Free Lodging for Family

[rowbear]

Seeing my nephew who is almost 3 smile ear to ear when he see's June at Hollywood and Vine or my brother-in-law who is a Green Beret as giddy as a school boy at Disney and cry watching his son experiencing Disney or our good friend talk non-stop after her trip with us to friends and family is all the payment I'll ever need.

That about sums it up. When I talk of enhancing my own vacation this is exactly what I am talking about. When we took my BiL, SiL, and nephew (age 5 at the time) to disney it was mostly a selfish act on my part. I could not wait to see his reaction. I even started the vacation by treating them all to a Chef Mickey character breakfast and his reaction paid me back 100 times whatever it cost. All the pictures that we have of that trip are PRICELESS. You could not hire models and stage pictures that wonderful.

 

[dvcnewgirl]

We take my parents and get them a studio. I figure they took me my whole life..

 

[Deb & Bill]

We have invited family or friends at least 8 times and no one backed out. We haven't invited anyone in a while, but in two years, we'll be doing a HS grad trip for our son and some of his friends. We'll see how that goes.

 

[DenLo]

I would never thing to tell anyone else what to do with their points (and their family)...

But DVC is my home - you don't charge family to stay in your home. In fact, one of the main reasons I bought DVC is to be able to share vacations with friends and family.

Here, here! We're newbies, but we too bought thinking family can stay we us sometimes and we plan to get a larger unit or multiple units when needed. At no charge for the family. However, unlike at home they have to pay for their own meals. And tickets to WDW too.

We're already planning for our brother to join us for late September 2010 and will get a 1 bedroom vs a studio we get for us.

 

[MrsNick]

We've treated good friends twice, DSD + 1 once, and will be treating my DM and DSis+Family next year. We've owned since 2005 and took our first trip in 2006.

The friends we treated to 3 nights each. One friend stayed with me in a studio at SSR - we left the DH's home on that trip
Our other friends got their own OVIR at VB.

DSD + 1 we treated to an OVIR for a week.

Next year, DM and DSis+Family will stay with us for an entire week in THV solely on points (we'd have gotten a 1BR otherwise, probably at VB, and would likely have done the 1BR on cash for the weekend instead). I believe I'll be able to cover park tickets for everyone this whole trip, too.

We've always enjoyed the company. With a baby on the way, I'm not sure that we'll have enough spare points to continue to treat since we'll really need a 1 BR now, vs. getting a 1 BR occasionally as a splurge. But we'll do what we can. If at all possible, I'd love to add-on, but again, with a baby coming and all the related expenses for that, I just don't see it happening in the near future.

 

[DVCJones]

I would love to be able to own enough points to take my friends and family. (maybe someday) With that being said, I have had family use the rent board to rent and transfer points to my account. It is never the full amount needed. I usually use a portion of my points. This helps to cut down the cost even morefor them.

Also, we have all heard of the DVC member who booked more rooms or bigger rooms for family and friends only to have them back out after the 31 day mark thus resulting in a loss of valuable points. I like the idea of family and friends buying a portion of their points, because people don't tend to back out when "their" money is on the line. KWIM?

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Yes! We upgrade to a grand villa to bring MIL, FIL, and SIL's family with us. We do it because it's fun to vacation with them and we love to have very nice accomodations! We bought enough points planning to do this every 2-3 years until we grow out of it!

 

[hygienejean]

I would love to be able to own enough points to take my friends and family. (maybe someday) With that being said, I have had family use the rent board to rent and transfer points to my account. It is never the full amount needed. I usually use a portion of my points. This helps to cut down the cost even morefor them.

Also, we have all heard of the DVC member who booked more rooms or bigger rooms for family and friends only to have them back out after the 31 day mark thus resulting in a loss of valuable points. I like the idea of family and friends buying a portion of their points, because people don't tend to back out when "their" money is on the line. KWIM?

We do this too! We have enough points for our immediate family and a few extra. I wish I could afford more and be able to take family for free. Now we super discount it for my parents and use some of our points. Someday maybe we can totally treat them.

