"Trash" Points for 2nd Contract?

[GoofItUp]

Have you ever considered buying "trash" points for your 2nd contract? And by "trash" I don't mean anything negative about a particular resort, but just that these are misc/stay-anywhere points that you get for the lowest possible price. Let me explain....

We have just put in a contract for 100 pts at BCV which is the resort we love and want to stay at. But, I also like to try different places and know that eventually we will probably want to add on. (That took all of about 2 hours from putting in the offer on the 1st contract!) So, for the second contact, wouldn't it make sense to buy the cheapest contract I could find and maximize my points? Then, we could use our BCV points for a resort we love, and on the next trip use our "trash" points for whatever we can get to try a different resort.

This goes against the "buy where you want to stay" theme, but we already have one contract that fits that. Anybody ever done this? Comments?

 

[DisneyWalker44]

Yes, it's a reasonable idea. Just keep in mind you have to look at multiple factors to determine "cheapest points" - just just selling price. For example:

- upfront cost (including transaction costs and incentives)
- maintenance fees
- selling price

I did a 100 point VGC add-on this year. While I don't particularly like the term "trash points," there's a good chance I will never make it out to California to use them; they will always be 7 month points. I bought VGC because I figured they would be the cheapest points over their lifetime.

 

[nunzia]

I guess you could call my OKW points 'trash points'. I bought them resale for the sole purpose of getting into the DVC system without having to buy the minimum. Then I bought the points I really wanted at VGC, and still don't have enough points to have the Disney minimum. We are using these points for a OKW stay in January, but I don't know if I'll keep them forever or sell them to get more VGC.

 

[laurenspop]

I guess we have a whole lot of "trash" points. We have over 900 - 320 of them at HHI and we have never been there!
I believe this is the first year DW booked at 11 months and that is only because we wanted a GV for a family trip next week.
We have never had a problem getting a reservation, and we are not real picky on the resort we stay at. We love them all for different reasons.
So - we don't fit the "buy where you want to stay".

 

[Inkmahm]

We fit the "buy where you want to stay" theme to a "t." We own at the 3 resorts where we want to stay so I always have the 11 month advantage for booking them (and I use it.)

Personally, I would not buy "trash" points.

 

[logan115]

We bought into DVC a few months ago, and decided to buy at SSR. Combination of the lower up front cost, 2054 expiration, relatively low dues, THV (if we ever want to stay in one), and the fact that we plan on trying all of the resorts as opposed to having one that we HAVE to stay at made SSR @ $68/pt (loaded) a no brainer for us.

Should also state that we've stayed at SSR before and will not be upset if we're "stuck" there and can't switch at 7 months. While I wouldn't exactly call them "trash" points (I know that you weren't trying to be negative), the fact that we plan on hopping around the WDW DVCs made this the best option for us.

Chris

 

[chalee94]

This goes against the "buy where you want to stay" theme, but we already have one contract that fits that. Anybody ever done this? Comments?

if you are happy just to be on-property, i think buying OKW or SSR is a great choice.

if you really want to roll the dice and aren't planning on keeping the contract long term, a VB resale is an interesting option.

 

[MikeyNS]

We bought a small "trash" contract of 25pts at the BWV.. would give us a studio in the off season for 5 days every third year. Give our main contract a break... but then the point shuffle of '10 happened and the contract became useless. Sold it for more than I bought it for and got to use at least one years worth of points. Lesson learned!

 

[gatordoc]

I bought points at places I wanted to stay, but bought 20 or 30 extra points on each of those contracts. They're sort of trash points, because I combine and use them each year when I stay for the marathon. I really don't care which resort I'm at on that weekend, so booking at 7 months is not a problem.

 

[rentayenta]

I can't imagine any points being "trash" points. If I could only book 7 months out or less I may consider buying the cheapest however I am guessing my vacation availability, habits, and planning may modify over time so I still like the buy-where-I-want-to-stay idea.

 

[cvjw]

I totally understand what you are talking about, because that is what we did. We bought where we want to stay first, with BCV and VWL points, then decided that we wanted some additional points to "play" with - extra weekend trips, maybe a trip to HH. We are buying OKW points because they were so cheap. If we can move somewhere else at 7 months, great, if not, OKW will be fine. Our main trips will be booked at 11 months out, and we will stay where we love, at BCV or VWL. If these additional points work out like we hope they will, we will probably add on some SS points.

 

[DonnaL]

I agree with above poster who said they bought an SSR contract as their "trash" points. We currently have 150 VWL and 120 SSR (both bought from DVC direct). However, over the next few years we're going to be looking at buying more points (looking toward retirement) and based on what I'm seeing in the resale market, I like the idea of SSR resale......we also wouldn't be upset if that was the only place available....most of our points will go for several week extended winter stays during our retirement....and SSR is most like a "townhome or condo community" in my opinion, anyway. We already have 150 at our "stay where you want to stay" VWL .....which is by far, our favorite. Another option I'm currently looking at is some points at HHI.......I know the maintenance is a bit higher, but, it would also give us the option some years of doing a spring or summer vacation with our adult kids and the grandkids.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I wouldn't do that... Instead I would do my homework and decide where I would eventually like to add on. I would spend a few extra dollars and buy my second contract there.

If you do go the trash route, be careful on figuring which resort is cheapest. It really depends how long you will keep your trash points.
VGC have very cheap fees, and 15 years from now will still have good resale value. VB on the other hand has massive annual fees, and in 15 years resale value may be minimal due to contract length.

