What do you do about weekends

[MJ6987]

Hi,
As you all know, the DVC points are structured to make weekend night stays an uneconomical use of points, so what do people do to deal with this? E.g.

- Nothing, i.e. just take the hit on points

- Pay cash for the same DVC resort that you have booked with points for the week days?

- Check out of DVC and stay off site (e.g. Universal to get a couple of days with Front of Line access at their parks, or a cheap motel?)

- Just stay 5 days (Mon to Fri) at DVC then move to another resort, paying cash?

As a prospective DVC owner, I would also be interested in how the second one above is done (I am still confused), particularly to try and get the same room to avoid repacking. If you wanted to wait and take advantage of potential discounts offered nearer the time, would you book the room cash at the same time as your points 11 months out (would you still get the discount if offered later?) or would you book the weekend with your points and then cancel the weekend later if and when you manage to get a better deal paying cash for the same resort?

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[bgraham34]

I have a trip planned for this Sept and next Jan. Both times I am staying on the weekend. I only have a 50 point contract but I had 50 points banked from last year to make it work.

 

[delmar411]

we stay the weekend. With 4 kids there is no way I'm packing up to move elsewhere (no where else to go really for 6ppl). We bought our points for week long stays.

 

[BigEeyore]

Some places hit you harder on the weekend than others (VB, HHI), and it also depends on time of year. Sun-Thurs are the fewest pts, it is the Fri and Sat that are higher pts so we usually do either Fri OR Sat but not both and just take the "hit" if we have to.
Before you buy in - I encourage you to think about what times of year you are most likely to travel (peak vs off season) and how long you want to stay and in what type of accomadation (studio, 2BR, etc) before you buy to help you figure out how many points you need.
We just came back from HHI and stayed Saturday night in Savannah just to avoid the mega point hit on Saturday night, but are planning a Sat-Thurs visit to WDW in October.

 

[corky441]

I wanted to purchase DVC + I want to visit WDW on weekends = I purchased enough points to make this possible

 

[janni518]

I wanted to purchase DVC + I want to visit WDW on weekends = I purchased enough points to make this possible

We did the same thing. (Well we thought we did, looks like we may need to add on a few points.) We may, as we become more familiar with the system, try to finagle but right now we just include it in our total.

We bought into DVC to force my workaholic DH to vacation and I'm afraid if I start bringing in cash payments into the equation he'd start balking.

 

[bookwormde]

I am a point miser. I will probably never stay during a weekend on points (new this going in when I bought). I also actually like to stay at multiple resorts during a vacation so it works for me. Generally I do CRO with and AP discount, but this coming vacation I am thinking of doing Bonnet Creek for 1 weekend since I have a GG and need room for 12-16 without breaking the bank.

When the kids get older I might try a weekend at one of the on site hotels at the Universal.

By the way thank you to all the people who do stay on weekends, otherwise they would have to rebalance the points.

bookwormde

 

[dianeschlicht]

When we purchased we looked at it as a week's worth of points rather than day by day. We tend to conserve points by staying 10-12 nights but only one full weekend in the middle.

 

[rwcmath]

We have never done your second or third options, but we've done the first and fourth.

rwc

 

[pkitty]

I usually travel Monday to Monday.....minimizes the amount of points that I use and I still travel for a whole week. Hope this helps.......

 

[jimmacmn]

We typically travel Sunday to Friday, however, we do occasionally stay a Friday/Saturday. We have adequate points so the occasional Fri/Sat night stay doesn't bother us much. Also, our OKW contracts were both purchased at less than $60.00 per point so economically it still makes sense to us. I did just book a 2 BR at OKW for my brother for Sat, November 1st. He and another couple wanted to go to Food and Wine and he asked me today if I could get BCV or BWV for them. After I stopped laughing, I asked if they would take anything if I couldn't get either of the Epcot resorts. Nice they wait until the last minute, but that is my brother. He owes me big time now!!

 

[MdmMim]

When we purchased we looked at it as a week's worth of points rather than day by day.

I, too, look at the total points used per vacation, not nightly. I purchased enough to cover my needs, hoping to not have to pay OOP for a room.

 

[wildernessDad]

We use points on the weekends as necessary.

 

[mikesmom]

I look at the total points per vacation and pretty much average it out. I hate to move! It's not that the weekends are higher - the weekdays are just lower

When I travel and stay in a regular hotel somewhere I don't move when the rate goes up for some nights. If you think WDW is bad, take a look at weekend nights in Vegas!!

 

[SamSam]

DH and I dislike changing resorts, so we stay put and just fork over the higher points.

 

[jdvm]

We sometimes switch from points to cash for the weekends. It's really pretty easy. Just make sure the reservations are linked and always ask for the member discount for the cash nights.

John

 

[Pakey]

We stay weekends; I never worry about the point usage.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

always stay weekends, If I'm staying for less that a week, I will try to book Sunday - Thursday, to conserve points, but we don't like to move around. The only time we will move is if we fly in late on Friday or Saturday, and if thats the case, we will stay at the Hyatt, or Swan or Dolphin for a night,

 

[dvcdisney]

We usually go for 10-14 nights, and we use points for the whole stay. We do not want to stay for less time since our airfare is outrageous, now more than ever.

It is not the most economical way, but the more convenient way.

 

[TangaroaTiki]

We own enough points to cover our vacations and that includes all weekend nights necessary. We would never move out over the weekend to save points.