DoubleBaconBLT
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2025
- Messages
- 53
Just wanted to share in case anyone else is considering the Chase Sapphire Reserve Business credit card. My direct DVC purchase coded as "Hotels" and the CSR Business card gave me 4x points!!! That's $1000 in extra points on top of the crazy perks I already got with the card:
- 200,000 points sign up bonus (requires $30k spend)
- $300 travel credit
- 132,000 points earned on the purchase at 4x
- $100 in giftcards per year
Based on the 2.1 cents per point max redemption value, that's about $7k in points. It's $3320 if converted to cash back, which would be more than 10% of the total cost!
If anyone else wants to give it a shot here's the Chase application page with my referral, and here's the general application with no referral if you prefer that.
Here's my comprehensive list of ways to save money on DVC. Please share if you have other ideas I missed!
# General Tips to Save on DVC
1. **Don't buy DVC.** This is an expensive timeshare, and if you aren't going to Disney resorts at least every three years, you shouldn't buy it. If you don't love the deluxe resorts and are fine with Pop Century or staying offsite, or if the deluxe perks don't sound worthwhile to you, you will probably save money by not buying DVC. DVC would mean spending for upgrades you don't really value. If you are all about going rope-drop to fireworks every day, and view your room as just a place to recharge overnight, DVC might not reach its full potential for you.
2. **Don't finance your DVC purchase.** If you can't afford it up front, you probably should wait until you can. Financing DVC removes all or almost all of the value it brings vs renting points or paying cash. the interest rates are usually in the 10%-18% range.
3. **Paradoxically, pay for DVC using credit cards** (but pay them off that month to avoid interest charges). Resale brokers will allow an initial escrow payment to be made via credit card with no additional fee. This is limited to 10% of the sales price and limits usually range from $2000 up to $7500. There are many cards offering sign up bonuses worth $1500+ for that level of spending, and that's in addition to the \~$150 in rewards points or cash back you would normally get from $7500 in spend. For direct purchases, the entire amount can be charged to credit cards, and you can work with your guide to space out payments or split them among different cards to max out the value. The CSR Business card is the best one for this at present.
4. **Read and research first.** Before you spend five figures on DVC, take the time to learn all about how it works, all the details, the benefits, and the costs. Understand what you're buying and how you'll use it.
5. **Pay your dues with Disney Giftcards.** You can usually get them for 5% off at Target, BJs, or Sam's Club.
# Saving Money with Resale
6. **Buy a Resale contract.** Resale DVC contracts typically sell for at least 25% less than direct, even after incentives. Many resorts are over 50% discount vs direct prices. You may not even need direct benefits, so research both benefits and restrictions carefully.
7. **Shop around.** Use aggregators like dvcforless to see and compare multiple brokers at once. Don't just buy the "best" option available at a given broker.
8. **Be patient and don't offer the full asking price.** You can make successive offers on multiple listings and eventually one will either get accepted or countered at a good price. If you jump on the first contract you like at full asking price, you will almost always get it done sooner, but you'll also pay more.
9. **Buy right before your Use Year.** With resale, most contracts are priced higher if they have points on them. Buying right before the use year means most other buyers will only think about the current points available without considering that more points are coming very soon and may even arrive before you close. Buying right after the use year means the current points inflate the perceived value, but it's a full 11 months until the next set arrive.
10. **Consider the expiration, points chart, cash price, availability, and your typical vacation plans.** Longer expiration home resorts are almost always much cheaper per year over the life of the contract. Expensive points charts can make resorts like Riviera a lower value (i.e. higher cost per stay). Resorts which have low cash prices or restrictions like Cabins at Fort Wilderness or ample availability like Saratoga Springs aren't as valuable, but they could also lower your total upfront cost. Consider how much the 11 month vs 7 month booking window helps you when choosing a home resort and only pay a premium for a particular one (e.g. Beach Club) if you plan to use it there.
# Saving Money When Buying Direct
11. **Buy Resale first.** If you decide you want to buy direct to get benefits or avoid restrictions, buy a resale contract first because existing members almost always see better discounts and incentives when buying direct vs new members. Note that a resale purchase will typically take 8+ weeks before it's all done, so plan ahead. Once that's done, you can buy direct as an existing member. You will save money by buying the minimum number of points to qualify for benefits (currently 150) vs buying direct for all the points you want. So if you want 300 points at AKL and you want benefits, buy 150 direct and 150 resale with the same use year. This will save you about $17K vs buying all 300 points direct.
