Rent our points and pay cash?

[DISNEYFOURME]

So having just gotten back from "home", of course we are planning our return. We are thinking of a few days at the parks (we got annual passes) and a 7 night Disney western Carribean cruise in August. (Going to pray for no hurricanes!). Anyway started to tell dh how others have rented their points and paid cash for the cruise and that has started the ball rolling. We had planned originally to use points for ours and pay cash for our 19 and 14 year old girls. Then did a quick search on travel agent site and got quoted a $400 onboard credit. Anyone have negatives to renting points? Can obc be applied to Disney excursions or would it strictly be for "on board" things like alcohol and souvenirs? Thanks for any and all input. We've used points before for cruising and I haven't used a travel agent since before I was a dvc member.

 

[disneynutz]

It's all about the money, you need to take the time to compare your total cost and go with the best savings. IMO there isn't any reason to use your points for anything other than booking a DVC room. Disney lists all of the other point uses to make buying direct seem like a good deal when in fact it usually isn't.

Bill

 

[CarolMN]

One consideration: Timing for the rental may not mesh with the deposit and due dates of your cruise. If you use one of the brokers (very easy and convenient for you), you generally receive 50% of the rental after you make the reservation and the rest after the renter checks in.

 

[Canadian Disney Mom]

If you rent on your own and not through a broker, you would generally get all of your funds from the person renting when you make your reservation. I agree with Bill, I have yet to see using my points at anywhere other than DVC as a value. If I find I want to go elsewhere and not stay at DVC, I either rent the points or bank them into the following year.

 

[sechelt]

As an FYI, David's (dvcrequest.com) is paying 70% up front now with the remaining 30% at check-in. Don't know when it changed but I just listed my points and that's what the contract says.

 

[DISNEYFOURME]

Thanks for the input. Always good to bounce ideas on these boards. My dh is all about charting and calculating points, etc. We caled David's and got a very informative girl who answered all of our questions. I guess it just sounds too easy to rent. Although I do understand the date of payment and the due date for payment is something to consider. We were worried about responsibility of any damages that could potentially happen but were assured the renter would be liable. If nothing else this learning experience made us realize that adding on future points direct isn't as important when renting your points is an option as well. Thanks for the input.

 

[tgropp]

I also inquired with Davids rental about extra points to rent and was confused about points being put in holding. Worst case scenario was that is Davids asked to make a reservation for a client and then said client cancelled the same day before he made a deposit. I am not sure what happens to my points when I cancel that ressie. Anyone help me out please?

 

[KiminChicago]

I rented some points for the first time with David's last weekend and it was unbelievably easy! We already received our 70% up front. My understanding is that the rentals are non-refundable so the worst that could happen is if the renter cancelled you'd get the points back, but you'd still keep the 70%. I'm not sure what happens to the 30% if the renters don't check in, but since we weren't going to be able to use them ourselves, it seemed the best thing to do.

 

[Splashboat]

We used Davids to rent out extra points a couple of years ago. At that time, we got 50% when we booked and the rest when the people checked in (money is guaranteed, they just need to make sure renter doesn't cancel)
The only thing I hadn't anticipated was the competitiveness in renting points. The renter has to book the reservation. When Davids got a request they sent out an email to multiple people, the first to reply (ready to book) got to make the reservation.

(as for the above post, tgroop, I am surprised the Davids asked people to rent points before receiving the funds from the person renting. It was my understanding that the people were under contract, including deposit, before Davids sent out emails asking DVC owners to make a reservation)

 

[KristiMc]

OBC that you receive from a travel agent can be used for anything that is charged to your stateroom account - which would include DCL excursions.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I also inquired with Davids rental about extra points to rent and was confused about points being put in holding. Worst case scenario was that is Davids asked to make a reservation for a client and then said client cancelled the same day before he made a deposit. I am not sure what happens to my points when I cancel that ressie. Anyone help me out please?

Points only go into holding if a reservation is cancelled 30 days or less prior to check-in. I do not think David's would ask you to reserve a room without having full payment in that scenario.

 

[tgropp]

Points only go into holding if a reservation is cancelled 30 days or less prior to check-in. I do not think David's would ask you to reserve a room without having full payment in that scenario.

Thank You for explaining the 30 day policy. I think that they were explain what would happening if the renter cancelled with less than 30 days that my points would go into holding and I would still keep the 70% down payment. I think that's the amount

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thank You for explaining the 30 day policy. I think that they were explain what would happening if the renter cancelled with less than 30 days that my points would go into holding and I would still keep the 70% down payment. I think that's the amount

I thought that David's gets 100% of the funds once the reservation is secured. IF there were a late cancellation you should still receive all the funds you originally agreed to (which might be somewhere in the 70-85% range of the total that David's collects) just as if the people stayed in the room. They might have been saying deposit - but I think that actually meant your portion of the full payment for the room. And I'd also think you'd also retain the points that were not used and went into holding. It would never be appropriate to receive anything less than the full payment for points that were not in holding when you contracted and reserved for them.

