Is Renting DVC Really THAT great of a deal?

[MISCdisney21]

If you have flexibility with vacations you can get some really good deals with rentals. Some of the confirmed reservations can be heavily discounted.

I’m assuming some of these trips which typically are toward the end of a month are made with expiring points. Those reservations can drop big but I understand for most people that have work/school, it’s difficult to just decide on a vacation 2 weeks ahead of time.

For example, I see 5 nights in bay lake studio for $2600. I think this is huge savings as rack rate maybe $700-800 a night.

Another 4 nights boardwalk for $2100. I think you’d save maybe $1000.

And what I’ve seen is if you wait until like 2 weeks before and trip is last week of month, prices can drop even more.

Small addition but if you are driving or renting a car, you get free parking which saves $25 a day.


I’ve never rented to stay but sometimes when I don’t want to use my points or have a trip booked, I’ll scan for single nights to add an extra day to my trip. Hasn’t lined up for me yet but I keep checking.
I had a trip to Saratoga planned that was cancelled my hurricane. I did find rental for 1 extra day that was only $180. Too bad we had to reschedule

 

[kevtlas]

I only rented once, for one night, because we were out of points from a few previous visits and had some future already booked. Renting was still a much better deal than anything else I could find.

 

[Sandisw]

I only rented once, for one night, because we were out of points from a few previous visits and had some future already booked. Renting was still a much better deal than anything else I could find.

It definitely can work in ones favor for something like this.

We personally were never comfortable with it as the regular option because the risks were too great for us.

 

[crisi]

No I definitely didn't mean to downplay that. Those interest rates are brutal and getting worse thanks to the fed hike. I think my point is just that financing dvc seems to draw a lot more heat than spending money on other purchases which are often just as foolish if the only thing we're doing is looking at the numbers. Whether financing or paying cash the moment you drive that new car off the lot there goes 30% what you paid right out the passenger window. Not that I'm criticizing that, only saying that when we play the "what people could do with their money" game we should also consider what people actually do with their money and judge this against that.

I'm really financially conservative, so I think financing a car is sort of nuts as well - at least for the segment of the population that are regular Disney goers. So is financing a college education by the way. You pay for those things out of pocket after you have saved for them....with a caveat - if you know what you are doing, borrowing money against money you have is often better than using the money you have. That if you know what you are doing is a pretty big if though, and leaving money in the market isn't without risk, so you need to be able to afford to lose in that game if you play it. If you have to sell stock, then you take the capital gains hit on taxes and lose the gains you might make in the market - it can work out better to have some debt. So it isn't just financing DVC that draws heat, its just that the topic of conversation here is financing DVC. Spend time on a finance board and you'll find out quick that most debt gets you dirty looks from those that are financially conservative - but luxury debt in particular - for vacations, luxury cars, boats, big fancy homes.

And before anyone says "college out of pocket, you are nuts!" - no, you had eighteen years, it isn't like your high school senior arrived yesterday needing a college fund, and in this crowd, that's 18 years of people who generally take at least one luxury vacation a year. With merit aid, state schools, community college, etc., its completely doable for anyone who owns DVC. And you buy the most reliable car you can pay cash for and start saving for the next car - which will hopefully be a slightly more reliable car.

Mortgages are inevitable for most of us. Car loans and undergraduate student loans shouldn't be - not in this crowd. (Graduate level student loans - to become a doctor or vet or attorney, are a different kettle of fish).

But people are adults and adults get to make their own decisions.

And yeah, we all do foolish things with money - whether you have a Disney habit, or spend hundreds every month on hair and nails, or collect purses or shoes, or have an expensive hobby, or own a boat, or like to hit the casinos. The difference is if you are spending money you have or money that you hope to have sometime in the future. Spending money you hope to have some time in the future leaves you with less money in the future - a hole that tends to just get deeper.

 

[Frederic Civish]

If you have flexibility with vacations you can get some really good deals with rentals. Some of the confirmed reservations can be heavily discounted.

Yeah. I rent points out occasionally, and sometimes I have FIXED reservations that I simply can't change, like something coming up in 2 weeks at AK, and now I can't use them. So I do SOMETIMES rent things out like that, and sometimes I just end up eating the points. Better to get SOME money, than none, but it can be a better deal for the renters, that's for sure.

 

[tom1944]

I'm really financially conservative, so I think financing a car is sort of nuts as well - at least for the segment of the population that are regular Disney goers. So is financing a college education by the way. You pay for those things out of pocket after you have saved for them....with a caveat - if you know what you are doing, borrowing money against money you have is often better than using the money you have. That if you know what you are doing is a pretty big if though, and leaving money in the market isn't without risk, so you need to be able to afford to lose in that game if you play it. If you have to sell stock, then you take the capital gains hit on taxes and lose the gains you might make in the market - it can work out better to have some debt. So it isn't just financing DVC that draws heat, its just that the topic of conversation here is financing DVC. Spend time on a finance board and you'll find out quick that most debt gets you dirty looks from those that are financially conservative - but luxury debt in particular - for vacations, luxury cars, boats, big fancy homes.

And before anyone says "college out of pocket, you are nuts!" - no, you had eighteen years, it isn't like your high school senior arrived yesterday needing a college fund, and in this crowd, that's 18 years of people who generally take at least one luxury vacation a year. With merit aid, state schools, community college, etc., its completely doable for anyone who owns DVC. And you buy the most reliable car you can pay cash for and start saving for the next car - which will hopefully be a slightly more reliable car.

Mortgages are inevitable for most of us. Car loans and undergraduate student loans shouldn't be - not in this crowd. (Graduate level student loans - to become a doctor or vet or attorney, are a different kettle of fish).

But people are adults and adults get to make their own decisions.

And yeah, we all do foolish things with money - whether you have a Disney habit, or spend hundreds every month on hair and nails, or collect purses or shoes, or have an expensive hobby, or own a boat, or like to hit the casinos. The difference is if you are spending money you have or money that you hope to have sometime in the future. Spending money you hope to have some time in the future leaves you with less money in the future - a hole that tends to just get deeper.

I agree

We passed up becoming a DVC owner in 1996 because we would have limited our financial flexibility. We paid cash for our daughters college and only financed cars when we had less than 2% interest offers.

We are now considering a purchase and using a lump sum payment of accumulated vacation time I get when I retire.
I doubt we would use savings to buy if this lump sum was not available or if was needed somewhere else.