12. **Do a virtual tour and buy within 7 days.** This is generally a soft requirement to get the current incentives being offered, but it's worth noting that almost any phone conversation with a DVC guide can count as a "tour." Incentives range from a few hundred to over $10K depending on the resort and number of points. Ask your guide for a full list of all the incentives and discounts available.
13. **Use Magical Beginnings** to sell your first year's points back to Disney for $20 each. Note that the points your contract comes with will not require dues, and it's kind of a bummer to start out with no points. But it can definitely save money.
14. **Use your Disney+ subscription to get D23 Gold.** D23 Gold members get a $500 discount on direct purchases, and you can get D23 Gold for free if you are a Disney+ subscriber. Alternatively, if you are military, a cast member, or have a Dream It Forward Referral Discount, you could use this instead. These do not stack though, and you can't use Dream It Forward if you are already a member.
15. **Consider using the Disney Visa card.** Compared to other credit cards, the points earning is not very good with this card, and neither is the sign up bonus. But direct purchases will qualify for 6 months at 0% interest, and sometimes there are additional DVC discounts offered for Disney Visa cardholders.
16. **Buy right before your use year** to maximize total points vs total dues paid. This is a HUGE one that is so often overlooked. And it works for both direct and resale purchases. Say you want to buy in 2026 with a June Use Year. If you buy direct in May 2026, your contract will come with 2025 points, but you won't pay any dues on them. AT ALL. You can sell them back with Magical Beginnings or bank them into the 2026 use year. Then when June 1 rolls around, you will get your 2026 points. You pay prorated dues each month between May and December 2026, then you owe your full dues in January 2027. By contrast, if you buy that exact same contract in June 2026, you will get one full year fewer total points because your purchase will only come with the current year (2026) points. It will then be a full 11+ months until you get your next allotment. But you only pay *one month* less in total dues.
17. **Wait to pay in full.** When you buy direct, you have to make an initial payment of at least 10% of the price. But the rest can be stretched out for 30 to 60 days with no extra fees or interest. There's a small time-value-of-money benefit to paying later. But taking the longest payment period allowed means you might be able to take advantage of any new discounts or incentives offered. Your guide will generally rewrite your deal under the better incentives and give you a refund.
18. Buy within 10 days of the end of an incentive window. If the new incentives are better you can switch over to them instead. If not, keep what you have.
- 200,000 points sign up bonus (requires $30k spend)
- $300 travel credit
- 132,000 points earned on the purchase at 4x
- $100 in giftcards per year
Based on the 2.1 cents per point max redemption value, that's about $7k in points. It's $3320 if converted to cash back, which would be more than 10% of the total cost!
If anyone else wants to give it a shot here's the Chase application page with my referral, and here's the general application with no referral if you prefer that.
Here's my comprehensive list of ways to save money on DVC. Please share if you have other ideas I missed!
# General Tips to Save on DVC
1. **Don't buy DVC.** This is an expensive timeshare, and if you aren't going to Disney resorts at least every three years, you shouldn't buy it. If you don't love the deluxe resorts and are fine with Pop Century or staying offsite, or if the deluxe perks don't sound worthwhile to you, you will probably save money by not buying DVC. DVC would mean spending for upgrades you don't really value. If you are all about going rope-drop to fireworks every day, and view your room as just a place to recharge overnight, DVC might not reach its full potential for you.
2. **Don't finance your DVC purchase.** If you can't afford it up front, you probably should wait until you can. Financing DVC removes all or almost all of the value it brings vs renting points or paying cash. the interest rates are usually in the 10%-18% range.
3. **Paradoxically, pay for DVC using credit cards** (but pay them off that month to avoid interest charges). Resale brokers will allow an initial escrow payment to be made via credit card with no additional fee. This is limited to 10% of the sales price and limits usually range from $2000 up to $7500. There are many cards offering sign up bonuses worth $1500+ for that level of spending, and that's in addition to the \~$150 in rewards points or cash back you would normally get from $7500 in spend. For direct purchases, the entire amount can be charged to credit cards, and you can work with your guide to space out payments or split them among different cards to max out the value. The CSR Business card is the best one for this at present.
4. **Read and research first.** Before you spend five figures on DVC, take the time to learn all about how it works, all the details, the benefits, and the costs. Understand what you're buying and how you'll use it.
5. **Pay your dues with Disney Giftcards.** You can usually get them for 5% off at Target, BJs, or Sam's Club.
