Those who bring friends.

[disneygrandma]

IF the whole trip is our idea, and we really want these people to go, then the room is on us. After all, we're asking them to pay for all of the other expenses they would have in order to make the trip. However, if the trip is someone else's idea, or kind of a mutual idea, then we do charge a per point cost. The first trip we based on a value of $10 per point, and split that in half, so the other family paid $5 per point. Currently, we're basing the per point fee based on an avg MF cost of $5 per point. If we're sharing the villa, then the others pay $2.50 per point.

 

[wendyt_ca]

Me and a friend are going next month together using my DVC me and DH just purchased in Oct. We had the trip planned prior and were looking at paying about $600 each for a moderate resort. When we decided to purchase the DVC I told her and asked her how she would like to stay at AKL for the same money (she's a huge safari animal fan). She jumped on it and is more then happy to pay that. What I did was divided the total purchase price into the amount of years we will have the DVC and added our maintenance fees and it worked out to $1200 so she is paying half of that. I would love to not charge her but we bought it last minute and we just saw it as this covered our maintenance fees. And one of the reasons DH wasn't coming on this trip was to save money by splitting all costs. She is more then happy to pay that amount. In the future though we will prob bring friends without charging after a few years.

 

[aclov]

I'm also one of the ones that does not charge. I feel if I invited them, they shouldn't have to pay. They usually buy a nice dinner.

 

[DVCPal]

When friends go with us they pay half of the maintenance fees. When we go with them to their non-Disney timeshare we pay half of their maintenance fees including half of any special assessments. We go with them every year and they come with us about every other year. When we take family we pay for everything, but spending time with our sons, dils, and grandkids is always worth it, and magical!!

 

[Coach81]

Figure out the difference between one and two bedroom.. (cash rate) and go from there.. good luck!!!

 

[BLTLDZ]

Wow. You are all much, much nicer people than I am....

Turns out our vacation this fall coincided with when friends of ours were heading down to California (we booked a 1 bedroom at VGC for 4 nights before they arrive). What we offered them was this:

We'd get a 2 bedroom lock-off for the nights they are at Disney, so there will be plenty of bathrooms and beds for our daughters, and what it would cost them would be $850 ($10/pt x 85 points - which is the number of points that 5 nights in a studio would have cost them).

They get all the luxuries of staying at the VGC including laundry, full kitchen (to save on meals) and everything else, and it costs them $170 night (all-in).

We get our dues/taxes for the year pretty much covered (200 pt contract) and they get to stay for less than 1/2 (parking, sales tax, etc) what they budgeted to pay to stay on site.

Judging by everyone else's responses, I guess I should feel bad about asking for money, but I think I'm being fair, and they think it's more than fair (they keep telling us they don't think they are paying enough), so I think I'm ok with it.

Putting my lawyer hat on, I guess that maybe the difference with my situation is that our friends were going anyway, as opposed to inviting friends to come down with us. If I invited someone to come to Disney, I would hope that they would offer to pay something, but I wouldn't ask them to.

Am I a horrible person????? I need to know, and who better to tell me than anonymous people on a message board...

I don't think you are horrible, because then I would be calling my husband horrible!

We have 270 points, and we like to go for two (8) night periods per year. Since it is only the two of us right now, (no children, yet), we always stay in studios.

Last october, we brought Dad along. He paid for nothing. We even covered his tickets, airfare, etc. We wanted to do that, but it was a one time thing...if he were to come back, he would pay for everthing BUT the room.

As far as friends are concerned, DH feels that why should he be uncomfortable or cramped in a studio with four adults? We pay good money to be able to go on vacation. Now, if we had a lot more points to play with, and we could stay in one/two bedrooms, I would definitely be able to convince him otherwise. It's not about being generous, or not being generous, I think it's because we know how much it costs. He works VERY hard, and looks forward to these breaks, and even then, he works while on vacay!

Also, we have offered the room to one couple that we are very close with, but when they saw how much tickets cost for four days, they changed their mind. That kind of put me off considering that they know how much the hotels normally cost per night, and we were inviting them to stay with us at NO charge to them. And they wouldn't let up about it either.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

If Im going and there is room and I say, hey want to join us, then I don't charge. If friends say hey are you going, we would love to join, and I need to upgrade the room or get another, than yes I ask for the difference.

When we first bought resale, we had tons of extra points, and yes we treated, 1 2 bedroom and and 1 studio.

