How many people use the Collections with their points?

[meryll83]

Just wondered how many people use their points for other hotels, DCL, ABD etc?

Pondering purchasing direct via resale and wondering whether the loss of Collections is really a deal breaker or not...

 

[disneynutz]

If you look at the points required for these other point uses, you will find that you are paying a premium. In addition there is a $95 fee plus not all dates or categories are always available.

Bill

 

[com_op_2000]

I have done 8 DCLs all but one at least partly on points.
I have done two Collection resorts stays at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC and Doral in Miami (played the Blue Monster).

 

[CarolMN]

meryll83 - Have you seen this thread?

Using Points for the DVC "Collections"

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

You shouldn't buy DVC to trade out your points to the cruises or the Disney/Concierge collections. It's a poor value for use of the points. It is nice to have the option, but it would be a once every 5-10 years kind of thing...if I ever even do it at all.

If you don't mind a small amount of hassle, you can get a much better value for your point by renting the points out using a service like David's DVC rental which will generate cash (between $11-13 per point, depending on the resort you buy).

For example, a 7 night voyage on the Fantasy in 2016 for an ocean view stateroom with verandah will cost you 280 points per person, plus a $95 reservation fee. So for two people on a cruise, it will be 560 points.

If you take those same points, and rent them out using David's DVC rental, you will get $6,160 in cash. The same cruise, to book in cash, costs $5,042 right now...not taking advantage of any specials. So, the $6,160 the points are worth, plus the $95 reservation fee, means that the cost difference between using points directly with Disney versus renting them yourself is $1,213. For a little bit of work, you now have $1,213 in extra spending cash on your cruise.

The $1,213 in extra cash is just based on the retail cost of the cruise. You could probably work out a better deal by booking the cruise with a Disney Travel agent since they can throw in some extras like onboard credit and take advantage of any discounts and specials that Disney is running. Whereas the point charts for cruises are fixed 2 years in advance and don't come with any specials, discounts, etc.

Now it is a little bit of work to rent the points versus just making a phone call to member services to book the cruise. But probably not more than 2-3 hours.

 

[bwvBound]

We've used our DVC points for the Disney Collection (Grand Cal hotel before the Villas were announced) and once through the Concierge Collection. We will likely use them through Buena Vista Trading Company for Club IntraWest someday as well.

 

[meryll83]

Thanks for all the help.

Sounds like resale might be a better option then and rent the points if we want to do something different to WDW sometimes...

 

[Dean]

Just wondered how many people use their points for other hotels, DCL, ABD etc?

Pondering purchasing direct via resale and wondering whether the loss of Collections is really a deal breaker or not...

In all situations with the cash type exchanges, it's significantly more to buy points to book than buy less points and pay cash. There will be an occasional exception where you break even but it's VERY rare and there's no way to predict or guarantee it. Even the option itself is not guaranteed and could go away tomorrow. So to pay more now for the option to pay more later doesn't make sense. DCL is usually the easiest to look at and it almost always gives you a return between $6 & $7.50 per point compared to early booking prices. Barely a return of MF. IMO one should only buy retail if they're not paying significantly more and/or they're getting more true value. The options that are currently eliminated from resale but available to qualified owners do not add any value for one currently buying in. They may add value for someone who already owns and has the option and has the points they wouldn't use otherwise. And it's possible that this will change at some point. Even then it's almost always better to rent out the points and pay cash but one would have to look at the dollars involved and their own preferences to make that decision. Buying retail for the insurance against possible negative changes later or due to one's comfort level with Disney doesn't make sense unless the other criteria are met and rarely is the speed of the transaction enough to make it reasonable either though I can think of some VERY specific situations where that might swing things.

The only times it makes sense to buy retail are when the price difference isn't great enough to justify the choice or when something is not available AND makes sense otherwise. For a very few, this will be things like the Poly or VGF but really only if they plan to stay there routinely and many of those would be better off buying a limited number of points there and something cheaper to round out their points and most of those should strive for a fixed week option. For some it may be very small contracts.

These are generalizations but there really are extremely few reasonable exceptions. One just needs to educate themselves and look at the specific situation. IMO the biggest decision is whether DVC makes sense at all, it doesn't for many. After that it's a question of how many points, home resort, Use Year and only then would one have enough info to make the retail vs resale decision.

 

[misse320]

If you take those same points, and rent them out using David's DVC rental, you will get $6,160 in cash. The same cruise, to book in cash, costs $5,042 right now...not taking advantage of any specials. So, the $6,160 the points are worth, plus the $95 reservation fee, means that the cost difference between using points directly with Disney versus renting them yourself is $1,213. For a little bit of work, you now have $1,213 in extra spending cash on your cruise.

I never even considered this. Thanks for the breakdown.

 

[Dean]

I never even considered this. Thanks for the breakdown.

That examples is higher than most of the ones I've looked at at almost $9 per point. However, there is the rest of the story when using points. If you use points and cash, the entire cash amount is due at booking. Also, the biggest issue, is that if you cancel the points are SEVERELY restricted in that they are no longer DVC points but reservation points which expire at the end of the UY. They can only be used for things like DC, DCL & ABD.

 

[CarolMN]

I'm going to close this thread before it turns into a debate. Those who would like to continue the conversation may do so in the Using Points for the DVC "Collections" thread. There's a direct link in post #4.