 

[Chris and Pooh]

I bought an extra 120 points to allow for me to book 4 studios to accommodate my dw and myself and my 3 dd's and their partners so they could join me to celebrate my 50th in October

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

We were all set in a 1br at BCV last summer when I invitedmy mom and stepdad along. But there were no 2br available at BCV when I called to change the ressie, so we weneded up in a 2 br at SSR instead. It was our pleasure to have them come along on the trip and we wouldn't have let them pay for the room even if they tried

 

[shortypots]

We bought our points to take the family with us on vacation. However, it is all dependant upon how the April trip goes. If there is too much complaining or arguing, that will be the end of everyone going at the same time, and DH and I will have to use them all on ourselves!

However, I don't think I would just give away points if I wasn't going on the trip too. So I do not think I would let my family use them unless I was using it too.

 

[Inkmahm]

Probably 1/3 to 1/2 of the time we take family with us. No one has ever paid for a meal for us, in fact, we pay for their meals as they are our guests. At least, we pay for the meals if they are with us. If they head off on their own, the food costs are up to them.

 

[pixie08]

Really for us it is the reason we bought. We are able to do this for our family and loving going to wdw with people. We really only give to closest family and we always travel with them

We have been owners for 2 years and so far..

My mom and bro twice (in a studio)- 1 week each
My SIL and BIL in a studio- 1 week
My MIL & FIL and us in a 2br

we never pay anything else for them (ie travel, food tickets) and do not expect them to give anything to us...nor would we take anything.

 

[ACDSNY]

I look at it another way too. We have been very successful in our careers (myself more then my partner, but we're very comfortable all the same) and our ability to take friends and family is a perk that we enjoy.

This fits us too. We only rented our points once to DH cousin since we had to add-on to have enough points for them, but then we took them to Kauai with us for nothing. Both trip were extremely fun and full of memories.

My extended family goes on almost all of our DL and WDW trips. We have 22 of us on a Wonder cruise this Nov.

jlewisinsyr - I did a double take on your screen name as my father is J Lewis.

 

[BeccaG]

We purchased out points with the intent to be generous, "giving" is one of our love languages (if you have read the book the five love languages, that will make more sense
So far we have:
sent a pastor and his fam for a week in a studio
took our fam and friends as a Christmas gift in 1 2BR and 4 studios
are going in Nov. with fam and friends in 1 treehouses.

Its a way for us to say thank you for all they do and return some of the generosity they have blessed us with.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We bought DVC specifically to stay in to celebrate DM's 85th birthday with family and friends. We've continued to invite people to share the magic with us!

Bobbi

 

[dianeschlicht]

We LOVE inviting family and friends along, and we never charge them. We do find that most take us out to dinner while we are on the trip as a thank you, but that's all the thanks we need. Just having the fun of sharing it with others is enough for us!

 

[flatzkids]

We are new to DVC and just recently made our first reservations.....and they are for our friends! We are going also, but with my mother on her "developer points" (I think that's what they're called) that she received when she purchased last year. We are a family of 6 so I'm not sure how often we will be able to treat. We would love to be able to share the magic when able. We will expect nothing in return but will graciously accept something, like dinner, if offered.

 

[yasuern]

We have given many vacations to family - a few in exchange for pet sitting while we are on vacation as a gift upon returning from Iraq and as wedding and graduation gifts.



We only use them as "gifts" if this is something a family member has asked for - we have never FORCED a vacation stay on anyone.



Sue

 

[Mini Sorcerer's Mom]

One reason we bought so many points is to treat our close friends and family to WDW. When we bring family (my parents or MIL) we pay for most everything including the meal plans-parents pay for the tips + drinks at sit down dinners and buy my son everything under the sun!

When we bring our friends they have either paid for the meal plan or treated us to dinners and bought beer and wine for the room.

However, when I do have additional points on hand, I have rented to friends and colleagues ONLY if we are not going and it is a way for them to get a great WDW vacation at a great price.