Question: Buy more or less points?

[ratherbe@Disney]

I have a question regarding how many points I should buy. I've looked over our past couple of years of vacationing at Disney and calculated how many points I think it should have added up to - about 220. Based on your experience do you think we should buy more up front to have extra "just in case", or buy a little less knowing that we can borrow? Buying less may also save us money on annual fees over the long term.

Maybe I'm just putting too much thought into this? Any thoughts?

Thanks so much!
Lisa

 

[Dean]

I'd generally recommend you buy the best contract available that's in the ball park but in the ideal world, I'd say about 10% over what you think you need.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

The points calculator will give you a really good idea of what you need. For us, that was all fine and dandy until we realized how much we loved our points and staying at WDW for a few days wasn't nearly as wonderful as spending a week there! And then it morphs into, "Why don't we spend a few days at VB on one side or the other of our WDW visit?" With that said, we just added on points!

Why don't you conisder buying a couple of small contracts, maybe a 100 and a 120 or two 120s and see how it works for you? If you decide it's not for you, it will be relatively easy to sell two smaller contracts. If you decide to add on, you will always have the option to sell off all or part of your ownership.

Best of luck!!!!

 

[RobDoc]

I'd agree with Dean's suggestion - since many members have found more reasons to use their points than when they originally purchased. It's amazing how easy it is to plan a trip (or two) more than you can anticipate at this moment.

Good luck with your decision - but what a great problem to have!

 

[Dean]

I have a question regarding how many points I should buy. I've looked over our past couple of years of vacationing at Disney and calculated how many points I think it should have added up to - about 220. Based on your experience do you think we should buy more up front to have extra "just in case", or buy a little less knowing that we can borrow? Buying less may also save us money on annual fees over the long term.

Maybe I'm just putting too much thought into this? Any thoughts?

Thanks so much!
Lisa

Now that I've got a little more time I'll expand a little. If you have enough trips under your belt to anticipate your travel needs, it's not that difficult. Just don't plan on studios for most trips. One who's looking at a 2 BR for a week or longer during a higher season (Magic or Premier) will likely have plenty of points for DVC trips ongoing. One who's looking at shorter stays, smaller units or avoiding weekends should likely have a larger cushion. But even if you need 220 points every year and buy 200, you can make up the difference for several years simply by paying cash for one or two weekend nights every few years. Thus I still think buying the best contract in terms of points available, terms and price per point that's in the ball park is the best option.

 

[ZekeKelso]

This is just me, but I'd go for the smaller contract. That way you have more options for the future.

 

[Jennifer_W]

This is just me, but I'd go for the smaller contract. That way you have more options for the future.

How so?

 

[chalee94]

How so?

it's almost always easier to add-on: just call your guide, pay no closing costs, get the exact number of pts you want starting at 25 pts if you pay cash...subject to your UY month being available. if you have time and want to try for a resale, you can sometimes "add-on" fairly cheaply that way.

OTOH, if you buy a single 250 pt contract, there's no way to sell 30 pts to get down to what you need.

(if you buy direct from disney, it's often recommended to buy a 160 pt contract and then a separate add-on or 2 to get you to 220, if that is your ideal number.)

 

[RobDoc]

it's almost always easier to add-on: just call your guide, pay no closing costs, get the exact number of pts you want starting at 25 pts if you pay cash...subject to your UY month being available. if you have time and want to try for a resale, you can sometimes "add-on" fairly cheaply that way.

OTOH, if you buy a single 250 pt contract, there's no way to sell 30 pts to get down to what you need.

(if you buy direct from disney, it's often recommended to buy a 160 pt contract and then a separate add-on or 2 to get you to 220, if that is your ideal number.)

You may be able to get a better incentive if the addiitonal points are purchased with the original contract though - there have never been any incentives for fewer than 50 points and most have been for 100 points or more.

 

[codina818]

In looking at the math, I think that it is better to buy more points.

You can always rent/sell your extra points here nd use the extra to pay less mintence. But if you don't have enough, yoiu have to pay a lot more to get more points.

Better to buy more, I thinks.

 

[ZekeKelso]

As has been mentioned, going small and buying more is much easier than buying big and having to find a way to go smaller.

But the most important piece of flexibiliy - for me - is to be able to add on at additional resorts. I could change or DVC could change, and I may end up wanting points at a resort I'm not interested in today. Or Disney may build a new resort I want.

 

[starbox]

We're really glad we bought in at the minimum we thought we'd use because it allowed us to use DVC for a year and learn the answers to some important questions:

1. How many points did I actually need/want?

2. Could we really afford all the non-lodging expenses of multiple Disney trips each year? We were used to paying for all-inclusive MYW-type packages. (For us - the extras run about 1,000 - 2,000 per trip and that is not including 1,500 for APs)

3. Which resorts did I want to stay in? Which resorts did I not want to stay in?

4. What type of room did I prefer? (For us - paying extra points for premium views is absolutely important).


For us, I could not have answered any of those questions accurately pre-ownership. After one year, we decided that:

1. We needed 50-100 points more if we were going to vacation the way we wanted to (i.e not be tied to low point resorts/views).

