How many points do you need?

[Capo]

A few years ago I saw a point chart somewhere, but I don't know where a current one is.

That being said, my immediate family and I are looking into the DVC for a particular purpose: namely, yearly family get togethers.

As such, how many points should we shoot for if we want to rent a 3 bedroom place for 7 days each year?

Thanks for the help.

PS - I know the answer depends on when you go - so for budgeting purposes, let's assume a mid-line time of year (not peak, but not dead season either).

 

[stopher1]

There's a link to the point charts at the top of this page, underneath the Timeshare Store ad. That should help you determine what you need/want at each resort.

 

[hellerjw]

It also depends on where you stay. Do you have a particular resort you would like to call home? For a 3BR (aka. Grand Villa) you will need a significant number of points if you plan to do it yearly.

For example, during Dream season (middle of the pack point-wise) the Grand Villa costs for a week are as follows (assumes opting for the best view possible if given a choice):

OKW - 439 pts
AKV - 621 pts
BLT - 899 pts

As you can see there can be a huge disparity in point requirements between the various DVC resorts.

 

[Capo]

Thank you all, I didnt notice the nav menu changed on these DVC forums.

Regarding the points, wow, why are the 3 bedrooms so much more expensive? In many cases, you could get 2, 2 bedrooms for the same price (or cheaper) than the 3 bedroom and sleep more people. Is it just the novelty of having a big 3 bedroom place?

Regarding where, I am open to anything. I have only stayed in Saratoga Springs before (2 bedroom, 5 days) and I liked that - I'd be curious to see some others which are onpar or cheaper to saratoga point wise (not sure if I would want one of the more expensive dvc hotels).

 

[hellerjw]

Its mainly due to supply and demand, there are very few Grand Villas at each resort. Some, like VWL, have none at all. You are correct in that you can usually do better point-wise by getting two 2BR units. I think most would like to try a Grand Villa once or twice, but wouldn't stay in one every time because of the high point costs and difficulty in booking one for every trip.

It looks like OKW will have the lowest point costs for a Grand Villa regardless of season with BLT being the highest. It just depends on what resort you want to stay at each time.

 

[Capo]

Honestly, after seeing those point charts I think I would do 2, 2 BRs or 1 2BR and 1 1BR if I needed more than 8.

Other than the novelty of it, it's hard to justify... and wanting a good bang for his buck, I'd have a hard time doing that.

 

[circhead]

SSR also has 3bdrm units but IMHO I would shoot for OKW.

OKW is the oldest resort but has the largest square footage per room. (I like room).

However the 3bdrms at AKV and BLT have 4 bathrooms the others only have 3. How many teenage girls will be traveling? That extra bathroom might mean the difference between floating eyeballs and relief?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Don't know. If I ever figure it out and have enough, I'll let you know.

I'm trying to follow DVCMike's lead but I'm starting to think he doesn't know when enough's enough either.

 

[ajseagles3]

I may end up selling and buying and selling and buying multiple times over the next 20 years. We currently have a block at VWL and a smaller block at AKL, but I'm considering offing the AKL, waiting a bit, and then rebuying a slightly larger 2nd block.

I used the word "block" a lot in that spiel, huh?

 

[Tara]

Honestly, after seeing those point charts I think I would do 2, 2 BRs or 1 2BR and 1 1BR if I needed more than 8.

Other than the novelty of it, it's hard to justify... and wanting a good bang for his buck, I'd have a hard time doing that.

Aside from the novelty, if your group fits in a grand villa, that gives you the option of everyone being connected. If you do 2 2br villas, there is no guarantee you'll be adjacent or even close to each other. Only you can decide if that is worth the extra points.

 

[ajseagles3]

Nah. Didn't they post so that we would expressly order them to a specific course of action? We make the decision!

J/K, but seriously - I would definitely go for 2 2-bedrooms more often than not.

 

[Capo]

Aside from the novelty, if your group fits in a grand villa, that gives you the option of everyone being connected. If you do 2 2br villas, there is no guarantee you'll be adjacent or even close to each other. Only you can decide if that is worth the extra points.

That is certainly true, and if a large group has lots of kids and you can't get two rooms close together, you probably would want something like this.

But still, at least for me, I would definitely feel the pain of using that points.