Owners with 200 points or less: How do you use your points?

[BamaGuy44]

As a new (almost) DVC owner, I really love reading everyone's strategies for enjoying their points! We will have 160 points at AKV once we close, points start April 2022. DW and I are empty nesters, so it will be the 2 of us most trips, so studios will be fine, with some 1BR for a couple of days here and there if we need to in order to book at 7 mos. But some trips my son and his family will join so it would be 5 total. For the next few years we plan to do split stays so we can try the various resorts. Most of the DVC resorts we've never stayed at.

I know we have plenty of big ballers on the board with 600+ points, but people in a similar situation to us, how do you use your points? Like how often do you go, which resorts and room types do you go for, do you like split stays, how often do you stay at your home resort vs others, etc? Thanks for any insights!

 

[Lizzim]

We have 100 points at Bay Lake, there are only 2 of us but we tend to stay in studios.
Since buying in 2010 we have stayed at the following:

1. Bay Lake Studio (TPV) 6 nights
2. Hilton Head Studio 4 nights
3. Animal Kingdom Studio Savannah View 3 nights
4. Treehouse villa 6 nights
5. Bay Lake Tower 2 bedroom standard view 6 nights (we took friends)
6. Bay Lake Tower Grand Villa Lake view 1 night
7. Grand Californian Studio 3 nights

We also rented out 1 year of our points due to COVID as we live in the UK and couldn’t travel.
I’m pretty happy with what we have used so far

 

[Quiltsndisney]

My points started today. I have 200 Pts at BRV.

myself and a cousin with downs.

my plan is to go once per year for 5 nights in a one bedroom and then be able to do 2-3 nights in a studio for a last minute trip. We always go off season so it is less crowded for her which makes the points go far.

since my contract came with 2020 points as well. Our first trip will be a 2 bedroom in January at BLT and her mom is coming with.

I like extra room to decompress every night.

 

[BamaGuy44]

We have 100 points at Bay Lake, there are only 2 of us but we tend to stay in studios.
Since buying in 2010 we have stayed at the following:

1. Bay Lake Studio (TPV) 6 nights
2. Hilton Head Studio 4 nights
3. Animal Kingdom Studio Savannah View 3 nights
4. Treehouse villa 6 nights
5. Bay Lake Tower 2 bedroom standard view 6 nights (we took friends)
6. Bay Lake Tower Grand Villa Lake view 1 night
7. Grand Californian Studio 3 nights

We also rented out 1 year of our points due to COVID as we live in the UK and couldn’t travel.
I’m pretty happy with what we have used so far

Wow you're definitely getting good use out of those 100 points! Were you able to get Grand Californian at 7 months?

 

[Lizzim]

Wow you're definitely getting good use out of those 100 points! Were you able to get Grand Californian at 7 months?

We did get the Grand Californian at 7 months, it was a Sept trip back in 2012 so things may be more difficult now. We do tend to travel in lower point periods so really maximising our allocation.

 

[thewesterberg]

We have a mere 40 point AKL contract that we bought resale back in 2009. We have made those points work for us!!

We usually stay at Jambo and make use of the value rooms although we have gone to OKW a couple of times. One time we got a studio at VGC for a couple of nights (pure luck!) We have stayed in Value Studios usually but the last two trips we stayed in a Value 1 Bedrooms (and my DH is convinced that is I’m the way to go now!) We bank and borrow. We buy some one time use points if we are short. One time some friends transferred some of their points to us that they weren’t going to use. We go every few years, usually for a week. When we went in April we did a short mid-week trip in a one bedroom value to leverage our points since we could only borrow 50%.

When we went on a tour of the Grand Villa at Kidani in April the DVC person was in awe of how we had made our teeny contract work for us… it was like we were this rare unicorn as she had never heard of someone with such few points!

 

[skippytx]

We have 185 points, and visit every other year in a 2 bedroom. We can usually get 8 nights or so in a BLT standard 2 bedroom for just under our 370 points.

