren’t any owners to fulfill my request, but I was able to get something at the 7 month mark. So you’ll probably get a room, but you may have to wait a few months.
 
I've been searching for people's more recent experiences with renting DVC points, glad I found your post! I found out when I called David's that they will take your request 12 months + 10 days out. I put my request in on June 6th for a June 14th - 20th, 2020 stay. I'm still worried about availability. I had thought it would be easy too but I'm reading otherwise so far. I have a request in for 6 nights at Boardwalk (both views but not sure I should keep the preferred view. $400 more!!). I'm thinking about adding SSR as an alternate. With the prices that were just released and the uncertainty of discounts, rentals seem to be the way to go if you can swing it! Good luck to you!

And to you! We were also thinking of Boardwalk. I love the idea of being able to walk to Epcot and HS. But we’ve been twice to AKL for dinner at Sanaa on prior trips, and now really want to enjoy it for a whole week!
 
We had the same problem when we rented at Aulani two years ago. There weren’t any owners to fulfill my request, but I was able to get something at the 7 month mark. So you’ll probably get a room, but you may have to wait a few months.

Good to know. I’d prefer to lock this down sooner, but can wait to the 7 month mark before going rack rate.
 
After a lot of research, calculations, comparisons etc., we finally decided to go the route of renting DVC points for a 7-night stay at AKL in early May 2020.

I am surprised that despite enquiring with two separate rental agencies, AND trying to book 11 months out (to the day), we are still only able to get a spot on a waitlist.

The issue is that while there is available inventory for our preferred room type (Standard Studio at Jambo or Kidani) there are not currently any AKL owners offering the points we'd need for this stay.

For the record, both companies have been terrific to deal with so far, so this isn't any sort of complaint with either of them. I guess I had just hoped that booking so far out, and in early May during a somewhat less in demand season, this rental process would be relatively painless. But now I'm back to pricing rack rate rooms just in case this doesn't pan out.

Any other DVC renters ever find themselves in this spot? How did it go for you? How long did you wait before pulling the plug on renting points and just going the more conventional route?


We had a similar issue this year, although I’ll be honest we went to book about 7 mo’s out. In the past it worked out for us at this “late” date, and at places like GF villas 3 months after they opened. We’ve also rented boardwalk view and AKL Jambo studio which is high in demand with no issues - and definitely not at a year out!!! But demand is getting higher and more and more people have figured out this “secret.” David’s couldn’t fill our request this year at 7 mo’s out, and we’ve never booked a year out but are going to have to start if we want to rent!!! For this year, once knowing our ideal hotels weren’t going to work out, it was either Port Orleans or Swan/Dolphin. It was less than renting points. There were some suites available at the deluxes - with no deals - and I won’t pay that kind of money lol. Port orleans and Swan/Dolphin were each the same cost as far as onsite hotels (it was then released Star Wars galaxy edge was opening)... and our amazing time of year we always go is now really screwing us over lol. We chose Swan/Dolphin. It sucks not to have ME but at least we can still walk/boat to 2 parks.
 
I would suggest looking at DVC forum on here and asking the questions on there. A few things to note based on the comments on this thread

- BWV Boardwalk and Standard View studios are always going to be hard to rent especially through a rental agency and for extended number of nights.
- Summer is generally a slow time for DVC so 7 month window is easier (when it doesn’t matter where the owner owns) but some studios will likely not be available at that time that are in demand such as VGF, CCV, BWV (boardwalk and standard), BCV, AKV-Jambo, BLT (standard), and some others I might have missed.
- DVC rentals are great for saving money but come with the sacrifice of flexibility (can’t cancel) and rely on owners being available to rent points. I will also add it isn’t first come first serve for booking a DVC rental it is basically the owner is sent a list and selects which they want to rent.
- cheap views at desirable resorts I would assume you won’t be able to ever rent (except PVB standard which is fairly easy for an owner to grab at 11 months all year and 7 months for March to September)
- if you rent 1 beds you will find availability and likely be fulfilled at 7 months but the costs lead to about what the deluxe hotel room would cost if I were to guess. But it is a serious upgrade in accommodations.
 
