I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[calypso726]

Darn you, @speedyfishy! You've put thoughts of DVC in my head! AGAIN!

What am I doing looking at DVC resale listings on a Friday afternoon?! I'm seeing Aulani points selling for less than half at VGC, and if I cashed out my MRs and URs, I guess I could afford a 160-200 point contract and provide a "home" for my family during our annual holiday trips to Hawaii?

Who needs to fly business or first class anyway when I can be relaxing on a lazy river or on the beach?!

✈ or

I don't know anymore!

You're a churner! You don't have to choose between lazy river with a new Aulani contract or business/first class flights. You do both

Yes.

My wife would never go for it because DVC is a splurge. But yet we splurge on a stay at Aulani for a few days every trip!

I also don't know if I can bear the thought of cashing out all those points at once!

PlanePrincess calls it an investment. This is coming from the guy that didn't want anything to do with DVC Investment is not what you'd normally call a timeshare. But, I agree with him. The points can be used or rented out each year and if we sold all of our contracts on the resale market we'd still make money on the whole thing. All of them are selling for more than we paid.

I’m in. Are we going to have snacks like the shunned corner?

Ooooh snacks are an excellent idea! I'd bring a good IPA or some tequila, but I'm not drinking this month Dry July, yippee. So I'll contribute a homemade non-dairy peach ice cream

Sharing the outlier shunned corner with y'all.

I'll volunteer to play mixologist. Butterbeer Martini anyone? @LuckyMamaInDE I can make you a non alcoholic one or keep yours cold until August

 

[speedyfishy]

My sister is taking a 2 week vacation out west. I am booking some of her hotels through the Marriott app, and paying for them. Do you think I'll get Elite night credit for those hotel stays? I book them, then call the hotel and add her name. She checks in with her family and it goes on my credit card.

What do you guys think?

I’m not sure if this is against the rules but I have done this. I booked two nights for my dad with my account to get some points lol and he just checked in.

 

[mefordis]

I found out my daughter has a gymnastics meet in Vegas the week we were planning on going to Japan (April). I had just bought UAL award saver tickets about 26 hours prior. I went through the steps online to cancel and they didn't charge me a redeposit fee AND I got to keep the 20k award accelerator miles to boot!

 

[mefordis]

I’m not sure if this is against the rules but I have done this. I booked two nights for my dad with my account to get some points lol and he just checked in.

So they gave you the Elite night as well as the points? I am doing this to help her out, and also gain the UR points and to be honest of course I want the elite nights! I need 8 more to re qualify next year. I hope they don't get a whiff of something fishy and drop me down to bronze level. Or wood.

Edit: TPG says as long as you pay for the room they are okay with it. No mention of the elite night though. I know you don't get them for more than one room a night so... not sure about this. If the desk clerk notices the member is not there and wants to withhold the credit I guess that is what will happen.

 

[calypso726]

Well, then, you have your answer. It’s not right for everyone. If I lived in Florida I might not want it either. I live in NY.

DVC is not right for everyone. Nothing wrong with that. I live in Florida and have had DVC since 2006. We went through a few years of add-on-itis and have a healthy number of points that we enjoy.

I actually think owning dvc in Florida would be awesome. Being able to take advantage of all the one and two nights I see available would be amazing. We’re too far and need more planning to take advantage as much.

This is how we use our DVC for the most part. Besides an annual family trip where we invite both sides of the family to stay in a DVC resort, we mostly use it to go up for the weekends.

 

[tink1970]

If I lived in Florida I might not want it either.

I live in Florida but what makes DVC irrelevant to me is not only the FL resident rates but more importantly the MTY rates...well, when I used to vacation at WDW, that is. The numbers never worked for us and now I'm relieved we never bought it because we would never use it and would be saddled with either reselling and/or the hassle of renting out. It's truly not for everyone and I sigh at our "near miss."

 

[calypso726]

I know that there are a good number of us the really enjoyed The Greatest Showman. With that in mind I had to share this Disney/Pixar Greatest Showman tribute. Enjoy.

 

[mamathompson]

@speedyfishy is right!! We took the dvc plunge as well. And I couldn’t be happier and more relieved. I’ve been asking dh since 2011 for dvc only to be met with arguments about the cost, not having the money and being locked into Disney vacations. Welp, we could have paid for our contract many years ago and I don’t see an end to Disney vacations on the horizon.

Congrats! So exciting. We talk about DVC every time we go. I wish we would have just bought it when we first talked about it years ago. One issue we feel is the amount of points we would need. We need a 2 bedroom (I'm assuming you do to) and it feels like such a big decision for that amount of points.

 

[nickle831]

I am not an expert on this and have never booked first class, but I believe you have to check that it is showing you first class on each leg of the flight.

