Is AK really cheaper than BLT in the long run

[charminnie]

I know I can get a cheaper contract at AK but is it really cheaper in long run? It has higher maintenance fees and if I decide to rent out my points, BLT points are going for a premium price. I just don't know what to do. I love BLT and AK. I want to be able to stay on the monorail sometimes. I just hate to pay more than I need to. Please someone help me make up my mind. This decision I'd driving me crazy.

 

[supersnoop]

No. In my research, based on the lenght of the contract and the maintenance fees, BLT is the second lowest cost option; second to SSR.

If you will always and only book the value category at AKV, then buying AKV will be cheaper. Otherwise, you'll come out ahead with BLT.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

What size room are you planning on and when do you plan on going? It certainly can be possible to stay at a monorail resort with points from another resort. It will be easier at certain times though. Also, if you look at BLT be a little careful about booking standard rooms there at times. They are popular because of the low points. The AKV value rooms and standard view too are nice in point costs. The values can be a little difficult to book at times too because there are so few and have such low point requirements but standard is easy to get at AKV.

 

[disneynutz]

BLT has had several years of 6% plus dues increases since DVD declared it "sold out".

Bill

 

[supersnoop]

BLT has had several years of 6% plus dues increases since DVD declared it "sold out".

Almost entirely attributed to property taxes this year. Regardless, it is still the lowest.

 

[djohn06]

Funny thing is, I felt the same as you. Eventually I bought both AKV and BLT.

I think it's going to come down to how do you plan on using the resort and what unit size you desire. For my family, we need a 1 bedroom and sometimes if we are bringing additional family members we need a 2 bedroom.

When BLT was 15 to 20 points more than AKV, BLT was definitely the least expensive choice. Now that BLT will cost 40 points more per point, that is no longer the case. I would compare an AKV standard room vs a BLT Lake View room in terms of most likely available to owners. Those are the 2 most popular room categories at both resorts that are guaranteed to book as an owner. $20,000 will get you 173 BLT points or 256 AKV points. You can get 7 days during Dream season in a 2 bedroom at AKV or 5 days at BLT if you buy 256 points. If you buy the 173 BLT points, you can get 3 days at BLT in 2 bedroom during Dream or 4 days at AKV in a 2 bedroom. The point is 20k get you little at BLT, but you can get 7 days at AKV.

You mentioned selling points too. You could literally buy twice as many AKV points for a weeks stay at AKV vs buying BLT for a week stay at BLT. I would buy twice as many AKV point, sell the other half and essentially you have eliminated ongoing Maint fees. To do this at BLT would be super expensive. If you are willing to sell points, AKV is a no brainer.

 

[sndral]

Ever since DVC was caught in Hawaii setting MFs artificially low and forced to up them causing the departure of various executives, I've been a bit leery of predicting future MFs. Currently AKV's fees are $6.29 per point and BLTs are $5.05. Whether they will remain that far apart in say 5 years is hard to predict.
Another thing to consider is how many points will you have to buy at each resort for a stay in the villa size you want for the days you want. For a 1 br. villa for 8 nights @ AKV in early Dec. my choices are: value- 161 pts., standard - 188 pts., savanna - 241 pts., or club - 292 pts. For BLT the choices are: standard - 226 pts., lake - 263 pt.s or TP - 317 pts..
I bought AKV because I like staying there. When I bought I was planning to add on at BC or BWV in a couple of years, so I bought a loaded AKV contract with about half the points I ultimately want to own. I'm trying out BWVs for a couple of nights at the end of this Dec.'s vacation using my AKV points to see if I really want to own there. I'll still have enough points for Dec. 2016 and probably 2017 before I'd have to skip a year or buy more points. Meanwhile I'm becoming more familiar with how DVC works in my situation, if I decided AKV wasn't for me (I won't - love it and love the 1 br.s) the price has gone up enough I could sell and use the proceeds towards another resort, which surprised me as I assumed if I decided to sell I'd probably take a bit of a loss.