 

[jodifla]

We never charge our friends. Normally they buy groceries, or a meal for us.

 

[com_op_2000]

I have never allowed a family or friend to pay me anything for staying on my points. Some have offered, but DW and I have turned them down. We got our points to share at our expense. Have a 2 bdrm booked for early Dec bringing a total of 9 people - no charge.

 

[Canadian Disney Mom]

We have never brought friends, only family. Both my DH's & my family are not very well off and if they were to do Orlando by themselves, they would end up offsite at a very low end motel (Not that there is anything wrong with that and we have stayed at offsite low priced hotels as well).

When we take family, they always offer to help out with the room and have offered to pay dues etc but we know they cannot really afford it so we always say no. I would rather they take than extra money and spend it on themselves during the trip so they do not feel so strapped for cash.

My Mom does not take no for an answer so she always insists on paying for the 1st grocery order and normally shoves the money for at least 1/2 of the rental car into my purse when I am not looking. Everyone also always spoils my DS who is an only child and the only grandchild on my side so he gets to benefit Everyone also always pay for their own airfare, meals etc.

 

[akl-fan]

We have never asked friends or family for money but imho i do think that a nice meal is in order if you have provided great accommodation for a week. We have had friends stay for a week and they did not offer anything - their choice. I would invite them again as we had a lot of fun with them but I was a bit miffed.

 

[jekjones1558]

We have never asked friends or family for money but imho i do think that a nice meal is in order if you have provided great accommodation for a week. We have had friends stay for a week and they did not offer anything - their choice. I would invite them again as we had a lot of fun with them but I was a bit miffed.

I think a lot of people don't realize how timeshares work. They think that once you own your accommodations are free. My family would be shocked that the maintenance fees alone for our family trip in October were almost $7300.00. They probably wouldn't have gone had they known.

 

[Distiny]

Wow. You are all very generous. I work in finance and let me just say, $7PP is almost definitely NOT the cost of your points. I bought resale at $50pp and my cost is over $10pp. To not include finance charges is very foolish. If you didn't invest in DVC, you could have put more money in your 401K or paid off your mortgage. I also figure that you could rent the points for $10 - $12pp, so you are giving that up by giving the points to a friend or family member.

Let me be clear, I think it's great it you can afford to give away a vacation to your friend! Just realize that if you are just charging MFs or $7pp, that's no different that paying for their airfare or giving them cash. Nothing wrong with that.

I do cringe when I hear people talk about how their "cost" is the MFs. This is why people are still renting for $8 - $10pp, causing our resale values to plummet....

 

[disney dumbo]

...my cost is over $10pp. To not include finance charges is very foolish. If you didn't invest in DVC, you could have put more money in your 401K or paid off your mortgage….so you are giving that (money) up by giving the points...
I think it's great it you can afford to give away a vacation to your friend! Just realize that if you are just charging MFs or $7pp, that's no different that paying for their airfare or giving them cash.

I think you say it best. "if you can afford to give it away… no different than paying for their airfare or giving them cash." And I doubt many people pay for airfare or give cash.

I always have people that want to go with me, and I can't afford to pay for their vacations AND my kids college education, etc. I doubt most people buy with the thought of ALWAYS taking friends and family on vacation. If you share your COST with them, I think you are EXTREMELY generous They get a terrific room at a budget cost, without a MAJOR outlay of cash AND get to enjoy the company of a BRILLIANT DVC family!

They can always book separately… buying points from David… going thru Disney, etc. BUT, when you let them use points at your COST, they ARE saving lots of money… and you ARE generous!!!

 

[zavandor]

Making a gift to someone is a good think. You make someone happy and you are happy because someone you love is happy.
But there is a difference between making a gift and expecting that you must make a gift. You point are costing you money, a lot of. As Distiny pointed out very well, it's not MF alone, it's much more.
Would you make your friends a 1000$ gift? Using 100 points for their vacation is like giving them a gift 1000$. If you are happy with it go with it, it's a wonderful gift and you will share memories forever.
But I think someone who asks for expenses in exchange of their points is not an horrible person. The friends will still have a very good deal and everyone will be happy.

Bringing family is all another matter.

 

[ONealFamily]

Wow. You are all very generous. I work in finance and let me just say, $7PP is almost definitely NOT the cost of your points. I bought resale at $50pp and my cost is over $10pp. To not include finance charges is very foolish. If you didn't invest in DVC, you could have put more money in your 401K or paid off your mortgage. I also figure that you could rent the points for $10 - $12pp, so you are giving that up by giving the points to a friend or family member.

