Newbie question about DVC point rental

[Jaimet]

Sorry if this has been posted before. I am a newbie to renting DVC points. Can someone explain to me how it works. I understand the general idea, rent points from a member at member set price. How do the points work, when can you book, is this price solely for room (excludes tickets, etc), can you add dining plan, etc. thanks for you help!!!

 

[CarolMN]

Welcome to the DIS DVC Community!

This is from our DIS DVC Resource Center and should answer many of your questions:

DVC Point Rentals

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are not a member, points are worthless to you. You purchase a reservation from a member who made it using their DVC points. The price you pay them is the price they charge for each point used to make the reservation. This reservation is solely for lodging and doesn't include park admission, dining, etc. You don't get the perks they offer general guests like free dining, buy three get two free, etc. You get the exact same perks that every guest gets like entrance to the park for free Extra Magic Hours, transportation to and from the parks, transportation to and from MCO using Disney's Magical Express.

 

[DebbieB]

One thing DVC reservations do not include is daily housekeeping:

Disney Vacation Club Resorts offer laundry and housekeeping services. Daily housekeeping service is not provided for Members.

A 24-hour self-service laundry room is available at each Disney Vacation Club Resort. There are also dry-cleaning and valet laundry services. Villas with one or more bedrooms feature an in-unit washer and dryer.

Trash & Towel Service
For stays of 7 nights or fewer, Trash & Towel Service is provided on day 4, regardless of whether you're staying on a Member-discounted cash reservation, Vacation Points reservation, or a combination of both.

With Trash & Towel Service, Housekeeping will:

• Empty trash and replace liners in trash bins
• Provide fresh bathroom linens
• Replace bath amenities as needed
• Replenish facial tissues, paper towels and toilet paper
• Replenish coffee, sugar, cream and sweeteners

Full-Cleaning Service
For stays of 8 or more nights, Full-Cleaning Service is provided on day 4 and Trash & Towel Service is provided on day 8, regardless of whether you're staying on a Member-discounted cash reservation, Vacation Points reservation, or a combination of both. This cycle repeats for stays longer than 8 days.

With Full-Cleaning Service, Housekeeping will provide everything included with the Trash & Towel Service, plus:

• Change the bed linens
• Vacuum and dust the vacation villa
• Clean the bathroom(s)
• Clean the kitchen/kitchenette and wash the dishes

Rental Guests (non-Members or Disney Vacation Club Members not booking through Membership) receive Full-Cleaning Services every day.

For all of the above, additional Housekeeping Services may be purchased.

Additional Housekeeping Service Daily Rates:

• Deluxe Studio: $30 per day requested
• 1-Bedroom Villa: $45 per day requested
• 2-Bedroom Villa: $60 per day requested
• 3-Bedroom Grand Villa: $75 per day requested

Additional Trash & Towel Service Rates:

• Deluxe Studio: $15 per day requested
• 1-Bedroom Villa: $20 per day requested
• 2-Bedroom Villa: $25 per day requested
• 3-Bedroom Grand Villa: $35 per day requested

Note: Trash and recycling disposal areas are located on the premises for your use in between Full-Cleaning Services.

Pay As You Play
With Pay As You Play service, you'll be provided with the following amenities at no extra charge at the start of your stay and during each Housekeeping service. After that, you may purchase more amenities for the following fees (fees are subject to change):

• Toiletries Package: $5 - includes 1 facial soap, 1 bath soap, 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 shower gel
• Coffee Package: $3 - includes 1 package of coffee, 8 sugars, 8 creamers, 8 artificial sweeteners
• Towel Package: $6 - includes 4 bath towels, 2 hand towels, 4 washcloths, 1 bath mat
• Laundry Detergent (only in 1-, 2- and 3-Bedroom Villas): $1 - includes 1 box for 1 load of laundry

NOTE: Rates are subject to change without notice.

 

[Marionnette]

Sorry if this has been posted before. I am a newbie to renting DVC points. Can someone explain to me how it works. I understand the general idea, rent points from a member at member set price. How do the points work, when can you book, is this price solely for room (excludes tickets, etc), can you add dining plan, etc. thanks for you help!!!

Prior to buying DVC, I "rented points" from my brother and I paid him the rate that David's was charging renters. One of the big drawbacks of renting is that you get the urge to purchase DVC.

