Some More Questions

[scanne]

1. Before you purchased, did you do any math to see if, in the long run, buying DVC is cheaper than paying cash year after year? What did you come up with?

2. How does "use year" work? We tend to travel in July or August so would a use year of June be a smart choice? How does the current promotion affect use year choice?

3. Are there dues AND maintenance fees? What do you typically pay annually for a 300 point ownership? How often and how much are the increases?

Thanks!

 

[coasterbob]

1. Before you purchased, did you do any math to see if, in the long run, buying DVC is cheaper than paying cash year after year? What did you come up with?

2. How does "use year" work? We tend to travel in July or August so would a use year of June be a smart choice? How does the current promotion affect use year choice?

3. Are there dues AND maintenance fees? What do you typically pay annually for a 300 point ownership? How often and how much are the increases?

Thanks!

2- The use year being offered on the current promo is August and September, I believe.

3 - The dues/maintenece fees are one number. For SSR in 2006 it is $3.98/pt.

Bob Debbie

 

[vascubaguy]

1. Before you purchased, did you do any math to see if, in the long run, buying DVC is cheaper than paying cash year after year? What did you come up with?

2. How does "use year" work? We tend to travel in July or August so would a use year of June be a smart choice? How does the current promotion affect use year choice?

3. Are there dues AND maintenance fees? What do you typically pay annually for a 300 point ownership? How often and how much are the increases?

Thanks!

1. I did quite a bit of number crunching before I purchased. For us it was a close call, because we enjoy staying in nicer places, but the financial side of me would justify sacrificing the nicer accommodations for staying at a value resort. Well, when I did my calculations for the times we normally travel and considering the cost of a value resort, it was actually cheaper for us to go with DVC over the value resorts... of course this assumed that we only go in the lower point seasons (which is typically the case), and that we only stay in studios (no biggie for us, I don't plan to cook).

2. Your use year is when your points "renew" each year. For example: I have an October UY. So on October 1, 2005 I received my '05 allocation of points. I then have until September 30, 2006 to use those points (or bank them into my 2006 allocation of points, but there are deadlines for banking so I would technically have to bank the points well before Sept 30th). Based on your travel times, having a June UY would seem reasonable. However, for the promotion, I'm not sure what UY they are currently selling (I think last I heard it was August). They might allow you to select a different UY, but you'd probably need to ask your guide.

3. The dues and the MN fees are the same thing. People often interchange those terms. There are several fees and taxes etc that are grouped together into what we pay each year. Assuming you had a contract at SSR for 300 points, you'd be looking at close to $1200 in MN fees. You could either pay that in lump-sum at the beginning of the year or split it into monthly payments of around $100. Note: some of those are property taxes which could be tax deductible.

HTH

 

[Plutofan]

DVC is an investment in your family. If we did not buy DVC we would not be going on as many nice vactions and we would go as cheap as possible. You are basically getting deluxe rooms at the price of a moderate room. You save anywhere from 30- 70% off the Disney rack rates. If you play the game and only vaction from Sunday night through Thursday night you save more since Friday and Saturday points are usually twice as much as week days. In addition to the up front cost you pay annual dues. The dues at SSR for 2006 are $3.9802 per point. If you purchase SSR before the end of the month you will get 15% off the price with a referal. This brings the $98 price per point down to $83.30. This has been the best promotion in a long time. Feel free to email me if you need a referal name or anyone on this board will be happy to be a referal since there is a referal fee.

 

[Plutofan]

Also based upon my experience it is best to have a use year just prior to the month that you usually take vactions since if you need to cancel you have more time to bank or use the points. We usually travel in June or July. We have a use year of June which is great if we had to cancel a trip since we would have more time to do something with the points before they expire.

 

[toesmom]

One of the posters above is thinking exactly the way I think. We took disney trips staying in value resorts for the last 5 years. Last year we toured SSR and did number crunching in our little room at POP. Well, DVC came ahead for us.

So we bought in 150 points. First DVC trip is next week (finally) and we have enough points left over so we are going to Vero Beach in August for 5 nights.

We never ever would have taken that second trip. Ever. But because of DVC looks like it will be an annual tradition.

I can't put a price on time together with my family away from pressures of work.

 

[granmanh603]

I agree with the others. We love DVC and it is a way to pay for your vacation in paynments or you could always sell your points to pay dues. We find that it forces us to make plans and take the vacations which we were not doing. It is the best thing we have done for ourselves and as a bonus we take our children now and can leave it to them and grandchildren to vacation in the future and remember us. Carol

 

[scanne]

So if my use year is August, but we typically travel in July, then I would get my points in Aug. 06 to use in July 07 - I couldn't use the points before they're given to me (July 06 with a use year of Aug. 06). Does this make sense or should we ask about getting a June or July use year?

