Help! Is it worth it to use my pts on a non DVC resort?

[aes74]

I am trying to make a res for Sun night, but everything is booked. The only thing they have open is the Poly for 49 points or the Yacht Club for 45.
Obviously, if we purchase this we have to keep it, it would be to late to change our minds. I'm thinking this is not worth the use of points (although I would LOVE to stay in either place). It's my birthday and I've had a cast on my leg for 3 months, just got it off, I'm in painful PT and I just want a break. However, I don't want to do anything stupid out of desperation. After all, we only have 150 points left until August.

What's your opinion?

 

[dianeschlicht]

So do you have another reservation between now and August? If not, you might as well use the points unless you are intent on banking them. Other than that, have you checked to see if there is a cash discount availble?

 

[aes74]

So do you have another reservation between now and August? If not, you might as well use the points unless you are intent on banking them. Other than that, have you checked to see if there is a cash discount availble?

Oh! I didn't know about a cash discount! What is this? Maybe I should call them back. The member services person I was speaking to had such a thick accent I could barely understand her. So I didn't go much further than the basics. To answer your first ?, we do have a five day trip during our spring break at the end of March. And we live so close to Disney, we don't usually bank our points, we usually use them.

I heard Disney is very crowded right now because there is a big race in Daytona. Don't know how true that is.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Oh! I didn't know about a cash discount! What is this? Maybe I should call them back. The member services person I was speaking to had such a thick accent I could barely understand her. So I didn't go much further than the basics. To answer your first ?, we do have a five day trip during our spring break at the end of March. And we live so close to Disney, we don't usually bank our points, we usually use them.

I heard Disney is very crowded right now because there is a big race in Daytona. Don't know how true that is.

Yep, the Daytona 500 could be called a "big race"! LOL! If it is that crowded though, there likely are no DVC cash discount rooms available either, but you might call back and ask. When available the DVC cash discount is about 25% off rack rate.

 

[Demosthenes]

It depends. You can rent a room at the YC or Poly for less than $400/night, and 49 points would rent for about $490, so from a pure cost effectiveness point of view, you would be better off renting points or paying cash for the reservation. On the other hand, if you won't use the points anyway, and you really want to stay at the Poly or YC, and you really don't want to pony up the cash, then this is a good flexible option for you. If that is the case, go for it.

 

[aes74]

Yep, the Daytona 500 could be called a "big race"! LOL! If it is that crowded though, there likely are no DVC cash discount rooms available either, but you might call back and ask. When available the DVC cash discount is about 25% off rack rate.

Oh, ha ha!! I should have realized that's the same race!! Duh! Dude, I cannot let my husband know what I did or I will never live it down!!

I will call and see if there are any room at all open, but I am guessing not. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

 

[dznymom1]

When I consider the value of my points, I don't use the $10 figure that most use. Since I wouldn't rent those points out to begin with, that number means nothing to me. At the end of this post, I will put my Chrissy math which shows how I figure the value of my points, but most here won't agree with my method. What I mostly want to emphasize is that YOUR points have a value to YOU and you only. I used points for a Poly stay a few years ago and it was worth every penny (or point) and remains one of our favorite Disney trips. I think shaking it up a little now and then, and using my points at other than the DVC resorts makes me enjoy and appreciate my membership even more! Never underestimate the emotional value of your points


Chrissy Math: I actually look at what I paid for the points I am using. SO my math works out more like this - points bought for cash at $xx point in (what year) divided by the number of years you had left plus your maintenance fee per point = the cost per point. In my case, the first points I bought in '92 for $54 cost me $1.08 per point, and adding in the maintenance fee (estimating at $4 because I don't have the paper handy) = $5.08. SO, if I use those points a 49 point night at the Poly would be equal to $249 which is actually a nice savings. Now, if I use my HH points purchased later at $62 a point, it changes things, and someone buying recently in the $90 price range is looking at a much different result. Obviously it depends on when you purchased and whether or not you financed, but hopefully you get my drift.

 

[Chuck S]

Have you tried calling the regular Disney reservation lines? Maybe there is a Fl resident discount or Annual Passholder discount available? Personally, I think I'd go cash rather than use that many points for a standard hotel room. Have you ever stayed at a Disney Value resort? We often stay at POP Century for the first night of our trips, the room are clean and comfortable, even if they are small comapared to DVC studios, and they are usually in the $100 range, even without a discount.

 

[tubtruck]

It shows how ridiculously unattractive the points deals at the standard resorts are. Surely it is time that Disney reviewed the point requirements at the other resorts, at the present point requirements all it encourages is renting. I am staying at the poly in July as the cash deal was attractive, how did I finance the two two day weekend stays between my other stays? with cash used from renting points; why? because it would have cost me 65 points per night, a total of 260 points for a basic garden view room for the two weekends I want to stay. The cash price for the two weekends is a total of $1480.56.
Disney therefore are offering $5.69 per point which is a Joke.
Disney charged me $4.12 per point in maintenance for them for this year
The difference is $1.57
At Disneys present weekend rate at the poly calculation in value season the total value over 48 years of lease I purchased is $75.57 at present prices, a far cry from the $91 I paid for it in August.
I would like to see Disney slap this across their best kept secret boards
Its about time they changed the points policy if they dont want 100,000 private renters shoveling people into the DVC rooms.
Why then, when the cash rate during the week doesnt change do the point requirements?
It costs 35 points per night to rent during the weeks that I am staying this equates to $10.57 per point, suprisingly around the average point sale price on these boards.
In otherwords DISNEY IF YOU ARE READING THIS -------- DROP THE HIGHER WEEKEND POINT REQUIREMENTS THEY ARE A RIP OFF. The only loser is you, yes YOU Disney. People rent the points out then pay cash meanwhile YOU are filling the DVC resorts with others who have rented on the cheap, your sales pitch for DVC would look so much more attractive if the book had the point cost at a sensible level in the first place without people having to go to this rental hassel. You would get more people buying DVC and you would get less people renting out points so therefore more control over who you had onsite and an improvement on your direct marketing as you would be directly transacting with more people. When you started DVC I am sure you did not envisage the explosion in the internet and just how easy it is now to rent out, even across continents is no longer a barrier. Not even your Epcot imagineers, you cannot change our contracts, they are legally binding on both sides. Unless you feel like compensating for loss of value if the ability for non profit renting is removed and a whole heap of bad publicity to go with it, you had better start looking at the crazy situation you have created.
Personally I do not want to go through this transaction of renting points but at present you leave me no other sensible financial option. I find my trips to Disney the highlight of my year and work and save hard to get them, I have even taken out a considerable bank loan to enable me to join the DVC, that said the Great Mouse is not a charity but neither am I, and I want as much out of him as I can get for as little as possible and to practically give him the points that he has charged me so much for for so little is a greater fairytale than even he can come up with.