What is your Point Buffer?

[cobbler]

When we bought we purchased enough to stay at in a one bedroom during adventure and choice season for a full 7 nights at any resort. At the time, BC/BWV/VWL required I think either 214 or 216 points. I just went up to a more "even" number of 220.

Now with the new point charts I can still do the same thing except no cushion with VWL because the one week during choice is exactly 220 points. So I am still ok. Is it annoying? Just a touch but it doesn't really bother me all that much.

I want to add on anyway (via resale) just don't have the funds to do it yet.
I just don't know how I will determine my add-on though.

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

We are one of those families that bought in thinking...one week, once a year...then quickly changed to...one week, twice a year.

Needless to say we added on a few times....

Our plans are different each year. Some are studio vacations, some two-bedrooms with friends...some 10 days, some 7, some 5. We bank, we borrow. We have really enjoyed the flexibility.

With each add on, we generally thought about what extra type of vacation time we wanted and then bought a little more than that.

I really feel for those who planned specifically for the Sun-Thur vacation. This will reduce their time.

For us, with our average week long stays, we actually save points on 2010 vacation.

 

[appleorchard]

We bought the minimum 150 points at BWV in 1999 and stayed happily at that level up until this year, when BLT arrived. We added on 65 points there the first day they were available, and then my DH started thinking we were going to be short for a family trip in December, and we added on 35 more points at BLT. We are almost ALWAYS in borrow mode and I'm anxious to see if that changes after this year--I have a feeling it won't! Because the longer we own, the more often we go--we save our SW airfare credits up, and buy annual passes, and take 2-3 trips per year instead of one. We managed to survive quite nicely for years with only 150 points, and after almost ten year, addonitis has set in. I don't think we'll ever have a cushion because we keep upping the number of trips!

 

[MrsG]

We started out with 200 and then added 100 a month later (should have listed to DH who wanted 300 to start). Both of our kids were home at the time which then branched to a husband and a fiance - 6 people instead of our budgeted 4) We were able to do a 2 BR with a little borrowing. We then added on a few times since then because we like to use DVC for DCL and Adventures by Disney. Now that it is just the 2 of us, we stay in a studio and take the rest and put it toward cruises, etc. usually paying one person cash.

Of course you have to buy what you can afford, when you can afford it (we could have never paid for our total points at once). The hard part is trying to predict life changes (addition/subtraction of children, older parents, etc) That can drastically change what vacation you can take and for how long.

As for a buffer, unfortunately we always manage to use all our points plus borrow. We just added on at BLT so that will help, but chances are good we may be able to bank a few points so we can do another cruise after the Baltic in 2010.

Please don't get the wrong impression by this. I fully understand how difficult it is for families today. DH&I stayed at the Carribbean beach with the kids every three years and took peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with us to save where we could. I feel blessed every day that we OWN DVC which was not even a possibility while the kids were growing up. So I guess I understand how upset people are by this, but we also have to stop and count our blessings. I really feel bad for those who cannot bank or borrow and their 1 vacation every three years has to be cut short. I think the fact that Disney raised the add-on points to 100 is very bad PR, especially that a 100 point add is a large chunck of money to get access to a few points.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We have no buffer, but we started with a year's worth of banked points. 4 out of 5 of our trips have been for more points than we own. We have current points in 09 only because we did a trade of a week at a vacation condo we own for a transfer of DVC points. -- Suzanne

 

[alice99]

I am a new owner. I purchased 300 points, figuring 280 would get me a 1 bedroom, MK view, if that was what I wanted. Or I could go 3x's per year in a studio, without a view.

Looking at the "mega thread" about the re-distribution of points for the new points chart - I am surprised at the amount of people who bought exactly what they need for a specific week, and are now 1-10 points short. It seems very short-sighted.

 

[dis-happy]

We started with 210 at BCV, added on 60 pts. at BWV, loved BWV so much added on again (149 pts---what my guide could get me at the time). So roughly a half and half split between the 2 resorts.

We usually do a 5 nt. stay in May at BCV; we don't have enough for a full week (but don't care, 450,000+ Marriott Rewards points round those stays out for free). We'll continue with a 1 or 2 b/r but will have less of a buffer for bringing guests or doing extra trips during the year here or there.

With the changes we'll plan ahead a little more and make more use of BWV standard view points.

So yes, there's a buffer, but overall we'll do less trips during the year, (those extra points will catch up with us eventually). Going less often also negates the need for an AP.

