Pros and cons for renting DVC points

[pstepka]

We rented points for a studio at BCV last month and loved it. We only stayed Sun-Thur, though. We switched to CB for the last two nights because it was so much more for the weekend points. However, we really didn't save THAT much to make it worth it. After tipping the bell services, the hassle of packing and unpacking, etc. going from the Deluxe to a Moderate (which was very nice, but after being at a Deluxe, we were spoiled), and so on, it was SO not worth saving the little we did. Next time, we'll stay at BCV the entire stay. Even with paying the extra for Friday and Saturday, the per night cost is not much for what you get at a Deluxe compared with a Moderate.

We had 5 in a studio (one little one, and two regular kids) and weren't too cramped. A one bedroom would have been nicer, but we really didn't spend much time in the room. We hung our towels each morning and they were dry by the time we got back to our room. Laundry was free (they sold detergent and bounce for $1.00 each (two or three loads per box) so I was able to wash clothes, but I never bothered with the towels.

We just took our trash down to the trash room -- no biggie at all.

It was a wonderful stay and we can't wait to do it again!

Pam

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by Deb & Bill
If you are planning a 14 day stay at WDW, you might consider purchasing your own points at Saratoga Springs Resort, the newest DVC resort that will be opening in May.

Amen to that. I guess hindsight truly is 20/20, but I sure wish that the $2000 we spent renting points last year had gone toward the Saratoga Springs purchase we are currently pursuing.

 

[TonyS20]

CarolMN: Thanks for explaining what takes place during a "full cleaning"!

Originally posted by Deb & Bill
If you are planning a 14 day stay at WDW, you might consider purchasing your own points at Saratoga Springs Resort, the newest DVC resort that will be opening in May.

If I thought my DH would go for it, this is exactly what we would do. I will show him this thread and see what he has to say. For our 13 night stay at the BCV (fingers crossed), it will take 381 points (roughly $3810). I have not convinced him that this would be better accommodations (whirlpool tub, full kitchen to eat in, personal washer/dryer, access to SAB). We toured various resorts during our previous stays, but he still sees them as being "too expensive" and would rather stick to the Fairfield Inn in the Marriott Village . I have been saving for our upcoming trip since April and plan to have all the money for the entire vacation (including $300/night accommodations), but he doesn't get it. I just have to keep sprinkling him with Pixie Dust every night ! He will come around! I am hoping that after he stays DVC, he will decide that purchasing is a good idea!

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by TonyS20
If I thought my DH would go for it, this is exactly what we would do. I will show him this thread and see what he has to say. For our 13 night stay at the BCV (fingers crossed), it will take 381 points (roughly $3810).

Well, then here are some real-life figures to hit him with.

You could purchase 200 points at Saratoga Springs for a total investment of $15800 (which includes the $10 per point discount promotion currently being run). The points would have a February Use Year, meaning that you accrue an additional 200 each Feb 1. For the 14 day trip you are planning, you would be using your Feb '04 points, and borrowing against Feb '05.

The $3810 you are looking at having to give someone just to take this trip could pay for almost 1/4 of your entire DVC investment. Once that $15K is paid, your only ongoing responsibility is the annual dues. With ownership running through 2054, you get years and years worth of vacations for a fraction of the cost.

Or, if you want to look at it a little differently, you only need 10% down to get into DVC. The rest can be financed over as long as 10 years. So, instead of paying $3810 out of pocket, you would only be paying $1780 up front.

Lastly, since SSR isn't scheduled to open until May '04, there are no monthly payments (financed purchase or dues) until that point, and interest does not begin to accrue on the financed amount of your purchase.

Frankly, it's a pretty sweet deal.

 

[Lisa P.]

...13 night stay... he still sees them as being "too expensive" and would rather stick to the Fairfield Inn in the Marriott Village...

If he seems to be interested in staying offsite but you see want luxury villa accommodations and see value in staying onsite, why not split your long trip between them?

Consider spending a week in a luxury timeshare offsite. A really nice, 2BR, luxury Gold Crown property would be available via resale for under $6,000 purchase price w/annual dues under $600 per year. And a weekly rental from a current owner would be about that ($450-$1,000/week, depending on the week) as well. Then you would have the inroom amenities you're seeking (king MBR suite w/double jacuzzi tub, full kitchen, washer/dryer, lots of space, etc.) while allowing for his more frugal concerns.

Follow that with a week (or 6 nights?) spent at a DVC resort, like the BCV, on a points rental. This would give you both a better comparison than anything else you would hear from others here. The DVC is a more expensive program, but this would demonstrate to your DH why it's more expensive. You'd see if the SAB, the Disney theme, and the convenience to the parks really would be worth the extra cost to both of you.

