Two Disney Questions ... NEED HELP !!

[coastermom]

Ok Question one .. We are planning a trip for the weekend of 11/7-11/11 of this year to WDW and want to rent DVC points has anyone else done this ? I am so confused with it but I know it I do it I can save almost $1,000 !! Which is then my air fare and then some !!

Question 2 Is anyone here a Disney Visa card holder ? I am and am on the fence about up grading to the new card that is $50 a year !! I really think if we plan on going more then twice to WDW in the next few years it may be worth the money !! SO CONFUSED Does anyone not think it is worth it ??

Thanks GUYS !!

 

[edk35]

Ok Question one .. We are planning a trip for the weekend of 11/7-11/11 of this year to WDW and want to rent DVC points has anyone else done this ? I am so confused with it but I know it I do it I can save almost $1,000 !! Which is then my air fare and then some !!

Question 2 Is anyone here a Disney Visa card holder ? I am and am on the fence about up grading to the new card that is $50 a year !! I really think if we plan on going more then twice to WDW in the next few years it may be worth the money !! SO CONFUSED Does anyone not think it is worth it ??

Thanks GUYS !!

I would post your DVC questions on the DVC boards. There are lots on there that rent. I a DVC member but have never rented out any points but I know people that have rented points. I think it is fairly easy.

 

[FiggieFan]

Not sure about DVC. I do have a basic Disney Visa but personally haven't been able to justify the cost (yet) of upgrading to the card with the $50 annual fee. Maybe if you plan on using it for food shopping and gas purchases because I believe you get 2% back for those on the premium card. I don't want to commit to that because I don't want to carry over a balance which would negate the point of earning Disney dollars in the first place. I am sticking with the regular/basic Disney Visa for now.

 

[Marionnette]

Ok Question one .. We are planning a trip for the weekend of 11/7-11/11 of this year to WDW and want to rent DVC points has anyone else done this ? I am so confused with it but I know it I do it I can save almost $1,000 !! Which is then my air fare and then some !!

I've rented points from my brother, who owns at SSR. I've never gone through someone I don't know, nor have I ever rented through a 3rd party like David's. I ended up purchasing a small resale contract because I liked my DVC stays so much.

You might want to check the DVC boards for detailed information about renting. Don't post specific dates or resorts if you ask a question there. It's not allowed on those boards. Renting a DVC reservation is very different from just making a Disney room reservation. Make sure that you understand what you will be getting into if you decide to do it.

You should also be aware that not all villas are that easy to book. For instance, during the Food and Wine Festival it is pretty much impossible to get any kind of reservation at BCV or BWV unless you made contact with someone who owns at those resorts and made the reservation 11 months prior to the actual vacation dates. This would be especially true for weekend reservations. If you were looking for a Value Studio at AKV, forget it. There aren't very many of them and they are snapped up by AKV owners right at the 11-month window.

Question 2 Is anyone here a Disney Visa card holder ? I am and am on the fence about up grading to the new card that is $50 a year !! I really think if we plan on going more then twice to WDW in the next few years it may be worth the money !! SO CONFUSED Does anyone not think it is worth it ??

Thanks GUYS !!

I don't think it's worth it. You really aren't getting much more in exchange for paying that annual fee. You earn only 1% on most purchases for both cards. The Premier Disney Visa offers 2% back on gas, groceries and most Disney purchases. A whopping 1% extra that would require $5000 in annual spending just in those areas in order to break even on the annual fee.

The perks are almost the same for both cards. The only difference would be that you can use your Disney Rewards Dollars to pay for your airfare if you have the Premier Disney Visa and you used the card to pay for the airfare. You can get other rewards cards that do the same thing and they have better perks.

 

[Pakey]

Two most important things about renting is that you pay up front in full for your reservation and if you cancel, you probably can't get a refund. While renting points can save you money, there are these negatives to it.

 

[ready123go]

Ok Question one .. We are planning a trip for the weekend of 11/7-11/11 of this year to WDW and want to rent DVC points has anyone else done this ? I am so confused with it but I know it I do it I can save almost $1,000 !! Which is then my air fare and then some !!

I have rented points 4-5 times. It has saved us money. Everybody who rents out points is different - some want a signed contract (electronic or paper), others just go on honesty. There is a certain amount of trust in all of these transactions.