 

[lisareniff]

Our first contract we had about a 30pt buffer. We were aiming at having enough points for a 2 bedroom Magic Season for a week and a day or two, going every 2 out of 3 years. When I was on the phone I then rounded it up to a nice even 300pts. (I really shouldn't have done that.)

Our second contract we purchased just enough to do a BC ever other year for a Sun-Thurs stay. It was a great deal, 300 points for 5 nights in a BC! So we are going to have to skip an extra year every few trips.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I'm a little confused as to what you mean. Care to expand?

Edit: I'm confused the big fat ZERO. I get the change in points part. We've always stayed Sunday thru Thursday and I expect this is going to be felt by us. I'm guessing once the extra demand swings back to the weekends they'll change things again.

For us, we bought enough to go every year in a one bedroom Savannah view room for one week. Based on the new point charts, the cost went up by 1 point. It's only one point, but its more of annoyance. We just bought in September for AKV Kidani, we cannot even use our resort yet and we already have seen three major changes to the program:

1. II to RCI
2. Wait list change
3. 2010 Points Change

For a new member the program changes have been a lot to swallow all at once. So much for that great Disney service...

Looking at the "mega thread" about the re-distribution of points for the new points chart - I am surprised at the amount of people who bought exactly what they need for a specific week, and are now 1-10 points short. It seems very short-sighted.

I wouldn't call it short sighted, rather its a matter of the manner in which most guides sold the program to the members. The questions most asked when selling the program are:

1. Where do you like to stay?
2. When do you like to travel?
3. How many and what days do you like to travel?
4. How big of a room would you like to stay in?

Once you provide those four answers the guide types away on their little presentation computer and comes up with the point number you should buy and based on their selling technique, people were convinced to buy the point allotments that they did.

 

[edk35]

WE didn't buy in thinking of a buffer that is for sure. We bought 300 but broke those into three 100 pt. contracts at SSR. Then that was not enough so we added on 100 at AKV. We just make do with borrowing/banking so far. I would love to have an even 500 but then a year later I would say " I need another 100" I will never be happy with how many points we have.

 

[tidefan]

I wouldn't call it short sighted, rather its a matter of the manner in which most guides sold the program to the members. The questions most asked when selling the program are:

1. Where do you like to stay?
2. When do you like to travel?
3. How many and what days do you like to travel?
4. How big of a room would you like to stay in?

Once you provide those four answers the guide types away on their little presentation computer and comes up with the point number you should buy and based on their selling technique, people were convinced to buy the point allotments that they did.

Wow, our guide (who left DVC this past year, hmmm...) didn't present it to us like that at all. He told us all about the point charts, but he also told us to expect that we would vacation very differently over the years and that we should take that into account (i.e. Daughter is young now and you may want more space, but when she gets to college, you may only want studios...). Anyway I digress...

We are also in the "bought what we could comfortably afford" boat. We initially purchased 200, and then added on 110 a year later on our DCL cruise due to a pretty good incentive, so we have 310. We are at SSR, so in Magic, when we would usually travel, the 2009 charts for a 2 Bedroom were 316 for a week, but in 2010, they will be 318. I am still short. Of course the great solution to this is that I am staying at OKW this year for 296 points and next year I will have 17 extra points (these 14 plus 3 others I had banked) and I can either stay at SSR again or do OKW again, or try for AKV Standard View (which I couldn't get this year at 7 months).

Or, I could just do what I probably need to do and stop giving free trips to friends and just move down to a 1-Bedroom

 

[BigDogMom7]

Our situation seems a little different. I have to coax my DH to go anywhere on vacation, but he will go to BCV, at most for a week once a year. We need a 1 BR just so everyone can get enough rest (one snores, one stays up late, one gets up early ), so I figured we needed 130 points in order to guarantee that we could go every other year (was 252 points for a week in Dream season, now it's 254). But what I bought was 180 points resale, and it came with 122 banked points. So we'll be able to go this year (May 09), again in 2010, and with borrowing again in 2011. Then our daughter will be off to college and who knows what's going to happen after that. So I'm glad I didn't buy the minimum that I had originally figured. Since we always stay a week, the point reallocation does not really affect us. I'm just happy I found a place DH is willing to travel to and that I love.

 

[BroganMc]

We originally purchased with the idea of 5 weekdays in a studio after a full week offsite at our Marriott 2 (or 3) bedroom villas. The stays were to be in May (65 pts) and October (55 pts) for a total of 120pts. The minimum purchase was about 150, I think so we just upped it to what we could afford at the time: 200 pts.

