Renting points

[Tink's Mumsey]

For those of you who rent your points, do you find they are easily rented out? I am wondering what the supply/demand is like. Thanks for any info on this topic.

 

[MichellT]

I tried renting out some points this week and the reason it failed is because I needed to rent them for use by 12/1/02 and there is almost no availability for anything between now and then (other than waitlisting, which isn't really an option for renters). A few days here, a day there, but nothing really for an entire trip. Between F&W coming up, plus Thanksgiving, I guess this time of the year is just too booked on short notice.

However, I did get lots of interest.

I was trying to rent for $9 per point, if you look on the rental board there are several posts for as low as $7.50/pt that are sold! With dues at $4 and having to deal with renting the points, that is just not worth it to me.

 

[DLVisitor]

I have had a notice about points rental for about 2 weeks. I have gotten a handfull of replys. They give me specific days, I call, I email back and then the days change or I don't hear from them. I "thought" that people would "jump" at the chance to rent points, but.... And then we haven't even gotten into the money part yet!

 

[fkj2]

It's like anything else; you can rent points to some really sincere people who recognize a good deal and also hear from others that practically want you to give them the points.

Time of year is also crucial. Low point times like the late autumn through early December is desirable for both rentees and members as point value requirements are low and December finds the parks/resorts in holiday splendor.

Most of us, I would think, rent points that for personal reasons, we find we can't use. It works out well when the potential renter recognizes what a value renting points is, even without daily housekeeping but you will always see posts from people who want to pay no more 6 or 7 dollars for points. If even $10 wasn't a value, then they would just go through Central Reservations and have the maid service without any risk that the ressie wouldn't be there, although from what I have read recently on some of the other forums, that's no guarantee either.

So, it's some what like sifting through the replies. When you contact someone who is sincere, they seem to make a decision fairly soon. When someone is just looking for a cheap deal, they keep looking until they find it or else the vacation time they want isn't available.

 

[DebbieB]

Do you think the big code and AP discounts are hurting members who want to rent?

AOL just put a DVC Rent/Sale board on their WDW travel site (only accessable to AOL members).

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by DebbieB
Do you think the big code and AP discounts are hurting members who want to rent?

AOL just put a DVC Rent/Sale board on their WDW travel site (only accessable to AOL members).

I think that the discounts at the non-DVC resorts is probably decreasing the demand for rental points at the DVC resorts.

I don't think that there were ever many rooms at the DVC resorts that were actually available at discount rates this fall to begin with. In fact, there really doesn't seem to be a lot of availability this fall at the DVC resorts even without discounts. I think that is having more of an impact on owners trying to rent points than the discounts.
JMHO.

 

[~Magical Princess~]

I really don't know what the "right" answer is, all that I know is that a 2br at OKW with the best rate possible (AP rate) is $289 per night NOT including tax - so that comes to like $320 or something with tax? So if you have a family splitting that room you take 1/2 of 320 and that's: $160 per family.

If you were to rent from someone at $10 per point that comes to about the same price, maybe a little tad bit cheaper.

HOWEVER, my thinking is that the dues at OKW are $3.22 and if you DOUBLE that it's $6.44 - so IN MY OPINION paying $6 is an extreme deal, but $7 or $8 dollars should be right on the money for renting points.

EVERYONE wins - the DVC members doubles their dues and we get a little bit of a cheaper vacation. I know that there's the purchase price we as renters are not considering, but that's why we are renters so it's really not a valid argument.

I too hope to convince my family to join DVC and I would be very happy at renting my points at "double my dues" - but we'll see if we ever get to join!!!

Just my thoughts!!!

 

[Tink's Mumsey]

Thanks for this info. I have lost points before by not being able to use them and I would rather try to rent or even give them to another member instead of letting them go to waste.

 

[fkj2]

I don't think even members can get that kind of rate for a TWO bedroom from the DVC itself. This I just gotta check out.

 

[~Magical Princess~]

Go to Mousesavers.com and you'll see - Two bedroom OKW for $289 (AP rate) or even with some codes yield that rate. Trust me - it's the truth!!!

Again, that's NOT including tax - with tax it's like $330 or something like that .... (11 or 12%).

