Points or Cash? Help, I'm new!

[twopeasonepod]

My awesome parents bought us DVC while in Alaska on the Wonder in July. We chose the 220 level because it was the best discount with the "20th anniversary special". Our UY is Feb.

I don't even have the numbers/codes to get online yet. We are going on another cruise in Oct, and also staying at GCH for three nights afterward. I booked a standard room with my AP, but even then, the price is pretty high at $356/night ($416 with tax included).

We are planning to go to Japan in 2014 and will definitely use points then (not sure how far we can bank -- my mom said two years but I'm not sure that it also includes the year that we are going -- can we do 660 points in spring or summer of 2014?) We may also go to AKV, which is our "home", next June (probably not, but my extended family is going for a graduation and it is a slim possibility).

So should I try and get a 1-br at GCV with points? I think it is 117 for three nights during October. Or should I stick with my cash reservation? I'm not sure how to tell if something is worth it or not (other than the fact that cruises are NOT worth it haha). I feel like I shouldn't spend points, but want some affirmation.

 

[vicki_c]

My awesome parents bought us DVC while in Alaska on the Wonder in July. We chose the 220 level because it was the best discount with the "20th anniversary special". Our UY is Feb.

I don't even have the numbers/codes to get online yet. We are going on another cruise in Oct, and also staying at GCH for three nights afterward. I booked a standard room with my AP, but even then, the price is pretty high at $356/night ($416 with tax included).

We are planning to go to Japan in 2014 and will definitely use points then (not sure how far we can bank -- my mom said two years but I'm not sure that it also includes the year that we are going -- can we do 660 points in spring or summer of 2014?) We may also go to AKV, which is our "home", next June (probably not, but my extended family is going for a graduation and it is a slim possibility).

So should I try and get a 1-br at GCV with points? I think it is 117 for three nights during October. Or should I stick with my cash reservation? I'm not sure how to tell if something is worth it or not (other than the fact that cruises are NOT worth it haha). I feel like I shouldn't spend points, but want some affirmation.

You can use up to 3 years points at once. The year your reservation falls into, borrowed points from the next year, and banked points from the prior year.

I u derstand that VGC is just about impossible to get if you don't own there, so that decision may not need to be made since its so close to October now.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you get GCVillas for October this late, you need to invest in a lot of lottery tickets. Because you are that lucky.

Your Feb 2012 points that you got with your purchaser are good until Jan 31, 2013 unless you bank them no later than Sept 30, 2012. Then they will be good until Jan 31, 2014. With your Feb 2013 points (good Feb 1, 2013 until Jan 31, 2014) and your Feb 2014 points borrowed into your Feb 2013 UY, you would have 660 points to use from Feb 1, 2103 to Jan 31, 2014.

 

[twopeasonepod]

Thanks so much, guys! I pretty much thought it would be difficult to get, but didn't realize it was close to impossible. And obviously, I am super late in the game here so I'll just give up on this idea.

Thanks also for the info on how/when to bank. My mom knew about the Sept. deadline, but I was still a bit confused about the year before/after stuff. You've straightened it out for me!

One more question: How do you determine whether or not you are utilizing your points effectively? Like is there some comparison with how much you would spend in cash? How do you decide whether to spend or save points for later? We travel a lot so we have a lot of opportunities.

 

[Sandisw]

We bought our points to use to go on our trips to WDW every year. That's it.

So, in that respect, we are getting what I consider the best value for me. Having said that, if we decided one year to skip WDW and say, cruise, regardless of the points, then we would because we bought them as prepaid vacations.

IMO, they are there to use. Since you travel a lot, you have more opportunities to compare, but in most cases, I would say using to stay at DVC is going to get you the most perceived value but spending cash and saving points because it might not be the best value isn't something we would ever do. I will only be spending cash when I simply can't use or don't have the points.

Good luck and congratulations!!

 

[Jousey]

We bought our points to use to go on our trips to WDW every year. That's it.

So, in that respect, we are getting what I consider the best value for me. Having said that, if we decided one year to skip WDW and say, cruise, regardless of the points, then we would because we bought them as prepaid vacations.

IMO, they are there to use. Since you travel a lot, you have more opportunities to compare, but in most cases, I would say using to stay at DVC is going to get you the most perceived value but spending cash and saving points because it might not be the best value isn't something we would ever do. I will only be spending cash when I simply can't use or don't have the points.

Good luck and congratulations!!

I agree, we look at it as the vacation is prepaid. So I think we would use them for almost everything but RCI at this point.
Thank for the heads up on VGC, we are thinking of heading there next year and I have already been thinking I need to find someone to book us the stay at 11 mo.

 

[maburke]

I just checked and, wow, there really is essentially no availability at VGC in October. So you may have no choice but cash. However, the rule of thumb that some people use, who don't mind the possibility of renting out their own points, is that if you could rent your points for more than the cash cost, it's better to use cash. One should be able to get at least $10 per point, so that's the quick number to use for calculation. If it would be 117 points, then, that's $1170, so it's pretty close to the same as cash.

 

[abdgeek]

Thanks so much, guys! I pretty much thought it would be difficult to get, but didn't realize it was close to impossible. And obviously, I am super late in the game here so I'll just give up on this idea.

Thanks also for the info on how/when to bank. My mom knew about the Sept. deadline, but I was still a bit confused about the year before/after stuff. You've straightened it out for me!

One more question: How do you determine whether or not you are utilizing your points effectively? Like is there some comparison with how much you would spend in cash? How do you decide whether to spend or save points for later? We travel a lot so we have a lot of opportunities.

I use my points for every vacation I want to do and always use all of my points each year. As a PP said, they are prepaid vacations. I've used my points for DCL, ABD, RCI, WDW, etc. and always know that I'm getting my money's worth. When I first joined DVC, I would price out the trips as if I was paying OOP. Doing that helped me see that I was saving money by using my points to travel.