How Do You Spend Your Points?

[disney junky]

I was reading the BOGO thread and thought I'd start this one.

When we first joined DVC, I'd come to these boards and worry about wasting my points. People had all different ways to save points and I'd read phrases like, not the best use of points, and I'd worried about not getting the most for my money. I'd try to book standard view rather than boardwalk view to save the points.

Mind you, we don't take a ton of trips, usually a big one every two years, but still, I found myself having points left over, so I adopted the attitude, use them or lose them. I found early on, that I'd rather be borrowing a few from next year than fretting over few points left over.

One year, I gave four weekdays worth of points to friend in order that they not be wasted. They are much better friends now....lol. I know, there were other options, but I never want to feel as though managing my DVC is a chore.

I'm curious what some other DVC owners' views on this are.

 

[bwvBound]

Our DVC points were initially purchased as a "backup plan" in case we were unsuccessful trading in via II (then) or RCI (now). Our initial purchase was ...

• Not the resort we really intended to book. We purchased SSR with intentions of booking BWV.
• Only 75% of our intended need. We needed 200 points for a full week at BWV, 1BR unit each January but started with only 150 points with plans to use bank/borrow along with "trade in" to float us along, year by year.
• Our foot in the door.

FWIW, our plan has worked very well over nearly 10 years of ownership. We've done two add-ons, both at SSR with original UY.

So to your question -- how do we spend the points? Let's count the ways!

• Mostly to add a night or two on either end of trade-in reservations. These nights help us to match room nights to airfare deals. Most often we book the same resort and unit type as the trade-in but will sometimes book split-stays at a different resort if there are compelling reasons to do so. A few years back we added two nights at AKV in Club Level to give us access to the Dinner Safari package.
• We book larger units than "needed" because we like having a 1BR unit for just ourselves (2 people).
• We like to explore various locations and have used the points at VB, Grand Cal (more frequently than anticipated!), WL, AK, OKW, BWV, SSR/Treehouses and Aulani.
• We book "weekends" -- often 3 nights -- over holidays. We love 'getaways!'
• We share our spaces with family and friends. We have two 2BR units coming up soon at AKV to share with my brother and his family. In our past we've enjoyed booking either large units (GV, Treehouse) or multiple units to share.
• We aren't afraid to use the other DVC Collections. I thought 6 nights in the Manhattan Club for last Thanksgiving was a deal at 200 DVC points + $95 fee.

What we don't do: book 'home' resort at 11 months then attempt to switch at 7 months. We simply start our DVC reservations at 7-months for the first inquiry. We do use DVC's WaitList and found it successful. (Maybe too successful ... I transferred in a block of points last year and have burned them all. Booked a reservation yesterday using my "One Time Use" points.)

 

[com_op_2000]

1st off checkout this recent thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3241346

We purchased all our points for cash and keep track of what it would cost OOP, until I was past the point at which we had considered ourselves to have recovered those funds. We use the points for anything and everything that we want to do including DCL, RCI, & Concierge Collections trips. I know that this is not popular on this board.
When it came time for our last add-on, we looked at how we were using points, alway borrowing from the next UY, our plans for coming years, and a new DGS on the way. We want to get to a point where we are staying 2 - 5 nights per month.

 

[rpk1951]

We try to use them all. Occaisionally we end up with 4 points we might lose. If we have a few left over we try to add a day or two to a beach vacation and stop at Disney on the way home for a few extra days,

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I used to "count" points and make them stretch but we went thru a period of time when we didn't travel as much due to family members being very ill and all the other moments that come up in life. We found ourselves banking a lot and then trying RCI to "keep" them longer and even loosing points. Recently we sold some points to friends of ours. Decided not to do that any more. I will use whatever points I want to have a nice, comfortable vacation. We always get at least a one bedroom now instead of a studio. I thought always getting a studio was a better point saver. I'd rather be more happier in more space.