 

[Regina]

HOWEVER, my thinking is that the dues at OKW are $3.22 and if you DOUBLE that it's $6.44 - so IN MY OPINION paying $6 is an extreme deal, but $7 or $8 dollars should be right on the money for renting points.

Snce you rent from members, I can see why you would want to keep the rental fee low. However, many members have financed their membership. Even doubling the dues may not cover what they're paying annually. Most members agree that $10.00 is a fair point value.

For myself, I hope that we can continue to use our points for our own vacations. Call me selfish, but I love my DVC and don't want share.

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

It is important to find the "right" buyer and negotiate a good and fair deal that works for both parties. We recently rented a large block of points in order to pay cash for a 7-day cruise. While I'm not comfortable discussing our exact terms, we did negotiate a price that was greater than the going $10 rate. We pay almost $4/pt in maintenance fees and taxes on these points, and feel too many renters have a "fire sale" and do a disservice to others by artificially lowering the true point value. It seems many don't understand the true $$$ value of their points, especially when compared to CRO rates (plus 11% tax).

We asked a higher price because we rented a large # of points early in their use year, and would work with our renter to provide them with the accomodations they purchased, should they have to change/cancel their stay. Some renters operate on the buyer beware mentality, and that is not us. I also did not hide behind a "new username" to rent the points, which many DVCers appear to do. We took significant risk by borrowing points from our 2003 use year to create a long stay for our guests. I would never make a business out of renting, and we are doing so for a DCL cash price vs the point price. We have a family of 5 and need 2 cabins.

You may want to check this senario with MS (or some knowledgable member here who may have done this), but If I were "stuck" with points late in my use year, I would try to transfer the points to another DVC member instead of struggling to try to secure a ressie before they expire. If the transferee had an existing ressie at the same home resort as the transfered points, he/she could then redo their point allocation and use the transfered points before expiration and save their points for future use.

An example...if you are stuck with VWL points that expire in Dec., find someone who has a VWL ressie. Then transfer them the points. The transferee could trade their own VWL points for the transfered VWL points. Or, since you can transfer out to several members, maybe you would be able to find a couple of Sun-Thurs DVCers to transfer to. They could extend thier trip by adding the more available Fri and Sat night to their stay. I hope that this is correct and makes sense. I think I've confused myself.



JMHO.....Johnnie

 

[fkj2]

OK, I see this:

Old Key West - $219 1-bedroom villa for the time frame of 11/3-12/19

and then this:

Beach Club - $299 1-bedroom villa for 12/20-12/25

noting that both are ONE BEDROOM villas.

I just called CRO and was quoted $1937 AP rate (assumming tax is the extra 11%, for a total of nearly $2150) for a 5 night example of staying October 5 checking out the 11th in the TWO bedroom at OKW. The point requirement for that time frame in October for a two bedroom would be 152 points. The reason I am using a Saturday night as part of the example, CRO doesn't have the 6th-12th available at OKW for 5 nights in a two bedroom accommodation. Even if someone rented points at $10/point and knowing that daily maid service is not included, this is still $650 less than reserving through CRO, and it includes a high point Saturday night. Take out the Saturday and add a lower point Thursday, and there isn't any comparison. This also assumes that the time frame wanted would be available and from what I'm reading on this forum and the DVC Rent/Trade board, availability is limited.

Do me a favor since I'm obviously not looking at the right page on Mousesavers.com or not reading it closely enough, cut and paste this particular promo for me.

 

[~Magical Princess~]

I just checked mousesavers as well and it's NO longer on their site. I'm not going to argue this - simply email the owner of the website which I believe is: mary@mousesavers.com or mwaring@mousesavers.com (I think it's the 2nd one) and she'll confirm that this was definitely true: 2br at OKW for $289 per night (ap rate AND a special code - two different offers with the same price). Surely there are more people who have seen that special before? I'm not sure why it's gone - but it must be expired.

Here's how I know it's a fact - before we RENTED points - that is the code we were booked under (AP rate) and it was for exactly that! $289 for a 2br !!! Obviously, we've since cancelled that cash reservation.

The best bet is to call CRO yourself and they will verify that was definitely an offer at one time.

