How many points do you own V2 electric boogaloo

[AstroBlasters]

Enough to get a solid # of rewards points on the Chase Sapphire card and I use those points to get our rental cars for "free" or hotels for using the 50% reward credit using the Chase/Expedia front end via their rewards site. The 3x rewards points on paying the dues helps ease the pain a bit

You like the Sapphire better than using the Target Red Card to get a 5% discount of gift cards and then spread the DVC dues out over 12 months at 0%?

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you. Dec is usually nuts with Christmas spending, travel spending, and both of my kids’ birthdays…but paying them all in early Feb wouldn’t be too bad. I presume you get a bill mid-December and then have a couple weeks to decide if you want to stay monthly or switch to upfront annual?

I’m over here doing intermediate algebra trying to calculate rewards points value vs. interest on money market accounts after prevailing tax rates.

Yes, in early December they’ll post the per-point budget for all the resorts. After the annual meeting (December 7 this year), usually around the 15th, you’ll get the actual bill with any necessary adjustments made for property taxes (they have to estimate them almost a year before they’re actually billed and paid, so sometimes we get a credit, sometimes have to pay more).

We’ve had ours on auto pay for years and do the Target Red Card 5% discount process to pay each month before the draft comes out. We try to pay more than the amount due so that we’re paid in full earlier in the year and can choose whether to build up a credit against next year’s dues or not.

 

[DonMacGregor]

We "only" have 701, and are likely going to stay right around there. In fact, I just sold a 40-point contract a couple of months ago as I move some points over to Aulani. I say we'll probably stay right around there because we have other interests and take plenty of non-Disney vacations (actually more non-Disney days per year), and that's exactly where I want it to stay. It keeps Disney trips fresh, and there is just too much in the world to see. We love to camp and overland, and do motor sports trips all over the US and have hit Le Mans and a few F1 races outside the US. Pre-pandemic, we were in Italy for three weeks one year, did an REI excursion/trekking trip to Machu Picchu another, and spent two weeks in Egypt seeing Giza, the Valley of the Kings, and spending 4 days on the Nil another year. We're hoping to get to Petra if things ever get safer over there.

Ok, I lied. Saw a 75-point fully loaded Aulani contract yesterday in my UY, seller is paying 2023 dues, and couldn’t pass it up. Make it 776 points.

 

[intamin]

Ok, I lied. Saw a 75-point fully loaded Aulani contract yesterday in my UY, seller is paying 2023 dues, and couldn’t pass it up. Make it 776 points.

75 points until tier up!

 

[Unclelude]

Thank you. Dec is usually nuts with Christmas spending, travel spending, and both of my kids’ birthdays…but paying them all in early Feb wouldn’t be too bad. I presume you get a bill mid-December and then have a couple weeks to decide if you want to stay monthly or switch to upfront annual?

I’m over here doing intermediate algebra trying to calculate rewards points value vs. interest on money market accounts after prevailing tax rates.

FWIW, you can also use gift cards, $500 on sale till 10/12 at BJs for $474.49 ... plus chase freedom has 5% back on wholesale/paypal (up to $1500)... almost 10%off! ... not sure how that fits with your tax calculations, but you could always buy t-bills and save the state tax ( for those states that tax... )

Back on topic ... interesting stats! The dues genie definitely deterring me from adding more ... altho, have thought about adding to rent, but tbills probably better investment...hehe

 

[DonMacGregor]

75 points until tier up!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...
I just did it to move up to ocean view from pool view. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

 

[Frugal Fairy Tales]

How difficult/easy is it to book Aulani at 7 months?

 

[intamin]

How difficult/easy is it to book Aulani at 7 months?

Generally pretty easy unless you’re going in June. Also do not expect to book the hotel room category from the DVC side without owning there. If you’re flexible with the view category it makes it very easy. Not as easy as SSR but very easy. I bought AUL over SSR because I value the home resort priority more than SSR for the hotel room and cheaper room categories.

 

[Frugal Fairy Tales]

So Aulani is a good SAP option even with higher dues? It seems to sell for less than SSR and has a longer contract, (and of course is the amazing Aulani resort in Hawaii). I’m in the Northeast so I wonder if this makes sense for me to have non-WDW Aulani for SAP and the occasional Aulani trip. It’s tempting.

 

[DonMacGregor]

So Aulani is a good SAP option even with higher dues? It seems to sell for less than SSR and has a longer contract, (and of course is the amazing Aulani resort in Hawaii). I’m in the Northeast so I wonder if this makes sense for me to have non-WDW Aulani for SAP and the occasional Aulani trip. It’s tempting.