2. By budgeting and planning ahead, we are able to vacation more frequently than we did previously. This does come with a cost. I do spend more on vacations now than I did before - DVC has not "saved" me money in the sense that I spend less - but I do get more for what I spend.

That said - if I decided to use my points for a week-10 days in 2-bedrooms, I would probably spend about the same as I used to on food/tickets/etc. Instead, we do studios and this year - we'll spend 24 nights in DVC lodging.

3. and 4. I thought going into it that "as long as we're at Disney, who cares what the room is like". I've found that I am not really crazy about the value views/rooms. For the lowest amount of points, I can stay in a value AKV studio, standard BWV studio, or OKW studio - and those would be my three least favorite places to stay.


The great thing is that adding on via. Disney is REALLY easy, there are usually great incentives, and you can add on in small increments to get the right amount of points.

For us, AKV was not on the table when we bought in. A year later, we added on at AKV .

 

[Dean]

As has been mentioned, going small and buying more is much easier than buying big and having to find a way to go smaller.

But the most important piece of flexibiliy - for me - is to be able to add on at additional resorts. I could change or DVC could change, and I may end up wanting points at a resort I'm not interested in today. Or Disney may build a new resort I want.

I agree and that's why I wouldn't buy extra points to use at NON DVC options or buy much over what it seemed I'd need.

I also agree that smaller contracts can be an advantage. I'd point out that buying smaller contracts and meeting the number to qualify for sales incentives are not mutually exclusive. One could buy 100-120 points in 2, 3 or even 4 increments if they wanted.

 

[Jennifer_W]

I agree and that's why I wouldn't buy extra points to use at NON DVC options or buy much over what it seemed I'd need.

I also agree that smaller contracts can be an advantage. I'd point out that buying smaller contracts and meeting the number to qualify for sales incentives are not mutually exclusive. One could buy 100-120 points in 2, 3 or even 4 increments if they wanted.

But you can't do that with a resale, can you? We would almost always want to stay at BCV, and with a family of 5 we'd need at least a 1 BR, which is a minimum of 270 points for a week (during times we tend to go now); so, really, don't I NEED a 270 BCV contract since they are so hard to book at the 7 month window?

We also live far, far away (northern Minnesota near the Canadian border), so we would not be able to afford airfare more than once a year, so we would take at least a week trip. We are used to 10 days.

Also, I cringe at the thought of even suggesting the whole "pay for a room somewhere else on the weekends" thing to DH--he'd nix the plan to join DVC immediately.

Oh, magic vacation fairy, help me decide what to do. . .

 

[starbox]

But you can't do that with a resale, can you?

Actually, you can. You can buy a small resale contract and once you are in the system, you can add-on in smaller increments directly through Disney.

With a family of 5, you may want to give AKV serious consideration - it's the only DVC that currently officially allows 5 in a one-bedroom (and provides sleeping accommodations and linens for all five guests).

 

[keys2kingdom]

In looking at the math, I think that it is better to buy more points.

You can always rent/sell your extra points here nd use the extra to pay less mintence. But if you don't have enough, yoiu have to pay a lot more to get more points.

Better to buy more, I thinks.

Given DVCs recent restrictions on renting I don't think this is a good idea.

I think Dean's idea of about a 10% cushion is very sound advice. This will allow you to bank and borrow effectively as needed.

 

[Dean]

But you can't do that with a resale, can you? We would almost always want to stay at BCV, and with a family of 5 we'd need at least a 1 BR, which is a minimum of 270 points for a week (during times we tend to go now); so, really, don't I NEED a 270 BCV contract since they are so hard to book at the 7 month window?

We also live far, far away (northern Minnesota near the Canadian border), so we would not be able to afford airfare more than once a year, so we would take at least a week trip. We are used to 10 days.

Also, I cringe at the thought of even suggesting the whole "pay for a room somewhere else on the weekends" thing to DH--he'd nix the plan to join DVC immediately.

Oh, magic vacation fairy, help me decide what to do. . .

As noted, there are ways to make this plan work resale as well. One doesn't have to pay cash for weekends and if one does, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to stay none DVC or even change rooms with cash rooms through DVC. If you're talking 10 days with 2 weekends it's unlikely DVC would be a value for you anyway, at least all on points.

 

[IMDORY]

Given DVCs recent restrictions on renting I don't think this is a good idea.

I haven't heard about the recent restrictions on renting-could you fill me in? I've rented points from two different owners for two different trips later this year and I'm also thinking very seriously about buying into DVC.

 

[Dean]

I haven't heard about the recent restrictions on renting-could you fill me in? I've rented points from two different owners for two different trips later this year and I'm also thinking very seriously about buying into DVC.

Once you get to 20 in a year you may have a problem, nothing more.