Points on weekends

[jjohnson]

What do most of you do? use the points, pay cash for the villa or stay somewhere else on site.

I want to use the points. My use year is Oct & our next trip isn't until Aug 07 so my thought was to borrow the 07-08 points and not pay anything OOP.

But DH wants to save the points & pay cash for the weekend. Since there is 6 of us in our family it is very costly to do this. Our cheapest option is 2 rooms at POR @ $290 per night + tax but I really wanted to avoid a split stay this time as we did that our 2 previous trips.

What should I do?

 

[4mcbjCtr]

Can you just book a cash ressie using your DVC discount and and stay in the same DVC unit and have the ressie linked into your point stay? This will be a little spendy too, but at least you wouldn't have to move. I know there isn't always a guarantee they can get you into the same room, but if you keep on them, I bet they could accomodate you.

 

[jjohnson]

I was thinking of that if it's available but it would still be around $500 per night at SSR & over $600 if we get BWV. I just bothers me to hand over more money to Disney when I just wrote a check for $14,000.

 

[deerh]

was thinking of that if it's available but it would still be around $500 per night at SSR & over $600 if we get BWV. I just bothers me to hand over more money to Disney when I just wrote a check for $14,000.

Look at it this way- you just spent $600 for a week at Disney...

NOW, add up $600x7=$4200 plus tax ($420) or more=$4400!!! This is with a discount too, so really it is probably closer to $6000 if you paid cash...

I would do that-make a cash ressie for the weekend and not move...

HTH!
deerh

 

[jjohnson]

Look at it this way- you just spent $600 for a week at Disney...

NOW, add up $600x7=$4200 plus tax ($420) or more=$4400!!! This is with a discount too, so really it is probably closer to $6000 if you paid cash...

I would do that-make a cash ressie for the weekend and not move...

HTH!
deerh

This is a great way to look at it. Thank you.

 

[Chuck S]

When we first bought we moved on weekends...for us, it was more trouble than it was worth, we added more points and now stay over the weekends. Usually 10 nights, twice a year, with a weekend in the middle of the stay.

 

[robinb]

We also used to skip weekends and are now staying put. If you don't want to move, then don't do it.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Use the points to stay on the weekend. Then go get a resale.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Stay and use the points.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I would borrow the points and worry about the August 07 trip when it gets here. For that trip, you can still pay cash for the weekends, borrow from the next year or do an add-on so you never have to think about it again. Even if you are still out $600 next summer, at 5% you could earn about $30 in interest on it just by not paying it until then!

My only exception to this advice is if you think that your next trip will be in accomodations that you cannot book with the member's cash discount. I think that would only include the BW view rooms at BWV and confirmed 2Q in the 2BR at the BCV. If that is what you are booking, then you should pay now and save your points for the weekends in those accomodations next summer.

Of course, I should warn you that I am a big believer in borrowing points. I am still in my 05 UY but I only have 26 points left right now in my 07 UY (but I am also not planning any trips in my 07 UY either).

Best of luck-- Suzanne

 

[AnnaS]

We also stay the week-end and use our points. Really hate to move if we don't have to.

 

[katied]

If you're staying at BWV, you could try to book the Swan or Dolphin for the weekend. You'd still have to move, but at least it's just a walk over the bridge. I had a split stay last year. We had a work meeting at BC, so I went down early with some friends and we stayed at the Swan over the weekend, and then moved to BC. It was easy enough (and saved a lot of money).

 

[CarolMN]

We use points for the weekend unless we are visiting off site attractions - then we stay off site near the other attractions on the weekend.

However, IMHO, it is more important that you and your DH figure it out for yourselves - vacations are not fun if someone is mad!

Best wishes -

 

[jjohnson]

I couldn't possibly be mad when I'm planning a trip to WDW . I did a spreadsheet today of our different options that I'll go over with DH tonight. We love to try different resorts but I think this time I'm going to stay in one place & either use the points or pay cash for the weekend.

Thank you everyone for your advice.

Joyce

 

[Dean]

We never use points but we're only 4 hours away. When we do weekends, we usually only do the weekend for 3 or 4 nights and pay cash for the entire trip. Or else we get an exchange Sat to Sat. If you can get the member discount, just compare to how many points and make a decision. If you've got the points, there's no harm in using them at times. If you find yourself using them heavily for weekends, you may want to reconsider your ownership.

 

[jjohnson]

We'll DH & I talked last night and we are definitely not using our points for the weekend. We've narrowed down our rather large list of options to:

Fri/Sat: OKW if I can get cash discount. I REALLY want to stay here.
or
2 pool view rooms at AKL (both DD's would be thrilled!)
or
if it's available we're going to stay at BWV all week with cash & points



Thanks again for all your input.

Joyce

 

[CRSNDSNY]

In the past we've either paid cash for non-DVC rooms and then moved to DVC once the weekend was up OR we've paid cash for that DVC room.

Now that we've tried it all in reference to weekends, I think in the future we'll do what we can to not have to move. For us, having a toddler's stuff to move for just a night or two is a huge pain in the butt. If we aren't staying in any one place for more than 3 nights it just isnt' worth it to us.

We'll either pay cash for the DVC unit for the weekend or just use our points.

 

[jjohnson]

It is a pain to move. Especially when I do most of the packing. But I'm torn because we like to try different resorts during our stays.

We'll I have quite a while to figure it out. For now I'm going to book 5 nights at SSR at the end of July as a back-up & see what's available at 7 months.

I personally wouldn't mind staying at SSR all week - loved it!

 

[robinb]

Did you say you're bringing extended family? I did that once and asked my family to pick up the cost of the DVC discounted room over the weekend while I "paid" for the room the rest of the week with points.

 

[jjohnson]

No it's just myself, DH & our 4 children. My Mom lives in West Palm so she will probably visit for a day.