I think Aulani makes for terrible SAP (and I own 300 points there). For SAP to make sense and be of real benefit, there has to be a combination of price and home resort booking advantage. The whole idea of SAP is to take advantage of the 11-month booking window at a resort you wouldn’t mind staying at, then swapping out if possible at 7 months. With Aulani points you’re never going to get the 11-month advantage at WDW, so the points are only ever good at the 7-month window, which may mean zero benefit depending on travel dates. That’s why SSR makes sense. You can “always” get the room type you want at 11 months, without any stress, and can then look to swap out when you hit seven months out. They also work great for last-minute trips or adding on some days to a trip as there’s much more availability with 1,200 rooms at the resort.

 

[Jlo85]

Just looking at around Easter / Spring Break next year now that it’s 7 months, and Aulani is pretty booked-up. SSR is fully available.

To me Aulani is a good SAP if at least some years you plan to visit Aulani. To me, needing 11 month at SSR is so rare. And personally, I’d just stay at Dolphin or Bonnett Creek if SSR wasn’t available.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Just looking at around Easter / Spring Break next year now that it’s 7 months, and Aulani is pretty booked-up. SSR is fully available.

To me Aulani is a good SAP if at least some years you plan to visit Aulani. To me, needing 11 month at SSR is so rare. And personally, I’d just stay at Dolphin or Bonnett Creek if SSR wasn’t available.

But in the years you DON'T visit Aulani (which would be most, if you're only visiting Aulani "at least some years"), what good do those points do you at WDW if you can't even use them until the 7 month mark? You'll never get any booking advantage in Florida. Depending on time of travel, those points might not even get you table scraps, so they become essentially useless. The idea of using SSR as SAP isn't because you need the 11-month window to get an SSR room, or that you even want to stay at SSR. The idea is that you will have at least the guarantee of getting a WDW reservation 11 months out, using less expensive points, that you can then move at 7 months based on availability. Sure, you may end up having to stay at SSR, but I'll take a reservation in my pocket versus rolling the dice on finding a reservation starting 7 months out.

To me, Aulani is so pointless for SAP that my Aulani points aren't even in the same UY as my WDW points, so even combining them for a WDW reservation would require a transfer.

 

[intamin]

So Aulani is a good SAP option even with higher dues? It seems to sell for less than SSR and has a longer contract, (and of course is the amazing Aulani resort in Hawaii). I’m in the Northeast so I wonder if this makes sense for me to have non-WDW Aulani for SAP and the occasional Aulani trip. It’s tempting.

I have a subsidized Aulani contract so my dues are less than Saratoga’s but if you’re not planning to use them at least somewhat regularly at Aulani then I wouldn’t. I have plenty of WDW points as is and in the coming years I’ll be adding an additional almost 500 at Disney World between RIV and Poly. I wouldn’t have bought it if I didn’t already have multiple WDW home resorts. I can guarantee I have a reservation at 11 months. I think it makes sense to use as SAP if you’re like me who is predominantly west coast based and okay with those points being locked out of WDW. There’s generally always something available at 7 months but I wouldn’t buy AUL if you depend on those points to stay at WDW. I don’t buy at resorts I’m not content staying only at until contract expiration.

That being said I place more value on home resort priority so if I were looking for SAP my personal choices really would be VGF this past summer or any of the MK resorts, BLT, Poly, CCV given how many more years they have left and location.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

We had 550 at our peak but after moving to Florida decided we didn’t need as many and sold off 175. We‘re seriously thinking of selling off our VGC points too.

 

[Jlo85]

To me, Aulani is so pointless for SAP that my Aulani points aren't even in the same UY as my WDW points, so even combining them for a WDW reservation would require a transfer.

Could always book a hotel stay and cancel if you're worried about availability. This is just my opinion, but I'm not a fan of SSR and would never buy there. Would rather buy at Aulani for occasional visits. We tend to like the off-WDW resorts (Vero is my fave). Also Aulani buys you 9 more years of SAPs after SSR expires. And in general, Aulani is higher demand than SSR, even though it sells for cheaper a lot of times.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Could always book a hotel stay and cancel if you're worried about availability. This is just my opinion, but I'm not a fan of SSR and would never buy there. Would rather buy at Aulani for occasional visits. We tend to like the off-WDW resorts (Vero is my fave). Also Aulani buys you 9 more years of SAPs after SSR expires. And in general, Aulani is higher demand than SSR, even though it sells for cheaper a lot of times.

You’re missing the point. Pick any WDW resort (CCR if you want since it’s got 6 more years than Aulani) and you’re going to be better off using their points for SAP than any non-WDW resort because SAP’s that can’t be used at 11 months aren’t SAP’s, their just points you own elsewhere that you can try to use at WDW.

Being “worried about availability” is the only reason to have SAP’s to begin with. No one said owning multiple resorts to secure reservations there is a bad idea. It’s why we own Aulani, but only for visits there.

 

[okw2012]

Used to own 480 but now down to 250 after selling a 230 HHI contract.

