Looking for advice for occassional larger family trips

[jaysue]

OK, so DW and I have figured out roughly how many points we need to buy for our needs. We also know that my DF and DM are going to want to come with us in Feb/04 and as such we will not have enough points for all of us.

Do we rent the additional points and if so by rental or by transfer?

Should we just bite the bullet and get enough points and use them for family or rent excess?

Should we just bite the bullet and bank and borrow for these larger trips?

Thanks
jaysue

 

[Merilyn]

while you can. At least that is what I would do. We have added on 3 times to have enough points for the large family trips. We usually get a GV so we have plenty of room and can take extra people. We have decided to take two trips a year now and go once to WDW and once somewhere else. It is hard to borrow points and then not have them for that year. You will probably find that you keep borrowing and it will catch up with you one day. If it is affordable for you, I would get enough on the front end. We have 600 and sometimes that isn't enough. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Chuck S]

Truthfully, it depends on your situation and what you are comfortable with. We usually stay in a one bedroom, but if we are taking guests, we go with 2 studios. However, we also have added to our points 3 times to give us more flexability. We have both borrowed and banked points for special trips in two bedroom units, and have enough points to fairly easily stay in a GV for a week if the need arises, by borrowing a few points.

If you have bought in at the minimum of 150, I'd say add a few points, then bank and borrow. I wouldn't "overbuy" points just to accomodate guests, if I didn't plan on having guests on a regular basis. We have 345 points and it works well for us.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Buy the extra points only if:

-You can afford the extra $$ and maintenance

-You plan on having more future trips with family/friends and this isn't a one shot deal

-You can't bear to skip a year in order to make up a borrowing cycle

-You have enough vacation days to use the extra points without always banking if the larger trips don't happen

-You are aware that the add-on bug is contagious. Its seems that those that add-on are more likely to add-on again in the future.


My theory is that it becomes a hard cycle to break. In the years after your trip with family, you find that you have enough points for that 1-bedroom instead of studio or that 2-bdrm instead of 1-bdrm or those extra days or that extra trip and you start using up your full point allotment yearly. Then what happens? A larger family trip is planned and you find yourself short of points again...

As for our family, we bought extra, a little beyond what we needed, so that we had the flexibility to splurge, or bank, or plan larger or longer, or extra trips. We had been banking mode but after a big family trip next year in a GV and studios, we will be in borrow mode.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[pwoodham]

When faced with the same choice, we added on. I love having the extra flexibility. Surprisingly(not), the extra points have expanded our vacation plans somewhat, including a short getaway just for me and DH. We're now in the process of renting a couple years worth of points so we can take our 5 boys plus grandma and the nanny on a cruise in 2004. I've gotten many hours of fun from trying to figure out how to use all our points!!

That said, the monthly maintenance fees are not fun, and renting additional points from someone else is a great option. Everyone I've dealt with has been honest and just a general pleasure to deal with. I think most renters have the same to say.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[mikesmom]

We compromised. We figured we wanted to take family with us about every 2nd or 3rd year. (After doing it once, we decided every year would be too much, but that's another story )

We decided optimum would be a GV (plus a studio if they ALL came) at OKW. We needed about 300 points for the GV plus some extra for the studio every other year, so we bought 150 points at resale to add to our current BWV points. We figure we'll bank every other year and thus have 300 available when we need them. We can always use our BWV points at the 7 month window for that extra studio if needed (studios aren't nearly as hard to book at 7 months at OKW). If maintenace fees become a problem I figure I can rent out some of the BWV points in the year we're using the OKW points to help defray the extra costs.

 

[Halle]

You didn't say how many points you have and I think that makes a difference. We have 309 and have always borrowed from the next year. Never had a problem.

 

[InstImpres]

I also think you will find people/family (who look at you funny that you "bught into DVC") are eager to join you when they hear you are going. In 5 trips, I have not gone alone (just my immediate family) once. Once my parents even used my points and went without me.

That said, I am looking at a 4th add-on. We did our first add-on after closing and before our first trip due to our new found popularity

Good luck in you decision
Sandy