How much do I charge?? Please Advise!!

[KBoopaloo]

We took a large group of family with us back in April and stayed 4 nights in two 2-Bdrms and 1 Studio at Kidani. We presented the trip to them as free accommodations. They bought us dinner one night and recently gave us a lovely card with a gift certificate for a restaurant back here at home.

We had a great time and many folks who were on the trip mentioned wanting to do it again in a few years, but they said they would expect to pay towards accommodations this time if we were to use our DVC points. We discussed it and thought that if it happens we will ask for $5 a point for their share of the reservations.

 

[JWG]

Here's my take:
- Immediate family - we don't charge
- Extended family - we charge fair rental value for the points above what we'd use
- Close friends - we charge cost of maintenance fees for the ponts above what we'd sue
- Friends - not sure we'd do this, but would likely charge rental value

I used to think that not charging was a the nice thing to do. Then I realized:
- This isn't free for us and 1 week, even just in a studio, is a decent "gift" to give away for free
- If I do it for some friends, how do I not do it for others
- We don't have the points to give away (a 2BR means we give up a trip at a future date)
- People think timeshares are like hotels, if they haven't invested anything they're too willing to cancel/change plans and I'm stuck with the consequences

However, if friends/family coming does not alter the point use necessary for the trip, I would be apt to not charge. However, as a family of 3, we do studios or 1BR's and therefore adding more than 1 person means we have to get a 2BR. Rare that it doesn't impact our point use.

 

[evedein]

I'm planning an all girls trip with 3 friends for my 60th birthday in a couple of years. My plan is to charge $500 per person each for the week equal to 3 yrs of maintenance fees since I'll have to use 3 yrs of points for a grand villa. I've discussed this with my friends who are aware of what it would cost to rent the villa & they all feel that this is more than fair, since it's less than $75/night. Also, as someone noted, if they have money invested, they are less likely to cancel for little to no reason. If they did, I'd be out the points for 3 years.