We had 100 excess points when we first bought in and did an adults only trip in an SSR studio. It was nice.

We thought about adding on pre-covid so we could go once a year, but decided against it. We're happy with every other year right now. My kids are getting older and there's lots of other places to spend our vacation time and dollars. We love Disney, but with all the changes the last few years... we'll stay with the status quo for now.

 

[tjkraz]

If you're assuming most owners have 600 points and are vacationing at WDW for 3-4 weeks per year, that's not correct. If memory serves the average family total is right around 275 with many people having less than that.

150 points can get you a week in a studio during certain seasons / resorts. It can get 5-6 days in a One Bedroom. Some people visit every-other-year for a longer period of time. Some live within reasonable driving distance and will do multiple 2-3 day visits. Some combine a Disney stay with a couple nights at Universal or elsewhere. Some combine points with friends or family for a larger villa at shared rate.

There's no one-size-fits-all solution.

 

[BamaGuy44]

If you're assuming most owners have 600 points and are vacationing at WDW for 3-4 weeks per year, that's not correct. If memory serves the average family total is right around 275 with many people having less than that.

150 points can get you a week in a studio during certain seasons / resorts. It can get 5-6 days in a One Bedroom. Some people visit every-other-year for a longer period of time. Some live within reasonable driving distance and will do multiple 2-3 day visits. Some combine a Disney stay with a couple nights at Universal or elsewhere. Some combine points with friends or family for a larger villa at shared rate.

There's no one-size-fits-all solution.

Not assuming anything, I'm well aware there are many types of owners with all levels of points. That's why I asked people to share their personal strategies, there are so many different ones, all good. I just happen to be more interested in the people that are in a certain point range, that's all.

 

[ldo]

We have 180 Points. We stay 5 days sun-fri in 1br with kids And then a couple nights in a studio for other trips. We might bank/borrow
For a 2br, 160 points doesn’t go far. A value 2br at akv if you can get it….or 2 akv studios for the 2 family groups would work. For a full 2 br+ for a week, we stay offsite.

 

[clm10308]

Until recently we had 160 pts at SSR. We would go (pre-Covid) every 2 or 3 years and usually in 2-bedroom because we had teenagers. By banking and borrowing we did 2 different trips over Christmas once in a Treehouse and once in a 2-bedroom at OKW. Several years ago, we had enough points for a 2-week stay in a 2-bedroom We have done 2 different trips to California but DVC is much harder to reserve there, so one time we did use points to stay in a regular hotel room.

I think it provided a good balance. By only going every 2-3 years, we had plenty of points to stay in the larger units to make our family more comfortable.
Now the kids are grown and don’t always come with us, so we can spread out the points by staying in studios.

 

[BamaGuy44]

Until recently we had 160 pts at SSR. We would go (pre-Covid) every 2 or 3 years and usually in 2-bedroom because we had teenagers. By banking and borrowing we did 2 different trips over Christmas once in a Treehouse and once in a 2-bedroom at OKW. Several years ago, we had enough points for a 2-week stay in a 2-bedroom We have done 2 different trips to California but DVC is much harder to reserve there, so one time we did use points to stay in a regular hotel room.

I think it provided a good balance. By only going every 2-3 years, we had plenty of points to stay in the larger units to make our family more comfortable.
Now the kids are grown and don’t always come with us, so we can spread out the points by staying in studios.

Sounds similar to what we are planning to do. DW and I in studios, and a 1 or 2 BR every 2 or 3 years with my sons family.