Again I repeat - we had the offer BOOKED and a CONFIRMATION IN HAND so I know it's true and I'll see if I can scan some of it in and post it here on the boards.

 

[Cruelladeville]

Don't forget that in order to get that AP rate, you have to buy an AP ticket of about $350, so part of your AP cost for the room is the ticket, too. As someone who rented pts in August, I had very little trouble once I asked for acceptance of my terms for the pts BEFORE I checked on availability, that way I got people who were serious about renting pts. Whenever you advertise pts on the rent-trade board you will easily get 50 replies, but most of those people are just "cruising". Don't do any work until they have accepted your terms for the pts, and if they don't send a payment within 24 hours to hold the pts, cancel them. I always notify the person before I cancel the pts, so it's usually the second day that I cancel the pts, but anyone who really wants to rent pts will usually get back to you within HOURS of an email, not two days later. But, yes, the fact that there are no rooms available for pts thru December has put a damper on renting pts. I could have rented out thousands of pts by now, if the rooms were there for people to get, but they aren't.

 

[~Magical Princess~]

HERE YA GO! Found this in an OLD post:

From Mousesavers.com
"Ask for Code *** and get the Winter Getaway Rates, such as a room at the All-Stars for $59 per night. There are discounts available at all of the other WDW resorts, too (subject to room availability). You can also book many of these rates on Expedia (no code required). A few that have been reported include:

$89-$99 Moderates
$139 Ft. Wilderness Cabins
$149 Wilderness Lodge standard view
$174 Boardwalk, Yacht & Beach Club
$184 Polynesian garden view
$189 Animal Kingdom Lodge savannah view
$149 Contemporary standard garden view/$204 tower
$214 Grand Floridian garden view
$289 Old Key West 2 bedroom villa

Valid for stays beginning 11/23/01-12/25/01 and 1/1/02-2/13/02. Other rates available 12/26/01-12/31/01. Must be booked by 12/3/01. Appeared nationally in many major newspapers on 10/20/01 and also appears on the official WDW web site. Thank you to the dozens of people who wrote to let me know about the code."

*** A different version of this code continued to include "fall" rates at that $289 because we are leaving in 4 weeks (september) and so the same rate applied.

THANKS!

 

[fkj2]

That Disney offered this rate on a two bedroom OKW, well, misleading may be a kind term.

While there may be more availability in January, Decemer DVC (all of them) have been solidly booked for nearly a month, and it appears that the promo window includes Thanksgiving and early December, which is most desirable because of the low point requirement, decorations and for DVC members, the meetings. I also don't know about September.

And, although you could have gotten a rate of $289 + tax, it still would have been closely comparable to the lowest point window of early December, even assuming $10/point but also recognizing you wouldn't have daily maid service. Disney has access to something like only 4% of OKW rooms. They weren't offering much.

 

[RobDoc]

Valid for stays beginning 11/23/01-12/25/01 and 1/1/02-2/13/02. Other rates available 12/26/01-12/31/01. Must be booked by 12/3/01. Appeared nationally in many major newspapers on 10/20/01 and also appears on the official WDW web site.

Unfortunately, discount codes from last year aren't likely to be honored this year. You can always hope, but it'll be awfully tough to book anything by 12/3/01 at this late date!!

 

[mikesmom]

Thanks for the clarification Doc. I think every hotel in Orlando was practically giving the rooms away in that first quarter after 9/11.

 

[~Magical Princess~]

Like I said, there is nothing to argue here, email the owner of the website (Mousesavers) and she'll tell you that the OKW 2br was offered at $289 for the year 2002. It's that simple. I pulled that info off the only post I could find on this website and it happened to be from last year as her site is updated when the new rates etc., come out.

Either way, there are **good** cash discounts that come close to renting points at $10 per point and if you can rent below $10 per point (which we always intend to do) you are REALLY getting a good deal!

Rack rate for OKW 2br (during value season) is $479, so to get that at an AP rate for $289 is a great deal - but when you add tax it's still over $300 per night! So the best way to go for the best price is to RENT POINTS!!!! Thanks to these boards that's been a possibility for LOTS of people!