If you are leery of trying on your own, contact David's Vacation Club Rentals (they are a DISboards sponsor). I have dealt with them, and it's nice to have the security. They also have a points calculator that can help you figure out how much it will cost.

Question 2 Is anyone here a Disney Visa card holder ? I am and am on the fence about up grading to the new card that is $50 a year !! I really think if we plan on going more then twice to WDW in the next few years it may be worth the money !! SO CONFUSED Does anyone not think it is worth it ??

Do you currently have the original card? If so, you can get into your account and look for your year-end statement. It will tell you what you have spent in each category over the past year. Then you just multiply the relevant categories by .02 (the rest will still be x .01).

GL!
ready

 

[msmama]

Can't help with question 1.

2. Sometimes they have deals on upgrading your Disney visa. I did it for a $100 statement credit after 1st use (I've heard of others getting Disney GC's or even no annual fee for a year). So essentially, I got 2 years paid free and now I'm getting 2% on certain things. For me, I never carry a balance (so never am paying interest) so it works out better for me. You'll have to crunch your own numbers.

 

[DisneyRN10]

Ok Question one .. We are planning a trip for the weekend of 11/7-11/11 of this year to WDW and want to rent DVC points has anyone else done this ? I am so confused with it but I know it I do it I can save almost $1,000 !! Which is then my air fare and then some !!

Question 2 Is anyone here a Disney Visa card holder ? I am and am on the fence about up grading to the new card that is $50 a year !! I really think if we plan on going more then twice to WDW in the next few years it may be worth the money !! SO CONFUSED Does anyone not think it is worth it ??

Thanks GUYS !!

We visit WDW at least once every two to three years. Sometimes we fly, sometimes we drive - depends on vacation funds / time off from work. We've stayed at value, moderate and deluxe resorts. We've also stayed off property too. For upcoming trip in February, I rented points from a DVC owner for a studio at AKL. my cost for 6 nights was 824.50 - prior to renting points I had booked a regular room at AoA for 814.50. This was a no brainier for me. I did some homework and had several conversations with the DVC owner prior to submitting payment for the rented points. Do your homework, but I recommend renting points. I will post a trip,report and let you know how things worked out for me post trip.

I have the Disney Visa with the annual fee - I don't feel that it is the best reward card out there. I might think it was more beneficial if I were using it to take advantage of free financing for trips, but that doesn't usually work for me because I put our trips together based on the most economical cost - ie: renting points, purchasing park passes for 3 kids through the Y.E.S. program (saving $140 per pass - total savings $420). Bottom line - for my needs the disney visa isn't something that I can't live without. Again, do your homework before making a decision.

 

[foreUT]

Ok Question one .. We are planning a trip for the weekend of 11/7-11/11 of this year to WDW and want to rent DVC points has anyone else done this ? I am so confused with it but I know it I do it I can save almost $1,000 !! Which is then my air fare and then some !!

Question 2 Is anyone here a Disney Visa card holder ? I am and am on the fence about up grading to the new card that is $50 a year !! I really think if we plan on going more then twice to WDW in the next few years it may be worth the money !! SO CONFUSED Does anyone not think it is worth it ??

Thanks GUYS !!

There are several Disney-fan boards on the internet that permit their posters to rent points. I know that at least one (not sure if Disboards does this, too) that provides a link to the Orange (iirc) County Property ownership records that permits you to ensure the renter does, in fact, own at the DVC property that they say they do.

I have the Disney Visa, too, and wondered if it was worth it to up-grade. If you decide after a year it isn't, can you revert back to the free card?

 

[gjl]

We didn't have the "old" Disney Visa, but applied for and received the Premiere Disney Visa in November. We applied with the $100 Disney Gift Card promotion. With that and with Christmas spending/travels we have already earned $113 in rewards points in just two statement periods. That equals $164 in rewards after the $49 fee if you include the $100 gift card. We pay in full each month, and put everything on the card. I guess it just depends on how much you spend and whether or not you can pay it off each month!

