Thoughts on first trip

[TheYellowDart]

Hi everyone

We just got into DVC and it's time to plan our first trip. We have 100 points per year, nothing banked. We went with a smaller contract so that if we decide we don't want to go every year we can do every other year with a bigger room, etc or buy on more later.

Anyways, we were thinking with 100 this year with a use year of oct we would just bank this years points, travel in nov on our usual 3000 dollar trip for food, hotel and moderate and have a pool for us to pull from. Yes, we have the forward pool but I would rather not get into a pinch later where I only have 50 points one year and can't go on vacation because I can't find a great deal.

Anyways, did any of you save your first years points to have a banked pool?

Thanks!

The Yellow Dart

 

[disneynutz]

I wouldn't bank my points and still pay OOP for a WDW vacation. We bought DVC contracts to stay at the DVC resorts and really don't have any interest in staying somewhere else.

I would be excited to stay at my home resort to see if I made a wise purchase or do I need to sell and buy somewhere else.

You can always get a transfer from another owner if you come up short points later or you can do what most owners do, buy a add-on contract.

Bill

 

[TheYellowDart]

Ah, I didn't even think about doing a transfer if I run out... that is a good idea... All I could think is if I kept borrowing points into the future I would run out and then be in trouble...

As for the deluxe resort, this will be our first so I was hoping to sneak it in while we had no idea what we were missing ;-)

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

I prefer to borrow points rather than accumulate a pool. We purchased last year and by the time we got into the system we were only able to book a 2 bedroom at BLT (our home resort) for our annual Christmas trip. We had to borrow some points to do it.

This year, I rebooked the 2 bedroom as we will have guests. I once again had to borrow, this time more because I already had less due to last year`s borrowing. Thinking ahead to the subsequent year, I realized that I was going to be short points even with borrowing all the points I could. I contactd the Timeshare Store and had some points tranferred in which I used to make this year`s reservation thereby leaving me enough for the following year`s booking. (I hope I did not confuse everyone)

My thinking is to use up the points the years we are sure to go. This way, if one year we cannot go for some reason, I do not have to worry about renting or banking. It will come as a relief that our points will have a chance to catch up. Otherwise we can always add on at some point.

IMO, transferring in points when you really need them is not as simple as it sounds. I always like to work a year or two ahead so that I will not be stuck.

 

[Caren90]

Use your points since that is why you bought. As PP's have said, if you need to borrow points, then do so, and then look to transferring points in as an additional alternative. Transferring is not a difficult transaction if you have a DVC'er who has had some experience.
Have many years of fun and memories with whatever you do.

Stephen

 

[Kidanifan08]

I have to agree with Bill. You bought into DVC to stay DVC. I think you should stay at a DVC resort and enjoy your new purchase! If you are going in Nov, you can get a week in a standard AKV studio, OKW studio or SSR studio for less than 100 points. But you better hurry . . . it is already the 7 month mark for the first week of Nov, so if you do want to stay DVC, you better get something on the books! Save your $3000 for your add-on!

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

Use your points since that is why you bought. As PP's have said, if you need to borrow points, then do so, and then look to transferring points in as an additional alternative. Transferring is not a difficult transaction if you have a DVC'er who has had some experience.
Have many years of fun and memories with whatever you do.

Stephen

Where do you find these DVC'ers? You cannot post asking for a specific transfer, and not many people look to transfer; more prefer to rent. Unless you are constantly starring at the rent trade board (I do not have that kind of time). Is there a trick I am missing?

 

[mjc2003]

Where do you find these DVC'ers? You cannot post asking for a specific transfer, and not many people look to transfer; more prefer to rent. Unless you are constantly starring at the rent trade board (I do not have that kind of time). Is there a trick I am missing?

I agree and am very interested to read any responses. I would pay for the option to post "transfer needed" on the R/T boards.

 

[bnk1120]

I have rented points and done a transfer in the last year. There are other discussion boards where you can post what you are looking for. Some of the companies who sell resales also do rentals and transfers. I highly recommend doing it this way. You bought DVC to use it, so use it and enjoy!!!

 

[Sammie]

No we borrowed the first year and have been borrowing some points ever since.

I could care less if I have any at the end of the 50 years.

 

[appleorchard]

We're in constant borrow mode. We're in our 60s and want to use our points while we still can!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We're in constant borrow mode. We're in our 60s and want to use our points while we still can!

This describes us, too!

 

[WsPrincess]

I would use your points and stay DVC. Save the money from the Nov trip and apply it to an add on as pp suggested. Borrowing is not a bad thing and if you get to the point where you have borrow everything one year, then worry about either paying OOP for a trip or using the suggestions others have given. You bought DVC to stay DVC. I honestly cannot wait to be able to stay as a member the first time!

 

[BrerNashville]

We bought in April of last year, and stayed on two cash pay reservations before we spent our first nights in our DVC. Now, the first was a trip we had already scheduled to stay at the GF on a PIN code in October, and the second was a somewhat last minute trip the first weekend of December where we also stayed at the GF but on an annual passholder discount. Both of those times would have been very difficult to schedule on points at the times we made the ressies.