 

[coastalhh]

100 akv points gets your more than 100 blt points at home resort. How can that be overl ooked? It all comes down to price per night

 

[davper]

No. In my research, based on the lenght of the contract and the maintenance fees, BLT is the second lowest cost option; second to SSR.

If you will always and only book the value category at AKV, then buying AKV will be cheaper. Otherwise, you'll come out ahead with BLT.

I came to this same conclusion. But if AKV is where you want to stay, buy there for the 11 month window advantage.

 

[charminnie]

I really want to stay at both of the resorts. I love them both. I like AK but want the ability to stay on the monorail sometimes. You cant beat the location of BLT. We will usually stay in studios but every few years we would like to have a 2 bedroom to bring family members. Our usual travel times are end of May to beginning of June and Mardi Gras which can fall anywhere from beginning of February to middle of March. WE love going in the fall but our children are getting a little older and it is too difficult to miss an entire week of school. I'm just nervous that BLT is going to be harder to book at the 7 month window.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I really want to stay at both of the resorts. I love them both. I like AK but want the ability to stay on the monorail sometimes. You cant beat the location of BLT. We will usually stay in studios but every few years we would like to have a 2 bedroom to bring family members. Our usual travel times are end of May to beginning of June and Mardi Gras which can fall anywhere from beginning of February to middle of March. WE love going in the fall but our children are getting a little older and it is too difficult to miss an entire week of school. I'm just nervous that BLT is going to be harder to book at the 7 month window.

BLT is harder to get than AKV so you are correct. But if you only want to stay there sometimes you still can be ok buying AKV if that's where you wish to stay more often - or are happy staying there if you couldn't get into BLT. End of May and early June are an easier time to trade so that's a plus. Beginning of Feb to middle of March is also an easier time. The concern would be if you were looking to consistently visit in Oct - Dec which is a very popular time for DVC owners to go and more and more you often end up in your home resort.

Studios are the first to go but still not impossible to get at BLT during certain times of the year - which seem to fit for you. If you buy BLT you should have no problem getting into AKV at those times. If you buy AKV you should be able to get into BLT at least some of the time.

The question is will you be super disappointed if you can't get into BLT every time you want to stay there and be unhappy staying at AKV on those trips? If so, buy BLT. If you'll be happy getting in to BLT if it's open, and I think you will have success at times, probably most times, then AKV should work. But plan on LV category at BLT and recognize that there's always the chance you won't get in every time you wish. There's no doubt that BLT will be the buy to guarantee BLT but I can't say that you wouldn't get in there with AKV points - just be realistic about what's most important - staying at BLT whenever you want or paying less up front and staying there when you can get in.

 

[charminnie]

Thanks for all your help! Right now i am leaning towards buying AKV beacause i could get so many more points and be able to stay longer at either resort. My feelings may change in an hour or so. I cant make up my mind so thats why i havent made any offers. This is a big investment and i want to be absolutely sure before i buy. I dont want to be unhappy with my decision.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks for all your help! Right now i am leaning towards buying AKV beacause i could get so many more points and be able to stay longer at either resort. My feelings may change in an hour or so. I cant make up my mind so thats why i havent made any offers. This is a big investment and i want to be absolutely sure before i buy. I dont want to be unhappy with my decision.

Have you given any thought to 2 smaller contracts - one at BLT and one at AKV? You can use banking/borrowing to stay at one then the other every other year or at 7 months if you buy the same UY you can combine them together and you could almost certainly book at AKV and very possibly at BLT. Smaller contracts come at a bit of a premium but by getting part of your points at BLT you would know you could definitely stay there sometimes.

I do think you'd get in there most times with AKV points but this is another option.

 

[dsnydaddy]

Like a few others around here, I frequently run calculations as to what resort is the best (financially) to own. SSR always tops the list. AKL and BLT swap spots depending upon how you massage the numbers. Either is a sound decision and truly it turns into which you prefer to stay at as the savings from one to the other are not that significant. When I'm ready to buy my second contract I'm thinking on either more SSR points or BLT as I don't really like AKL.

