Should I have more pts?

[bombero]

Hi all,
We recently purchased our first 150pts this last week for SSR,
but now reading this board, I am wondering if we should
have gotten more. Everyone is talking about 1br or more,
now does everyone have a lot of pts, or does everyone
bank and borrow?
Any input would be appreciated.

Update....

Thanks everyone for your input.
It has helped me alot.
and Thanks for the welcome.

 

[Nink]

A recent poll taken on one of the forums, showed that the average points owned, by those using the forum, was between 200 and 300. I think that gives most of us the chance to use the additional points for extra trips and the ability to book at the other Disney resorts.

Only you can know if you have enough points for you!

 

[gracelrm]

Welcome to the DIS! We started with 200 points, added on 75 points a year later and then 25 points about 6 months later. So we have 300 points. We need a two bedroom, as there are five of us and when the little one gets a little bigger - we'll need all that room. When we originally purchased, we thought we'd use banking and borrowing and go every two years and be fine. But, then we tried Vero Beach and Hilton Head and realized we wanted to go there too - so we added on. We would still like 50 more points, but just can't swing it right now. Most people on this board will agree that you can never have too many points! But if a studio is all you'll ever need, you'll probably be fine.

 

[jaysue]

Welcome to the DIS!

Whether 150 pts is enough is a function of:

1) Time of year you go
2) Whether you stay on Friday/Saturday
3) Size of accomodation
4) How often you go

Finally:

5) How much you can afford

Have you looked at a points vacation planner such as Caskbill's that may help you figure out if 150 is sufficient?

Thanks
jaysue

 

[Granny]

Please do not let the fanatics (myself included!) on this board get you all worried about how many points you own!!

You bought 150 points with some sort of plan in mind....maybe the thought of staying in a studio for x number of days during a particular time of year.

My advice is to go ahead and try out your plan. You may find that you're perfectly happy with your decision and not need any more points.

On the other hand....

Originally posted by Nink
A recent poll taken on one of the forums, showed that the average points owned, by those using the forum, was between 200 and 300. I think that gives most of us the chance to use the additional points for extra trips and the ability to book at the other Disney resorts.

In addition to more, or longer trips, we bought enough points to "upgrade" to a 2BR during our trips even though there are only four of us.


Just think of the reasons you bought into DVC.

Was it to save money compared to where you have stayed in the past? Buying more points could defeat that rationale.

If, on the other hand, the reason was to go to nicer accommodations, then you might want to look at a 1BR during your next trip and see if you think it would be worth the extra points. Many think that spending all those extra points on accommodations that still only handle four people is extravagant.

Others think that's the whole point of DVC. (Like me )


But seriously, don't let this small percentage of DVC owners sway your thinking. You need to do what works for you.

 

[ZerasPride]

We have 170 points and that's just about right for us. Do we do a lot of banking and borrowing? Yep. Does it bother us to bank and borrow (okay mostly borrow)? Nope. I am glad that's a feature of DVC and it's one we take full advantage of. We have a mortgage through DVC and my husband and I have pretty much made a commitment to travel DVC exclusively until our loan is paid in full.

As other posters have mentioned, only you know your family's situation (financial, vacation time, family size, accommodation preference, etc.). For my family, there are 3 of us with DS leaving the nest in a few years for college. He may travel with us and he may not. But for now our needs are met with a one bedroom off season. Our home resort is Hilton Head and eventually we'll be able to travel mostly the first week of December and that's only 104 points for the week. You can't beat that.

So again, only you can decide if you have enough points - but no matter how many you have, it's fun planning trips with them!

 

[timC]

When I see anyone buying the 150 point minimum, I take it as a signal that it was dictated by budget. In other words, it's the smallest that DVC will let me buy and probably all I should budget for as a start.

If this is you...don't buy any more points.

Also remember, banking your points, or borrow from next year will twice the vacation buying power, with 300 points! That not bad at all.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Although the average # of points people have is 200-300, I think it would be interesting to find out what the average initial purchase was. I think that probably most people (including us) start out with far fewer points, then add on as finances, need, and desire for points at new resorts allow. For example, like you, we started out with 150 points. Several months later, unexpected money allowed us to purchase another 25 points at the same resort. The following year I stayed at BCV for the first time, they were offering a special, and so I just "had to have" another 100 points. So now we're the average 200-300. But that wasn't what we initially bought, and I bet it wasn't true for a lot of people. So buy 150, then have fun with those add-ons!

