HELP! 1st time points renter looking for advice!!

[donnajean17]

I am interested in possibly renting points from a DVC club member, but I have questions! Anyone out there willing to offer advice, experiences, pros and cons about renting points would be appreciated!
Here are some of my questions:
- The owner of the points makes the reservation in your name (the renter) right?
- Can you add the meal plan and park tickets to your reservation?
- What do some DVC resorts mean when they say "limited or no maid service"?

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wilma-bride]

Hi there. To take your questions one by one:

1. Yes, the DVC member would make the reservation in your name. They would need the names, address and DOB of everyone in your party.

2. Yes, you can add the DDP. The DVC member needs to add it to your reservation but you don't pay the DVC member for it, you pay when you check in to the resort. AFAIK you cannot add tickets to your reservation, they must be purchased separately.

3. As DVC resorts are not hotels, there is no daily housekeeping service. The housekeeping you get is dependent on length of stay. I believe for stays of less than 7 days, you get trash & towels on day 4. For stays of 7 or more days, you get T & T on day 4 and then full clean on day 7 (someone else correct me if I'm wrong )

Just a word of warning - we rented points 2 weeks ago at BWV and are now brand-new owners at SSR. Once you've experienced DVC, it's hard to resist the urge to buy

 

[Caskbill]

You would need to purchase your tickets separately.

Since DVC is a timeshare, like all timeshares, daily maid service is not included like it would be in hotels.

To correct Wilma, on stays of 7 days or less, you get Trash and Towel on Day 4 (Day 1 is check-in day)

On stays of 8 days or longer, you get a full cleaning on day 4, and trash and towel on day 8. This cycle repeats every 4 days, so on day 12 you'd get a full cleaning again.

 

[donnajean17]

Thanks so much! One other question. Any tips to avoid getting ripped off? Are most poeple selling points legit?

 

[dannyh23]

Thanks so much! One other question. Any tips to avoid getting ripped off? Are most poeple selling points legit?

There is no guarantee that you won't get ripped off -- you are paying a discount price when renting points and taking a risk. It takes trust on both ends. Might want to check the Rent/Trade boards....

The only way to guarantee is to book directly via Disney's CRO.

 

[wilma-bride]

The PP is right - there is risk on both sides when renting points and there are no guarantees. Still, when I was orginally thinking about renting points I was given some fairly sound advice.

If you are going to rent from someone here on the DIS, go for someone who is fairly well established (ie long time member, large number of posts etc.). Try to agree some kind of contract that will be signed by both parties before full payment is made. I was also able to get references from other DISers who had rented from my guy before me. When I rented, I paid a 50% deposit and then the remainder 12 weeks before travel. I paid by Paypal, although I now understand that Paypal wouldn't necessarily have protected me had anything gone wrong. I also was lucky in that, when my reservation was first made, non-members were still able to call MS to confirm reservations. That is now no longer the case but the guy who rented me the points provided the written confirmation from Disney not long after the agreement was made.

I appreciate your caution and you are wise to be so but, from what I've read, the cases where renting doesn't work out are few and far between.

 

[dannyh23]

The PP is right - there is risk on both sides when renting points and there are no guarantees. Still, when I was orginally thinking about renting points I was given some fairly sound advice.

If you are going to rent from someone here on the DIS, go for someone who is fairly well established (ie long time member, large number of posts etc.). Try to agree some kind of contract that will be signed by both parties before full payment is made. I was also able to get references from other DISers who had rented from my guy before me. When I rented, I paid a 50% deposit and then the remainder 12 weeks before travel. I paid by Paypal, although I now understand that Paypal wouldn't necessarily have protected me had anything gone wrong. I also was lucky in that, when my reservation was first made, non-members were still able to call MS to confirm reservations. That is now no longer the case but the guy who rented me the points provided the written confirmation from Disney not long after the agreement was made.

I appreciate your caution and you are wise to be so but, from what I've read, the cases where renting doesn't work out are few and far between.

That's a great summary! I'll add in...

Renters should also be aware that the member may not allow you to make changes or cancel -- it's a private transaction between the two of you and Disney can't and won't do anything for you if you have to cancel or make changes.

We basically "swapped" points with a OKW DVC member once in order to be sure of getting a GV a few years ago... It all worked smooth, but I've read horror stories of people sending money via paypal/western union and losing it all to someone "pretending" to be a DVC member...

 

[crisi]

The risk of getting scammed is there, but its fairly low.

The bigger risk is that you don't understand what you are getting. Cancellation policies on points are much different than CRO reservations. Even if the member wants to help you (and some will, some won't) they may not be able to help you if you need to cancel or move your trip around. Even something as "simple" as adding a day two months from now may not be possible. It is best to consider this a final transaction. For that reason, it is best to think of the transaction as final and to only rent DVC points when you are sure of your plans. I would recommend HIGHLY against renting points for a trip that involves anyone other than you immediate family - many members have been burned by "sure, we'd love to go" then "oh, we decided we wouldn't go this year." I'd also recommend not renting points if the money means a lot to you. I know members can get travel insurance for points based trips, I don't know if travel insurance is available to non-members.

Added: Additionally, you should understand what you get. DVC is a timeshare, there is a meme floating out there that renting DVC points allows you to stay in a Deluxe hotel at Value rates. This isn't a hotel, its a timeshare. You don't get daily maidservice. You don't get your shampoo replentished each day. Most of the studios have a queen bed and a pullout sofa.

 

[donnajean17]

Thank so much for all the great tips! I really appreciate it!