That's part of my issue though. How do I check? There isn't anything I see that lets me click on to check if it's for both legs of the flight.

 

[Alexle2007]

Delete

 

[PolyRob]

Is buying DVC with your points still the plan?

That is kinda the plan? lol

I don't have enough points in any form to cover much of a contract sooo my plan is to mass refer my family members that will be listed on the deed to UR earning cards. The bonuses and 3x or 2x travel URs earned will cover a nice chunk if cashed out or used in the future for travel. I do want some first class trips to LAX next year and can always use flights down to WDW (usually 3 or 4 trips a year).

I had been researching DVC since 2016 and always wanted to take the plunge, but the increasing price per point and restrictions had discouraged me a little. The recent WDW AP price increase and knowledge about CCs has encouraged me again. I can currently "save" $380 per person in AP renewals and need 3-4 per year. The initial DVC contract size I want has dues that cost less than $1,500 annually and I will use discounted Disney gift cards.

As for the contract, I want to purchase the Villas at Grand Floridian. The resale price there is kinda high, but the direct is even higher. I initially want to go direct to get a few nights in December for my MK split and spread it all over CCs. Based on my math, I can help get the price down from $245 per point to the $170 - $190 range per point depending on cashing out URs or saving/redeeming for travel.

Hoarding other points and bank account bonuses will help. The BoA checking account I opened today will cover 3 CIP AFs. Any other MRs from Amex cards will be hoarded so I can hopefully cash out via Schwab down the line. That is the current plan.

Sadly, DVC doesn't currently have the UY I want for VGF so I am on a waitlist. Hoping the points come in sooner than later.

 

[Alexle2007]

oops, double post. Sorry!

 

[speedyfishy]

So they gave you the Elite night as well as the points? I am doing this to help her out, and also gain the UR points and to be honest of course I want the elite nights! I need 8 more to re qualify next year. I hope they don't get a whiff of something fishy and drop me down to bronze level. Or wood.

Edit: TPG says as long as you pay for the room they are okay with it. No mention of the elite night though. I know you don't get them for more than one room a night so... not sure about this. If the desk clerk notices the member is not there and wants to withhold the credit I guess that is what will happen.

Yeah I got the nights too. I didn’t check in with him.

 

[NewbieMom]

Loving all the happy DVC owners' posts. Chiming in to add that we're also satisfied owners since last summer. We took a tour on our trip last year, and DH wanted to buy on the spot (even though he was against it prior to our trip). I had to put the brakes on and suggest that we do a little more research after our vacation. That's how I discovered the DIS, and decided resale suited our needs better.

To add to what others have said already:
1) DVC is really versatile. We own 2 other timeshares, and in comparison DVC is much more flexible in both how the booking system works and how easy it is to rent out (or in) points. For example, we bought a loaded contract after our trip last year knowing that we wouldn't be back until 2020. We were able to rent all our points out to cover maintenance fees for 2 years. If we ever need additional points that borrowing and banking aren't enough, DVC also allows a transfer in of points from another owner.

2) Which leads me to our next dilemma. We're a bit of timeshare snobs. We love our space and having hangout time at the resort/room. Originally we bought with studio/maybe 1 br point values in mind. We just booked 2 br for our trip next summer, depleting all our 2021 points as well. So, prepare for add-on-itis. I'm already pursuing contracts for sale, but it's probably not in the cards for the next few years so we may look into transferring in any extra points we need.

Sorry for the long winded off topic DVC sales pitch!

 

[elgerber]

I will be 50 on Monday. Is that close enough to hang out in the snack corner? I will bring wine and cupcakes.

I love my DVC, 17 years. When we go it’s because we want to. We have rented out points a few times to pay for other trips, super easy. We could also probably sell for a profit after using it for 17 years. I wouldn’t , ever, but I could

 

[Lain]

Yeah I got the nights too. I didn’t check in with him.

Couldn’t you technically “check in” on the app?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Hey @DisneyMandC, Mommy Points has a new article up today about flying first class on Hawaiian from SAN>HNL for which she paid with ... cash ... to sit in economy, and then ... more cash to upgrade to first.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I will be 50 on Monday. Is that close enough to hang out in the snack corner? I will bring wine and cupcakes.

I love my DVC, 17 years. When we go it’s because we want to. We have rented out points a few times to pay for other trips, super easy. We could also probably sell for a profit after using it for 17 years. I wouldn’t , ever, but I could

Your birthday is Monday too?! You, me, and @Ngwira are birthday triplets!!

 

[GlamMistress]

Did I miss it? Did @wendow say which DVC is home?

 

[elgerber]

Your birthday is Monday too?! You, me, and @Ngwira are birthday triplets!!

Wow really? How cool!!! But are you all as old as me?