All things considered I would go with my first thoughts above...

MG

 

[GoofItUp]

We bought a small "trash" contract of 25pts at the BWV.. would give us a studio in the off season for 5 days every third year. Give our main contract a break... but then the point shuffle of '10 happened and the contract became useless. Sold it for more than I bought it for and got to use at least one years worth of points. Lesson learned!

Ahhh....the joys of owning a smaller contract!

 

[GoofItUp]

I wouldn't do that... Instead I would do my homework and decide where I would eventually like to add on. I would spend a few extra dollars and buy my second contract there.

If you do go the trash route, be careful on figuring which resort is cheapest. It really depends how long you will keep your trash points.
VGC have very cheap fees, and 15 years from now will still have good resale value. VB on the other hand has massive annual fees, and in 15 years resale value may be minimal due to contract length.

All things considered I would go with my first thoughts above...

MG

This would definitely be in the figures for what a "cheap" contract would be -- you have to look at purchase price and MF. If you're spending the same or more over 10 or 15 years (or however long you would want to keep the contract) then you have to look at all associated costs. Buying somewhere with the highest MF would negate the point of "trash" points.

 

[DonnaL]

I do agree with what Maistre Gracey has to say about being careful as to what cheaper points are, with higher maintenance fees. That's one reason why we're just watching HHI at this point. So far, the maintenance fees there don't seem to be extremely high. While we do like VB, I wouldn't even consider buying points there simply BECAUSE of the maintenance fees, which IMO will only get higher over the years. And, as I said earlier, VWL is by far our favorite DVC resort, however, our plans are to use our DVC to supplement extended winter stays (probably 3 wks of Jan, all of Feb, and a few weeks into March will be spent somewhere in FL) in our retirement and we think an SSR 1 bdrm is the best choice for us to do an extended stay simply because of the building layout, parking, etc. OKW would also be a good choice, but, only if we could get one of the extended contracts.

 

[JimMIA]

I often turn out to be a contrarian on "buy where you want to stay," because I think many folks do that who don't really plan and book their vacations in the 11-month window. If you don't use the home resort advantage, obviously it doesn't matter where you own.

Except...I would never buy points at a resort where I would be unhappy staying. I wouldn't want to get "stuck" in a home resort because my hopes of booking VWL for Christmas proved unrealistic.

Nor would I buy points at any non-WDW resort with the intent of using them primarily at WDW. Just too many bad things can happen with that scenario.

Remember that we are really only guaranteed that we can use our points at our home resort. Yes, we're allowed to use them anywhere, and always have been. And yes, the ability to use your points at a variety of resorts is a major selling point of DVC. No, I can't think of any reason why DVC would change that. But they could, and I wouldn't want to be stuck owning a timeshare I never intended to visit.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

GoofItUP, I've been thinking about the very same thing. We own a small contract at VWL, which we love, but I've been very tempted with the low price per point at HHI and SSR for our next contract. I mean $50/pt?! I'd have to factor in the things others have mentioned though, like MF's and consider that too.

Should we call them "play" points, instead of "trash"? I know what you mean and know you are not trying to be negative, it's what I've been thinking of them as - points to play with.

Except...I would never buy points at a resort where I would be unhappy staying. I wouldn't want to get "stuck" in a home resort because my hopes of booking VWL for Christmas proved unrealistic.

Nor would I buy points at any non-WDW resort with the intent of using them primarily at WDW. Just too many bad things can happen with that scenario.

Remember that we are really only guaranteed that we can use our points at our home resort. Yes, we're allowed to use them anywhere, and always have been. And yes, the ability to use your points at a variety of resorts is a major selling point of DVC. No, I can't think of any reason why DVC would change that. But they could, and I wouldn't want to be stuck owning a timeshare I never intended to visit.

Very good points and the last is what gives me pause. We live within easy driving distance of HHI, have stayed there, liked it and could easily use it's points for beach vacations - but I would not be happy if I bought a large contract and couldn't ever use those points somewhere else. Haven't stayed at SSR yet but am very interested in the treehouses - so I may get some "play" points there. I think I could live with a treehouse if I had to , LOL!

 

[DonnaL]

The above points made are exactly why I think we would buy any additional contracts at SSR because we would be perfectly happy staying there if nothing else was available.........we would still stay at VWL at least once a year with our 11 month home advantage. I should also mention we would not purchase one large contract, but, rather several smaller contracts of maybe 120 to 150 points each, simply to make them easier to sell if the need should ever arise, or for our kids to split or sell at some point in the future.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I like the term "Play Points"

I have BWV and OKW that I rarely use the 11 month window for because we prefer BCV and SSR. So BWV and OKW would be my "play points"

If I had to do all over again, I would have purchased more BCV and SSR or BLT now that it is available. I want points I want to use at the 11 month window. With all the changes to the waitlist, transfers, and banking, having these play points just hinders me from getting what I really want all the time, every time.

Booking is only going to get harder, so the home resort advantage is getting stronger and stronger. If I am paying BCV dues, then I want to use my points at BCV because I am paying extra for that privilege. Some points are not worth owning if you are not going to use the 11 month window. More owners will figure this out and start using their points at home or only "trade up" to resorts with higher dues.

So I personally will not be purchasing any additional points that will not give me an advantage in securing the reservations I want at 11 months.