Points Required for a Night's Stay

[Thelma Liske]

I am new at all this. We just put an offer in on the resale of points at AKL. I notice there is a chart of the points required for a stay in 2017 and also a chart for the points required for a stay in 2018 and they have all the same values. Do the points required for a stay ever change or just the price of the points themselves? Also I've seen a couple of points about 25 direct sale points. What is that all about?

 

[Dean]

I am new at all this. We just put an offer in on the resale of points at AKL. I notice there is a chart of the points required for a stay in 2017 and also a chart for the points required for a stay in 2018 and they have all the same values. Do the points required for a stay ever change or just the price of the points themselves? Also I've seen a couple of points about 25 direct sale points. What is that all about?

The points for a given resort for the year stay the same but the amount required for a given night or given week can change. I'd buy a cushion of points in most situations, normally 10-20%, sometimes more. I'd do a higher end cushion if one is targeting lower seasons and/or studios, likely no cushion or even buy less than I think I needed for a 2 BR premier season.

 

[sndral]

The total number of points cannot change. The number of points required to stay in any given villa type at any particular time of year (season in DVC talk) can change. It doesn’t happen often, but it has happened - a couple I’ve read about:
Most recently SSR divided their villas into 2 categories - preferred and standard, w/ preferred costing slightly more pt.s per night than before the change and standard costing slightly fewer points than before the change.
Awhile ago at AKV they reclassified some of the savanna views to standard view - so the points had to be refigured slightly to balance since there were fewer expensive pointwise savanna view villas after the change.
The big change across all resorts was several years ago, weekend nights used to be very expensive pointwise and weeknights were a bargain. Lots of people stretched their points by short weekday stays. DVC evened the difference out, Fri/Sat. became less expensive but still more expensive than weeknights just not as much as before the change and weeknights became a bit more expensive to account for the decrease in pt.s for Fri/Sat..

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Easter and Christmas tend to be the most expensive in points, for example. But the date of Easter changes from year to year according to the lunar calendar. So the points by season don’t change much, but the dates for the season can change.

 

[The Jackal]

The direct 25 points is to get all the benefits of buying direct, but not spending nearly as much. Disney changed the benefits back in 2014 for people who buy resale. We bought resale this year and then bought a 25 point direct, also when you buy direct they give you a DVC bag. Good luck.

 

[Cyberc1978]

The direct 25 points is to get all the benefits of buying direct, but not spending nearly as much. Disney changed the benefits back in 2014 for people who buy resale. We bought resale this year and then bought a 25 point direct, also when you buy direct they give you a DVC bag. Good luck.

It was actually last year in 2016 Disney changed who and who wasn’t qualified for the members benefits.

To add to what others has mentioned the total amount of points stays the same, but the amount of points required for each day throughout the year can change. There have been a lot of speculation regarding the low point costs during the “fall frenzy” will Disney increase the amount of points needed for each day and then lower the points needed for the summer night. Only time will tell.

 

[unveilmyeyes]

It was actually last year in 2016 Disney changed who and who wasn’t qualified for the members benefits.

To add to what others has mentioned the total amount of points stays the same, but the amount of points required for each day throughout the year can change. There have been a lot of speculation regarding the low point costs during the “fall frenzy” will Disney increase the amount of points needed for each day and then lower the points needed for the summer night. Only time will tell.

Actually I think Jackal is correct - didn't they start to pull away benefits in 2014 (or was it earlier) like couldn't use points within the Concierge Collection or the cruise line and 2016 took away even more such as discounts and members-only events?

 

[erionm]

Actually I think Jackal is correct - didn't they start to pull away benefits in 2014 (or was it earlier) like couldn't use points within the Concierge Collection or the cruise line and 2016 took away even more such as discounts and members-only events?

The first set of restrictions were put in place on 3/21/2011. Resale purchases after that could only be used for DVC Resorts & RCI Exchanges.
The second set when into effect on 4/4/2016 and took away incidental benefits (discounts, member events, etc).

 

[Roxyfire]

To add to what others has mentioned the total amount of points stays the same, but the amount of points required for each day throughout the year can change. There have been a lot of speculation regarding the low point costs during the “fall frenzy” will Disney increase the amount of points needed for each day and then lower the points needed for the summer night. Only time will tell.

I'm curious to see if they'll do this too. Most of November is covered in Choice Season except for 3 Thanksgiving days. I'm betting they could probably raise the point cost for that whole week and not see any measurable reduction in bookings.

 

[The Jackal]

It was actually last year in 2016 Disney changed who and who wasn’t qualified for the members benefits.

To add to what others has mentioned the total amount of points stays the same, but the amount of points required for each day throughout the year can change. There have been a lot of speculation regarding the low point costs during the “fall frenzy” will Disney increase the amount of points needed for each day and then lower the points needed for the summer night. Only time will tell.

. Thanks for correcting me. Don’t know why I typed 2014. I guess my age is starting to show.

 

[Dean]

I'm curious to see if they'll do this too. Most of November is covered in Choice Season except for 3 Thanksgiving days. I'm betting they could probably raise the point cost for that whole week and not see any measurable reduction in bookings.

I think a reallocation of some type in the next 2-3 years is inevitable.