More points or pay ABD with cash

[PSU]

Hi there -
Need some advice....My husband and his dad visited the galapagos islands last winter (my father in law has pancreatic cancer and it was on his bucket list)...He now wants to go on the ABD tour and take me cause he loved it so much- (actually he doesn't care about ABD...he'll go solo or with anyt tour...and pay out of pocket).. I'm the dis freak and suggested using points....problem is we used/borrowed for a family reunion trip in Dec....So my options are to pay outright for the trip - not do disney and save about 2 grand for the both of us...or buy points and borrow enough to at least use them for 1 ticket...I look at DVC as a prepaying vacation plan...not an investment plan - so I don't mind that it's "better value" to use them at disney proper...(the only way I convinced him was with the fact that we could do other stuff...not just WDW)....I'm the practical one (he's a musician who isn't into finances...) So what do you think I should do? We'd need to finance both for a bit of time (no flames here - yes we should not finance a vacation -but honestly I think we'll be okay with this 45+ no kids unfortunately)...My thinking is that these points can be used again and again ....better than a one shot deal....Thanks for the honest advice in advance

 

[ToddyLu]

Hmmmm..DH and I are in our 40s, no children either. In my mind the Galapagos will be there for a long time. I think I would put money away for a year for the trip, then go. I would pay cash for the trip and not use points. If you book the trip and then cancel for some reason, you have only lost the deposit. My MIL cancelled our Ireland ABD trip earlier this year due to travel issues, so I think she lost $600. If you book with points and cancel, I think you will be out even more....then you won't get to do a Disney trip for a while. ABD is expensive points wise, I think Ireland would cost me 400 points for just me which is almost 2 years of points for us. I hate to say it but I HAVE to go to Disney and I can see the Galapagos on Discovery Channel. Does that make me a bad person??

 

[arthur06]

Hi there -
Need some advice....My husband and his dad visited the galapagos islands last winter (my father in law has pancreatic cancer and it was on his bucket list)...He now wants to go on the ABD tour and take me cause he loved it so much- (actually he doesn't care about ABD...he'll go solo or with anyt tour...and pay out of pocket).. I'm the dis freak and suggested using points....problem is we used/borrowed for a family reunion trip in Dec....So my options are to pay outright for the trip - not do disney and save about 2 grand for the both of us...or buy points and borrow enough to at least use them for 1 ticket...I look at DVC as a prepaying vacation plan...not an investment plan - so I don't mind that it's "better value" to use them at disney proper...(the only way I convinced him was with the fact that we could do other stuff...not just WDW)....I'm the practical one (he's a musician who isn't into finances...) So what do you think I should do? We'd need to finance both for a bit of time (no flames here - yes we should not finance a vacation -but honestly I think we'll be okay with this 45+ no kids unfortunately)...My thinking is that these points can be used again and again ....better than a one shot deal....Thanks for the honest advice in advance

I guess my answer depends on who HE is?? If he is your husband, than I agree ToddyLu and say save and wait... If HE is your FIL, then I say go now! With cancer, who cares about paying for it right now, go enjoy! W/O cancer, I say save a bit and wait...

 

[ToddyLu]

I guess my answer depends on who HE is?? If he is your husband, than I agree ToddyLu and say save and wait... If HE is your FIL, then I say go now! With cancer, who cares about paying for it right now, go enjoy! W/O cancer, I say save a bit and wait...

I wondered the same thing and assummed it was the husband. We had a wonderful last trip to Disney with my FIL in 2004. I can't tell you how much we enjoyed that time with him. He was strong and excited and enjoyed his tour around the parks on his scooter. My DH's BDay is July 4th and my MIL gave him a pic of he and his Dad on that trip. He was tickled pink with it...

 

[Pakey]

OP, the post is very confusing. Are you wanting to buy more points for a one time AbD trip. Or are you thinking if you buy more points, you can do AbD trips ongoing? If you are talking ongoing, please keep in mind that the points needed for AbD trips have increased dramatically the past 2 years. So if you buy enough points this year for this year's charts, you wouldn't have enough next year for next year's charts. So when you say using points "again and again" I hope you don't meant for AbD trips because if the trip takes 400 points in 2010, that same trip might take 500 points in 2011.

Also, you need to remember that if you book one person on an AbD with points, you must pay the cash portion for the other person, in full, at the time of booking, and also the $95 booking fee.

We paid cash for our AbD trip; we didn't use points. Unless I had points I couldn't get rid of, I'd never use them for AbD as it's not a good rate of return.

 

[PSU]

Thanks all for the thoughts...Apologies for being confusing ...the "He" is DH.
Thanks for the perspective on the increasing cost of ABD...didn't know that - (just became members last yr...) Anyone know how long ABD has been going on? Do you think Disney will keep these trips up? Just wondering given the comment on the dramatic price increases....must have been losing $$??

 

[Lynne M]

Thanks all for the thoughts...Apologies for being confusing ...the "He" is DH.
Thanks for the perspective on the increasing cost of ABD...didn't know that - (just became members last yr...) Anyone know how long ABD has been going on? Do you think Disney will keep these trips up? Just wondering given the comment on the dramatic price increases....must have been losing $$??

Well...the point costs for all of the non-DVC options can (and often do) go up every year. DVC renegotiates the cost to members for the cruises, ABD, the non-DVC resorts at WDW, etc, every year. That's why it's not a good idea to buy points just for the purpose of using these options.

I don't know how long ABD has been going on....5 years or so?

 

[PSU]

Guess I was being hopeful....that DVC really was okay for a prepaid vacation plan with an organization, de-stress advantage....maybe I'll just keep what we have pts wise and forget about the rest. Can't even imagine though sorting through other options at this point...my job is just too demanding brain-wise to even contemplate going there- with the recession and all...........

 

[JWG]

Pay cash for AbD. Unless you KNOW you'll use those additional points at DVC resorts only moving forward. AbD and other "trade outs" could go away at anytime. So, my philosophy is only by points I know I'd use if I had to do so at my home resort.

Just to be safe.

 

[crisi]

We also paid cash for our ABD trip. It was a way expensive point option.