Once the owner gives you the reservation number, you can add it to MDE and verify that the names, dates and type of unit are correct. The owner can add a dining package for you if you pay them for it at the time that they add it. Tickets, FP+ and ADRs are your own responsibility. You will have all of the advantages that any Disney resort guest has (like EMH, access to the resort's theme pool, ADRs at 180+10, FP+ at 60 days prior to arrival, MBs) but none of the benefits that DVC members have (such as member discounts or events. pool hopping or the Epcot Members' Lounge).

But here are a couple of things that non-owners may not understand about DVC:

• You're not "renting points". That's a disboards term. You are renting a reservation. The points belong to the DVC member and always will belong to them. The reservation is under their control until the moment that you check in.
  
• Those units with low points like BWV std. view and AKV Jambo value studios may not be impossible to get but you are highly unlikely to be able to book the value studio and will be very lucky if you get std. view at BWV. Set your budget to cover the units that cost more points.
• Demand for DVC rental far exceeds the number of available units and owners willing to use their points for a rental. DVC is designed to be at or near 100% occupancy all year long. That means that owners will be competing with one another for the more popular DVC units at the most popular times of the year.
• DVC periods of peak demand are not the same as Disney's periods of peak demand. Marathon weekend and Sept. thru December book up quickly.
  
• DVC units are not the same as staying in a hotel room. Aside from not getting daily housekeeping, you will not get 2 beds in a studio unless you're staying at OKW. What you get in a studio is a queen bed and a full sleeper sofa. Some studios will also have a Murphy bed that is smaller than a twin bed that will accommodate a 5th person.
• An owner that is willing to use their points for your reservation has restrictions on their points. Because of the restrictions that we deal with, the likelihood of getting a refund if you change your mind or need to cancel are less than when dealing directly with Disney. If they borrowed points, used banked points that are expiring soon, are past their banking deadline or if you cancel so late that their points go into holding, they aren't likely to give you your money back.
  
• Any changes, special room requests or adding the dining plan have to be done through the owner. Dining plans must be paid in full at the time that they are added to the reservation because that's the way that DVC works.
• You cannot request an upgrade when you get to the resort. With DVC, you get what you paid for. Any upgrades would be charged to the owner (i.e. additional points would be taken from their account).
  
• The owner retains control of the reservation, even if you went through a broker like David's. If the owner is behind on paying their mortgage or membership fees, Disney can (and will) cancel reservations that they have made. Even a broker cannot control that.
• Owners are not magicians. We cannot get you a reservation for a unit when there are none available. We are not likely to "walk" a reservation in order to get you what you want, nor are we likely to add our names to a waitlist to get it for you. Your chances of getting exactly what you want are much greater if you have lined up someone, who owns at the resort that you are interested in booking, at least 11 months in advance of the day you wish to arrive. The probability of success goes down from there.
• It takes a degree of trust when renting a DVC reservation, but it goes both ways. The renter is trusting the owner to make good on their promise to keep the reservation in good standing for the renter. The renter is trusting that the DVC owner will not cancel the reservation and run off with their money. OTOH, the owner is trusting that the renter will pay in full according to the terms that they set forth in the contract. They are also trusting that the renter will not damage the property or otherwise run up a bill that the owner gets stuck paying.
• When you rent a DVC reservation, Disney is not involved in the transaction at all. They will not make good if something goes wrong and you show up at the resort without a room in your name. Sometimes, it's not even the owner's doing. There was a thread on the DVC Member Services forum concerning an owner's reservation that was canceled by DVC for no apparent reason. This happened to be a reservation for themselves but it could just as easily have been a reservation for a friend, family member or a renter. The reservation cannot be re-booked because the unit went to the next person on the waitlist. It can happen. You'd get your money back in a case like that but you would be without a reservation and Disney won't do anything to help you other than to book a room for you at the prevailing rate for whatever is available.

I'm not trying to scare you off. I just want you to be informed about the way these rentals work so that you can go into it with open eyes. Too many people look at the price calculators on the brokers' websites and think that the units are available and just waiting for them to be booked by the next lucky renter. It's much more complicated than that.

 

[Jaimet]

Prior to buying DVC, I "rented points" from my brother and I paid him the rate that David's was charging renters. One of the big drawbacks of renting is that you get the urge to purchase DVC.

