So confused by DVC points, etc

[seobaina]

Apologies if I'm being thick here but I'm so confused. I only heard about renting dvc points recently and I'm finding it all confusing. We've always stayed on site (in Pop or POFQ). I can normally get 50% discount (CM) so this has worked out very reasonably. However, there are 4 of us looking to go next year. We'd probably stay off site for the first week but then we wanna be in Disney if poss. We're on a tight budget though so i wondered if renting DVC would be better to look at dvc rental rather than renting two hotel rooms. One nice diser offered me some advice but I'm still confused. How do I find out how many points I need? How do I find points to rent for a particular area? Please help Thanks

 

[Pig Pen]

At the very top of this page is a link to DVC point charts.

 

[joandegennaro]

I always find David's website a helpful resourse for this. Helped me figure out that for us an actual buy in was better for our family. You can go to his site and play around with the different resorts and dates and it will show you the cost difference in the different villa catagoreies also. It was interesting to note the the cost of a 1 bedroom (5 people max)for a week at OKW was more points than the cost of 2 studios (8 people and 2 queen beds per studio).

 

[seobaina]

At the very top of this page is a link to DVC point charts.

ahha, knew i'd seen it somewhere. Thanks.

I always find David's website a helpful resourse for this. Helped me figure out that for us an actual buy in was better for our family. You can go to his site and play around with the different resorts and dates and it will show you the cost difference in the different villa catagoreies also. It was interesting to note the the cost of a 1 bedroom (5 people max)for a week at OKW was more points than the cost of 2 studios (8 people and 2 queen beds per studio).

oh, that's interesting. Do you have the link?

 

[seobaina]

Ok, so, can I just check a couple of things....

If it says that a weekly charge for the dates we wanted is...say 120pts. Then I need to rent 120pts for THAT location or just 120pts?

And, that's all I need to pay/buy? The 120pts?

Can you gather points from all over? Ie 15 here, 15 there. Is that dangerous in case you don't get the rest?

Also, I'm sure it's an individual things, but do most people expect full payment there and then (at time of rental) or in stages?

Sorry for all the questions - real newbie at this but unless I'm misunderstanding it looks like a week in these (at $9/10 a point could be cheaper than 2 rooms at POFQ).

Thanks

 

[Deb & Bill]

Ok, so, can I just check a couple of things....

If it says that a weekly charge for the dates we wanted is...say 120pts. Then I need to rent 120pts for THAT location or just 120pts?

And, that's all I need to pay/buy? The 120pts?

Can you gather points from all over? Ie 15 here, 15 there. Is that dangerous in case you don't get the rest?

Also, I'm sure it's an individual things, but do most people expect full payment there and then (at time of rental) or in stages?

Sorry for all the questions - real newbie at this but unless I'm misunderstanding it looks like a week in these (at $9/10 a point could be cheaper than 2 rooms at POFQ).

Thanks

Points are worthless to you since you are not a member. You can't do anything with points. What you really do is rent a reservation from a member who makes that reservation with points they own. At 11 months out, they can book at their home resort (where the points originate). At 7 months out, they can use their points anywhere.

You don't get free dining, no 42% discount and it's all between you and the member. If there are problems, Disney doesn't get involved at all.

The member sets the terms for the rental. That includes the method of payment. If you don't like those terms, you find another member to rent from.

If you decide to rent from a member, find someone you feel comfortable with. Check the posts they make on the DIS boards. Call them on the phone. E-mail them. Then in case you need to contact them, you'll be able to do that.

You will not be able to make any changes to the reservation (unless the member is able to do that - many are not able). There may be no cancellation policy. You bought it; it's yours. No refunds for most members. You can't talk to Member Services for any reason. Only the member can do that.

Good luck.

 

[seobaina]

Points are worthless to you since you are not a member. You can't do anything with points. What you really do is rent a reservation from a member who makes that reservation with points they own. At 11 months out, they can book at their home resort (where the points originate). At 7 months out, they can use their points anywhere.

You don't get free dining, no 42% discount and it's all between you and the member. If there are problems, Disney doesn't get involved at all.

The member sets the terms for the rental. That includes the method of payment. If you don't like those terms, you find another member to rent from.

If you decide to rent from a member, find someone you feel comfortable with. Check the posts they make on the DIS boards. Call them on the phone. E-mail them. Then in case you need to contact them, you'll be able to do that.

You will not be able to make any changes to the reservation (unless the member is able to do that - many are not able). There may be no cancellation policy. You bought it; it's yours. No refunds for most members. You can't talk to Member Services for any reason. Only the member can do that.

Good luck.

Ah ok, thanks, I misunderstood. I thought I needed to buy points off a member on here (or wherever) for what I needed.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Ah ok, thanks, I misunderstood. I thought I needed to buy points off a member on here (or wherever) for what I needed.

Nope, the member is just like a mini-CRO. Only what they can offer you may be very limited.

You can check out the rent/trade board and find a member who has points to rent. Check out the sticky threads at the top of the page. They will give you lots of information, too.

Once again, good luck with your decision.

 

[Sammie]

Also know in most all cases, there is no refund in renting. If you are not sure about your dates and your group, you might want to consider booking with Disney.