 

[LSchrow]

check the FAQs on the DVC rent/trade board.....renting is different than simply booking a room.
if you rent thru a private owner, you will likely pay less per point than David's and other companies. each company and owner will have their own requirements (pay in full, pay in parts, due dates, etc).
with DVC, you do not get daily housekeeping, rather a cleaning on the 4th/8th days (trash & towel, and a full cleaning depending on the length of your stay).

the biggest problem i can see would be when you want to go: that is a very busy time for DVC, and you might only be able to get one of the larger (OKW, SSR) resorts (resort owners at a resort can book 11 months out, non-owner DVC members can book 7 months out).
if you are not set on a particular DVC resort, or want a grand villa , it is likely you will find something.
i cannot stress enough to read the stickies tho. they are a great source of info.

 

[seasheller]

We rented points in December from someone that we didn't know. It worked out very well for us, and was cheaper than the 30% discount that Disney offered us at the time. We did communicate with the DVC owner by phone and email before the trip. She was new to the renting process so may have been a little apprehensive herself. I emailed her after the trip to thank her and let her know that all worked out well, which she seemed to appreciate. The only drawback was not having any cancellation insurance, but there are places to buy that independently.

Also have a Disney card that I use very rarely since it has very little value as far as rewards. It does give you some advantages while purchasing at Disney, but since we're not big on souvenirs we haven't used it for that either.

 

[disneychrista]

To see if it is worth it to you to upgrade to the Premier Visa take a look at your annual statement. Look at your spending in the 2% categories (Grocery, Gas, Restaurants, Disney) if the extra 1% is more than $50 it might be worth it to upgrade.

In my case I think I would make $3 more in a year IF my spending would be the same, which I expect to be lower.

 

[Friend of Figment]

I am a DVC owner, but have never rented so I cannot comment on renting. I know that is New Jersey week and discounts are scarce so renting points may be a better way to go anyway! I had upgraded six months ago to the Disney Visa ($49 annual fee for double points). It was not worth it in my opinion. Other cards (like Discover) will give you up to 5% back where the Disney card only gives you 2% tops! I had upgraded because they offered me $100 Disney dollars. I used the dollars on my trip to Disneyland in November and when they charged me this month for the membership, I closed the account. They reversed the annual fee charge as well. In the 6 months (which included spending lots in Disneyland) I only made $24 in Disney Dollars. So I would barely break even in a year! With my DVC I get several discounts on food and merchandise that average 10%, way more than the Disney card has ever offered. That was the main reason that I closed the account. Hope this helps!

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

This is a link to the rent/trade board: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29 **you must be signed in to the Disboards to view**
and here is a link to the FAQ on the rent/trade board: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2647748

As for your second question, I agree with the PP - I had a Premier Disney cc but closed it. The other benefits + the 2% cash back just aren't as good as the 5% offered by Discover. I think that is a personal decision though. Only you can decide if the benefits outweigh the small amount of cash back and other benefits offered by the card. And like Marionnette said, the regular Disney card (no fee) offers similar benefits.

See the benefits for each card: https://www.chase.com/online/Credit-Cards/disney-rewards-card.htm

https://www.chase.com/online/Credit-Cards/disney-premier-card.htm

 

[Marionnette]

I am a DVC owner, but have never rented so I cannot comment on renting. I know that is New Jersey week and discounts are scarce so renting points may be a better way to go anyway! I had upgraded six months ago to the Disney Visa ($49 annual fee for double points). It was not worth it in my opinion. Other cards (like Discover) will give you up to 5% back where the Disney card only gives you 2% tops! I had upgraded because they offered me $100 Disney dollars. I used the dollars on my trip to Disneyland in November and when they charged me this month for the membership, I closed the account. They reversed the annual fee charge as well. In the 6 months (which included spending lots in Disneyland) I only made $24 in Disney Dollars. So I would barely break even in a year! With my DVC I get several discounts on food and merchandise that average 10%, way more than the Disney card has ever offered. That was the main reason that I closed the account. Hope this helps!

It's also the last weekend of F&W. That's a notoriously busy time for DVC, especially BWV and BCV. I happen to own at BWV and I know that getting a studio there for the entire weekend is not possible right now. I checked. I can't check BCV because I don't own there and we're still more than 7 months away from the OP's dates. But BCV is even smaller than BWV, so I wouldn't be surprised if all of its studios are also booked for that weekend already.

It's true that people change their reservations all of the time, but very few owners are going to rent out their points on the outside chance that there will be an opening later. So if the OP wants to stay at either of those resorts, she is going to have to find someone who owns there and is willing to work at securing that reservation for her.