Using this approach, you may be able to put some of that hard-saved money toward the down payment on the vacation plan of choice! HTH!

 

[TonyS20]

Sorry to the OP for taking over this thread! That was not my
intention.

However, tjkraz and Lisa P. have provided some very useful and insightful suggestions (thank you!). My DH and I were just discussing this very topic last night when I mentioned using our money for our accommodations to buy in to DVC and using the points on our next trip. He does not understand the
concept of prepaying for accommodations and feels that we may grow tired of Disney. With a 150 or 200 point purchase, we would probably take an extended trip every other year, so we would have the opportunity to visit other places if we wanted.

I forgot that buying into SSR would require no payments until May. Thanks for pointing that out and providing me with some good numbers, tjkraz! That will be something that I will bring to his attention. Plus, with our ages and the length of SSR we would be able to vacation at Disney until we're 75 and 78!


Tonight, he mentioned that he had given it some more thought today and wants to hear more about it and see some pictures of the accommodations. He thinks it might be nice to be "pampered" while where on vacation ! I guess that extra does of pixie dust worked. At least now it is something we can consider and decide if it is the best option for us.

BTW Lisa P. - I don't think he is that interested in looking at a timeshare from another company. We went on the Marriott timeshare tour for Grande Vista (or something like that) and neither one of us was that impressed. We both agreed that we would select Disney over that, so well see.

Thanks again to everyone for their wonderful advice!

 

[karebear1]

Owning the DVC does not mean forever vacations at WDW..... if you don't want it to! You can exchange through the DVC for Europe, Hawaii, and all over the world.... just like any other timeshare- but BETTER because it is DVC and you can go to WDW all the time if you want. Oh.... it''s also good for DCL and for white water rapids, dude ranch, big hotels like the Plaza etc.- It's well worth the money- and very exciting to be a part of!

 

[TonyS20]

Originally posted by karebear1
Owning the DVC does not mean forever vacations at WDW..... if you don't want it to! You can exchange through the DVC for Europe, Hawaii, and all over the world.... just like any other timeshare- but BETTER because it is DVC and you can go to WDW all the time if you want. Oh.... it''s also good for DCL and for white water rapids, dude ranch, big hotels like the Plaza etc.- It's well worth the money- and very exciting to be a part of!

karebear1 - I forgot about the exchange through DVC. I will have to add that to my list. Thanks for mentioning it!

 

[cola]

on the DVC rent board you will also see some rentals that say "$95 fee". These rentals are usually a little bit cheaper, but are very fixed - these are the "exchanged" weeks when an owner exchanges outside. They work the same way as a normal rental, except no flexibility for changing dates/unit size, and you don't have pool hopping for other resorts (SAB is excluded from the pool hopping anyway), plus the $95 extra fee to disney.

I actually own something other than DVC and exchanged my week for the DVC week, and my week was a lot cheaper. DVC is a "hard" exchange to get into, but if you can be flexible, it isn't impossible, particularly if you only want a 1 bedroom or studio. With my original purchase spread out over just 10 years, plus annual fee, plus the $95, my week is costing about $750, OKW one bedroom (the most common exchanges found).

 

[crisi]

You guys may want to point out to your reluctant spouses that if they don't want to go to Disney or do an exchange, they can also rent the points and take the cash to do something. That was a clincher for us (although I wouldn't recommend depending on being able to rent points) - realizing we could always just rent the points out, take the money, and go someplace else.

 

[TonyS20]

Originally posted by crisi
You guys may want to point out to your reluctant spouses that if they don't want to go to Disney or do an exchange, they can also rent the points and take the cash to do something. That was a clincher for us (although I wouldn't recommend depending on being able to rent points) - realizing we could always just rent the points out, take the money, and go someplace else.

That is another good point, Crisi! I knew I could count on the DISers to point out all of the things I need to make sure I address. I knew that renting was an option since that is what I was planning on doing, but I didn't have that on my spreadsheet to show my DH. Thanks again!!

 

[TonyS20]

I wanted to follow up with this post. My DH and I sat down and talked about it this weekend. We weighed the pros and cons, discussed what we think our future vacation habits will be and reviewed all the pictures and comments about SSR and the other DVC properties and decided that it would be a good idea for us to purchase 200 points! I'm so excited! Now I'll be reworking my budget since I won't have to worry about paying for the accommodations for our October trip!

