How does one rent DVC points?

[balcerfamily]

Is this practice actually allowed by Disney? How do you go about it and does it really save money??

 

[MAO]

http://www.disboards.com/threads/dvc-rentals-what-is-it.3384672/

It is .... not disallowed, per se, by Disney. They reserve the right to shut down someone they feel is making a living out of it, but for most people they are just recouping their maintenance fees (with a little profit, perhaps). You are basically paying for a reservation that a DVC owner has made, based on your request. And it *may* save money - it should be cheaper than you paying rack rate for the same room, at the same time, but it's almost guaranteed to be more expensive than a Value resort. Or you might get a special deal, or purchase a package for a similar room, etc. Definitely worth checking into, but not a one-size-fits-all answer.

 

[supersnoop]

Owners are specifically allowed to rent out their points. Owners are not allowed to turn their membership into a business.

 

[karpy111]

Is this practice actually allowed by Disney? How do you go about it and does it really save money??

I just rented points through Scott at the DVC-Rental.com. I am doing split stay in September and he was able to book me a studio at the Beach Club and a savanna view room at the AKL. I was also able to book the Dining plan with my split stay for no extra charge which I believe other companies do. If you have any questions about it PM me. I am saving around 1000 dollars for my stay in September and that is assuming disney will offer free dining in the fall. My room reservations were around 1200, tickets 1300 (bought through disney site) and dining plan around 1200 (have to buy through dvc owner but its still same price as disney).

 

[wench]

You can absolutely save money this way. Even though I'm a DVC member, I rented some points this year. I really wanted to be at VGC for the 60th at Disneyland & knew that I wouldn't be able to get the nights I wanted at 7 months. So, I rented points from a VGC owner at about 9 months out. Renting before the 7 months mark typically costs more, so I was charged $16 per point. I ended up paying $1248 for 3 nights. I can't get an exact price quote for a villa at GC for comparison, but a regular studio with a standard view for the same nights would have cost me $1874 out of pocket. So, I saved around $600.

 

[chalee94]

How do you go about it and does it really save money??

DVC owners save money on their stays. if they can't use their pts, they can pass some of those savings on to renters.

on the down side, there are restrictions and differences in using pts compared to typical cash reservations. you tend to need to book much earlier, changing reservations later on can be difficult or impossible, you tend to wind up with rooms that have pullout sleeper sofa beds instead of "real" beds and housekeeping only comes in a limited form every 4th day or so. there can be a (small) risk of fraud as you are not dealing directly with disney and the owner controls the reservation until you check in (which also means you cannot do things like adding the dining plan yourself). so there are trade-offs.

you can rent DVC by going through a broker (david is a DIS board sponsor) which allows some protection for the renter against fraud but tends to cost more. or you can rent directly from a DVC owner.

it's useful to read through david's site for info on restrictions and reasonable expections for how far in advance you tend to need to book:

https://www.dvcrequest.com/