Thoughts on Renting Out Points

[VGCgroupie]

Ok, so I just ran a couple of quick calculations on some 7-night sailings aboard the Disney Dream in January 2027. It is actually not as bad as I thought. I ran the numbers on a couple of different Deluxe Family Oceanview with Verandah rooms and, based on current booking rates, you're getting just under $15/point for exchanging in direct through Disney. That is not terrible. And, if you are paying taxes on the $20/point confirmed reservations (like one should ), you're pretty close to breaking even by going direct through Disney.

Ok, so maybe the result of this thread will be that I end up exchanging my points direct with Disney and not trying to walk some December resort view studio reservations. LOL.

There's also a huge relief of not worrying about renting

 

[eticketplease]

Ok, so I just ran a couple of quick calculations on some 7-night sailings aboard the Disney Dream in January 2027. It is actually not as bad as I thought. I ran the numbers on a couple of different Deluxe Family Oceanview with Verandah rooms and, based on current booking rates, you're getting just under $15/point for exchanging in direct through Disney. That is not terrible. And, if you are paying taxes on the $20/point confirmed reservations (like one should ), you're pretty close to breaking even by going direct through Disney.

Ok, so maybe the result of this thread will be that I end up exchanging my points direct with Disney and not trying to walk some December resort view studio reservations. LOL.

Wow, that’s quite to find. I’ve always heard that it’s only like seven some dollars a point.

 

[airjay75]

Wow, that’s quite to find. I’ve always heard that it’s only like seven some dollars a point.

I just ran a couple of other calculations on some other sailings that are not under promotion, and I'm still getting $13 or $14 per point. Maybe it's the category of room I'm looking at or maybe I'm missing something, but if I've got everything right, I might be totally changing my mind on the right way to go here.

 

[eticketplease]

I just ran a couple of other calculations on some other sailings that are not under promotion, and I'm still getting $13 or $14 per point. Maybe it's the category of room I'm looking at or maybe I'm missing something, but if I've got everything right, I might be totally changing my mind on the right way to go here.

For the convenience I would take that hit.

I took a hit using David’s on the one time I did rent but $18 with no shanigans was worth it for me.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I'm in the camp of not wanting to work a lot to take a vacation. I currently have 4 cruises booked and while it was tempting to rent points to help cover the costs, I know how impatient I am and I don't have the tolerance to deal with lookyloos when renting direct to consumer. I also don't want to rent through the third party places because it's still on me to make the reservations. For me, it's easier to work more at my regular job than to work for some random people online, trying to get them a reservation.

A few months ago, I had excess points and thought I needed to "use up" some points. I booked a cruise through MS and booked a Cascade Cabin stay for only myself and my husband. Jokes on me, because now I've borrowed from my next use year for some DL stays and I'm constantly forcing myself to not keep borrowing for other stays. Exchanging through MS is obviously the easiest choice and they are great as far as being helpful and having wonderful service. It's seriously the worst way to book if you care about saving money. $95. exchange fee, any additional fees due immediately (we booked one person on points and one person on cash), worst cancellation policy. However, I would do it again in the future if I had extra points to burn and the cruise was coming up quickly and I knew for sure that I wouldn't cancel.

IMO, the best way to book a cruise is to just pay for it and not use DVC at all. They are different entities and should be thought of that way.

My next choice would be to rent out your points directly and book the cruise through someone who can give you OBC. There's lots of places like that. I've been booking through Sandi because I like the convenience of emailing and always having the same contact person. She'll give you OBC or a gift card.

Third choice would be to book through MS and just accept the fact that you are paying an absolute ridiculous premium, but isn't that everything Disney?

My last choice would be to use the third party places like the board sponsor. For me, the extra work just isn't a good use of my time. If their client cancels, I have to call MS and change the guest information. They don't offer OBC even though they are doubling their profits by getting commission from DCL and marking up my DVC points.

Of course, I know that I'm a grumpy old lady, but that's the order I would personally book and why. And proceed with caution if you think you'll have excess points. I don't know how I went from excess to not enough in just a few short months. I'm hoping to normalize my point spending in the next couple of years. If I can't do that, I guess I'll have to buy more.

 

[eticketplease]

And proceed with caution if you think you'll have excess points. I don't know how I went from excess to not enough in just a few short months. I'm hoping to normalize my point spending in the next couple of years. If I can't do that, I guess I'll have to buy more.

You are not alone lol. I don’t think we would rent again unless they had already been banked and we just couldn’t use them.

 

[pzw90]

I've been booking through Sandi because I like the convenience of emailing and always having the same contact person. She'll give you OBC or a gift card.

Please post a full link so the board filters can do their job.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Please post a full link so the board filters can do their job.

https://www.grandluxedestinations.com/our-team/

 

[pzw90]

https://www.grandluxedestinations.com/our-team/

I was being a bit facetious. But bravo on the follow through

 

[ShaneDJ]

What about if you do that cruise swap thing with dvc rental? Then you don’t have to worry about renting them out yourself or the tax implications. It’s like swapping them with Disney but at a better rate.

Incorrect. With the "cruise swap" from the board sponsor, you still have to do the work of renting out your points and making the reservation yourself with the renter's info that you are provided.

Also, any changes that the renter chooses to make, you are obligated to make those changes quickly (including name changes, guest additions/removals, dining reservations, etc.). Basically, you don't save any time because you still have to manage the reservation yourself.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Incorrect. With the "cruise swap" from the board sponsor, you still have to do the work of renting out your points and making the reservation yourself with the renter's info that you are provided.

Also, any changes that the renter chooses to make, you are obligated to make those changes quickly (including name changes, guest additions/removals, dining reservations, etc.). Basically, you don't save any time because you still have to manage the reservation yourself.

You are right its not completely hands off you do have to manage it. The upside is if a renter cancels you still get paid even if its doesn't get re rented, and if it does re rent, yes you do have to change the renters name but they compensate you for having to take time to make the change.

 

[ShaneDJ]

My experience:

We've done the "cruise swap"...both with the confirmed reservations and with on-demand bookings.

It is much easier with the on-demand requests, because there are requests listed from renters that already know what they want and you can claim that request and book that reservation within 30 minutes.

With confirmed reservations, even if you think you've got the best reservation (hardest-to-book time or best rooms), that confirmed reservation can just sit there for weeks or months and go unclaimed. Then you've wasted your time and ability to lock-in the cruise-swap compensation.

As long as you do the on-demand requests and claim a reservation for the 7-to-11 month booking window, you get a fair value in price-per-point (for cruise swap credit).

The price-per-point offered for booking on-demand reservations for the 1-to-7 month window is not worth it.