Renting a DVC reservation from a member can save you money but you need to understand the limitations and restrictions before doing this. As Deb said it is a private transaction between you and the DVC member you choose to rent from.

 

[skelooch]

In your original post you say that there are 4 people, and you mention that you thought DVC might be better than renting "2 hotel rooms". this would lead be to believe that each person is expecting their own bed, (you do not want 2 people sleeping together. Is that correct?

In another post you say you would need 120pts for a weekly rental.
!20pts will not be enough for anything more than a studio unit at most times of the year, it could vary up or down depending on resort and time of year.
Keep in mind when checking the points charts that most studios units and most 1 BR units have only 1 queen size bed and a pull out sleeper sofa, meaning 2 people will have to share a bed.

The only way each person would be able to have their own bed would be in a 2BR unit, and even then 2 people will will each have a pull out sleeper sofa.
But that could vary depending on resort as some have different bed arrangements.
Points required for 2BR unit are a lot more than studios, probably double in most cases.
DVC is a bit more more complicated than booking a typical hotel room, there are different size unit with different point values, which vary resort to resort and season to season.
And keep in mind what all the other have posted as well, regarding payment, changes, refunds, etc.

With all that being said my questimation would be an approx rental cost for a 2BR unit would range between $2000 and $2500, could vary a couple hundred either way. You could probably do better getting 2 rooms with your CM discount.

Hope this help you a little with your planning.

 

[joandegennaro]

oh, that's interesting. Do you have the link?

Sorry, while you are a newbie with renting, I myself am a so called newbie with my computer. David is a sponsor of one of the Dis boards and I believe his Dis board name is Dadio or Daddio (not sure of the spelling). I personally would use his service over "finding" someone to rent from. While the Mods are doing all they can to prevent people from "scamming" potential renters there is the posibility that it could happen. In my opinion the extra $ David's service charges over someone on the rent/trade boards is well worth it to ensure security of my vacation and the $$ I put out. Of course that isn't to say that you would be able to find a wonderful rentee with whom you could do business with for years on these boards.

Good Luck!

P.S. Remember that OKW has 2 queen beds in each studio which might help with your need for 2 rooms a little, and it costs less points to rent 2 studios for a week than a 1 bedroom.

 

[skelooch]

P.S. Remember that OKW has 2 queen beds in each studio which might help with your need for 2 rooms a little, and it costs less points to rent 2 studios for a week than a 1 bedroom.

That's a very good option as far as cost is concerned, however if they were considering 2 rooms at a non DVC resort, I would assume they would get them connecting and you don't have that option at OKW, that I am aware of.

Good thought though.

 

[seobaina]

ooh ok, wow. Thanks for all the info. Two of us could share a bed - not a prob cause my best friend and I have done that before, but the other two don't know each other well enough to also share - hence two rooms. We basically need a min of a double (queen) bed and two others. Is that clearer? Hadn't even looked at OKW, so thanks for that suggestion.

Thanks for all the help and advice, I appreciate it. We're looking at booking flights in next couple of weeks I believe, so I'm just trying to get price options to take to the others. At that point our dates will be fixed cause our flights will be non-refundable too. Only thing that makes me slightly wary is the fact that we got caught in the volcano stuff this year.

 

[Deb & Bill]

ooh ok, wow. Thanks for all the info. Two of us could share a bed - not a prob cause my best friend and I have done that before, but the other two don't know each other well enough to also share - hence two rooms. We basically need a min of a double (queen) bed and two others. Is that clearer? Hadn't even looked at OKW, so thanks for that suggestion.

Thanks for all the help and advice, I appreciate it. We're looking at booking flights in next couple of weeks I believe, so I'm just trying to get price options to take to the others. At that point our dates will be fixed cause our flights will be non-refundable too. Only thing that makes me slightly wary is the fact that we got caught in the volcano stuff this year.

If you got an OKW one bedroom, you would have one king bed, one queen sleeper sofa and one twin sized sleeper chair. Same at Kidani and BLT one bedrooms. For the other villas, you would need a two bedroom to get at least three different beds/sleeping surfaces. Unless you brought along an Aerobed for the fourth person to sleep on.

Or get two OKW studios for a total of four queen sized beds. All the other studios would have one queen and one double sleeper sofa.

Plan on your reservation from a member to be nonrefundable as well. And before you make your plane reservations, you'll need to find out availability at the DVC resort if you plan to rent a reservation from a member. They are the only ones who can do that and you need to have a contact in mind to know that.

Good luck.

 

[jadejazzkayla]

oh, that's interesting. Do you have the link?

David's vacation club rentals link http://www.dvcrequest.com/

 

[mickey&minniealways]

If you sign up for Davids newsletter he will send emails for points that are occasionaly available for a cheaper rate then he usually charges. However the resort choices are limited in these situations.

 

[seobaina]

Thanks for all the help Just booked flights, so now I can look properly at accomodation.

 

[VrBchJ]

What are the dates for your trip? David's point calculator is very helpful and easy to use. You can plug in all the resorts and check point values for all of them at one time.

 

[seobaina]

We're going april 29th to May 17th. Prob gonna stay outside disney for week-10 days then inside disney for a week.