renting / transferring/ losing pts

[4luv2cdisney]

I was just wondering if DVC owners find it difficult to rent or transfer their points. Do you often get "stuck" or losing your extra points? We are going to look at a couple of DVC resorts in a couple weeks and try to decide if DVC may be a good fit for us. I am thinking about buying more points than we will usually need and renting our extra points most years. Is this a bad idea? Does anyone else do this?

 

[Chuck S]

Personally, I would not buy extra points solely looking to rent. One never knows what the economy will bring to the rental market. While the rental market may be good now, it could change in an instant.

 

[Tamar]

I agree with Chuck. Buy what you think you will use. Chances are you will find yourself adding on, but not for the purpose of renting.

 

[disneydenisel]

I was just wondering if DVC owners find it difficult to rent or transfer their points. Do you often get "stuck" or losing your extra points? We are going to look at a couple of DVC resorts in a couple weeks and try to decide if DVC may be a good fit for us. I am thinking about buying more points than we will usually need and renting our extra points most years. Is this a bad idea? Does anyone else do this?

If you plan on using your DVC points to stay at DVC resorts, I don't think you will have any trouble "using" your points for your own trips . I wouldn't buy extra points to rent or transfer, but buy enough to take care of your trips. We find that we are constantly borrowing into the future, so we don't need to buy any extra points. You might have this same problem, too . If you did find yourself with a few extra points, you could bank them into the next year.

 

[diding]

Definitely, buy what you will need. In this changing market, you don´t want to be stuck with extra points.

 

[Deb & Bill]

What you are thinking about is a bad idea. Buy as many points as you need and no more.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I'll have to agree with previous comments and encourage you to look at your own vacation habits and purchase based on your requirements. At this time we have a very useful tool with the Rent/Trade Board -- if for some reason it was no longer available, you'd need to use other sources to find a home for your points, and it might not be as easy a transaction.

Also, with the recent restrictions being imposed on DVC memberships...what other changes are down the road?

 

[vinandcol]

I would buy what you need. You don't want to be stuck with extra at the end of the year.

 

[vinandcol]

You will be able to trade/sell points if you need to. i think it is more difficult if you have a large amount. Good luck. DVC is totally worthwhile!

 

[VLee]

Agree with others...buy what you think you will need, taking into consideration ages of children and types of accomodations required. I only rent if I have extra that I am not going to use.

 

[ldvcshop]

We love having points that require us to go on a vacation every other year (use it or loose it, unless rent/trading). We started out with 300 and doubled that later. The first set of points was so much less, that it was struggle to justify the extra cost of buying more. However, as the kids became older, school has forced us to go when everyone else goes which costs the most points, as well. I am so glad that I found this site where, if needed, we could get more points when and if we required them (keeping in mind that this is not a guarantee).

When I used to look at the points required to go on the safaris, for example, I just think, oh well, I guess we'll never do that... But, having the option to point rent/trade gives me hope without the fear that I will get loaded down with a bunch of points that I cannot possibly use.

On the flip side, one concern I have; however, with our point balance is for when we get older and the kids have kids...will we have enough? I'd love to take them all on a cruise or on trips to Disney. Oh well, have to cross that bridge later.

We had thought about buying them on the after market, but see that there are restrictions for where aftermarket points can be used. So, we'll just have to figure out other things to do, I guess, and keep Disney with grandkids to a minimum. Not sure if this was in any way helpful;however, it shows some of the thoughts we've had about point balances.

 

[dcbrown]

I agree with everyone else....I also have added on points and am always borrowing......this year I did get "stuck" with having to "use or lose" 283 points....but I had no problem selling them....first time that ever happened, but it was nice to get an extra 3K in my pocketbook!

 

[floatinourboat]

We bought a little bit more for the times we wanted to vacation during a peak season or even to take a cruise. I know there are those that say rent the points and pay cash for the cruise but I would rather just pay for the cruise with points and then pay cash for whatever the points don't cover.

DVC should be used for vacation value not a business proposition. That said, there may be times when you can't use your points. If you know far enough in advance you can try to rent them. I have never done but may have to later this year because of work and the economy.

 

[DougEMG]

I was just wondering if DVC owners find it difficult to rent or transfer their points. Do you often get "stuck" or losing your extra points? We are going to look at a couple of DVC resorts in a couple weeks and try to decide if DVC may be a good fit for us. I am thinking about buying more points than we will usually need and renting our extra points most years. Is this a bad idea? Does anyone else do this?

This was what my plan was as well. My idea was that I would rent out half the points each year until I retired (in 6-7 years) and had time to take longer trips.

Now I've only done it for 1 year so far, but has worked out pretty well. It took about 2 months to rent out the 800 points that I had. And I did some of the rentals directly and some through other rental companies. Even if I didn't rent out any of the points it would be okay though as the MF aren't a big deal and I then would just book a larger suite to stay at.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Thanks everyone!

 

[dcbrown]

We bought a little bit more for the times we wanted to vacation during a peak season or even to take a cruise. I know there are those that say rent the points and pay cash for the cruise but I would rather just pay for the cruise with points and then pay cash for whatever the points don't cover.

DVC should be used for vacation value not a business proposition. That said, there may be times when you can't use your points. If you know far enough in advance you can try to rent them. I have never done but may have to later this year because of work and the economy.

I have been on the cruise several times....using points and paying cash....this is what I discovered....I used points for myself and paid cash for my 2 kids which came to $2700....the next year I went again (same cruise, same time of year) went to an outside vendor, and for the three of us it cost me $2700....so therefore I kind of wasted my points the previos year. DVC has set prices for members for the cruises....they do not fluctuate as they do with other agencies......you might want to check it out next time.

 

[mtsarnacki]

You can usually rent/transfer points if need to, but best set is to buy only what you need.

 

[DVCPAM]

The new rules on the Rent/Trade board make it much more difficult to rent extra points. I would only buy what you need!

 

[GoofItUp]

We are somewhere in between. We started with a 100 pt contract and soon figured out that wouldn't be enough. We just added on a 150 pt contract. I know I could burn 250 pts quickly, but I also have the option of using less and renting them out if I want to. However, my renting out so far has been to family at a signicantly reduced rate. I have 4 studios booked at AKV for a big family trip this summer. My family paid less than 1/3 of what a hotel room at AKL would have cost. It helped me pay for the add on contract and gave them great accomodations for less than the price of a value resort. Win-Win for all of us!

 

[GoofItUp]

This was what my plan was as well. My idea was that I would rent out half the points each year until I retired (in 6-7 years) and had time to take longer trips.

Now I've only done it for 1 year so far, but has worked out pretty well. It took about 2 months to rent out the 800 points that I had. And I did some of the rentals directly and some through other rental companies. Even if I didn't rent out any of the points it would be okay though as the MF aren't a big deal and I then would just book a larger suite to stay at.

Since you've rented points through a broker and on your own....which would you say worked out better? Was it significantly more trouble to rent on your own? Did you make a lot more money that way? I have often wondered if the extra money for renting on your own would justify any extra hassle and which was the better route. Just in case I ever find myself in need of renting points outside of family/personal friends.