 

[supersnoop]

My quick, easy, back-of-the-napkin math (which makes some assumptions about the time value of money):

([cost-per-point]/[years-remaining])+[current-dues]

AKV: ($80/42)+$6.30= $8.20 per point per year
BLT: ($110/45)+$5.05= $7.50 per point per year
SSR: ($75/39)+$5.17= $7.10 per point per year

 

[coastalhh]

My quick, easy, back-of-the-napkin math (which makes some assumptions about the time value of money):

([cost-per-point]/[years-remaining])+[current-dues]

AKV: ($80/42)+$6.30= $8.20 per point per year
BLT: ($110/45)+$5.05= $7.50 per point per year
SSR: ($75/39)+$5.17= $7.10 per point per year

But BLT has a point chart that is more points per night. A point isn't equal across all resorts.

BLT studio for tonight.
standard 19 points X 5.05 = $95.95
lake 21 points X 5.05 = $106.05
magic 25 points X 5.05 = $126.25

Akv studio for tonight
value 13 points X 6.30 = $81.90
standard 16 points X 6.30 = 100.80
savannah 19 points X 6.30 = 119.70

That's just for studios. When you get into 1 bedrooms the point different is 4 to 10 points instead of 3 to 5.

It's close with BLT and not a huge difference but when you start getting into Poly point charts it really skews the numbers. The point being a dvc point is not created equal across all resorts when many of us will use mostly at our "home" resort.

 

[djohn06]

BLT is more expensive than AKV. It isn't even debatable anymore.

 

[supersnoop]

But BLT has a point chart that is more points per night. A point isn't equal across all resorts.

BLT studio for tonight.
standard 19 points X 5.05 = $95.95
lake 21 points X 5.05 = $106.05
magic 25 points X 5.05 = $126.25

Akv studio for tonight
value 13 points X 6.30 = $81.90
standard 16 points X 6.30 = 100.80
savannah 19 points X 6.30 = 119.70

I disagree. Points are points. Home resort advantage is a qualitative factor that you have to apply to your overall point cost. You can book an AKV savanna room with BLT points. Then you just came out ahead. Heck, a value studio is available for one of my nights in July, so that's not impossible, either.

BLT studio using AKV points.
standard 19 points X 6.30 = $119.70
lake 21 points X 6.30 = $132.3
magic 25 points X 6.30 = $157.5

AKV studio using BLT points
value 13 points X 5.05 = $65.65
standard 16 points X 5.05 = 80.80
savanna 19 points X 5.05 = 95.95

Therefore, if you ever use your AKV points to stay at BLT, you're way, way behind. If you use BLT points to stay at AKV, you're a genius.

 

[supersnoop]

BLT is more expensive than AKV. It isn't even debatable anymore.

I'm happy to debate it. The maintenance fees made the difference. Think of it this way:
At BLT, you're committing to pay maintenance fees for the next 45 years. At today's price, that's $227.25 per point.
At AKV, you're committing to pay maintenance fees for the next 42 years. At today's price, that's $264.60 per point.

That $37.35 difference per point covers the spread, plus you're getting three more years out of BLT. Plus, I bet the asset value of BLT remains higher than AKV, so you'll come out even further ahead if you ever need to sell.

 

[Dean]

I know I can get a cheaper contract at AK but is it really cheaper in long run? It has higher maintenance fees and if I decide to rent out my points, BLT points are going for a premium price. I just don't know what to do. I love BLT and AK. I want to be able to stay on the monorail sometimes. I just hate to pay more than I need to. Please someone help me make up my mind. This decision I'd driving me crazy.

If one ignores the specialty rooms at both locations they're likely pretty equal in cost long term when you consider dues and up front costs. I personally don't think the RTU difference adds to either one. That assumes an even % of dues escalation which is reasonable now (wasn't when BLT was lower). BLT will have more value though one shouldn't go in to sell later. The variable, that is difficult to calculate in a sense is how the specialty rooms might affect cost. Obviously one could run the numbers but that would assume you know the % of time one would use those options. Between the 2 and without a specific and major preference for AKV, I'd go with BLT. Obviously still a lot more than SSR or OKW but the best compromise for a non 2042 resort "high end" purchase. And both OKW and AKV have their own dues issues as well.