Thanks to all of you who to an interest in this post! If you had not pointed out that it is crazy to spend this money and possibly buy in later, I never would have thought of it. I owe this to all of you! I want to send a big THANK YOU to all of you. You are great!!

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by TonyS20
I wanted to follow up with this post. My DH and I sat down and talked about it this weekend. We weighed the pros and cons, discussed what we think our future vacation habits will be and reviewed all the pictures and comments about SSR and the other DVC properties and decided that it would be a good idea for us to purchase 200 points!

Well then let me be the first to say WELCOME HOME!!!

(Feels pretty good, doesn't it?)

Make sure you post over on the DVC board once everything's official and I'm sure you'll get many more.

 

[karebear1]

AWWWWWWWW! I wanted to be the first to say welcome home! Oh well..... I'll be the first to shout it

WELCOME HOME !!!!

You are gonna sooo love this!

 

[Mitzi]

Hi, I am very new to this board and find it quite interesting and I am in the process in planning a trip for daughter and her two children for June 2005 when she graduates from college..I am puzzled about DVC if I'm not mistaken this is a timeshere program, and from what I'm reading the owners of a certain week sell their points, where do you get this list of owners and for what resorts?? Although Grandson would like to stay at Animal Kingdom and my daughter and I want to do the Disney sea and land trip but I do like the idea of the DVC..I have lots of time so will research this more but I would appreciate any information of this subject. Thanks for any information

 

[tjkraz]

Mitzi,

Head over to the DVC board here:

http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=28

You'll find more information than you know what do to with, including a link to FAQ.

DVC is a timeshare, but don't be scared off by the term. In a traditional timeshare, you purchase the rights to use a single location during a single fixed week of each subsequent year. Under DVC, members' initial investment is expressed in terms of the number of Points that they purchase. Members then receive that allotment of points each year, and can travel whenever they want, as many times as they want.

Point usage is determined by many factors including the specific resort, room type and dates of the visit. A studio at Old Key West (comparable to a "standard" resort room) reserved for a Monday night in September would cost the DVC member 8 points.

At the other end of the spectrum, a Grand Villa (which sleeps 12 guests) at the Boardwalk Villas reserved for a Saturday night during Christmas week would cost a member 158 points.

Some members do choose to sell their points. The current going rate is typically $10 per point. You can meet members willing to sell their points at this board:

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=29

Note that DVC members can only reserve rooms at their "home" resort 11 months in advance, and at all other DVC resorts 7 months in advance.

DVC points can also be used toward cruises, but I've been told that the exchange rate is not very favorable. Many DVC members wishing to take a cruise will rent their points and then pay cash for the cruise.

If you are anticipating making annual or bi-annual trips to Walt Disney World, you may want to consider investing in DVC yourself. The initial investment will pay for itself in 5-10 years (my numbers) depending on how you break it down. You then get years and years of vacations for a fraction of their actual cost (since it is a timeshare, annual dues are collected for the maintenance of the resorts). If this is just a one-time trip, I think you'll find that renting points from a DVC member can save you a considerable amount over the published room rates.

Good luck.

 

[crisi]

TonyS20

You'll be welcome over at the DVC board anytime. Just watch out for the resort wars - they get deep - but I don't THINK they are really that serious. Don't let it bug you.

 

[fkj2]

I think you'll enjoy DVC. As Doc just pointed out at the DVC forum, there are now over 75,000 members.

The one problem is, now that you own points, you'll spend even more time planning the next vacation!!! I used to think about the next one as I was boarding the plane to come back to my "real" home.

So many resorts, so little time!

Congratulations and Welcome Home!

 

[Synonymous]

Just to follow up on the towel issue- we have never been charged for the extra towels we requested. I think the policy is there to keep people from abusing the privilege.

Also, you can certainly bring back a few towels from the pool. Some CMs will even tell you to. People over on the DVC board have a hissy fit about this every time it comes up, but at the resort it's a non-issue.

 

[TonyS20]

Thanks for all the "congratulations" and "welcome home" wishes! You guys are great!

I have posted some questions on the DVC board and have been lurking over their for quite a while. I'm sure I'll be a "regular" in no time!


fkj2 - it will not make my DH happy to know that I'll spend even more time planning! We went in January 02 and before we even left we decided to come back in December 02. Before we even made it to Disney in December, I was wanting to come back in October 03; however due to downsizing and other issues the vacation had to be moved to October 04. Our other vacations are already in the works in my mind! I believe you can never plan too early!

Thanks again for all of the well wishes. When the ink is dry, I'll let everyone know! I can't wait to go home!