Let me be clear, I think it's great it you can afford to give away a vacation to your friend! Just realize that if you are just charging MFs or $7pp, that's no different that paying for their airfare or giving them cash. Nothing wrong with that.

I do cringe when I hear people talk about how their "cost" is the MFs. This is why people are still renting for $8 - $10pp, causing our resale values to plummet....

I know that we never got into DVC with the idea that we would make any of our initial or ongoing investment back other than in the form of time at a resort.

Since both the initial monetary investment and the yearly dues are already budgeted, it's a no brainer not to charge friends to stay with us or if we want to allow someone to vacation on their own someday while we take a break. This is something we will be paying for regardless. I don't need to make money back on something I can already afford and already plan on paying for.

The only exception is if I had additional points that absolutely no one wants to use I may rent them to a stranger someday. But I honestly don't even see that happening.

I don't see it as the same as paying for someone's flight because the cost of a flight can very from year to year and even day to day during the year. We can't completely anticipate what that will cost. However each owner knows exactly what they pay for their villa and hopefully has budgeted the cost of MF each year with increases. And not every DVC vacation requires airfare either.

I think that the value of DVC is an emotional value. I definitely don't think it is a good monetary investment if you are looking at getting a financial return. The return is in getting to spend time at a Disney resort. Due to that type of return, that is why we love sharing it. If we aren't going to go one year and have spare points, why not give it to someone else that needs some time away. Maybe everyone else's friends and families are well off. But I know I can think of several people I know that struggle very much to be able to provide any sort of vacation for their kids or for themselves. I just think that it's a nice thing to do for people.

 

[DeeCee735]

We take friends with us at least once a year, maybe more. We have never asked them for money. We feel if we invited them, why should we charge them, it's an invitation. We don't ask people to pay for dinner when we invite them over for a dinner party, we apply the same principle to vacationing.
However, our guests usually treat us to dinner one evening, and we appreciate that, albeit it's not necessary....

Now on the other hand, should a friend or family member ask us if they can use our points to get a room, whether we are there at the same time or not, then I'd ask for compensation, probably in the form of the dues amount for those points used, but that's never happened, cause we're usually just travelling with fam or friends on an invite and for the fun of it

This is just our humble opinion and the way we roll when we vacation with people. It doesn't have to apply to anyone else, to each his own!

Have fun and happy planning!

 

[DeeCee735]

We take friends with us at least once a year, maybe more. We have never asked them for money. We feel if we invited them, why should we charge them, it's an invitation. We don't ask people to pay for dinner when we invite them over for a dinner party, we apply the same principle to vacationing.
However, our guests usually treat us to dinner one evening, and we appreciate that, albeit it's not necessary....

Now on the other hand, should a friend or family member ask us if they can use our points to get a room, whether we are there at the same time or not, then I'd ask for compensation, probably in the form of the dues amount for those points used, but that's never happened, cause we're usually just travelling with fam or friends on an invite and for the fun of it

This is just our humble opinion and the way we roll when we vacation with people. It doesn't have to apply to anyone else, to each his own!

Have fun and happy planning!

I think I should elaborate on this. We don't ask for money for the room, of course there is an unspoken thing that they are paying for their tickets, meals (we usually split the cost of food for the room equally), and airfare.
The room is our gift and offer (and the fun of travelling together) but we are all adults here, so they already know that. We don't provide free vacations, and they don't expect it, never did. It works out great! And we look forward to doing this over and over and over again!

 

[backyardponder]

We've taken friends with us a couple of times. Each time I explain that our Disney Timeshare is in my mind, no different than having a vacation home. I would never think of having a friend pay me to stay with me at my vaction home.

 

[ONealFamily]

We've taken friends with us a couple of times. Each time I explain that our Disney Timeshare is in my mind, no different than having a vacation home. I would never think of having a friend pay me to stay with me at my vaction home.

I think this is the best way to put it yet except I would even use my own home as an example. If I had a spare room and if I invited a friend or family member to stay with me for that week, I wouldn't expect payment. Yes, I still pay rent and utilities, etc but I wouldn't expect a friend or family to pay me to stay in our spare room for a week.

However I would expect them to help around the house and maybe do the dishes and cook a meal or two. But that's just the way I was raised.