Renting points vs buying confirmed reservation

[iX.]

Sorry for the n00b question, but I'm curious if something changed somewhere along the line. I remember seeing people advertising confirmed reservations for sale which could give a potentially cheap opportunity to somebody that could arrange a trip on short notice. But I don't see those any more, only points for rent. I did a search in the forum and had lots of hits on threads in there from 2010 back, but nothing newer containing the word "reservation".

Was there a change in rental/reservation policy that makes it so that people don't need or want to sell their confirmed reservations?

Does this effect in any way what I understood was the policy where a confirmed reservation could not be cancelled?

I've been interested in a DVC rent for a long time but one of my problems was the lack of flexibility -- history teaches me that I end up moving trips at short notice, sometimes multiple times, and my southwest airline points, marriott reward points, and disney resort reservations have always accommodated such flexibility. If DVC has changed in some way with regards to cancellations and/or moves, I'd love to hear about it.

Sorry for such a long post for a simple question! Thanks to all for any assistance.

 

[vicki_c]

Renting already confirmed reservations on the DIS is allowed only within 30 days of the reservation start date.

I believe this was done to discourage speculative reservations with the intent only being to rent them out later, particularly in high demand times like holidays.

 

[Msmithmd]

OP- if you need to cancel or change trips often at short notice, don't even consider renting DVC. Almost all renters/brokers have a no refund policy.

And changing last minute (over 30 days out) is iffy at best in a timeshare system that runs at over 95% capacity year round. I cannot imagine any owner that would even try to change a reservation inside 30 days, because of the holding point penalty if the change is unsuccessful.

If I were in a situation of potential last minute trip plan changes, I would only book Disney cash resorts, or stay off-property.

 

[iX.]

OP- if you need to cancel or change trips often at short notice, don't even consider renting DVC. Almost all renters/brokers have a no refund policy.

And changing last minute (over 30 days out) is iffy at best in a timeshare system that runs at over 95% capacity year round. I cannot imagine any owner that would even try to change a reservation inside 30 days, because of the holding point penalty if the change is unsuccessful.

If I were in a situation of potential last minute trip plan changes, I would only book Disney cash resorts, or stay off-property.

I was kind of looking at things the other way -- I now have the ability to get flights on points at relatively short notice, so thought if somebody had a reservation they couldn't use perhaps I could buy it out for them at a discount rather than them being stuck. But I see literally nobody advertising for that kind of thing. And I'm not allowed to post in the rent forum to to ask for it, if I read the rules correctly.

By the way of long term planning, I agree DVC isn't best suited for me which is why I've not yet rented to date. Really want to stay at BCV though and the price is pretty steep otherwise.

My experiences renting rooms at Moderates and Deluxes through Disney has been nothing but good so far. Just not especially cheap.

Just looking for a clever way to get a few days at the Beach Club without breaking the bank... for the balance of this year my wife flies with me for free anywhere I go and I have lots of Airline points to use, so even a few days at an awkward time could maybe be made to work. I just don't know how to hook up with the right person. Any thoughts on that?

 

[CarolMN]

The DIS Rent/Trade Board does occasionally have confirmed reservations for rent. To catch one of those, you need to check fairly regularly.

My advice is to go over to David's (www.dvcrequest.com) and sign up for his "Specials Newsletter". You may find something you can use at a good price.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The DIS Rent/Trade Board does occasionally have confirmed reservations for rent. To catch one of those, you need to check fairly regularly.

My advice is to go over to David's (www.dvcrequest.com) and sign up for his "Specials Newsletter". You may find something you can use at a good price.

But David won't have BCV. Most of the time it is SSR.

 

[CarolMN]

But David won't have BCV. Most of the time it is SSR.

I agree. But it doesn't hurt to try - you never know and perhaps the OP will be willing to try a resort other than BCV.

 

[iX.]

I agree. But it doesn't hurt to try - you never know and perhaps the OP will be willing to try a resort other than BCV.

I do get those newsletters, and as mentioned it's pretty much always SSR, which isn't really on our bucket list. Having done the math on those ones, I think I'd be just as happy spending close to the same on a moderate such as CBR or POR.

There hasn't been a post in the rent board with the word "reservation" in it since 2010, nor did I see anything as I looked back through a few pages worth of posts.

I wonder if there is some other place where people go to liquidate reservations with less than 30 days to go?

 

[Chuck S]

I do get those newsletters, and as mentioned it's pretty much always SSR, which isn't really on our bucket list. Having done the math on those ones, I think I'd be just as happy spending close to the same on a moderate such as CBR or POR.

There hasn't been a post in the rent board with the word "reservation" in it since 2010, nor did I see anything as I looked back through a few pages worth of posts.

I wonder if there is some other place where people go to liquidate reservations with less than 30 days to go?

Actually, we average 2 or 3 existing reservations per month on our Rent/Trade board. We track them. The most recent, though, was posted on January 1, 2014. Most people this time of year keep their reservations, January and early spring are popular DVC travel times.

 

[iX.]

Actually, we average 2 or 3 existing reservations per month on our Rent/Trade board. We track them. The most recent, though, was posted on January 1, 2014. Most people this time of year keep their reservations, January and early spring are popular DVC travel times.

Oh, that's interesting. Is there a way that I can look at just those, if they are tracked? I mean I did the most blatantly obvious thing, search for "reservation" but that didn't seem to work terribly well. I'd like to go back and look at some previous (recent) ones even if they are not still valid and to know what it is I need to look for going forward.