Hold the phone, I can whaaaat?!

[intricatejewel]

I've planned a solo trip this October and booked a LM room at AoA. I've just recently learned about renting DVC points and it might be a game changer. For 5 nights + park tickets it cost me $1200 for AoA. But if I rent points, I could stay at a villa in AKL for less than $1100, and that's including the cost of park tickets. Has anyone had any experience renting points? It seems like a phenomenal deal and if it really is as good as it sounds, I want to take advantage of this!

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Yes, it's really as good as it sounds! We prefer to go through a rental booking site rather than renting direct...but that's just a personal preference. There are many discussions here on the DIS about renting points - you can do some research. I say to go for it! Great way to stay at deluxe resorts affordably.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

The studio rooms are generally a little smaller than the non-DVC standard, deluxe rooms.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm guessing with that price you are looking at a standard studio. It's my understanding that those go fast to DVC owners and are few and far between for renting. If you want to go that route, you might want to start checking now and remember, 99% of the time, once you've booked there is no cancelling and you pay up front.

 

[Donna M]

Read up about it, so you know what you're getting. For one, you won't get daily maid service unless you pay extra for it. You will have new towels and trash removed on day 4. You get free access to a washer and dryer if you're staying in a studio, larger units have washer/dryers in the unit.
Look into it, and check out the different resorts, OKW has two queen beds, whereas the other resorts have a queen and sofa bed.

 

[intricatejewel]

I put an inquiry in and sadly, they didn't have the nights I needed. It was worth a shot. I tried crunching some numbers to make a different villa work, but it still was more than I could afford for this trip. The one downfall to planning solo- you front the cost for EVERYTHING. However, next time, I'm going to save up for a Poly villa and cross that one of the bucket list!! Thanks for your help, everyone!

 

[disneydacey]

We rented dvc points two years ago. It's the only way we will do Disney from now on. I joined a board for dvc owners and found a renter through there. You might be able to get a confirmed reservation for the time you want. You can post on the reservation wanted board to find something.

 

[intricatejewel]

We rented dvc points two years ago. It's the only way we will do Disney from now on. I joined a board for dvc owners and found a renter through there. You might be able to get a confirmed reservation for the time you want. You can post on the reservation wanted board to find something.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Dormouse.]

I'm in the process of signing an agreement to rent points right now, actually. I found someone here, and they were really professional and accommodating, even though I made a crazy ridiculous request. We were going to stay at POR originally, but we'll end up saving about half what we would've spent by renting.

I definitely suggest renting DVC points for a trip in the future.

 

[MeganMango]

This isn't through renting points, but I used Orbits, got 15% off my already discounted room, and including park tickets I'm spending just under $900. For 5 nights and 5 days of park (hopper) tickets!

 

[com_op_2000]

Checkout the DISboards DVC Rent Trade board:
http://www.disboards.com/forums/dvc-rent-trade.29/

 

[Virtucomp]

We rented points directly from a friend once and had no issues. The points were cheaper because we rented a two room lockout for a week so she rented the points for less since we were using so many.

We then rented through a broker who advertises on the DVC rental board here. We were a little worried at first but after going through the process with them I would recommend it. They handled every step of the process professionally and documented everything properly. We originally wanted to stay at Boardwalk but they did not have the days we wanted so they recommended the Animal Kingdom villa instead. We had a great stay and will use them again another visit.

Going through the broker you can see exactly how much it will cost for your stay by using their calculator before you even start the process.

As another poster pointed out, when you stay at a DVC resort you don't get daily maid service. You also cannot get free dining if it is offered during your stay. You can add the dining plan just not the free one. The only thing I didn't plan for was that not only does the maid not clean the towels and stuff but they don't re-stock the coffee to use with the in room coffee maker.

I'd much rather stay at a deluxe than a value if the price is the same.