Owning at multiple DVC resorts

[marykay]

I see that many of you own at multiple resorts. What can you tell me about how this came about and whether you had to buy the full 160 points at each resort. We own at Saratoga Springs and we're thinking about whether it would be worth it to buy some points at Aulani...then we could book at the 11 month timeline instead of the 7 month one. We only have 160 points but with a family of five, we always have to book a 2 bedroom and end up borrowing points from future years.

 

[ToddyLu]

Once you are a member of DVC you can buy as many points as you want from Disney or resale. There is a small minimum of 25 points to add on at all the resorts. So if you own 160 at SSR you could purchase 50pts for Aulani from DVC and have 150 points for a trip every three years or whatever.

Most people here will suggest that you pick the same UY so you can keep your banking deadlines and points straight. But for some they want to travel to Aulani at a specific time of year and pick a UY to help out if a trip is to be cancelled.

 

[ToddyLu]

You can also purchase a one time per year allotment of extra points from DVC ...up to 24 points for $15 pp. This can only be used for a reservation booked at your seventh month mark, not 11 month. You loose thenm if you cancel the trip.

 

[JimC]

You can buy fewer points once you have made your first purchase. We bought other resorts primarily to have the 11 month booking advantage at those resorts. OKW was our first purchase.

 

[adminjedi]

We own at multiple resorts because we like the 11 month booking advantage at all locations. For instance, we like staying concierge at AKV. And, we usually get free mileage tickets and need to book those early.

Right now, buying from Aulani you can add on as little as 25 points. If you are wanting to use pts at the 11 months window, you need enough home resort points for the reservation desired. You cannot combine the SSR pts with Aulani pts at 11 months.

 

[marykay]

So because we own 160 at SSR it wouldn't help us book earlier because we wouldn't own enough "home resort points" to ever book a 2 bedroom at one of the resorts. In other words, if we bought 85 points at any other resort so we had enough for a 2 bedroom booking...we wouldn't have enough at either place to book at the 11 month window...right?

 

[marykay]

Why is there such a difference in the prices per point depending on the resort? Like if I go to the resale site you can get Vero points for $52 per point or BayLake Towers for $100 per point?

 

[adminjedi]

So because we own 160 at SSR it wouldn't help us book earlier because we wouldn't own enough "home resort points" to ever book a 2 bedroom at one of the resorts. In other words, if we bought 85 points at any other resort so we had enough for a 2 bedroom booking...we wouldn't have enough at either place to book at the 11 month window...right?

Right! You can combine all resort points at the 7 months window.
We own enough at each resort for the room type and number of days we stay there.

However, if you plan to go to Hawaii every other year or every 3rd year, you could buy fewer points and bank and borrow!

 

[adminjedi]

Why is there such a difference in the prices per point depending on the resort? Like if I go to the resale site you can get Vero points for $52 per point or BayLake Towers for $100 per point?

Popularity, location, and MFs. You can buy Vero cheap but the MFs are high and that equalizes the amortized cost per point.

 

[marykay]

I see...thanks for all your help

 

[McCrae]

Why is there such a difference in the prices per point depending on the resort? Like if I go to the resale site you can get Vero points for $52 per point or BayLake Towers for $100 per point?

When our guide was showing us the cost of owning a dvc resort he used a simple formula to compare the real price of each resort.....you might find this useful?

A= price per point divided by the length of the contract

B = annual dues per point.

Add A + B then compare the costs for each resort.

 

[JimC]

So because we own 160 at SSR it wouldn't help us book earlier because we wouldn't own enough "home resort points" to ever book a 2 bedroom at one of the resorts. In other words, if we bought 85 points at any other resort so we had enough for a 2 bedroom booking...we wouldn't have enough at either place to book at the 11 month window...right?

If you wanted to go to Aulani every other year, buy half the number of points you need and bank one year and in the next year combine the banked points with current points to make the reservation.

You can do it for every third year as well -- buying one-third the points, banking to next year, then in the reservation year borrowing and using banked, current and borrowed points to make reservation.

You will pay dues each year on the points purchased.

 

[JimC]

Popularity, location, and MFs. You can buy Vero cheap but the MFs are high and that equalizes the amortized cost per point.

Those are the key variables. In addition, the remaining points to contract expiration has affected pricing. For example a stripped contract (fully borrowed and no current points available) is usually priced much less then a fully loaded contract (no borrowed and all current and banked points available). When we first bought in 2002 I looked at the pricing differences at OKW. After factoring in the borrowed, current and banked points; the cost per remaining point was in a very narrow range. This is a variation on McCrae's simple formula above.

From now on the remaining years to contract expiration will become an increasingly important variable in this analysis when comparing resort to resort.