Then we ended up staying in a 1bedroom our first stay (forced into it since no studios were available). We really liked the resort and the 1bedrooms. They had a good promo going on at the time, so we added another 120pts. We figured at 320 pts we could stay a week in a 1bedroom and another in a studio or we could do a 2bedroom over the summer or Spring Break.

Then another promo rolled around and we bought another 110 points making it 430 pts. That meant we could do a 2bedroom in Magic and a studio for a week another season. I worked up all the possible vacation plans just to see how I could use our membership per year.

The magic configuration for me became one week in a studio in 4 of the 5 seasons (sans Premier). That total came to 427 points giving us a 3 pt buffer. Now that has been completely eroded. It will cost us 436 points to do this. (The Choice season bump has hurt the most. My plans for next year have already seen days cut from October due to this change. I categorically refuse to add-on and validate DVC's screwing me.)

We never purchased the exact number of points needed because we expected to change our plans as we grew with the system. We would round up to the next highest number, always getting the minimum allowable. (110 was the minimum needed for a 100 DP bonus. 120 was just enough to cover the then 316 needed for Magic season in a 2bedroom.)

There is one hidden benefit to this point reallocation though. Now I can definitively say I can never afford to take my entire family on a group trip over summer. Disney has priced us out of the market forever.

 

[Muhlenberg]

We fall into the "what can we do with our points" camp rather than planning for specific weeks and exact number of points needed. We bought 160 points in August, and about a week later added 60 points. I knew the 160 wasn't going to be enough, but the reason we added on so quickly was for the developer points so my DD/DSIL could go in February (can't use those AKV points til May). We're still in the stage of figuring out how many points we really need, but 220 seems to be enough at the moment. For the past 3 years, I have been going twice a year, once in January and then we magically appear there in August. Usually our trips are 5 days, generally Thursday to Tuesday. I KNOW things are going to change, since our kids are in the transition stage from home to out on their own, and there are no grandchildren yet. When we need more points, we'll probably buy more, with no specific weeks/stays in mind. Right now, we still have a buffer of an unknown number of points.

 

[robandkelly13]

We started at 320 points with the intentions of staying in a one bedroom (it's only DH, DD (who is 3), and me). However, we did a 50 point add-on because we feel the need to have a 2 bedroom. That gave us a 10 point buffer for a week in the premiere season - 9 points now with the point change. I was just telling DH that it's great we had those extra points.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Wow, our guide (who left DVC this past year, hmmm...) didn't present it to us like that at all. He told us all about the point charts, but he also told us to expect that we would vacation very differently over the years and that we should take that into account (i.e. Daughter is young now and you may want more space, but when she gets to college, you may only want studios...). Anyway I digress...



Our guide did the same thing....when we bought in 2001...our kids were 10 & 13 at the time.....she was right.. now that both are in college...the times of year we go & size of the villa has changed...we usually stay either a week or now that my son is going to school in FL....a Thurs-Tuesday..so he and his girlfriend can meet us for a long weekend....so the new 2010 charts for our usual vacations are now +/- 1-3 points....
We also understood the points per night/week could change......but I feel bad for the Sun-Thurs travelers who didn't

 

[alldiz]

I have no buffer....I never had enough points....and now I certainly don't.
Kerri

 

[alice99]

As for the varying information, and differing amounts of advice given by the guide - I would imaging that some guides "stick to the script" versus a guide that will give you more of their own opinion. It depends on the personality of the guide, their practical knowledge, "knowing" the customer and possibly their comfort with the product due to experience.

Everyone isn't going to get the same exact information. The questions a customer may ask will lead a conversation in different directions also. I don't believe the guides are deliberately misleading anyone.

I specifically asked my guide about the points changing, and would my points de-value because of increases points-per-night changes. I was told that points are able to change, but not increase (resort-wide, that is) - more like a re-distribution, which seems to be happening now.

 

[disneybride96]

We bought SSR when the minimum was 160. We upped to 200 for the buffer.

Our BLT ad on was gong to be only what we need for an every other year trip. 86 points. My DH talked me into 100.

We take all our points and adjust room size to get the most use. I have 21 points to bank from 2008 and that is the most I have ever had!

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

To tell the truth I NEVER have enough points! Since I bought I have been consistently in borrow mode (which is unusual for me as I'm a saver)!

I basically bought what I could afford and have added on twice!