 

[SOBDOSNV]

We have 150 pts since 1999. Sure we would love to have enough to have a 1bdrm everytime. But we have stayed in a studio, and 2bdrm and this year a studio. We are getting the add-on bug though, and may add on. But I agree as most do, get what you need, and can budget, then work up to what you want.

 

[mrsdon]

Way back whenI joined 220 was the min. amount you could purchase, so thats what we bought. We borrowed our very 1st year so we decided to do a 100 point add-on. At the time they were starting to sell VB. They had an awesome offer and we couldnt turn it down. So we had 370 points forever. When we moved to Memphis and I became a CM at TDS I became eligilbe for discounts... SO now we have 770. It is too many??
Maybe, but now my boys are 21 and 19 and are making trips down there with friends.. SO its a good thing until we can finally retire.

 

[jodifla]

We started with 150 points in 1996, and that has served us quite well. We are Floridians, so we make a lot of smaller trips and often avoid the weekends (although not always) and we often used studios (less so now, with DS in tow). I often found myself banking a few points, in fact. We just added on 56 at BCV before they sold out, bringing us to 206.
We wanted access to SAB!


One of the very nice things about buying in at a lower point level is that you don't overextend your finances and you don't feel like a Disney vacation slave. Once you're in, you can always do add-ons.

Enjoy DVC. You'll find you can do a lot with your 150 points. (But as soon as it's paid off, don't be suprised if you're adding on. We added on because my husband said every time we were on vacation at DVC that it was the best thing we'd ever done and he thought we needed more points. And he was the one that initially needed convincing...)

 

[BuffaloDisney]

I am a believer in buying the minimum amount of points and adding on if and when you want to. This allows you to adapt bettor to any financial or usage changes.

Well anyway this has worked for our family. We are just about ready for our fourth add on.

Good luck on your decision.

PS I have always said DVC was the best purchase I ever made

 

[tixx]

depending on when you travel i think it makes sense to addon with resale points..for those who travel off season ..as they can be used at the 7 month window at any resort ?? ..am I correct ? or is SSR the best deal ????

 

[zurgswife]

We originally purchased 175 and found out very quickly it wasn't enough...added on 136 So, we could get the 2 bdrm we needed everytrip. We are currently in the process of adding on 100 points and that way we can not have to borrow for our ususal 1 week stay and can stay both fri and sat....

 

[kaw1106]

we bought 170 points at BCV last sept. a few months later we realized we wanted more, so we purchased an additional 100 at BCV. It will be enough for us.....I think

 

[ArnyVee]

Originally posted by Simba's Mom
Although the average # of points people have is 200-300, I think it would be interesting to find out what the average initial purchase was. I think that probably most people (including us) start out with far fewer points

Boy, that's the truth! At least for my family it is. We started out a few months ago by purchasing via a resale broker (www.DVCByResale.com) with a grand total of ..... 75 points! But, for now it works for us. First of all, the contract came with last year's points all banked (extra 75 points!) for a total of 150 to start. So, I had the option to get an extra trip out of it or rent out the additional points for my own little magical beginnings program.

At any rate, as many have said, whatever works for you and your family. If I did what most people were telling me to do, I would've started out with 500 points!

I'll slowly start adding on as my families vacation style changes and as my family continues to grow.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Originally posted by Simba's Mom
Although the average # of points people have is 200-300, I think it would be interesting to find out what the average initial purchase was. I think that probably most people (including us) start out with far fewer points, then add on as finances, need, and desire for points at new resorts allow. For example, like you, we started out with 150 points. Several months later, unexpected money allowed us to purchase another 25 points at the same resort. The following year I stayed at BCV for the first time, they were offering a special, and so I just "had to have" another 100 points. So now we're the average 200-300. But that wasn't what we initially bought, and I bet it wasn't true for a lot of people. So buy 150, then have fun with those add-ons!

Very true! We started out with 230 and a year later added on 150 to get to where we feel the most comfortable.

 

[panfan]

We just purchased 150 last may at BCV. Our vacationing paterns in the past were one trip per year and only 4-5nights. Because of owning a restaurant we can never go over the weekend. ( higher points anyway!) We enjoyed our first trip "home" last may in a one-bedroom. We figured staying in studios would be fine but wanted our first trip to be special so we did the one bedroom for 5 nights which is 140 points at bwv. We could do that each year and stay within our point range
HOWEVER..... we now are thinking 2 times a year would be nice since we are DVCers now! So we are doing a 4 night stay in a studio in december. The point being--we will try to work with our 150 points but as soon as we can afford to --a add on will be in order!! untill that time, 150 will serve our original purpose.!!