Booking directly with a DVC owner and not through the services is how I have done it. There is also *********** which has a rental board for owners as well. As with anything there is some risk but if you are smart, do research on the person, and put travel insurance on it you should be fine.

Looks like I can't put the other websites name but basically if you google you can find it. Although you might not need to if you look on this site.
 
I would suggest looking at DVC forum on here and asking the questions on there. A few things to note based on the comments on this thread

- BWV Boardwalk and Standard View studios are always going to be hard to rent especially through a rental agency and for extended number of nights.
- Summer is generally a slow time for DVC so 7 month window is easier (when it doesn’t matter where the owner owns) but some studios will likely not be available at that time that are in demand such as VGF, CCV, BWV (boardwalk and standard), BCV, AKV-Jambo, BLT (standard), and some others I might have missed.
- DVC rentals are great for saving money but come with the sacrifice of flexibility (can’t cancel) and rely on owners being available to rent points. I will also add it isn’t first come first serve for booking a DVC rental it is basically the owner is sent a list and selects which they want to rent.
- cheap views at desirable resorts I would assume you won’t be able to ever rent (except PVB standard which is fairly easy for an owner to grab at 11 months all year and 7 months for March to September)
- if you rent 1 beds you will find availability and likely be fulfilled at 7 months but the costs lead to about what the deluxe hotel room would cost if I were to guess. But it is a serious upgrade in accommodations.
I just did a price check yesterday on how much renting one bedrooms would cost - and you are right... about the same as rack rate for regular deluxe rooms.

We had great luck renting points for next January, but we only needed one night (pre-cruise) and wanted SSR... so that was super easy and quick.
 
I was on a waitlist with David’s for a May Aulani stay several years ago. I was nervous too but it came through. I think it took a couple months. It was a great deal. One thing we appreciated was the free parking included. We really did save money and are glad we rented points.
 
After a lot of research, calculations, comparisons etc., we finally decided to go the route of renting DVC points for a 7-night stay at AKL in early May 2020.

I am surprised that despite enquiring with two separate rental agencies, AND trying to book 11 months out (to the day), we are still only able to get a spot on a waitlist.

The issue is that while there is available inventory for our preferred room type (Standard Studio at Jambo or Kidani) there are not currently any AKL owners offering the points we'd need for this stay.

For the record, both companies have been terrific to deal with so far, so this isn't any sort of complaint with either of them. I guess I had just hoped that booking so far out, and in early May during a somewhat less in demand season, this rental process would be relatively painless. But now I'm back to pricing rack rate rooms just in case this doesn't pan out.
Any other DVC renters ever find themselves in this spot? How did it go for you? How long did you wait before pulling the plug on renting points and just going the more conventional route?

I wouldn't be too concerned....it should come through just fine. Just remember that while you are eager to get your reservation right at the 11 month mark, owners will be paid the same for renting their points anytime in the 7-11 month window so may not be in a rush.
 
you are a bit early to book for AKV for what is not a massively difficult time to book. Owners probably haven't yet decided what they want to do with their points for that timeframe as it isn't a timeframe you massively need to book at 11 months. B patient AKV will rent fine closer to the time there is no hurry for this one.
 
I suspect it will come through fine, probably quite quickly too.
I’d always suggest contacting David’s 12+ months before travel if possible.
But you’ve picked a resort with lots of points, and a quiet DVC time, so I’d be very surprised if they did not fill it, as you will still be quite high up the pecking order.
Patience grasshopper.
 
I wouldn't be too concerned....it should come through just fine. Just remember that while you are eager to get your reservation right at the 11 month mark, owners will be paid the same for renting their points anytime in the 7-11 month window so may not be in a rush.

Thanks. That makes sense!
 

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