Renting Points/CRO Combo

[idratherbeinwdw]

Hi All,

While this may be obvious to everyone but me, I just discovered I could have saved even more on my WDW trips. It's too late for me to take advantage of this for my next two trips, as the point rental deals have already been made, (the thumping sound you hear is me kicking myself!), but I hope this can help others who are still planning.

Renting points is definitely far cheaper for stays at a DVC property Sunday-Thursday. BUT it is almost always LESS to reserve through CRO or Walt Disney Travel Co when you are staying on Friday and/or Saturday. Even the rack rates are less through Disney, but if you have AAA or an AP or other discount, it's even cheaper to go that route.

For example, a one bedroom at the Boardwalk standard view for September is 41 pts on Friday or Saturday, so at the usual rate of $10/point that comes to $410. Rack rate through Disney is $360, and with a AAA discount (I just called to ask) the cost would have been $335 with tax, or a savings of $75/night. AP rates are not out yet for September, if and when they become available the savings will probably be even better (wahhhh!!).

So, the best value, and what I plan to do in the future, is to rent points through these boards for Sunday through Thursday needs, and reserve through Disney for the Friday and Saturday portions.

The deal I got on the rental boards here was great, but I would have saved $150 dollars more for my trip in September and another $75 for my January trip if I realized sooner. Having already made the deals with renting I would never renege, but for future trips you can bet I will do it differently.

My future plan is to get the Friday and Saturday portion of my trip through WDW first, even if there is no discount at the time, since, as already pointed out, even rack rates are cheaper than DVC points for Friday and Saturday. (If AP or AAA discounts become available through WDW at any time then I can always "convert" my ressie to the lower cost.) Once the WDW ressie is confirmed I will come to the boards to rent the points I need for the Sun-Thurs part of my trip.

I don't know how I didn't realize all this sooner, but I suppose it didn't occur to me that I could make separate ressies. I guess it is a little more complicated to have two reservations, but I am sure Disney can link them together if you let them know the situation. I hope someone can benefit from this information.

 

[kda]

You can certainly try to do this. There might need to be some flexibility and maneuvering on dates and accomodations size, unless you're prepared to change resorts ---- there might not always be rooms available through CRO or on points for a consecutive nights stay.

Yes, you can also request that CRO and the person you rent points from have it noted on each reservation that you have the other reservation. DVC will NOT guarantee that you will be able to stay in the same room. They only do this for members, when members purchase a cash reservation through DVC ( the member needs to be staying in the room booked for cash).

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Thanks for the additional information. Actually I feel a little better about paying more now, knowing I might have had to move rooms.

I have a question for DVC Members, I hope someone has the time respond.

Since DVC will guarantee that members will not have to change rooms if they pay cash for part of the trip, do most members pay cash for Fridays and Saturdays?

It would certainly seem to be the sensible thing to do since the points can be sold for more than the room would cost if a member paid cash for a Friday or Saturday. It would be a substantial savings if the member had any form of discount (i.e. AP or AAA) that would put the cash room cost below rack rate.

Just wondering, since I am thinking of joining DVC, if this is a way to get more bang for your buck that many people use?

 

[fkj2]

Yes, I've done it. Once, at the Contemporary when the kids wanted to stay there, I felt it cheaper to pay for the weekend nights rather than expend all those points. That was before I even considered (or knew about) renting points that I wouldn't be able to use myself at the time.

Now, I'd do it for the same reasons, to conserve points. I also stayed in a studio the night of arrival before switching to a one-bedroom the next day, since I arrived so late.

 

[kda]

Generally, we figure we've spent enough paying for DVC and don't want to spend more on lodging, so we try to 'make do' with our points. We used to pay cash sometimes for a regular resort at the end of our trip because we still love the regular resorts like AKL.

We paid cash for the first time (Member's 25% discount was available) for 1 weekend night during our April trip. This was only because we had to borrow points for part of this trip and didn't want to totally use up our 2005 supply. The 1 BR cost about $315, which is the most we've ever spent on a room in WDW in 20 years of trips --- but it WAS a 1 BR ;-)

From reading these boards, it's a real mixed bag. You can definitely save a little $$$ or extend your stay if you can get a cash discount.

 

[wdwstar]

Thank you for the info, i know alot of people here know about the discounts for the weekends, as we all know we all love to get the best deal out of our vacations. i agree the weekends are very high in points, but tell me where can you stay at the bcv for $140 a night, (14 pts) sunday thru thursday. some people would book weekends on points so they dont have to be bothered to move, and if you have the points to use, why not. as a renter you best options are to rent during the week, sun. thru thurs. and pay cash on the weeks, it just involves moving. enjoy !

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Thanks to everyone for the information so far.

Has anyone actually rented through the DVC boards for sun-thurs and done the fri-saturday portion through WDW? If so can you tell me, did you have to move rooms? I realize that there is no guarantee that everyone's experience will be the same, but I am curious to hear how it went for those that did try it.

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

Be careful about booking through CRO for your room, you may have to change rooms depending on the resort's occupancy needs. Your points and CRO stays are not officially "linked" and therefore you can be moved to a new room for the second reservation, if the resort needs you to. This happened to us at BCV even though we noted on the points and CRO reservation that we wanted to stay in the same room. We had to move from one dedicated 2 BR to another dedicated 2 BR (the first unit had a sofa in the 2nd BR and the second unit had a 2 queens in the second BR). We will still book through CRO, but we will only do it for certain trips.

 

[DebbieB]

I was there 2 weeks ago, I had Sun to Thurs on points (I am a member) and Friday on an AP rate. They will only guarantee that you will not have to move and actually link the reservations together if you pay cash through member services (only members can do that). I decided to save about $20 and pay cash through CRO with the AP rate for Friday night. I had to go to the front desk on Friday morning and go through the check-in process again, get new keys and a new parking permit. We kept the same room. With BWV it might be more difficult since they have so many room categories.