# Saving Money with Resale
6. **Buy a Resale contract.** Resale DVC contracts typically sell for at least 25% less than direct, even after incentives. Many resorts are over 50% discount vs direct prices. You may not even need direct benefits, so research both benefits and restrictions carefully.
7. **Shop around.** Use aggregators like dvcforless to see and compare multiple brokers at once. Don't just buy the "best" option available at a given broker.
8. **Be patient and don't offer the full asking price.** You can make successive offers on multiple listings and eventually one will either get accepted or countered at a good price. If you jump on the first contract you like at full asking price, you will almost always get it done sooner, but you'll also pay more.
9. **Buy right before your Use Year.** With resale, most contracts are priced higher if they have points on them. Buying right before the use year means most other buyers will only think about the current points available without considering that more points are coming very soon and may even arrive before you close. Buying right after the use year means the current points inflate the perceived value, but it's a full 11 months until the next set arrive.
10. **Consider the expiration, points chart, cash price, availability, and your typical vacation plans.** Longer expiration home resorts are almost always much cheaper per year over the life of the contract. Expensive points charts can make resorts like Riviera a lower value (i.e. higher cost per stay). Resorts which have low cash prices or restrictions like Cabins at Fort Wilderness or ample availability like Saratoga Springs aren't as valuable, but they could also lower your total upfront cost. Consider how much the 11 month vs 7 month booking window helps you when choosing a home resort and only pay a premium for a particular one (e.g. Beach Club) if you plan to use it there.
# Saving Money When Buying Direct
11. **Buy Resale first.** If you decide you want to buy direct to get benefits or avoid restrictions, buy a resale contract first because existing members almost always see better discounts and incentives when buying direct vs new members. Note that a resale purchase will typically take 8+ weeks before it's all done, so plan ahead. Once that's done, you can buy direct as an existing member. You will save money by buying the minimum number of points to qualify for benefits (currently 150) vs buying direct for all the points you want. So if you want 300 points at AKL and you want benefits, buy 150 direct and 150 resale with the same use year. This will save you about $17K vs buying all 300 points direct.
12. **Do a virtual tour and buy within 7 days.** This is generally a soft requirement to get the current incentives being offered, but it's worth noting that almost any phone conversation with a DVC guide can count as a "tour." Incentives range from a few hundred to over $10K depending on the resort and number of points. Ask your guide for a full list of all the incentives and discounts available.
13. **Use Magical Beginnings** to sell your first year's points back to Disney for $20 each. Note that the points your contract comes with will not require dues, and it's kind of a bummer to start out with no points. But it can definitely save money.
14. **Use your Disney+ subscription to get D23 Gold.** D23 Gold members get a $500 discount on direct purchases, and you can get D23 Gold for free if you are a Disney+ subscriber. Alternatively, if you are military, a cast member, or have a Dream It Forward Referral Discount, you could use this instead. These do not stack though, and you can't use Dream It Forward if you are already a member.
15. **Consider using the Disney Visa card.** Compared to other credit cards, the points earning is not very good with this card, and neither is the sign up bonus. But direct purchases will qualify for 6 months at 0% interest, and sometimes there are additional DVC discounts offered for Disney Visa cardholders.
16. **Buy right before your use year** to maximize total points vs total dues paid. This is a HUGE one that is so often overlooked. And it works for both direct and resale purchases. Say you want to buy in 2026 with a June Use Year. If you buy direct in May 2026, your contract will come with 2025 points, but you won't pay any dues on them. AT ALL. You can sell them back with Magical Beginnings or bank them into the 2026 use year. Then when June 1 rolls around, you will get your 2026 points. You pay prorated dues each month between May and December 2026, then you owe your full dues in January 2027. By contrast, if you buy that exact same contract in June 2026, you will get one full year fewer total points because your purchase will only come with the current year (2026) points. It will then be a full 11+ months until you get your next allotment. But you only pay *one month* less in total dues.
17. **Wait to pay in full.** When you buy direct, you have to make an initial payment of at least 10% of the price. But the rest can be stretched out for 30 to 60 days with no extra fees or interest. There's a small time-value-of-money benefit to paying later. But taking the longest payment period allowed means you might be able to take advantage of any new discounts or incentives offered. Your guide will generally rewrite your deal under the better incentives and give you a refund.
18. Buy within 10 days of the end of an incentive window. If the new incentives are better you can switch over to them instead. If not, keep what you have.
