Rent points vs. buying additional points--need advice

[tiggercraZ]

We are planning a trip in 2008. Our home resort is SSR. We are short on points for our vacation next year. I've thought about renting points and have also considered purchasing additional points at another resort. Does anyone have any advice on which would be the better way to go?

 

[dianeschlicht]

If you find you are usually short points for the trips that you plan to take, then I think you would be best off to buy an add-on. If, however, you have a minimum contract of 150-160 points, I would NOT add-on at a different resort, but I would do the add-on at your current resort to have all the points available at the same place and at the same time.

If you have a 150 point contract and you don't have enough points for the type unit you want, buying an additional 50 points wont necessarily solve your problem if they are at a different resort. You would not have the same booking window for those points if you wanted to combine them at your home resort any time. Of course, it WOULD give you booking window priveledges at a new resort, if you want to move.

 

[tacomaranch]

I am in the same spot. Who every thought I would need more points but once you have a 1 br. a studio just won't work.

I am going to buy direct from Disney but at a different resort. With our UY being April I have until then to wait for maybe the same screaming deal as the family and friends offer. I am just going to wait for a good deal from Disney and then get about 100 points.

Good luck, I truly feel your growing pains.

April

PS: Thanks Diane!

 

[Deb & Bill]

You'd have to transfer points into your account to use them to make a reservation. That means, you'll have to find another member willing to use their once a year transfer to give you the points. Likewise you are allowed one transfer a year as well (either in or out). There is not supposed to be any compensation for transferred points.

You don't rent points, you rent a reservation. So you'd have to have another member (who would control the reservation until you checked in) make a reservation for any additional nights that you could not make because you didn't have enough points to do so.

Either borrow from next year or purchase more points. Contact Disney directly or contact one of the resale companies to purchase a smaller contract with the number of points you need. Make sure any resale has the points available when you purchase it. Some or all could be used by the former owner.

 

[Disneynut4ever]

I am in the same spot. Who every thought I would need more points but once you have a 1 br. a studio just won't work.

I am going to buy direct from Disney but at a different resort. With our UY being April I have until then to wait for maybe the same screaming deal as the family and friends offer. I am just going to wait for a good deal from Disney and then get about 100 points.

Good luck, I truly feel your growing pains.

April

PS: Thanks Diane!

What does this mean?

 

[tiggercraZ]

Thanks for all the great advice. Unfortunately, I am borrowing points for our trip and are still short, so that's not an option.

Would you suggest going thru Disney or a resale company? Do you know what their website is so I could check into buying more points.

The reason I thought about buying at another resort is so we could get an 11 month window at another resort. It might be better to buy at our home resort. Thanks for the info!

 

[dianeschlicht]

In your case, if you addon through Disney, there will be no closing costs, so I would buy direct rather tahn a resale. It is also nice to get your points as soon as you put the downpayment in there too.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you do purchase points at another resort, you'll now have two home resorts. (We have three). And only the points at that home are good at 11 months. The other points wouldn't be able to be used until 7 months. But you can do the borrow/bank thing and get three years worth of points to make that special reservation at 11 months.

 

[CarolAnnC]

There is no time like the present to add on. Any "good deals" that may come down the road will also have accumulated additional price increases by that time. So, I have always added on when I felt the need, and never waited for a better deal to come along.

 

[noname70]

I would add on thru DVC at a different resort

 

[tiggercraZ]

Can you do much with a 25 point add on at another resort?

Which resort would be best? We currently own at SSR.

 

[Fel1963]

I'm a member since 1995. I purchased my first membership at OKW through Disney; added a second at OKW through Disney; and just purchased another contract at VB through Jamie Carr at The TimeShare Store, as did my sister last year. As my kids (now teens) got older, I knew I needed substantially more points to afford the cruises & larger accommodations, so I was looking for a fairly large add-on.

Jamie was fantastic to work with and the cost per point is substantially less. The contract I purchased had all points available from 2006 plus 2007 forward all unused so I started with a nice, hefty increase to my points.

However, the sellers dragged out paperwork so it took much, much longer than Disney and, as noted above, there are complications with purchasing at a different resort and purchasing through a reseller, including closing costs.

(Also, I was an idiot and asked the seller to bank 2006 points, planning to vacation after my 8/1 use year...leaving me short for the vacation in two weeks...thus, here I am looking for a transfer/rental...but that's another story.)

All in all, rent vs add-on comes down to what was in one of the earlier posts: Are you consistently short?

One other thought: Have you looked into a cash night or two on weekend nights to maximize points on your trip? Check with Member Services for the cash rate at your destination resort. If there is availability, you can mix reservation types but there is a small risk you'll be asked to change rooms.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Can you do much with a 25 point add on at another resort?

Which resort would be best? We currently own at SSR.

You could have up to 75 points every three years for the 11 month advantage at that resort. Otherwise, those 25 points would just be usable at the 7 month time frame. We have two 100 point contracts (along with our 300 points at OKW) that we bank and borrow to get up to 300 points every three years.

I don't think there is much point to a 25 point add on unless that's all the money you have right now and plan on adding on another 25 in the near future.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

One other thought: Have you looked into a cash night or two on weekend nights to maximize points on your trip? Check with Member Services for the cash rate at your destination resort. If there is availability, you can mix reservation types but there is a small risk you'll be asked to change rooms.

I was going to suggest the same thing. I have a small contract and the weekend nights eat vacation points - I will be paying cash for an upcoming Sat night at OKW (it is just over $300 for a 1 bedroom). The same night uses 54 points - if I transferred 54 points it would likely cost me $540 if I paid $10 a point. If I added on thru Disney it would cost roughly $5000 for those points. Eventually, I may decide that an add on makes sense, but for now I am using cash nights.

Also, my understanding is that cash/point stays are linked as one stay and will be treated as such (as long as you remember to have MS link the stays). You do not have to change rooms and you check in just one time. Your trash & towel service and housekeeping schedule is the same as if your entire stay was booked on points - and, if you purchase DDP, you must purchase for all the nights of your stay, not just the points nights (or vice versa).

 

[Deb & Bill]

I was going to suggest the same thing. I have a small contract and the weekend nights eat vacation points - I will be paying cash for an upcoming Sat night at OKW (it is just over $300 for a 1 bedroom). The same night uses 54 points - if I transferred 54 points it would likely cost me $540 if I paid $10 a point. If I added on thru Disney it would cost roughly $5000 for those points. Eventually, I may decide that an add on makes sense, but for now I am using cash nights.

Also, my understanding is that cash/point stays are linked as one stay and will be treated as such (as long as you remember to have MS link the stays). You do not have to change rooms and you check in just one time. Your trash & towel service and housekeeping schedule is the same as if your entire stay was booked on points - and, if you purchase DDP, you must purchase for all the nights of your stay, not just the points nights (or vice versa).

But the cash room only got you one cash room for one night. The points got you another 30+ years.