 

[npatellye]

We had 200 and had planned to use them for one trip a year. It worked fine for 2020 (1 bedroom BLT and 2 bedroom OKW) and 2021 (1 bedroom AKV value and 2 bedroom VGF). We also did a quick RIV 1 bedroom trip in 2021. It’s also fine for our January 2022 trip (Poly standard and then 1 bedroom BCV). But we realized that, with our oldest turning 9 in 2022, the days of just traveling in January or May were ending and we would be stuck traveling in the summer, over Thanksgiving, or over Christmas break. So we ended up adding on 150 to bring us to 350. We think that will be the right amount for us to do one trip each year in at least a one bedroom for a week during those times. If they change the points charts to increase holiday points beyond our reach, we will simply head to WDW in the summer again.

 

[Rayven]

We bought in Dec 2018 and have 175 points. As of Nov 2021, I've gone on 3 trips (2 with husband, 1 with a friend). We like longer trips and having the luxury of more space.

1. SSR 1 bedroom, 6 nights
2. HHI 1 bedroom, 7 nights
3. Animal Kingdom Kidani, 1-bedroom, Savanna view for 5 nights
For a family trip in June, (9 possibly 10 of us)
4. CCV (where we own) 2-bedroom for 7 nights
5. CCV deluxe studio for 6 nights

 

[brazzledazzler]

We have 200 points at Riviera. Right now, we're still working through "double" points from buying direct right before our UY started. So, we've been taking quite a few 2-night stays. (We are FL APs and live within driving distance of WDW). However, our plan for the points will be some combination of:

1. Either 11-12 nights a year in a studio
2. A mix of 4 nights in a 1-bedroom during a low point-cost season (September or December) + 4-6 nights in a studio

After the past few trips we realize that we prefer to stay at resorts that are connected to direct transportation to a theme park. So...many of the lower point resorts are less appealing for us, so our points may not go as far.

We have no desire to stay more than 4 nights, so studios suit us very well!

 

[Stargazer65]

Before we added on last year, we just had 100 pts at BLT for 10-11 years. We were a family of 7, so we only went every three years. A typical trip we took during that time was 3-1/2 years ago:

Three nights in a 2 bedroom savannah view at AKV (Tues-Thur)
Two nights in a nearby Marriott Vacation Club resort (Fri-Sat)
Five nights in a 2 bedroom standard view at BLT (Sunday- Thur)

The reason for the two nights in the Marriott was to avoid the higher point cost of Friday and Saturday.

An oddball trip we took during those ten years happened just a year before that trip. We had some leftover banked points to burn so my wife and I ditched the kids at home, and stayed in a AKV value studio for 5 nights. I think we added a few OTUPs to make the reservation.

You should be able to enjoy some nice vacations with 160 points.

 

[peabody58]

Until last month we had 160 pts at BLT. Became real point misers and got into the rhythm of an AP every other year or so, and then stretching those points with 4 night stays M[Th range in Studios. Sleeped around a lot to save on points. But now we just added on with 100 pts at BWV. New pattern has yet to emerge but may be close to the same with an occasional splurge on a 1 BR here and there. Still loving the BLT/BWV location and standard room point charts. We travel to WDW in Jan, May, Sept-Dec months, again to save on points and to avoid the heat whenever possible.

 

[disney212]

We started with 160 at BLT and we stayed in studios and went in the off season, just 2 of us. Worked fine until we decided we wanted more trips and 1 bedroom units.

 

[jenstall]

I have 150 pts at Saratoga Springs. For years I mostly stayed in studios, usually doing splits stays between Saratoga Springs and Animal Kingdom Lodge value rooms and borrowing points most years. I've used the points at Hilton Head, Vero Beach and Grand Californian as well.

I used to go to WDW every year for an extended period and would joke that I would owe DVC borrowed points when I die, but I'm not able to go as often now so I now usually have some points banked and can stay in 1 bedrooms and savannah view instead! Usually if I bring family we stay off site in larger unites so we can get more bang for the buck and then I will usually rent out my points so I can pay cash for a cruise or covering the off-site expenses. Once upon a time I thought I would want more points, but I think I'm good with what I have now.

 

[davper]

2 contract, 2 resorts, with 150 each.
We go every other year and stay in a 1 bedroom for 8 days in each resort.