Renting points from a DVC member

[bnbheartdisney]

Am I the only one that just can't seem to figure this out?!?! I've read some of the threads and still don't understand how the whole renting of points works. Can somebody kindly please give me the rundown? Also, how do you know who and who not to rent from??? And how far in advance do you need to plan for this?

THANK YOU!

 

[rosiep]

I have rented points before and it's very easy. If you want to be assured then use http://www.dvcrequest.com/default.asp. He rents points out(as a broker) for DVC members. He charges a flat rate of $13 a point and there is a minimum stay of three nights. Since there is only one DVC hotel at Disneyland it's best to start looking early.
If you go to his site, you can plug in your days and it will tell you how many points you need for your stay. He charges a small fee to check for your dates and that money is either refunded (if not available) or applied to your reservation. He has a stellar reputation.

If you want to rent person to person , the points are usually cheaper ($8-12), but it takes some trust.
Several suggestions for safety have been to use someone here that has a high post count, ask if they have references, use paypal, or offer half payment up front and the second half when you receive confirmation from Disney. You can even do a records search to be sure that they own property.

I have done it both ways and have had great experiences all around, although I have to say my first time I was on pins and needles.

 

[bethy]

I'd go visit the DVC Thread here to get more info. There is some risk involved in renting points because the owner always controls your reservation. You are basically staying as their "guest" at the DVC resort. Also, to stay at the Grand CA villas - where there are only 46 villas total and 23 of them are 2 bedrooms (i.e. there are only 23 smaller rooms and those are in very high demand), you would be best served to book as close to 11 months in advance to get what you want. Sometimes people get luckier closer to the date but availalbility dips sharply at 7 months prior to your travel dates.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I have rented twice now and everything has gone smoothly so far. We will be doing a week in August again. Make sure you you have a good idea on how many points you require and follow what rosiep and other have laid out. Follow the board rules and remember many times there will be no refund. I perfer no to use Dave but that is just me. Always ask questions because everyone wants to help.

Jack

 

[bnbheartdisney]

Thanks rosiep, bethy and blackjackdelta! Very helpful information!!!

 

[IBLarsen]

We have just done this for the first time and I too was skeptical. I read all I could on the DVC forum, there is a part just for rentals. I ended up going with a private person, but she listed her phone number and I felt it was important to actually speak to the person on the phone, rather than just email/disboards communications. After talking to the lady I felt pretty confident. She did draw up an agreement and emailed it to me, requested that I sign and fax back which I did. Just helps to have a little something in writing (but that still isn't fool proof). She asked for half payment at time of booking and half after I recieved confirmation from Disney. You will actually get your confirmation letter from Disney directly mailed to you. We were able to add on the dining plan, and the owner added that for me, but I gave her my cc number to add that onto. Also, I used a cc to pay the owner, even though she charged a small fee for that, but it gives a little more insurance. All went well, but like I said the most important thing was getting my own feeling from a direct conversation with the owner. It saved us a lot of money, so it was worth it!

Also wanted to add to your question about timing. If the owner owns at the property you want, they can book 12 mos in advance for you, if they don't own at that direct property, they can book any dvc property for you 7 mos in advance (given availability of course).

 

[starry_solo]

I have done this once, through a private person. I booked in November, paid in December (was out of town when the confirmation was sent) and the vacation is in 2 weeks. She was able to book at VGC only 5 months out (fortunately) in a studio for 2 of us.

I will let you know how the experience is. I paid via credit card through PayPal and paid the extra 3% fee. But it is always good to pay with a credit card, especially if there are any problems.

You can always see if they are willing to take payments - as long as you pay the PayPal fee and that it is to be paid in full by 60 days prior to the trip beginning. It depends on how you negotiate things

 

[ToodlesRN]

I've been on both ends as a DVC owner renting out my points and also renting from other members when I run out of points. Like others said you have get a sense of the renter and trust that the reservation will go through. I always send them the confirmation paperwork and you can always call the resort direct (not DVC) to confirm your reservation.
Check out the DVC rental/Trade section on here gives you alot of good info!

 

[lffam]

We rented points privately. I was nervous, I checked out the person as much as I could he had references which were all positive. He had also written some books on Disney so seemed all above board.

I had already booked Grand Californian in hotel room, and then when I came across the villas and the idea of renting points, I really wanted to do that.

ours went without a hitch. got confirmation letter from owner. checked reservation with resort. when it came to holiday time and time to check in got there and everything was perfect.

probably wont suit everyone and there is risk, but ours was an easy process

 

[tholczer]

I've wanted to ask about this in the past because when I've consulted the charts about pricing per point and how many points you'd need to stay, it doesn't seem like much of a deal. Am I missing something?