 

[Chili327]

I think Aulani makes for terrible SAP (and I own 300 points there). For SAP to make sense and be of real benefit, there has to be a combination of price and home resort booking advantage. The whole idea of SAP is to take advantage of the 11-month booking window at a resort you wouldn’t mind staying at, then swapping out if possible at 7 months. With Aulani points you’re never going to get the 11-month advantage at WDW, so the points are only ever good at the 7-month window, which may mean zero benefit depending on travel dates. That’s why SSR makes sense. You can “always” get the room type you want at 11 months, without any stress, and can then look to swap out when you hit seven months out. They also work great for last-minute trips or adding on some days to a trip as there’s much more availability with 1,200 rooms at the resort.

But in the years you DON'T visit Aulani (which would be most, if you're only visiting Aulani "at least some years"), what good do those points do you at WDW if you can't even use them until the 7 month mark? You'll never get any booking advantage in Florida. Depending on time of travel, those points might not even get you table scraps, so they become essentially useless. The idea of using SSR as SAP isn't because you need the 11-month window to get an SSR room, or that you even want to stay at SSR. The idea is that you will have at least the guarantee of getting a WDW reservation 11 months out, using less expensive points, that you can then move at 7 months based on availability. Sure, you may end up having to stay at SSR, but I'll take a reservation in my pocket versus rolling the dice on finding a reservation starting 7 months out.

To me, Aulani is so pointless for SAP that my Aulani points aren't even in the same UY as my WDW points, so even combining them for a WDW reservation would require a transfer.

You’re missing the point. Pick any WDW resort (CCR if you want since it’s got 6 more years than Aulani) and you’re going to be better off using their points for SAP than any non-WDW resort because SAP’s that can’t be used at 11 months aren’t SAP’s, their just points you own elsewhere that you can try to use at WDW.

Being “worried about availability” is the only reason to have SAP’s to begin with. No one said owning multiple resorts to secure reservations there is a bad idea. It’s why we own Aulani, but only for visits there.

I think you just talked me out of Aulani. lol
I was contemplating subsidized for SAP, but I guess it’s not as smart as I think. Even if I’m on the West Coast it may make more sense for me than if on the East, but since 7 month booking isn’t that hard to get maybe not.

Coincidentally I just made a post asking which resorts are fairly easy at 7 months vs which ones are absolutely not.

 

[Pens Fan]

Yep and they bill as travel. Have to pay them all in 1 go not monthly.

There are ways around this. We have a lot of points so our dues are high. We are signed up for the monthly bank debit option. But I pay it off with Disney gift cards prior to the withdrawal each month so nothing actually comes out of our bank account. Our local grocery store (Giant Eagle in PA) sells Disney gift cards. I get the 2% Mickey bucks cash back using my Disney Chase Premium card. In addition Giant Eagle also sells gas. We get a discount of 10 cents per gallon for every $50 we spend and the gift cards count. So we roll into WDW with a ton of Mickey bucks on our redemption card and get some free tanks of gas to boot!

 

[DanCali]

I think you just talked me out of Aulani. lol
I was contemplating subsidized for SAP, but I guess it’s not as smart as I think. Even if I’m on the West Coast it may make more sense for me than if on the East, but since 7 month booking isn’t that hard to get maybe not.

Coincidentally I just made a post asking which resorts are fairly easy at 7 months vs which ones are absolutely not.

I think Aulani is decent SAP for WDW, even if you can't book at WDW at 11 months out. It may not always get you the cheapest rooms, but I don't view that as the primary goal of SAP. To me, SAP means cheap points that I can use to book something satisfactory. In the Westin system we own a Westin with cheap dues in the AZ desert and can use it at 8 months out in Hawaii or the Caribbean where dues are double (owners book 12 months out). I don't always necessarily get my first choice of summer week, room size, or view category, but I can almost always get a summer week in a room/view that makes the entire family happy (I've been doing it for ~15 years and visited the home resort just once). For us, it's similar with the Aulani subsidized when it comes to WDW, although we also own at multiple other home resorts too and also intend to visit Aulani every 3-4 years. Aulani represents about 50% of our total points, so it's meaningful. Given most others' DVC booking preferences with home resorts, we can actually use Aulani points at WDW for larger rooms with nicer views so it makes those stays more memorable than the "cheap" ones where we use our home resort points.

The only reason to worry about availability at 7 months at a place like SSR is if you want a studio, or a 2BR around the holiday season in Nov-Dec. If a 1BR suits your needs, you will very likely find one at the 7-month window pretty much anytime of the year in both view categories. And if you can book SSR at one of your top 3 room choices as a backup at 7 months out with Aulani points, then it really doesn't matter if your SAP are Aulani or SSR, at least from a WDW availability perspective... Just my point of view.

Regarding your question what is hard or easy to book at 7 months out, check out these tables for an initial indication. If the number is not "7" you may have trouble booking. Tables are based on 5-year historical averages and things can and do change over time.

https://www.dvcfieldguide.com/availability-tables