is this dumb? thinking about NOT buying direct for add on points

[qv09vvp]

Newly minted Saratoga owner here (resale) The plan was to buy at least 25-32 minimum at Poly or CCV..but now that I put pen to paper... 100 discount on annual pass x 2 people? what am i missing in the perks area?

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Isn't the AP discount more like $220 pp? Some dining discounts.....special events.....Epcot lounge....??

Did you adjust your resale purchase as part of the larger plan? Meaning, did you calculate that you needed 125 points and bought 100 resale? You can't try to justify the whole add-on purchase for the benefits, but just the difference in resale -vs- direct pricing on 25 points plus whatever "value" you place on having 11 mo booking priority on whichever additional resort you buy. If there's no value in that for you, buy the extra points at SSR ($145 vs $176) and see where you're calculations lead you.

That being said, it will obviously take much longer for 2 people to see the cost benefit than it will for a family of 4 or 5.

 

[Cyberc1978]

The AP Gold is 559 and the AP platinum is 779, a difference in $220 plus tax.

If you are Florida resident you already qualify for the gold AP.

Have in mind the gold pass same some blockout dates.

The others perks is the Epcot lounge, special events as already mentioned. Basically anything that Disney categorizes as “Membership extra”

If you know you need 25-32 points extra but don’t know if you need the benefits or not I would just buy the 25-32 points direct at SSR. I guesstimate that 25 points resale will be roughly $ 105-110 pp and direct is $145pp

Either a total of:$2625 or $3625. A difference of $1.000. The extra money would be recovered after 2,5years or after you buy the 3rd AP you have have saved money.

The difference between direct and resale is actually smaller as the closing cost direct for 25 points is only $111 and for resale it could easily be more than $400

 

[ziravan]

I would consider that its very possible and I believe probably likely that DVC will soon require a 50 point purchase in order to qualify for perks.

When they do, current 25 pointers will almost certainly be grandfathered as they've done in the past.

So. You can get direct benefits today for 25 points. If you change your mind in a year, there's a good chance that you'll need to buy 50 to qualify.

 

[Ben E N]

Also, the closing costs when purchasing direct are much lower than resale. $150 costs vs. $600 greatly closes the gap between the cost of direct and resale add ons for low point value contracts.
It is also much easier and quicker to add on direct, and you get two year's worth of points right off the bat.
Many people who are already direct owners still add on small amounts direct instead of resale for these three reasons.

 

[Dean]

Newly minted Saratoga owner here (resale) The plan was to buy at least 25-32 minimum at Poly or CCV..but now that I put pen to paper... 100 discount on annual pass x 2 people? what am i missing in the perks area?

I'm not sure they'll do less than 50 at CCR anyway. IMO the 25 retail points is an investment in future options. It's likely there will be other benefits going forward and it's likely they will raise the price later. And since you will get some benefit from the pass discount, that will decrease the additional cost over time. Also remember you would gain access to special events like park events and member cruises. I'd look at different resorts, ones you could really make 25 pts work for you more like BWV for standard, AKV for value, BLT for standard or HH for a studio or even just additional SSR points.

 

[sleepydog25]

The smaller resale contracts at all the resorts will sell much closer to direct pricing than the larger ones because they're more in demand. If you're interested in perks going forward, then certainly a direct contract would be the route to go, and if you can get in for 25 points, then you won't have much cost differential. Over the years, as you buy more APs, shop with the small discounts, and eat meals with a small discount, then you can recoup the cost as well as enjoy such things as the Epcot members' lounge. If you're buying 200 points, then you would likely never make up the difference between resale and direct. However, at a 25-30 point buy-in, it's much more likely.