Renting DVC points ?

[caroline1851]

Not sure if this is the right place for this question. Well, finally talked my 11 year old daughter into wanting to go to WDW. She went when she was almost 3 and then again when she was 5, but has not wanted to go as she doesn't want to do the parks all day. So I finally talked her into it by letting her know that we could do the parks for a few hours each day and just do pool, shopping, etc. the rest of the time. Well, I thought I could look into renting DVC points as a different way to go there. Never done it before. I don't understand at all how it works. Can someone give me an idea? We'd be looking to stay 4 nights. How do I know how many points that is? the whole thing confuses me....

 

[Deb & Bill]

Go to the DVC boards, especially the Rent/Trade Board (you must be logged into the DIS to see that one). Read the sticky threads at the top of the board. Then if you have any questions, you can ask them on the DVC boards (not the R/T Board - that's only to respond to owners renting their points).

 

[Aravan24]

My wife and I are about to take our 2nd trip to WDW using rented DVC points this Thanksgiving. We are staying at Bay Lake Tower and also used them this past summer to stay at a 1 Bedroom Villa at The Boardwalk Inn. Both times we rented through David's Vacation Club Rentals (https://www.dvcrequest.com). Their website has a pretty thorough explanation of how the process and pricing works if you don't find what you need on the boards here. In our (albeit limited) experience we have found it to be a great option to save some serious money on Deluxe accommodations at Disney World.

Ultimately, with David's they have a Cost/Points calculator where you can put in the dates you want to stay and it shows you how many points it would be for your stay as well as the equivalent cost in US $. There are two basic windows where you can request a DVC reservation. The first starts at 11 months out from your planned stay and goes up until 7 months out...that window gives you the best chance to get the reservation you want but you pay a slight premium or $1 or $2 per point for most resorts offered. If you choose to wait until 7 months out from your travel date to book, you can avoid paying the premium but you will likely have much fewer options and, in some cases, won't be able to get your preferred resorts at all.

You can put in a request for up to 3 resorts you want for your stay and they will check availability for your requested resorts. Pay special attention to the instructions on the request form as you'll need to be very exact with the names and details of your travelling party as that information will be used to make your reservation and it needs to match your ID! I will note here that you should ONLY request resorts where you are sure you want to stay as they will go through them in the order you submit them and if they find availability you'll be locked into that resort! Personally, we just submitted one resort at a time to see if that would work out and then, if not, we would submit a request for another option. There is a $105.00 USD fee per request but it's fully refunded if they can't get any of your requested reservations. If they do manage to get you a reservation then that $105.00 fee goes to the cost of your stay.

Once they have found availability at one of your requested resorts, David's will contact one of the DVC members they have on file as wanting to rent points and that member will actually book the reservation in your name. You will be sent a contract to sign and that and your full payment is then required. You will be able to do online check-in as usual and personally I found the whole process to be very easy, straightforward and totally above-board.

One thing to note is that if you want to add Magical Express or Disney Dining Plan to your stay you need to do that through the David's site as those requests have to be routed through the DVC member to be made.

 

[rwdavis2]

We used another online dvc rental company. Same price as David's but they offer sliding rate cancellation insurance, We bought real travel insurance instead. We got our fist choice, Boardwalk Villas 11 months in advance. Half the fee was due up front and the other half ~3 months prior. Paid $243 a night for rooms that can run around $500.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

When you "rent points" you are actually renting a reservation at a DVC resort made for you by a DVC member.

• The member will control the reservation until you check in.
• Your booking is generally non-refundable and cannot be cancelled for refund due to the restrictions of a timeshare booking by the owner.
• You will often need to pay in full up front, versus the $200/first night's stay deposit on a booking with Disney.
• Any changes, special room requests or adding the dining plan have to be done through the owner. Dining plans must be paid in full at the time that they are added to the reservation because that's the way that DVC works.
• Tickets, FP+ and ADRs are your own responsibility.
• DVC units are not the same as staying in a hotel room. Aside from not getting daily housekeeping, you will not get 2 beds in a studio unless you're staying at OKW. What you get in a studio is a queen bed and a full sleeper sofa. Some studios will also have a Murphy bed that is smaller than a twin bed that will accommodate a 5th person. Most 2BR units are a 1BR+a studio, so if you're looking at a bigger unit for a larger group, know the bed set up.
• You will have all of the advantages that any Disney resort guest gets (like EMH, access to the resort's theme pool, ADRs at 180+10, FP+ at 60 days prior to arrival, MBs) but none of the benefits that DVC members have (such as member discounts or events or Top of the World Lounge).
• You will not qualify for any additional Disney discounts. You also are unlikely to get any kind of upgrade (and should not ask for one, as the owner who made the reservation for you may be charged for it).
• Demand for DVC rental far exceeds the number of available units and owners willing to use their points for a rental. DVC is designed to be at or near 100% occupancy all year long.
• Your chances of getting exactly what you want are much greater if you have lined up someone, who owns at the resort that you are interested in booking, at least 11 months in advance of the day you wish to arrive. The probability of success goes down from there.
• A broker is a go-between between a renter and a broker. To meet your reservation request, they need an owner, with the right number of points, in the right use year, at the right resort -- AND the unit needs to be available. This can be a challenge to get alignment on.
• In general, as a renter do not expect to book Boardwalk Standard Studios or 2BR, BLT Standard Studios or 2BR units, Grand Floridian studios, or Animal Kingdom Value or Club Level units. You can ask, but have backup plans (and budget, in the case of the Standard/Value units).
• DVC "busy season" does not align to what people think of as high season at Disney, and starts in late September and runs through marathon. Epcot resorts and near-park can be hard for owners to book during Food & Wine.
• Renting from a DVC owner can get you staying at a deluxe resort, in a villa-type room, for less than a standard room at that resort would cost from Disney. But it is non-refundable.
• If there is any issue, Disney will not be a part of any fix, as your transaction is not with them.

 

[Megara5115]

We used DVC Rental store twice...you don't have to put any money down for them to check for reservations for you. We worked with Jenny both times and it was very easy. There is also a calculator on their website to tell you what it would cost.

 

[rwdavis2]

We used DVC Rental store twice...you don't have to put any money down for them to check for reservations for you. We worked with Jenny both times and it was very easy. There is also a calculator on their website to tell you what it would cost.

Same here and we liked them as well.

 

[wench]

We used DVC Rental store twice...you don't have to put any money down for them to check for reservations for you. We worked with Jenny both times and it was very easy. There is also a calculator on their website to tell you what it would cost.

I used them once as well. I'm a DVC member, but wanted to stay at VGC at DLR on the 60th anniversary. They did a great job quickly finding me a VGC owner to rent from before the 7 month window opened. I'm surprised that we're able to talk about them though. The last time I tried to recommend them to another poster, a Mod blocked their name on my post.

 

[rwdavis2]

I used them once as well. I'm a DVC member, but wanted to stay at VGC at DLR on the 60th anniversary. They did a great job quickly finding me a VGC owner to rent from before the 7 month window opened. I'm surprised that we're able to talk about them though. The last time I tried to recommend them to another poster, a Mod blocked their name on my post.

Same here and I got "points" as well. The all charge about the same for renting points anyway.

 

[mernin]

We are renting from a member here for our up coming trip in Feb - our first time renting points and so far has been easy! We read a lot about it and researched on the websites listed above before finding someone here with the points at the resorts we wanted that we felt comfortable with. There is a bit more trust you need to have when renting vs apbooking a hotel room as you don't have control of the reservation.