 

[CarolMN]

If you typically travel in July, do not get an August use year. If you have to cancel your trip, you will probably lose the points you used to book it.

August 2005 points are good for stays between 8/1/2005 and 7/31/2006.
August 2006 points are good for stays between 8/1/2006 and 7/31/2007.
August 2007 points are good for stays between 8/1/2007 and 7/31/2008.
August 2008 points are good for stays between 8/1/2008 and 7/31/2009.
etc.

If you can't use your August 2005 points by the end of July, 2006, they expire unless you bank them into the next year. If banked, they are good for stays in the August 2006 use year. If you don't use the banked points by the end of July 2007, they expire and are lost to you.

In order to bank points (you can only bank one year into the future), you need to do it by the deadlines. With an August use year, you cannot bank at all during June and July. So if you had to cancel a July trip, you'd have to reschedule it before the end of that same July or the points would expire. (You could also try to sell the reservation to someone else or give it away).

A good use year is one that is up to 5 or 6 months prior to your usual travel times. Keep in mind that people's travel habits are bound to change over the course of their membership, so what may start out to be a good use year, could end up to be a bad use year.

It only matters if you have to cancel a vacation that occurs near the end of your use year.

Feel free to ask more questions.

Best wishes -

 

[unixadm]

Read my thread Doing the math - The real cost/savings


It gives the breakdown that I did to look at the my long term costs.

I also didn't take into account that even if you pay cash at a DVC resort, you get a 25% discount, so there is savings there when you don't want to use your points. (we have done this for a Friday or Sat night stay....pay cash verses using the extra points)

For us, the savings has been in the time it takes to plan, book, etc. as well as the security of knowing we are getting a good quality resort. In the past, I would scour the internet, and spend weeks looking at different resorts we could stay, the costs, the discounts, etc. Sometimes I would get a fantastic price, and then once we got there, find that the place wasn't as nice as it seemed. Sometimes I really did get a good price and a nice place....but I spent weeks researching. Now, I just call DVC and book a trip. I know I am getting a good deal, I know the exact type of room we are staying in, we are on property, etc. No wasted time, and no unpleasant surprises when we arrive at the resort.

 

[bdb7607]

We just purchased and went through all the calculations, etc, etc. We had only 2 trips prior to purchasing as a family (kids 7,5,4), and stayed off-site both times, I, too, would search the internet for the best deal possible, being quite pleased with myself on getting a 4 bedroom house for us and my parents, then getting there and finding out the pool heat didn't really work, the place was dirty, etc, etc.

The point that pushed me over the edge to buy (DW was already there years ago) was being on-site meant the ease of Disney transportation and, really, the people on these boards that talked about the DVC magic within the magic of Disney. We also had the money available, so it just made sense, and, yes we're already talking about "doubling" up our trips - 2 a year instead of 1, which will eventually lead to an add-on, I'm sure.

Cost wise, I figured, probably about 8 years (8 trips, really) to cover the cost of the "upscale" accommodations, and with our kids at the ages they are now, we'll do that easy - after that, both DW and I are Disney fanatics, so we'll head down by ourselves!

The best thread to read was the "I wish I knew before I bought" that is currently out there - almost all of them say, "I should've bought in sooner..."

 

[LisaS]

3. Are there dues AND maintenance fees? What do you typically pay annually for a 300 point ownership? How often and how much are the increases?

Lots of good responses already but I don't think anyone has answered your last question yet about dues increases. Expect your dues to go up 4% every year on average. This year the increases were higher than that but I'm hoping that is not the start of a trend!

 

[PBader]

The main reasons that we purchased DVC was that:
1. We knew Disney would do a great job maintaining resorts. There was only 1 when we bought.
2. We knew we would be able to stay in a "nicer" resort than we otherwise would have.
3. It forced us to take a yearly vacation, we didn't want to "waste" our money. (We now try to go at least 2 or 3 times a year)
4. We knew that dues would go up--they really stressed that when we purchased.
5. I love planning--being able to book reservation 11 months ahead of time was really fun.

Everything that we imagined or thought about DVC has come true. We are delighted and love all of the new resorts that have been added over the years and look forward to any new ones. Our dues have increased--I believe they were $2.85 in 1995, now they are about $4.25 or so. Over the 12 years we have owned I don't find the increases alarming or out of line. Our own costs on our home have gone up more--insurance, utilities, taxes, wear and tear and updating. Our home has gone up in value--right along with our DVC points ( I know you can't count on them appreciating) But the best thing that has come out of our DVC is the memories--we have had some awesome vacations.

Good luck with your decision.
Paula