 

[JWigs]

So we purchased DVC resale and got some extra loaded points we weren't aware of (banked in from last year) and so we had to rent them out or lose them.

We looked into Davids as well as the other popular site (you know who they are). I didn't like that Davids would agree to all the terms before I could have final say. I like being able to say "I have 100 points but I am willing to borrow points to cover this 110 rental" or "I am willing to rent 96 points and leave some in my account".

I also like that the other site pays 75% upfront and 25% upon checkin so it has a higher payout and it was fast.

But your original question was is renting points and using the cash to pay for something else. We sold all of our points and the only downside is that we have to pay taxes on it next year since I believe it counts as income. We already have a trip booked in March for WDW so we didn't need these points but normally it's not the plan to sell the points. But if you want to go elsewhere, you can sell for up to $13/pt based on where you home resort and timing of rental. Good luck!

 

[supersnoop]

So we purchased DVC resale and got some extra loaded points we weren't aware of (banked in from last year) and so we had to rent them out or lose them.

We looked into Davids as well as the other popular site (you know who they are). I didn't like that Davids would agree to all the terms before I could have final say. I like being able to say "I have 100 points but I am willing to borrow points to cover this 110 rental" or "I am willing to rent 96 points and leave some in my account".

I also like that the other site pays 75% upfront and 25% upon checkin so it has a higher payout and it was fast.

But your original question was is renting points and using the cash to pay for something else. We sold all of our points and the only downside is that we have to pay taxes on it next year since I believe it counts as income. We already have a trip booked in March for WDW so we didn't need these points but normally it's not the plan to sell the points. But if you want to go elsewhere, you can sell for up to $13/pt based on where you home resort and timing of rental. Good luck!

Be careful with those extra points. There have been lots of reports about problems with banked points showing up in new resale accounts. If the points weren't listed in the contract, they weren't included. If there were extra points that weren't listed in the contract, Disney would have caught it and required a new contract. If you use the points, Disney may come back later and take them back out of your actual allotment.

 

[chateau]

well, that's just ridiculous. saying the points are there, on Disney's own site, then "oops, they shouldn't have been there" then take points from elsewhere- wouldn't fly with me. Your fault, you eat it.

 

[MsTessP]

But your original question was is renting points and using the cash to pay for something else. We sold all of our points and the only downside is that we have to pay taxes on it next year since I believe it counts as income. We already have a trip booked in March for WDW so we didn't need these points but normally it's not the plan to sell the points. But if you want to go elsewhere, you can sell for up to $13/pt based on where you home resort and timing of rental. Good luck!

Yes, money received from renting points is income and, as such, is taxable. However, remember that all expenses associated with those points - including member fees paid that year on those points, amortized purchase price per point, associated expenses with renting the points, etc. - can be deducted from this taxable income. After the deductions, most people will find that the resulting tax situation is minimal. As always, check with your accountant or professional tax preparer for the best advice for your situation.

Someone I spoke to mentioned that his tax professional listed the income from renting his points but didn't apply the appropriate deduction. Last thing I knew, he was looking for a new tax preparer!

 

[DisneyKeepsUsYoung]

Be careful with those extra points. There have been lots of reports about problems with banked points showing up in new resale accounts. If the points weren't listed in the contract, they weren't included. If there were extra points that weren't listed in the contract, Disney would have caught it and required a new contract. If you use the points, Disney may come back later and take them back out of your actual allotment.

This doesn't make any sense to me. Our contract ended up coming with close to 200 holding points that expired 2 wks after we got access to them. They were never mentioned in the purchase process. We guessed it was assumed they'd be expired by the time we received access. MS is who told us about them on the phone when we first set up our account online. We were told they were ours to use. We booked a stay gifted to a family member who could go on 1 wk notice with zero issues. And I've already banked my current use year points that came through no problem.

 

[disneynutz]

This doesn't make any sense to me. Our contract ended up coming with close to 200 holding points that expired 2 wks after we got access to them. They were never mentioned in the purchase process. We guessed it was assumed they'd be expired by the time we received access. MS is who told us about them on the phone when we first set up our account online. We were told they were ours to use. We booked a stay gifted to a family member who could go on 1 wk notice with zero issues. And I've already banked my current use year points that came through no problem.

Disney should have reported the holding points to the broker prior to the contract being drafted. Then the should have resorted the holding points to the closing company when they provided the estoppel letter. The mistake was Disney's IMO, they make more mistakes than reported. You bought the holding points so they should have been listed in the legal documents.

Bill

 

[southerngirl528]

his doesn't make any sense to me. Our contract ended up coming with close to 200 holding points that expired 2 wks after we got access to them

Sorry to hear that. Did you use a broker? Closing company? Those are the folks that should have disclosed the status and amount of points that would transfer, not Disney. Disney does not act as broker. Anytime anyone is considering purchasing resale they need to do due diligence in asking the precise status of all points that will or will not transfer. The contract should have clearly outlined this. If any contract does NOT clearly detail every tidbit of information I would not sign it. I bought resale for another TS and my broker made sure to outline what year was first available to me and what maintenance fees/dues had and had not been paid and what would transfer with the contract.