Hurricane rentals - missed opportunity for brokers?

[atthebeachclub]

Thank you.
In that case, double shame on the renters who get points back, but do not pass that along to their rentee.

They would only get their points back if they called member services and cancelled the reservation, which it seems doubtful most would be doing.

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you.
In that case, double shame on the renters who get points back, but do not pass that along to their rentee.

That I agree with and why I didn’t cancel my renters trip when they couldn’t go years ago because it was no refunds and I wasn’t going to double dip.

My guess is most owners who don’t want to deal with renting again do indeed forfeit the points.

 

[JackosinDIS]

They would only get their points back if they called member services and cancelled the reservation, which it seems doubtful most would be doing.

I had a renter who checked out early during the recent hurricane. They let me know they were checking out early to move to their villa. The points for the last 2 nights of the stay were automatically refunded without me calling, which I was surprised by. I re-rented those points and gave the proceeds to the renter (less a $50 fee for my time in finding a new renter).

 

[Sandisw]

I had a renter who checked out early during the recent hurricane. They let me know they were checking out early to move to their villa. The points for the last 2 nights of the stay were automatically refunded without me calling, which I was surprised by. I re-rented those points and gave the proceeds to the renter (less a $50 fee for my time in finding a new renter).

If that happens, then I can see an owner potentially doing something…that wasn’t my experience so I didn’t have to worry.

However, to be honest, even if it had, I would have simply not used the points and let them expire anyway....

 

[Brian Noble]

Here's another thing to consider:

Many hotels offer two rates: a refundable rate, and a non-refundable one. The non-refundable one is lower, but is....non-refundable. If there is a big storm, the hotel is open, but the guest can't or won't come, the guest doesn't get a refund for it. And, that's true even if the hotel is able to rent some of those nights to someone else.

Thinking about this particular example, I don't think that what happens to the points has any bearing on whether or not the renter is entitled to a refund.

 

[crisi]

Not all owners are strict. When Covid happened, I had three reservations rented out. One person managed to go anyway, for another I rescheduled their trip. The third lived in Germany so it was impossible for them; I re-rented the points for the lower going rate at the time and returned those money to the renter. They lost $3 pp rather than everything.
In my rental contract I write I would try to move or rent the points, but I also write it's subject to availability and I write when the points expire.

Though even with flexible owners, renters need to understand that an owner is most often a private individual, and private individuals aren't always available to make last minute changes to reservations in reaction to weather events. They may be evacuating themselves, or dealing with their own health or personal issues, or just in the middle of a work crunch and not check their personal email for a bit or answer the phone unless they recognize the number. Regardless of what Disney does, the member has to be available to cancel the reservation - and no one can guarantee that availability.

Get travel insurance. If the member you are working with is willing to, and can be flexible - that's great. If you can't reach them, you have a backup plan.