Tracy

 

[M4travels]

Also wanted to add to your question about timing. If the owner owns at the property you want, they can book 12 mos in advance for you, if they don't own at that direct property, they can book any dvc property for you 7 mos in advance (given availability of course).

Just a small correction: If the person renting the reservation to you owns points at the resort you're requesting, they can book at 11 months out, not 12.

Michael

 

[boiseflyfisher]

I've wanted to ask about this in the past because when I've consulted the charts about pricing per point and how many points you'd need to stay, it doesn't seem like much of a deal. Am I missing something?

Tracy

Well, it is and isn't depending on how you look at it. If you are willing to stay at other hotels, it isn't such a deal. If you only want to stay at The Grand, it is a good deal. I just picked the random dates of June 6-9. Those nights would require 117 points to stay in a 1 br unit. The unit will either have a park view or a pool view. That would be $1170 if you were to rent from an owner at $10 per point. Looking at Expedia, that same time would cost $1263.06 for a view room. That might not be a huge savings, but you have to consider what you are getting for that amount. A 1br unit will have two bathrooms, a washer dryer and a full kitchen. In the living area there is a single Murphy bed and a pullout couch, so it will sleep 5. The bedroom has a king size bed and the bathroom has a separate shower and a jacuzzi tub. We save a ton of money by eating in our unit. We order from Vons and generally have at least two meals in our unit, sometimes all three. I would say that you are getting a lot of quality for the money. We love having the extra space and the washer/dryer is a bonus because I can pack lighter.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Well, it is and isn't depending on how you look at it. If you are willing to stay at other hotels, it isn't such a deal. If you only want to stay at The Grand, it is a good deal. I just picked the random dates of June 6-9. Those nights would require 117 points to stay in a 1 br unit. The unit will either have a park view or a pool view. That would be $1170 if you were to rent from an owner at $10 per point. Looking at Expedia, that same time would cost $1263.06 for a view room. That might not be a huge savings, but you have to consider what you are getting for that amount. A 1br unit will have two bathrooms, a washer dryer and a full kitchen. In the living area there is a single Murphy bed and a pullout couch, so it will sleep 5. The bedroom has a king size bed and the bathroom has a separate shower and a jacuzzi tub. We save a ton of money by eating in our unit. We order from Vons and generally have at least two meals in our unit, sometimes all three. I would say that you are getting a lot of quality for the money. We love having the extra space and the washer/dryer is a bonus because I can pack lighter.

Totally agree with what you said. We can pack lighter and do not have to go to the laundry room with the one bedroom. We save money on the meals since we do cook in the room and the separate rooms are nice to be away from the kids. I loved watching the night activity and we were treated like royalty. Vons delivery turned out to be excellent. Just our way of enjoying our trip.(Along with our visit to Club 33 which was exceptional.)

Jack

 

[tholczer]

Well, it is and isn't depending on how you look at it. If you are willing to stay at other hotels, it isn't such a deal. If you only want to stay at The Grand, it is a good deal. I just picked the random dates of June 6-9. Those nights would require 117 points to stay in a 1 br unit. The unit will either have a park view or a pool view. That would be $1170 if you were to rent from an owner at $10 per point. Looking at Expedia, that same time would cost $1263.06 for a view room. That might not be a huge savings, but you have to consider what you are getting for that amount. A 1br unit will have two bathrooms, a washer dryer and a full kitchen. In the living area there is a single Murphy bed and a pullout couch, so it will sleep 5. The bedroom has a king size bed and the bathroom has a separate shower and a jacuzzi tub. We save a ton of money by eating in our unit. We order from Vons and generally have at least two meals in our unit, sometimes all three. I would say that you are getting a lot of quality for the money. We love having the extra space and the washer/dryer is a bonus because I can pack lighter.

That does sound great when you put it that way. For the room and the amenities, you are getting some good bang for your buck. Thanks for taking the time to explain things

Tracy

 

[boiseflyfisher]

That does sound great when you put it that way. For the room and the amenities, you are getting some good bang for your buck. Thanks for taking the time to explain things

Tracy

No problem! We are very happy with our GCV purchase!

 

[Davids-Coco]

No problem! We are very happy with our GCV purchase!

As are we. We had to buy more points because we love the amenities and always booked a 1 bedroom anyway so ours kids sleep and so do we. This saves us loads and I love the light packing, easy breakfast in the room, and space. Be careful... It's adictingly nice!

There is one other thing I didn't see mentioned. You don't have nightly housekeeping unless you pay extra. You get fresh towels and the trash taken out on day 4 and a full cleaning on day 8 if you stay that long. But you can take out the trash whenever you want (there's a room) and you have a vacuum if you need it. I love not having someone in our room all the time but for some it could be a dealbreaker.