We purposefully underbought points, though, because (1) we knew that we would like to stay at the GF from time to time when we could get a good discount, and (2) our kids are 9, 7 and 5, and we knew that we would go to Disney much more over the first few years than we would after that time.

If you like staying at a variety of places, and you get good discounts, I think it's a great idea to bank points in lieu of using them now, because Disney has announced, as I understand it, an intention to scale back on the discounts in the future. Obviously, that's subject to people being convinced to pay rack rates, but I'd rather pay cash on a discounted room now, and have some points available in the future, than paying rack rates on a cash ressie in the future when I have run out of points. I would not pay rack rates now, or even cash on minimal AAA discount, for instance, just so I could bank points to save.

Of course, at the time you see yourself running out of points, that may be a good sign to add on!

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

We bought in April of last year, and stayed on two cash pay reservations before we spent our first nights in our DVC. Now, the first was a trip we had already scheduled to stay at the GF on a PIN code in October, and the second was a somewhat last minute trip the first weekend of December where we also stayed at the GF but on an annual passholder discount. Both of those times would have been very difficult to schedule on points at the times we made the ressies.

We purposefully underbought points, though, because (1) we knew that we would like to stay at the GF from time to time when we could get a good discount, and (2) our kids are 9, 7 and 5, and we knew that we would go to Disney much more over the first few years than we would after that time.
If you like staying at a variety of places, and you get good discounts, I think it's a great idea to bank points in lieu of using them now, because Disney has announced, as I understand it, an intention to scale back on the discounts in the future. Obviously, that's subject to people being convinced to pay rack rates, but I'd rather pay cash on a discounted room now, and have some points available in the future, than paying rack rates on a cash ressie in the future when I have run out of points. I would not pay rack rates now, or even cash on minimal AAA discount, for instance, just so I could bank points to save.

Of course, at the time you see yourself running out of points, that may be a good sign to add on!

That depends on your kids. We have been taking ours to Disney every year since they were 2 and 4 (now 16 and 18) and they still look forward to their annual trip. Going to Disney brings back fond memories for all of us. Not only that, the 18 year old is starting to hint that she wants to go with friends either next year or the year after. We won`t have enough points!!!

 

[mjc2003]

We bought in April of last year, and stayed on two cash pay reservations before we spent our first nights in our DVC. Now, the first was a trip we had already scheduled to stay at the GF on a PIN code in October, and the second was a somewhat last minute trip the first weekend of December where we also stayed at the GF but on an annual passholder discount. Both of those times would have been very difficult to schedule on points at the times we made the ressies.

We purposefully underbought points, though, because (1) we knew that we would like to stay at the GF from time to time when we could get a good discount, and (2) our kids are 9, 7 and 5, and we knew that we would go to Disney much more over the first few years than we would after that time.

If you like staying at a variety of places, and you get good discounts, I think it's a great idea to bank points in lieu of using them now, because Disney has announced, as I understand it, an intention to scale back on the discounts in the future. Obviously, that's subject to people being convinced to pay rack rates, but I'd rather pay cash on a discounted room now, and have some points available in the future, than paying rack rates on a cash ressie in the future when I have run out of points. I would not pay rack rates now, or even cash on minimal AAA discount, for instance, just so I could bank points to save.

Of course, at the time you see yourself running out of points, that may be a good sign to add on!

I think the discounts are going to be around for awhile, and any announcement about scaling back might be as much a prod for those on the fence as it is categorical. They keep building, and it's critical they keep all these rooms as full as possible. While some indicators point towards a moderate economic recovery, things are still very sluggish and fragile. Bottom line is that they are filling up rooms with discounts, so while they might threaten to take them away I wouldn't hold my breath. We booked a discounted room at BCV in 2009, our "introduction" to DVC, and I remember being told on the phone when I made the cash reservation that "discounts like this certainly won't be around next year". 3 years later, the same promotions are circulating.

I also think using cash for a reservation prior to using existing points is really a decision unique to each member b/c it's highly contingent on vacation habits and number of points. If you have 300 points and only go once a year and only need a 1BR, you are going to be scrambling to use all your points if you let them accumulate.
We are in a situation where next year we are bringing about 15 people with us and won't have enough points. I am going to rent/transfer before I do a cash reservation, simply because it's cheaper, but more importantly it's because we have borrowed ourselves to where I feel like we'll never have enough points.
Everybody is different.

 

[bumbershoot]

In a way, you're making yourself stuck *this* year, to avoid being stuck in a future year. Right?

Why not put the 3K in an account for that future stuck year, and just use your points?



That said, if my family decides we must get back to WDW before '14 we'll just go and stay wherever we can, b/c we actually quite liked All Star Sports (and CBR to a lesser extent) even after having experienced Jambo, OKW, and Boardwalk, and we try to save up tons of points to make sure we can invite extended family along.