Once the owner gives you the reservation number, you can add it to MDE and verify that the names, dates and type of unit are correct. The owner can add a dining package for you if you pay them for it at the time that they add it. Tickets, FP+ and ADRs are your own responsibility. You will have all of the advantages that any Disney resort guest has (like EMH, access to the resort's theme pool, ADRs at 180+10, FP+ at 60 days prior to arrival, MBs) but none of the benefits that DVC members have (such as member discounts or events. pool hopping or the Epcot Members' Lounge).

But here are a couple of things that non-owners may not understand about DVC:

• You're not "renting points". That's a disboards term. You are renting a reservation. The points belong to the DVC member and always will belong to them. The reservation is under their control until the moment that you check in.
  
• Those units with low points like BWV std. view and AKV Jambo value studios may not be impossible to get but you are highly unlikely to be able to book the value studio and will be very lucky if you get std. view at BWV. Set your budget to cover the units that cost more points.
• Demand for DVC rental far exceeds the number of available units and owners willing to use their points for a rental. DVC is designed to be at or near 100% occupancy all year long. That means that owners will be competing with one another for the more popular DVC units at the most popular times of the year.
• DVC periods of peak demand are not the same as Disney's periods of peak demand. Marathon weekend and Sept. thru December book up quickly.
  
• DVC units are not the same as staying in a hotel room. Aside from not getting daily housekeeping, you will not get 2 beds in a studio unless you're staying at OKW. What you get in a studio is a queen bed and a full sleeper sofa. Some studios will also have a Murphy bed that is smaller than a twin bed that will accommodate a 5th person.
• An owner that is willing to use their points for your reservation has restrictions on their points. Because of the restrictions that we deal with, the likelihood of getting a refund if you change your mind or need to cancel are less than when dealing directly with Disney. If they borrowed points, used banked points that are expiring soon, are past their banking deadline or if you cancel so late that their points go into holding, they aren't likely to give you your money back.
  
• Any changes, special room requests or adding the dining plan have to be done through the owner. Dining plans must be paid in full at the time that they are added to the reservation because that's the way that DVC works.
• You cannot request an upgrade when you get to the resort. With DVC, you get what you paid for. Any upgrades would be charged to the owner (i.e. additional points would be taken from their account).
  
• The owner retains control of the reservation, even if you went through a broker like David's. If the owner is behind on paying their mortgage or membership fees, Disney can (and will) cancel reservations that they have made. Even a broker cannot control that.
• Owners are not magicians. We cannot get you a reservation for a unit when there are none available. We are not likely to "walk" a reservation in order to get you what you want, nor are we likely to add our names to a waitlist to get it for you. Your chances of getting exactly what you want are much greater if you have lined up someone, who owns at the resort that you are interested in booking, at least 11 months in advance of the day you wish to arrive. The probability of success goes down from there.
• It takes a degree of trust when renting a DVC reservation, but it goes both ways. The renter is trusting the owner to make good on their promise to keep the reservation in good standing for the renter. The renter is trusting that the DVC owner will not cancel the reservation and run off with their money. OTOH, the owner is trusting that the renter will pay in full according to the terms that they set forth in the contract. They are also trusting that the renter will not damage the property or otherwise run up a bill that the owner gets stuck paying.
• When you rent a DVC reservation, Disney is not involved in the transaction at all. They will not make good if something goes wrong and you show up at the resort without a room in your name. Sometimes, it's not even the owner's doing. There was a thread on the DVC Member Services forum concerning an owner's reservation that was canceled by DVC for no apparent reason. This happened to be a reservation for themselves but it could just as easily have been a reservation for a friend, family member or a renter. The reservation cannot be re-booked because the unit went to the next person on the waitlist. It can happen. You'd get your money back in a case like that but you would be without a reservation and Disney won't do anything to help you other than to book a room for you at the prevailing rate for whatever is available.

I'm not trying to scare you off. I just want you to be informed about the way these rentals work so that you can go into it with open eyes. Too many people look at the price calculators on the brokers' websites and think that the units are available and just waiting for them to be booked by the next lucky renter. It's much more complicated than that.

Thanks so much for all of the info. I've been doing some research and I'm on the fence if it is the right move for us. I need to really weigh the pros and cons.

 

[Wakey]

Prior to buying DVC, I "rented points" from my brother and I paid him the rate that David's was charging renters. One of the big drawbacks of renting is that you get the urge to purchase DVC.

Once the owner gives you the reservation number, you can add it to MDE and verify that the names, dates and type of unit are correct. The owner can add a dining package for you if you pay them for it at the time that they add it. Tickets, FP+ and ADRs are your own responsibility. You will have all of the advantages that any Disney resort guest has (like EMH, access to the resort's theme pool, ADRs at 180+10, FP+ at 60 days prior to arrival, MBs) but none of the benefits that DVC members have (such as member discounts or events. pool hopping or the Epcot Members' Lounge).

But here are a couple of things that non-owners may not understand about DVC:

• You're not "renting points". That's a disboards term. You are renting a reservation. The points belong to the DVC member and always will belong to them. The reservation is under their control until the moment that you check in.
  
• Those units with low points like BWV std. view and AKV Jambo value studios may not be impossible to get but you are highly unlikely to be able to book the value studio and will be very lucky if you get std. view at BWV. Set your budget to cover the units that cost more points.
• Demand for DVC rental far exceeds the number of available units and owners willing to use their points for a rental. DVC is designed to be at or near 100% occupancy all year long. That means that owners will be competing with one another for the more popular DVC units at the most popular times of the year.
• DVC periods of peak demand are not the same as Disney's periods of peak demand. Marathon weekend and Sept. thru December book up quickly.
  
• DVC units are not the same as staying in a hotel room. Aside from not getting daily housekeeping, you will not get 2 beds in a studio unless you're staying at OKW. What you get in a studio is a queen bed and a full sleeper sofa. Some studios will also have a Murphy bed that is smaller than a twin bed that will accommodate a 5th person.
• An owner that is willing to use their points for your reservation has restrictions on their points. Because of the restrictions that we deal with, the likelihood of getting a refund if you change your mind or need to cancel are less than when dealing directly with Disney. If they borrowed points, used banked points that are expiring soon, are past their banking deadline or if you cancel so late that their points go into holding, they aren't likely to give you your money back.
  
• Any changes, special room requests or adding the dining plan have to be done through the owner. Dining plans must be paid in full at the time that they are added to the reservation because that's the way that DVC works.
• You cannot request an upgrade when you get to the resort. With DVC, you get what you paid for. Any upgrades would be charged to the owner (i.e. additional points would be taken from their account).
  
• The owner retains control of the reservation, even if you went through a broker like David's. If the owner is behind on paying their mortgage or membership fees, Disney can (and will) cancel reservations that they have made. Even a broker cannot control that.
• Owners are not magicians. We cannot get you a reservation for a unit when there are none available. We are not likely to "walk" a reservation in order to get you what you want, nor are we likely to add our names to a waitlist to get it for you. Your chances of getting exactly what you want are much greater if you have lined up someone, who owns at the resort that you are interested in booking, at least 11 months in advance of the day you wish to arrive. The probability of success goes down from there.
• It takes a degree of trust when renting a DVC reservation, but it goes both ways. The renter is trusting the owner to make good on their promise to keep the reservation in good standing for the renter. The renter is trusting that the DVC owner will not cancel the reservation and run off with their money. OTOH, the owner is trusting that the renter will pay in full according to the terms that they set forth in the contract. They are also trusting that the renter will not damage the property or otherwise run up a bill that the owner gets stuck paying.
• When you rent a DVC reservation, Disney is not involved in the transaction at all. They will not make good if something goes wrong and you show up at the resort without a room in your name. Sometimes, it's not even the owner's doing. There was a thread on the DVC Member Services forum concerning an owner's reservation that was canceled by DVC for no apparent reason. This happened to be a reservation for themselves but it could just as easily have been a reservation for a friend, family member or a renter. The reservation cannot be re-booked because the unit went to the next person on the waitlist. It can happen. You'd get your money back in a case like that but you would be without a reservation and Disney won't do anything to help you other than to book a room for you at the prevailing rate for whatever is available.

I'm not trying to scare you off. I just want you to be informed about the way these rentals work so that you can go into it with open eyes. Too many people look at the price calculators on the brokers' websites and think that the units are available and just waiting for them to be booked by the next lucky renter. It's much more complicated than that.

This is a great post covering virtually everything for prospective renters and should be pinned somewhere. One thing - BWV Standard can be obtained off peak for a 1 bed usually.